Rod Serling-Approved! Snopes-Rejected!
by Grant Brisbee on Jun 24, 2008 12:22 PM PDT
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PrintThe Giants/Indians connection runs strong. Both franchises have a history of hapless aversion to World Series titles. It’s a strong history, too. The Indians would have won a championship if it weren’t for a bullpen collapse at the wrong time. The Giants would have won a championship if it weren’t for a bullpen collapse at the wrong time. Both franchises deserve national pity; both franchises have had their rightful claim to national pity stolen by the pity-thieving Chicago Cubs.
There was a movie (Major League) that centered on the Indians, and there was a movie (The Fan) that centered on the Giants. Both featured Wesley Snipes attempting to portray someone who could play baseball.
Here’s another weird one. Both Jose Mesa and Armando Benitez – vilified closers in Cleveland and San Francisco, respectively – were born in the same country! Not only that, but the population of the Dominican Republic is under ten million. Considering that the world’s population is over six billion, how weird is it that they both come from a country that represents .0016 of the world’s population? Spooky, right?
It doesn’t stop there. Jose Mesa means "Joe Table" in Spanish. Armando Benitez means "Deceivingly Adequate Reliever Who Chokes at Inappropriate Times" in Spanish. Mesa was a deceivingly adequate reliever who choked at an inappropriate time, while Benitez often ate at tables.
Even the cities have something in common. Cleveland used to be the punchline for cheap jokes. The San Francisco-based band Journey used to be the punchline for cheap jokes. Over the past decade, though, both Cleveland and Journey have improved their standing in the Non-ironic Appreciation Index. In fact, here’s an earnest petition for Journey’s inclusion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…which is located in Cleveland!
The last time the Giants won a championship, it was against the Indians. The last time the Indians won a championship, it wasn’t against the Giants, but Al Rosen was a big part of the winning team. The same Al Rosen who was the General Manager during the successful-yet-ultimately soul-peeling seasons of 1987 and 1989? The very same.
Wait, though. It gets stranger. Al Rosen’s secretary’s name was Joan Hart. The GM for the ‘90s Indians – John Hart – had a secretary named Rose Allen.
So I, for one, welcome this regular season meeting of two star-crossed franchises. Head on over to Let’s Go Tribe and exchange Cory Snyder anecdotes.
Comment starter: I’m sure I missed some more obvious and eerie connections. Try and find some of your own. Explain your findings with copious italics. As in, "Frank Robinson managed awful teams for both franchises!"
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Creepy…
Bengie Molina: Like a Rich Aurilia kidney stone- slow moving, and hard to get out
by Victorious Secret on Jun 24, 2008 12:30 PM PDT reply actions
The Drew Carey Show took place in Cleveland. Too Close for Comfort took place in San Francisco. Both sitcoms were on ABC. “ABC” stood for “Always Be Closing” in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. Jose Mesa and Armando Benitez were “always” closing, but not in the way their team’s fans might have liked.
Eagerly awaiting Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night on 7/18.
Even weirder
Abraham Lincoln “Ham” Wade played for the Giants in 1907.
Bob Kennedy played for the Indians from 1948-1954!
All-Father Watch: 1.05 ERA, 7 saves, 0.87 WHIP, 34 Ks in 34 1/3 IP
According to Snopes, Lincoln never had a secretary named Kennedy.
I’m so disappointed.
Trent Kline: Decentish. Also, my website is called ChatterBalks Dot Com and on it I make jokes about things.
Snopes also reveals that Nate Schierholtz can’t really play third base.
All-Father Watch: 1.05 ERA, 7 saves, 0.87 WHIP, 34 Ks in 34 1/3 IP
by EliminateMe on Jun 24, 2008 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions
The Bay Area-located Golden State Warriors have a cavalier attitude towards playing defense. The Cleveland-based Cleveland Cavaliers are said to battle every time they play a game.
Trent Kline: Decentish. Also, my website is called ChatterBalks Dot Com and on it I make jokes about things.
Not much of a connection
My male best friend is a Giants fan first, Indians fan second. He says it’s because they had a player in the 80s named Michael Garcia. My BFF’s name…well, take a guess.
