If you can believe ESPN.com gamecast, after Thome hit for Duncan (today's starting LF) the following defensive changes were made:
J Thome at third base.
L Chisenhall in left field
Although since I haven't listened to the game, maybe they actually did that for a couple seconds just for old times sake. Then Jared Head (I didn't know he was back) took over in LF.
Re: GameTime!™
6363And another run without a homer and Tribe ready to sink to 80-79. Unless a final home town rally.
Re: GameTime!™
6364Fitting the home part of the schedule ends with an extra-inning loss. The Indians haven't been a good extra inning team, and have been just brutal at home for 4 months now.
Nice that they gave Thome a decent sendoff, though. At least I assume, since I've had football on.
Nice that they gave Thome a decent sendoff, though. At least I assume, since I've had football on.
Re: GameTime!™
6365Fans salute Jim Thome in Indians' loss to Twins
Attendance 22,539 (49.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time 3:09
Weather 76 degrees, cloudy
Associated Press
CLEVELAND -- Rene Tosoni led off the 10th inning with a home run and the Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland 6-4 on Sunday for their third victory in 22 games.
Tosoni hit his fourth homer on a 1-1 pitch from Tony Sipp (6-3) to give Kyle Waldrop (1-0) his first career win. Chris Parmelee added an RBI single later in the inning.
Waldrop worked a scoreless ninth and Joe Nathan pitched the bottom half for his 10th consecutive save and 14th in 17 chances overall. The Twins have 98 losses with three games left and cannot tie the 1982 club for the worst record (60-102) since the franchise moved to Minnesota 50 years ago.
Cleveland had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Indians finished 44-37 at home.
The crowd got a big surprise when Jim Thome made what could be his last appearance at Progressive Field -- as a third baseman. The 41-year-old slugger took the position for one pitch in the ninth.Thome got a standing ovation as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. When he walked, the crowd booed Twins pitcher Glen Perkins. Moments later, they cheered again as Thome went to third -- where he started his career in 1991. He had not played there since Sept. 29, 1996. The next year, he moved to first base and after 2002 played for four teams, including the Twins, until returning to Cleveland last month.
Thome has 604 homers, eighth on the career list, and has not announced if he will return for a 22nd season in 2012. On Friday night, the Indians unveiled plans for a statue in his honor at the ballpark.
Denard Span opened the game with a gift double when Shelley Duncan misjudged his line drive to left field and had it go over his head. Ben Revere followed with a single up the middle, scoring Span. One out later, Parmelee singled Revere to third and Danny Valencia followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
Lonnie Chisenhall's two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded tied it in the bottom half.
Duncan hit a two-run homer -- his seventh in September and 11th overall -- off Twins starter Liam Hendriks to put Cleveland ahead 4-2 in the third. It gave him eight RBIs in the past three games against the Twins. He has 22 of his 46 RBIs on the season this month.
Span tripled in the fifth and scored on a groundout by Revere to get Minnesota within 4-3.
Trevor Plouffe tied it with his eighth homer, a 425-foot shot into the left-field bleachers in the sixth.
Hendriks gave up four runs and seven hits over six innings. He is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA since being called up Sept. 6.
Indians starter Fausto Carmona yielded four runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Game notes
Revere extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games. ... Indians 1B Matt LaPorta will go to Haiti in October for four days to help with ongoing relief efforts for victims of the devastating earthquake there in 2010. ... All Indians players and coaches were stationed at various entrances to the ballpark, greeting fans before the game and thanking them for their support. ... Cleveland's season attendance of 1,840,835 was an increase of 449,191 over 2010. ... Minnesota closes the season with three games at home against Kansas City. Right-handers Kevin Slowey (0-7), Anthony Swarzak (3-7) and Carl Pavano (8-13) are scheduled to pitch for the Twins. ... Cleveland will start three right-handers in its final series in Detroit: Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3), Jeanmar Gomez (5-2) and Zach McAllister (0-1).
Attendance 22,539 (49.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time 3:09
Weather 76 degrees, cloudy
Associated Press
CLEVELAND -- Rene Tosoni led off the 10th inning with a home run and the Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland 6-4 on Sunday for their third victory in 22 games.
