The rain started to fall again somewhere around the sixth inning.  To be honest, I’m not one-hundred percent certain of that time frame because it seemed like I sat there, soaked and freezing, for hours.  (And no, I apparently don’t have enough sense to get out of the rain).  I was too stubborn to go and sit under the roof, too convinced that I would miss the excitement if I moved a muscle.  I held out hope that the Indians could overcome their 2-1 deficit and waited for another instance of late inning magic, even if it happened to be soggy late inning magic. 

            I didn’t bring the Rally Cows out of the safety of my purse until the middle of the eighth inning.  Justin Masterson and Clay Buchholz were locked in a tight showdown through much of the game; the only things that really seemed to rile Indians fans prior to the eighth were Asdrubal Cabrera’s home run, and Manny Acta’s ejection from the game.  (The Man-ny, Man-ny chants as he argued the play at first were a lot of fun).  By the time Michael Brantley singled Adam Everett home to tie the game I was jumping up and down in a feeble attempt to warm myself slightly.  When Asdrubal Cabrera, again the hero, doubled Brantley home, I almost lost my voice screaming.  Suddenly, it seemed a bit less cold and wet outside even though there was no change to the weather.

            Chris Perez raised my blood pressure a bit in the ninth inning, but he managed to escape after getting the speedy Carl Crawford to ground into a double play.  Cue the fireworks and “Cleveland Rocks,” as well as the post-game interview with Michael Brantley.  Miraculously, the rain seemed to dissipate as the grounds crew drug the tarp over the now abandoned baseball diamond. 

            Asdrubal Cabrera’s home run in the bottom of the fourth was his seventh straight hit.  This was four shy of the team record (11) set by Tris Speaker in 1920, but still quite an accomplishment.  Any time you can mention a player’s name in the same breath as Speaker, you know he’s in good company.  In addition, 1920 was the year that the Indians won their first World Series; their only other world title was in 1948. 

            As I was drying out after this game (and blow drying the Rally Cows), I had the opportunity to think about how this was an amazing win; and how I eerily came to expect it just minutes before the Indians staged their comeback.  (It’s why I chose the mid-eighth to unveil the cows).  Maybe this magic will last the season, maybe it won’t even last this series with the Red Sox.  No matter – many of these comeback wins are already some of the best baseball games I’ve had the opportunity to see in person.

Dodging the rain drops under a rally towel, the Rally Cows take their home record to 7-0.

2 Comments

  • Joe Diestel says:

    I read that Asdrubal is only the second shortstop since WWII to have 5 hits, 2HRs and 5 RBIs in a game; this is a remarkable performance. However, I was surprised to see that the other SS was
    Roy McMillan, who was a classic good-field, no-hit infielder–and he was a really good fielder!

  • Mike says:

    I just wanted to say I enjoy the site. Just discovered it within the past few weeks!

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