CLEVELAND -- There's plenty of talk here about empty seats but I don't know what all the fuss is about. I walked into Progressive Field Friday night and it seemed a lot like, oh, 1995 or 1997 or 2007. There wasn't a sellout but there were 33,000+ in the house -- and the walkup crowd was more than 8,500.
And the Indians won again in walkoff fashion, stunning Eric Wedge's Mariners, 5-4, on a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth from Travis Hafner. The place erupted when the ball cleared the center-field fence and so did Hafner's teammates (right). I've been here for many of these kinds of games over the years but this one pushes near the top of the list. Click here to watch the dramatic video.
"We're having a blast," Hafner said. "Winning is obviously a big part of that when you have good chemistry on a team. It makes coming to the park a lot of fun again."
These guys are for real and the AL Central is a weak, weak division. The Tigers might be their only challenger. One more starting pitcher at the trade deadline and the Tribe might turn this into a runaway.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
Photo: Associated Press
tagged
Major leagues
