Winning

August 31, 2011

Not very long ago actor Charlie Sheen, an imaginary member of the Cleveland Indians, tried to justify the wreck he’d made of his life and his career by announcing that despite every setback he’d encountered and every hotel room he’d destroyed, he was “winning!”

Long before that, the band Santana, named of course after founder and lead guitarist Carlos Santana, had a hit single called “Winning.” Bear with me here–this all ties together, I promise.

Yesterday Susan announced in this space that IPL co-founder Stephanie Liscio had recently been taken to the hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery. The pain of that situation was mitigated somewhat when one of Stephanie’s favorite Indians, a man who is also named Carlos Santana, hit a home run on Monday, thus helping the Indians defeat the A’s, 2-1. Well, Carlos came through again on Tuesday with a two-run blast in the sixth inning as the Indians once again beat the A’s, this time by a score of 6-2. Jeanmar Gomez had been called up from AAA to start the game for the Tribe. He’d had some rocky starts for the Indians earlier in the season, but this time he delivered the goods, giving up just one run (unearned) over six innings.

Jack “Hammer” Hannahan also homered for the Indians. Since the birth of his son earlier this month, Hannahan has gotten 18 hits in his last 42 at-bats, with an on-base percentage of .510. Yes, that’s a small sample size, but it’s still a heck of a lot better than the numbers he put up in June and July. It’s nice to see him step up recently, and it’s nice to see the Indians winning again.

As for Stephanie,  I’m glad to be able to report that her surgery was successful. And while no one wants her to remain in the hospital a minute longer than necessary, well, as long as she’s still there, if Carlos Santana wants to keep hitting homers in her honor, no one here is going to try to stop him.

And just to bring this post back to the other man named Carlos Santana: the band Santana had a 1971 single called “Hope You’re Feeling Better.” We hope you continue to feel better, Stephanie.

11 Comments

  • Tom says:

    Glad to hear that Stephanie is feeling better. Hey Stu, the Tribe won by 4! How did that happen?

  • SeattleStu says:

    i’m still trying to figure that out!!…..seems like it’s been eons since we won comfortably….best wishes for speedy recovery stephanie….we look forward to having your encouraging voice back on the scene….GO TRIBE!!

  • Chip P says:

    Pretty disappointed that both DET and CHI came back and won their games. Both teams are losing this afternoon, let’s hope it stays that way… and GO TRIBE.

  • SeattleStu says:

    KC just gave up 3 runs in 8th…going to blow another one…arrgh

  • Stephanie Liscio says:

    I came home to find the KC/Detroit game on and turned it on just in time for it to go south for KC!

  • Stephanie Liscio says:

    And thanks for the well-wishes everyone! It’s good to finally be back home, enjoying baseball from my couch.

  • Chip P says:

    I’m following the CHI/MIN game in the bottom of the ninth – looks like Joe Nathan is barely going to close this one out.

    Oh well, fate is in the Tribe’s hands. WIN!

  • SeattleStu says:

    random observations after 5 in A’s game….any jiminez apologists remaining have lost their last hole card….his ‘domination’ at progressive…..looks awfully ordinary to me….damaged goods, or just not that good?….thome….yawn…..irish jig music for hannahan’s AB’s?….i’m the least politically correct person i know and i’m sure he chose it…..but still….that’s a lawsuit in different context….c’mon guys, dig deep, we need this friggin game…somebody step up!

  • SeattleStu says:

    keep the jig music going…comment withdrawn….

  • SeattleStu says:

    one way to tell thome has lost it….average to below average pitchers just go right after him w/ no fear….fastballs right down the pipe….all they get in return is a nice breeze….there’s no attempt whatsoever at pitching around him.

  • Chip P says:

    Thome is 41. That’s another way to tell that he “lost it” (by “lost it”, I mean he just obviously isn’t Jim Thome from 10+ years ago).

    If anyone expected him to be more than a 41 year-old Jim Thome is dillusional.