A Sit Down Chat With Ryan Cordell

Pics Courtesy Of The Spokane Indians Facebook Page

Had a chance to sit down and chat with Ryan Cordell before Monday nights 2-1 Indians win against Eugene.

Download or stream the interview here (great for smartphones)

Hallelujah

@SeanTWidmer your man Jamie Jarmon had a game yesterday, he must have seen the post!
— Brandon (@brandonarose) July 8, 2013

I earned this tweet. I hope to earn a WHOLE lot more of them. In fact I hope that at some point Jamie Jarmon himself tweets me something that I can't post on this blog because it is just too scalding. At the beginning of the season I was riding high on #17 and then after recording only 1 hit over his first six games before getting injured I, like the petty fan that I am in a a "what have you done for me lately" world, had switched my loyalties elsewhere on the team. So I feel that the following message is in order:


Dear Jamie Jarmon,
You went 3 for 4 last night with 3 RBI's and a walk. Keep it up. Make me eat crow. Make me eat crow with a hint of regret and embarrassment. I'm sorry I'm a moron.

Yours until you go on a slump,
Sean Widmer

PS. I still think you have the coolest look on the team.

Pic courtesy of the Spokane Indians Facebook page

The Indians wrap up their series against Eugene tonight at 6:30. Andy and I will be there. Will you? And if so where will you be so we can bum some money off you for nachos and kettle corn.

Oh, and we missed yesterday's game thanks to co-ed slowpitch softball... (yeah, I'm embarrassed too) So can we pretend like yesterday is today and boo the umpires until they start taking things personally again?

...And We Left Early

Tonight is on us.

This is not the kind of text message conversation that is fun to have in any way, shape, or form. The Spokane Indians were riding a smooth 6 game winning streak into tonight's game at home against Eugene (AT HOME). A six game winning streak that had started last Sunday in Everett. A 10-9 win off a ninth inning home run from Ryan "Stretch" Cordell. A winning streak in which the Indians had come from behind in 4 of the 6 games. A winning streak that included an extra innings walk off double by Brandon "Vegas" Garcia on Yoke's Dollar Feast night. A winning streak that had the Indians on 3 games back of first place in the division and 2 games over .500. Why in the world would you ever let a text message conversation like this take place during a magical winning streak like the one Indians fans were enjoying? The terribly disappointing answer in just a minute.

First of all, I have to say that it's great to have the Indians back home. They were only gone 6 days after the 8 game home stand  but it felt like 3 weeks. It didn't hurt to have them come back with a bang... OF FIREWORKS (it's late, let this one slide. Thanks).

If you've never been to an Indians game on the 4th of July then go get your tickets for the next one right now, unless they're already sold out. A packed house, fireworks, smiling faces because people had the day off work, and special 4th of July jerseys make for a "must go" trip to Avista Stadium.

Plus the Indians came back from a 3 run deficit to score 10 runs over the 6th, 7th and 8th to get a win that made the fireworks much more enjoyable. Then the very next night (a packed Dollar Feast Night) the Indians rallied again to win in extra innings. Two nights back at home and the Indians had given each person in attendance their moneys worth. Saturday night was sure to be more of the same right???

Let's get back to that opening picture of the text messages between Andy and me. It's the bottom of the 5th inning, the score is 8-4 Eugene, we're hungry, we're tired (because we had such a loooong day that included eating lunch at The Elk...), and the Emeralds are spanking our bottoms. This is when the conversation starts.

"Well, what do you think? Time to call it a night?"

"Oh man, Jack in the Box is sounding good."

"You can't come back every night. Maybe we should head towards the parking lot."

"It's 9pm, I'm old and grumpy and tired. This one's over. Plus we can always just listen in the car."

Yeah, we left. Just like the Miami Heat fans before us we left early. Not because we had anything good to do. Because we are old and are poor losers. And just like that the Indians tried to punish us. Next thing we know it's 9-4 and the bottom of the ninth rolls around. By this time we'd both enjoyed our free tacos from Jack in the Box, we've both driven to our respective homes, the Indians have gone 3 up 3 down in the 6th, 7th and 8th, and Mike Boyle is just ready to get done with the post game show.

Did I mention that the Indians were riding a 6 game winning streak and that the word "comeback" is part of their everyday diet?

-Chris Garia singles and Gabe Roa hits him in with a double. 9-5.

All good, I've got my seat reclined pretty far back and am ready to get out of the car, head inside and find a movie on Netflix to put me to sleep.

-Ryan Cordell singles and Barrett Serrato walks (bases loaded) with no outs.