So I lend my support to the Indians. Solidarity and all that.
"While conservatives tell you 'leave things alone and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you 'interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says 'someone will lose.' Not only says it - but insists upon it! ... Democracy is lovely, but baseball's more mature." BVCE supports SF Dugout and Manny Burriss.
by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 24, 2008 12:56 PM PDT reply actions
The first girl that I got to know that really liked baseball was an Indians fan. We got to be good friends because of the baseball connection. I don’t keep in touch with her very much any more but I still root for the Indians on the side.
by paboperfecto on Jun 24, 2008 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions
Nice pull on the Journey thing
I could never cotton no Steve Perry.
"[Greg] Vaughn is in a funk so deep, George Clinton wearing a miner's helmet couldn't find him."
- Jim Baker, ESPN.com, May 2002
he's a huge Giants fan
we sat a few rows behind him last week.
Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.
They just went their separate ways.
Anagram of "Giants pitcher Matt Cain" = TRAGIC MAN, ISN'T PATHETIC
by Stuttering John Tamargo on Jun 24, 2008 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions
But they sing
I’m forever yours…Faithfully.
"While conservatives tell you 'leave things alone and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you 'interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says 'someone will lose.' Not only says it - but insists upon it! ... Democracy is lovely, but baseball's more mature." BVCE supports SF Dugout and Manny Burriss.
by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 24, 2008 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions
In honor of Pride Week
In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught on fire. San Francisco is home to many people who are flaming.
Sudden Sam
The Giants traded Gaylord Perry, a pitcher who won more Cy Young Awards than Joe Nathan ever will … for a Cleveland Indian! Who didn’t win any.
Twenty-seven years of waiting has come to an end.
1996
Giants trade Matt Williams to Cleveland for Jeff Kent, Julian Tavarez and….Jose Vizcaino. Now you know the rest of the story.
"Candlestick made me a man." - Will Clark
In the movie Major League, Wesley Snipes plays “Willie Mays Hayes” who ran like Mays but hit like shit. If only we could call up Velez before the game starts.
Wesley Snipes was small-framed & a leadoff hitter in the late 80s. He bulked up & was a middle-of-the-order threat in the the Fan while on the Giants.
And what do Gavin Newsom & Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson have in common? They are two people who have never been in my kitchen.
Don't think, it could only hurt the ballclub.
tortured
San Francisco was named by Spaniards.
Many people descended from Indians now speak Spanish!!
San Francisco is located in the state of California. Cleveland is located in the state of Ohio. The Northern most bits of both California and Ohio are north of the Southern most bits of Canada!!!
FIRE BRIAN SABEAN
Who can forget the Yamid Haad connection
Just DFA’d by the Indians the other day
www.wazzel.com (prove your sports knowledge if you can)
He’ll be back to catch Munter.
by North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan on Jun 24, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Do you guys think Sabean will be in town to "chit chat" with Shapiro about possible deals?
Adopted brother of the AnVil / GIANTSPACE™ returns!
The Randy Newman/George Gund Connection
Randy Newman wrote “Burn On,” an elegiac lullaby to his hometown of Cleveland. He also wrote “I Love L.A.,” a pseudo-paean to the large metropolis down south which shall remain nameless (along with its NL “franchise”), which is bitingly sarcastic about that city’s lifestyles, points of interest, etc., and perfectly captures our distaste for, you know, them.
Also, our beloved Golden Seals left for Ohio and became the Cleveland Barons, thanks to minority owner George Gund. Subsequently, the troubled team merged with the North Stars, and after trying to move that team out of Minnesota, Gund sold his shares and was awarded a hockey franchise in San Jose, a small burg south of San Francisco.
"Mow bwiefings?" "More briefings."
This reminded me of
Father Guido Sarducci’s ””Kennedy/Lincoln Coincidenza” bit. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere, so I could share it with you. Although I haven’t been able to come up with a Cleveland/Indian connection, Don Novello is connected to the Giants through his B.A.R.K. Korps of Portuguese Water Dogs.
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