I can’t help but pretend there’s a correlation between the Indians big 10-2 win yesterday over the Diamondbacks and the fact that several players were wearing microphones as part of the All Audio telecast. More than 60 open microphones were placed on players, managers, coaches, umpires and spots around the field to capture the true sounds of the game. I think it’s a great idea. I hope they do again for a game that I can listen to (having a job really gets in the way of my baseball habit). You could hear players talking to each other and the sound of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt. Very cool.

The mics also seemed to awaken the Indians offensive, as Jason Kipnis and Shin-Soo Choo hit back-to-back home runs in the first, and later Jack Hannahan hit a grand slam to pound a few more nails into the coffin. And as an added bonus, we got to hear Jason Kipnis singing as he manned second base.

Thursday, no mics, and no win.

Despite the 6-5 loss to the Angels, it was heartening to see the Indians start battling back in the later innings. Jose Lopez, whom we signed in December, hit a two-run homer in the 6th. He came in for Chisenhall at third, but can also play second and first. Lopez played for both the Rockies and Marlins in 2011; prior to that he spent seven seasons with the Mariners organization. His combined 2011 stats were .216 batting average/.245 on-base%/.617 OPS. Not all that impressive, but he did make the All-Star Team in 2006, and put up respectable numbers in several seasons (although his season batting average has never been above .297). Still, he’s another glove and bat in the mix.

One of the fun things about Spring Training box scores is the sheer number of players who end up taking part in any given game. In Thursday’s game, a total of  24 Indians took part. While some players are guaranteed spots, there are still a ton of possible combinations of players. Manny* has 28 days to find the best one.

 

*Don’t you love being able to talk about a guy named Manny with the Indians without having to say “Manny B. Manny?”

1 Comment

  • medfest says:

    The best moment was when you could hear someone sneeze and they they put Hannahan on camera as he was wiping his nose on his sleeve,then spitting and then …ahem… adjusting.
    I jumped up and screamed “Now that’s baseball!”

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