Not worried, tonight just isn't the Indians night. Man I'm glad I'm not their to see them blow this oppurtunity.

-Triunfel grounds out into a double pla.... Oh wait. Another Emeralds throwing error?? Roa scores, Cordell scores, Triunfel is safe at first... 9-7 Eugene. Only one out.

What am I doing in my car right now? Why am I in the car and not in my seat at Avista? Sean, you're an idiot. It's ok though, the magic has to be gone now. 9-7 final...

-Kevin Torres doubles. Runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Marcus Greene doubles! The game is tie... NO IT'S not. All game long Tim Hullet has been making weird baserunning decisions. He's tried to steal bases at the worst times with the weirdest guys and all of these have failed (I believe they had 3 guys caught stealing when the Indians were threatening). So instead of sending pinch runner Saquan "Say what" Johnson home on this double he holds him at third base. 9-8 Eugene with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but when you mess with the magic Tim Hullet you get burned. Janluis strikeout, 2 down. Chris Garia flyout, game over. And instead of running home for the game tying run, Saquan Johnson just walks across it to get his stuff and head to the locker room.

I knew we should've left early. Phew.

PS. This is the last time we leave a game early this season.


FANTASY TEAM UPDATE:

Team Andy:

Alex Gonzalez- He's the 2 million dollar man still, rocks sweet watches and woo's the ladies with his smile when he's walking around Avista stadium. But so far I haven't been overly impressed with Chi-Chi. He did finally get to pitch a whole 3 innings on Friday and did ok only allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run (dropping his ERA in his five games to 5.91)

Joe Jackson- Still injured.

Cam Schiller- We posted our interview with Cam a couple of weeks ago and he talked about being a notorious slow starter. He's going to need to become a notoriously fast mid-season guy though. Despite getting looks at first base, second base and third base and playing them all well he is struggling at the plate. He's batting .179 for the season and only .139 over the last 10 games. That's slower than a slow start. His hair is still phenomenal though.

Alex De La Cruz- First of all you need to get down with the Instagramming fiend Alex De La Cruz. Second, he's doing pretty well for himself. 7 appearances in relief, 1 win, 11 strikeouts and THIS

.

Brandon Garcia- He's hitting .312 in July and his nickname is "Vegas. That doesn't suck. Wouldn't mind seeing the RBI number sail up though. Only 1 so far this season.

Team Sean:

Yohander Mendez- "Man's Game" Mendez is doing alright for himself boasting the 2nd best ERA in the Northwest League (1.02 over the first 4 games he's started this season). He's also only given up 14 hits which matches his 14 strikeouts. Yohander is dialed in right now.

Gabe Roa- Ouch. Gabe Roa made me look good by picking my opening pitch out of the dirt but hasn't quite done the same for himself. Outside of playing a really solid second base he isn't really hitting the ball... at all. Roa is hitting .160 on the season and .143 over the past 10 games. 

Jamie Jarmon- Who?

Alberto Truinfel- Love him. Had a monster HR on Friday night to force extra innings, is hitting .277 in July, and has been pretty solid over at shortstop.

Richard Alvarez- He's only made 5 appearances this season and the first four weren't good. In fact they were bad. His last outing was the exact opposite throwing 3 scoreless innings in Tri-cities. It's going to be harder and harder for me to get all the way on the Alvarez band wagon though until he gets an Instagram that rivals De La Cruz's.

Sunday is a day game for the Indians. 3:30 first pitch from YOHANDER. We won't be there so please cheer loudly and obnoxiously for us.

Meeting Nate The Great

Creating that atmosphere, it's kind of a big deal. It's more than just the players on the field that bring people to Avista stadium. It's the food, it's the view, it's the award winning field, it's the section leaders, it's the kids singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", it's Otto and Doris taking pictures, and yeah, it's Nate The Great. The Spokane Indians got a new "on field host" this season. If you've been to a game this year you've seen him walking the walkway, dancing on the dugout, and cheering on mid-inning contests all while sporting a bow tie. Andy and I figured we needed to sit down and chat with the newest addition to the Spokane Indians family and see what it is that makes Nate The Great tick and find out how the new gig is going. Yes, we realize, it's 25 minutes long of banter with Nate but when you sit down with the man with the golden pipes you don't really want to cut him short. Sit back, relax and get to know your new on field host for the Spokane Indians, Nate The Great:

Download or stream the interview here (great for smartphones)

The Name Game

So here's the deal…

The Indians have been on the road for a few days now, and while this weekend I was preoccupied with Hoopfest, that has now come to a very disappointing end, We are back to all Indians all the time.