Tosoni hit his fourth homer on a 1-1 pitch from Tony Sipp (6-3) to give Kyle Waldrop (1-0) his first career win. Chris Parmelee added an RBI single later in the inning.
Waldrop worked a scoreless ninth and Joe Nathan pitched the bottom half for his 10th consecutive save and 14th in 17 chances overall. The Twins have 98 losses with three games left and cannot tie the 1982 club for the worst record (60-102) since the franchise moved to Minnesota 50 years ago.
Cleveland had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Indians finished 44-37 at home.
The crowd got a big surprise when Jim Thome made what could be his last appearance at Progressive Field -- as a third baseman. The 41-year-old slugger took the position for one pitch in the ninth.Thome got a standing ovation as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. When he walked, the crowd booed Twins pitcher Glen Perkins. Moments later, they cheered again as Thome went to third -- where he started his career in 1991. He had not played there since Sept. 29, 1996. The next year, he moved to first base and after 2002 played for four teams, including the Twins, until returning to Cleveland last month.
Thome has 604 homers, eighth on the career list, and has not announced if he will return for a 22nd season in 2012. On Friday night, the Indians unveiled plans for a statue in his honor at the ballpark.
Denard Span opened the game with a gift double when Shelley Duncan misjudged his line drive to left field and had it go over his head. Ben Revere followed with a single up the middle, scoring Span. One out later, Parmelee singled Revere to third and Danny Valencia followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
Lonnie Chisenhall's two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded tied it in the bottom half.
Duncan hit a two-run homer -- his seventh in September and 11th overall -- off Twins starter Liam Hendriks to put Cleveland ahead 4-2 in the third. It gave him eight RBIs in the past three games against the Twins. He has 22 of his 46 RBIs on the season this month.
Span tripled in the fifth and scored on a groundout by Revere to get Minnesota within 4-3.
Trevor Plouffe tied it with his eighth homer, a 425-foot shot into the left-field bleachers in the sixth.
Hendriks gave up four runs and seven hits over six innings. He is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA since being called up Sept. 6.
Indians starter Fausto Carmona yielded four runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Game notes
Revere extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games. ... Indians 1B Matt LaPorta will go to Haiti in October for four days to help with ongoing relief efforts for victims of the devastating earthquake there in 2010. ... All Indians players and coaches were stationed at various entrances to the ballpark, greeting fans before the game and thanking them for their support. ... Cleveland's season attendance of 1,840,835 was an increase of 449,191 over 2010. ... Minnesota closes the season with three games at home against Kansas City. Right-handers Kevin Slowey (0-7), Anthony Swarzak (3-7) and Carl Pavano (8-13) are scheduled to pitch for the Twins. ... Cleveland will start three right-handers in its final series in Detroit: Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3), Jeanmar Gomez (5-2) and Zach McAllister (0-1).
Re: GameTime!™
6366Thome played 1 game at 1st base and 3 at 1st for the White Sox in 07 and 06 respectively. Last times he wore a glove to work.
Re: GameTime!™
6367
Last edited by civ ollilavad on Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: GameTime!™
6369I like what Acta did for Thome but he could have Duncan hit vs the leftie, then PH Thome for Chisenhall, put Thome in for a pitch, then let Hannahan take over 3rd.
A small nit to pick. Ofcourse Duncan might have grounded into a DP or hit a 2 run HR which would have stolen some possible thunder from Thome.
But Acta, like some other managers we have had, was not perfect.
A small nit to pick. Ofcourse Duncan might have grounded into a DP or hit a 2 run HR which would have stolen some possible thunder from Thome.
But Acta, like some other managers we have had, was not perfect.
Re: GameTime!™
6370Second place achieved; Jim Thome plays a little third base, too
Thome’s appearance at third nice gesture, may be his farewell
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published: September 25, 2011 - 07:15 PM
CLEVELAND: Several strange things happened at Progressive Field on Sunday. A day game was in progress, so it had nothing to do with the phases of the moon. But why ask why?
For the record, the Tribe lost the final home game of the season to the Minnesota Twins 6-4 in 10 innings, though the outcome of the contest was of marginal interest.
