The Sean Widmer Summer Goals Involving The Spokane Indians

I am not a man of many goals. In fact I'm a man of very very few goals. My normal weekly goals include:
- Wake up on time at least 2 out of 5 of my work days
- Don't spend money eating out for one whole day during the week
- Brush my teeth before bed
- Make serious progress in my MLB The Show 13 dynasty
- Post a tweet that gets retweeted

PRETTY lofty goals if you ask me.... You hear it all the time growing up though, "You need to set goals to succeed in life." (And kids, judging where I am in life right now this actually may have been good advice that I should have listened to) So with the Spokane Indians season merely weeks away I've decided I need to make a checklist of goals that I want to accomplish on the blog this summer:

- Eat one of every item they sell in the ballpark

Yeah, completely non baseball related I know but it may just be the thing I'm most excited about. Ballpark food!!! My main concern here is to make sure I don't achieve this in one night...


- Find the fan who has been a season ticket holder the longest and watch a game with them

Really I just want to hear stories from years gone by and if this person is anything like the older people I currently know the "Indians of yesteryear" will be so so much better than the current Indians.


- Make friends with a Venezuelan ball player

Memo to the Texas Rangers. Please send a Venezuelan to Spokane. Please. I spent 12 years of my life there for Pete's sake. My brother is still technically a Venezuelan until he turns 18. I need a touch of "home" here in Spokane.


- Listen to a radio broadcast start to finish

There is something magical about baseball on the radio. It feels like it's the way the game is meant to be consumed outside of going to the game in person. My hopes are to get to know the team well enough that when I listen to a game I know how each player is walking to the plate and what their batting stance is as they eye each pitch that comes at them.


- Catch a foul ball

One time I caught two in one game at Avista. Since then it has never happened again. A 12 year drought that has made me wonder if I blew all my luck that one fateful night.

- Memorize the roster

I've gone to a lot of Spokane Indians game since I've been in Spokane. I used to work for the radio station that broadcast the games and hosted a sports show on that same station. Yet even then I didn't know the entire roster front to back. This season I want to know names, numbers, positions, schools attended, fortes, etc for the entire team. In years past I've know a bunch of the players names but have never been able to spout out the roster top to bottom.

- Find and interview Ken Harvey.

In the summer of 1999 I had just completed my junior year of high school and came up to Spokane from my home in Rubio, Venezuela to work for my grandpa. That summer I went to a fair share of Indians games and was completely captivated by big bad Ken Harvey. I felt like he was the Bo Jackson of the team in that he had the look of someone who was planning on destroying a ball that wouldn't stop until it hit the train tracks a few hundred feet past the center field wall. I also recall him getting a hit every time he stepped up to the plate (I cannot verify if he did this but I do recall him hitting somewhere around .400 for the season). Ken Harvey went on to play for the Kansas City Royals and made an All Star Appearance in 2004 (and also starred on my fantasy baseball team that year). Nothing would make me happier than finding out what my personal all time favorite Indian is up to these days. (Note: I think future MLB'er Mark Ellis was on that team also)


I figure that's a pretty good start as to some of the things I want to see happen the next couple of months while diving into some Spokane Indians baseball. If I missed some obvious stuff please let me know. The season start is days away and I'm starting to jones for some seeds and a spot in the left field bleachers watching some baseball while the sun sets behind the first base seats.

NOTE: The new Team Store opened today. Add "Get Some Cool Gear" to my list.

The first item ever sold in the Team Store. He made a good choice. #goindians #teamstore instagram.com/p/Z_C_kXs42t/
— Spokane Indians (@spokaneindians) May 31, 2013