During our off time I got to thinking...We are now far enough along in the season where it is not good enough to know the players' names  numbers, positions or even hometowns. No, we are now to the point of the season we start calling players by nicknames. That's right, we were now to the point where we cheer for our club with a little more creativity and personality.  The problem is we don't have or know Indians nicknames. There may be some clubhouse names floating around but unfortunately we are not privileged to those little gems. So Sean and I are taking it upon ourselves to hand out nicknames to our current Indian players the way we see fit and we reserve the right to be completely random. Some players will get obvious ones, some players it's is completely made up. So let's play the Name Game…

Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez - Surprise surprise our Golden Boy 1st Rounder already came pre-packaged with a great childhood nickname.  As if Chi Chi didn't already come with a the makings of a great pitcher, he came with a alias perfect for the mound. I probably would've just gone with the simple and subtle old fashioned "AG" but hey Chi Chi seems to be working alright for him.  Thanks for making this one easy.

"Cam the Man" Schiller - Cam has got a lot of love from from us on this Blog but for good reason…HE'S THE MAN!  He is all over the place, all the time. Cam does it all for the Indians 1st Base, 2nd Base, 3rd Base, consistent base knocks, post game interviews with dorks writing a blog…What doesn't this guy do?

Saquan "Say What?" Johnson - Not so much a nickname, but more of a chant.  Sean and I have both thought from Opening Day that Saquan seems like the jokester of the team and the guy that keep things light in dugout.  So what better way than to have a little fun than every time the Avista announcer Scotty Lewis says Saquan the crowd roars back "Say What?"  I envision this repeating about 3 or 4 times "Saqaun…Say What? Saqaun…Say Who? Saqaun…Say What? Saqaun…Say Who?"  This name idea is stole from DToms but I happily take all the credit.

"Big Z" Mike Zouzalik Not to be confused with the surfing penguin Big Z played by the legendary Jeff Bridges.  Our Big Z from the gets his name for no other reason than the fact that he's tall, standing at 6'3", and his last name begins with a Z. 

Brandon "Vegas" Gracia - Brandon may get the coolest nickname, and for no other reason than he is from Las Vegas, NV. That simple.

Chris Garia "CG3" - Oh man, where do I start with this one.  Much like Clippers (Ca-Ching!) PG Chris "CP3" Paul, our CG3 rocks jersey #3 and is a man of many talents.  Great in the field, hell of a bat, and quick as snot. CG3 fits him perfectly…and he's got 3 dingers on the season. 

Alex De La Cruz "Cosa Salvaje" - In our draft post I blindly compared De La Cruz the Charlie Sheen's character in the movie Major League "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn, and labeled him the latin Wild Thing "Cosa Salvaje".  Little did I know that I was dead on in my comparison. Its not a physical comparison but more of a character trait comparison.  Straight faced, focused, with just enough edge to make batters wish they were on his team so they didn't have to bat against him.  He has a wild side to him on the mound, but damn if he doesn't throw with some gusto! 

Roberto Duran "The Little Big Hurt" I know its hard to compare a guy that has yet to jack one out, to one of the games best power hitters, Frank Thomas, but Duran may fit the bill as far as the Indians are concerned.  Every time  steps to the plate he tries to take the cover off the ball…Boasting a modest 5'11" 190lb frame and bearing the #35 we can't help but deny the similarities.

Yohander "Tre-Mendez" Mendez - Yohander is Sean's boy so I'll leave this one for him to name.
-Andy, I hi-jacked your post to say that I struggled with this one a lot. "Of Mice And Mendez" got stuck in my head and I couldn't get it out. Then I went to "The Human K Card". Then "Yo Mendez brings all the girls to the yard". Then "Roca y Fuego" because it's a direct translation of "Rock and Fire" but the translation makes no sense to anyone who speaks Spanish. I settled with Tre-Mendez because so far he has been, well, tremendous. 

Kevin"Killa Kev" Torres - Killa Kev has an intimidating stone cold look to him. Every time he approaches the plate he looks like he wants just destroy the ball (in which he did a few days ago getting his first HR of the season). I think even the umps are a little afraid of him.

Ryan "Stretch" Cordell - I envision Ol' Stretch robbing players of home runs hit 20' over the right field fence by not even leaving the ground. He just raises his glove in the sky and shoots arm out like Inspector Gadget.  

Indians are back home on the Fourth of July so we'll get our first chance to start using these sweet nicknames.  For now I'll be practicing nicknames listening to the radio broadcast in my car.  

Nicknames still to come:
Barrett Seratto, Ryane Slack, Kyle Castro, Janluis Castro, Jamie Jarmon