Except for one fact: Despite the defeat, the Indians clinched a tie for second place in the American League Central Division standings. Their only rival for that achievement, the Chicago White Sox, are three games behind with three to play.
The division race had nothing to do with the oddities of the day, which included Jim Thome wearing a glove, fans cheering in unison during a moment when nothing of import was happening on the field, and the Twins finally winning after losing 19 of their previous 21.
Thome borrowed a glove to play third base in the ninth inning, even though he has not played third base for Cleveland since Sept. 29, 1996, at Kansas City. He hasn’t played any base since 2007, when he ran on the field to play one game at first for the White Sox.
So what was going on? Was Indians manager Manny Acta trying to get Thome a glove contract with Rawlings or Mizuno? But let’s start at the beginning.
Thome returned to the Indians a month ago in a deal with the Twins. Ever since, the Tribe has taken every opportunity to honor a player who grew up in its organization and performed on and off the field like a champion for 12 years before he left to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies and hit 604 home runs.
Friday was Jim Thome Night, but Sunday was Jim Thome Day. Instead of the marketing department calling the shots, it was Acta, who has a nice sense of perspective.
“I had a rough night mentally,” Acta said. “I stayed up late thinking. I thought that it was only proper that it come to an end where it started, with Jim playing third base. I told him this morning. Not many people knew.”
Before Thome took the field in the ninth, Acta summoned him to pinch hit for Shelley Duncan with a runner on first and one out in the eighth and the score tied. Duncan had hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and the pitcher facing Thome was a left-hander, Glen Perkins.
It was not the kind of move that Acta would make, unless … the realization hit that this was to be Thome’s farewell-to-the-fans moment. Nobody knows, apparently not even Thome, if he will try to play next year at age 41. Even if he does, the Indians already have a designated hitter, Travis Hafner, who will make $13 million in 2012.
“I still love to play,” Thome said. “I would say right now there’s a higher percentage that I will come back next year than I won’t. But let’s leave it at that.”
So Thome stepped in the box, and Perkins threw four pitches off the plate. Maybe Perkins figured it was better to walk him than be the guy who gave up No. 605.
“Perk and I are good friends,” Thome said. “I’ll get on him for that, send him a text. I have to harass him a little bit.”
Duncan was understanding about leaving a game in crunch time.
“I always heard stories about Jim,” he said. “Everybody said he was a nice guy. The thing I learned is that he’s a good teammate. You can be a nice guy and miss some little things. But he doesn’t.”
Thome asked Jack Hannahan whether he could borrow a third base glove.
“I started laughing,” Hannahan said. “But he said, ‘No, seriously.’ I told him that my locker is your locker. He took out one of my old gloves.”
Thome didn’t have to use it. Joe Smith threw one pitch to Trevor Plouffe, time was called and Thome jogged back to the dugout to the sounds of another ovation. Lonnie Chisenhall, sent to left field for one pitch, returned to play third.
“The plan was for Smith to throw the pitch way outside,” Acta said. “But the ball came back over the plate for a strike.”
What if Plouffe had hit Smith’s pitch to third? Hit it hard to third?
“I would have made the play,” Thome said, smiling. “It was fun to be out there. It felt good. Like old times. It was a nice gesture. Whatever Manny wants me to do, that’s what I’ll do.”
At precisely 4 p.m., after Thome had left the field, a rousing cheer went up from the grandstand. Nothing was happening on the field to raise anyone’s emotions.
But this is football season in Cleveland. Fans checking their smart phones and listening to miniature radios learned the best news of the day: Mike Adams had intercepted a Miami Dolphins pass in the final minute to seal the Browns’ 17-16 win.
What next? Probably a Super Bowl.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/tribematters.
Follow the Indians on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
Thome’s appearance at third nice gesture, may be his farewell
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published: September 25, 2011 - 07:15 PM
CLEVELAND: Several strange things happened at Progressive Field on Sunday. A day game was in progress, so it had nothing to do with the phases of the moon. But why ask why?
For the record, the Tribe lost the final home game of the season to the Minnesota Twins 6-4 in 10 innings, though the outcome of the contest was of marginal interest.
Except for one fact: Despite the defeat, the Indians clinched a tie for second place in the American League Central Division standings. Their only rival for that achievement, the Chicago White Sox, are three games behind with three to play.
The division race had nothing to do with the oddities of the day, which included Jim Thome wearing a glove, fans cheering in unison during a moment when nothing of import was happening on the field, and the Twins finally winning after losing 19 of their previous 21.
Thome borrowed a glove to play third base in the ninth inning, even though he has not played third base for Cleveland since Sept. 29, 1996, at Kansas City. He hasn’t played any base since 2007, when he ran on the field to play one game at first for the White Sox.
So what was going on? Was Indians manager Manny Acta trying to get Thome a glove contract with Rawlings or Mizuno? But let’s start at the beginning.
Thome returned to the Indians a month ago in a deal with the Twins. Ever since, the Tribe has taken every opportunity to honor a player who grew up in its organization and performed on and off the field like a champion for 12 years before he left to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies and hit 604 home runs.
Friday was Jim Thome Night, but Sunday was Jim Thome Day. Instead of the marketing department calling the shots, it was Acta, who has a nice sense of perspective.
“I had a rough night mentally,” Acta said. “I stayed up late thinking. I thought that it was only proper that it come to an end where it started, with Jim playing third base. I told him this morning. Not many people knew.”
Before Thome took the field in the ninth, Acta summoned him to pinch hit for Shelley Duncan with a runner on first and one out in the eighth and the score tied. Duncan had hit a two-run homer in the third inning, and the pitcher facing Thome was a left-hander, Glen Perkins.
It was not the kind of move that Acta would make, unless … the realization hit that this was to be Thome’s farewell-to-the-fans moment. Nobody knows, apparently not even Thome, if he will try to play next year at age 41. Even if he does, the Indians already have a designated hitter, Travis Hafner, who will make $13 million in 2012.
“I still love to play,” Thome said. “I would say right now there’s a higher percentage that I will come back next year than I won’t. But let’s leave it at that.”
So Thome stepped in the box, and Perkins threw four pitches off the plate. Maybe Perkins figured it was better to walk him than be the guy who gave up No. 605.
“Perk and I are good friends,” Thome said. “I’ll get on him for that, send him a text. I have to harass him a little bit.”
Duncan was understanding about leaving a game in crunch time.
“I always heard stories about Jim,” he said. “Everybody said he was a nice guy. The thing I learned is that he’s a good teammate. You can be a nice guy and miss some little things. But he doesn’t.”
Thome asked Jack Hannahan whether he could borrow a third base glove.
“I started laughing,” Hannahan said. “But he said, ‘No, seriously.’ I told him that my locker is your locker. He took out one of my old gloves.”
Thome didn’t have to use it. Joe Smith threw one pitch to Trevor Plouffe, time was called and Thome jogged back to the dugout to the sounds of another ovation. Lonnie Chisenhall, sent to left field for one pitch, returned to play third.
“The plan was for Smith to throw the pitch way outside,” Acta said. “But the ball came back over the plate for a strike.”
What if Plouffe had hit Smith’s pitch to third? Hit it hard to third?
“I would have made the play,” Thome said, smiling. “It was fun to be out there. It felt good. Like old times. It was a nice gesture. Whatever Manny wants me to do, that’s what I’ll do.”
At precisely 4 p.m., after Thome had left the field, a rousing cheer went up from the grandstand. Nothing was happening on the field to raise anyone’s emotions.
But this is football season in Cleveland. Fans checking their smart phones and listening to miniature radios learned the best news of the day: Mike Adams had intercepted a Miami Dolphins pass in the final minute to seal the Browns’ 17-16 win.
What next? Probably a Super Bowl.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/tribematters.
Follow the Indians on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
Re: GameTime!™
6371
Jim Thome leaves the field at Progressive Field -- perhaps for the last time -- Sunday after playing third base for one pitch in the ninth inning Sunday against Minnesota. It was his first appearance at third since 1996 with the Indians.
Re: GameTime!™
6372Met up with TFIR and his daughter today. We both got bargains on our great seats!
