Postcard tour: Cleveland, from 'The Mistake' to the Jake

It doesn't have the retro charm of Camden Yards, the spectacular views of PNC Park or the iconic bay blasts of AT&T Park's McCovey Cove.

But Progressive Field in Cleveland is a wonderful place to see a ballgame. Cleveland residents must be pretty proud of it, too, based on the number of postcards I've found when visiting the city.

I've seen a number of games at Progressive, or it's original and better name, Jacobs Field. And one pretty exciting event – the 1997 All-Star Game Home Run Derby, celebrity softball game and workout, all packaged together for one very affordable $25 ticket.

The Mets have done well at Progressive, too. The team took two of three games in 2002, with Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel taking the victories and Shawn Estes getting beat.

Inter-league play brought the Mets to Cleveland again in 2010, with a glorious sweep with Johan Santana, Jon Neise and R.A. Dickey earning the wins.

Andrew and I visited in 2008 for a weekend visit that included lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, dinner on “The Flats,” a day spent at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and even paying respects to President Garfield.

This card is pretty clever with the city name written as if it is part of the lights on the park.

This one is kind of arty – a little too arty for baseball.

I've never found another like this “I was there,” card, with the back leaving a place to write some of the game's details.


This team-issued card is pretty basic, but has all kinds of ballpark facts on the back.

Jacobs Field replaced a storied ballpark, but Cleveland Municipal Stadium was famous not for great games but for its vast size – and tremendous numbers of empty seats in Indians' decades of futility.

Rich, Mark and I made “The Mistake by the Lake” the last stop of our epic 1989 ballpark tour. I wandered off and spent part of the game in the distant outfield with John Adams, a super fan famous for banging a massive drum during Indians rallies.

It was an old park with plenty of charm, like Tiger Stadium – none of which can be found in the one postcard I've been able to find of the ballpark.

Baseball Place No. 80: Massive Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; Place 80A: Massive Cleveland Stadium

It must have seemed strange for the 1958 Dodgers to go from their beautiful and intimate Ebbets Field – which was kind of like Citi Field without the majesty of the home run apple – to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The stadium, home to two Olympics and a lot football, was retrofitted for baseball so the Dodgers had a place to play while their palace at Chavez Ravine was under construction.

Josh Pahigan takes us there for place No. 80 in his “101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out.”

I was in L.A. for a conference in 2003, and a little time to sneak in visits to Dodger Stadium and Angels Stadium, but didn’t get to the coliseum.

Sounds like people went to Dodgers games in those days to see major league baseball without actually getting close to much baseball, since many of the seats were ridiculously far away from the action.

Other things were too close, like the leftfield fence. The wall was just 251 feet from home plate – or 30 feet closer than the fence on my softball field. Of course, I’d like to have the 42-foot-tall fence that Dodger pitchers had when I take the hill, since my slow-pitch arcs occasionally arc back over by head and land on the adjoining field.

That happened to Dodger pitchers, too. There was talk of adding a second fence 80 feet beyond the first, and balls that dropped between the two would count as ground rule doubles, but it never happened.

Despite the quirks, the team drew nearly 93,000 fans to 1959 World Series games, a record that still stands.

I did enjoy a game in the stadium that previously held that mark, at 86,288 fans. That would be:

Place 80A: Cleveland Stadium

Cleveland was the last stop of the epic baseball road trip of 1989. Rick, Mark and I watched the Red Sox and Blue Jays at SkyDome on June 30, and the plan was to make the fairly short trip through Niagara Falls and to Ohio with plenty of time for fun.

Alas, we were unaware that July 1 is Canada Day. And apparently Canadians celebrate by packing as many cars as they can on the 403 because we spent much of the day stuck in traffic. After several hours of inching along, we started to fear that we would not get to the game in Cleveland on time.

We got there just in time, frazzled, on each other’s nerves and out of film. I set off on my own to do some exploring.

Cleveland Stadium was ready for baseball by 1932, and was massive. The centerfield fence was 470 feet from home until owner Bill Veeck created an inner-fence to cut down the distance.

Veeck, a known bad ass, actually moved fences in and out depending on whether his team would benefit until the American League banned the practice.

The old stadium was one of the most derided in the game when we arrived. It was old, and so huge that even a nice-sized crowd left the place looking half-empty. It didn’t help that the Indians were horrible and had been for years.

We did get a close-up view of former Mets hero Jesse Orosco, who was then on the Indians and appearing in a pre-game autograph booth for several hundred children.

Wondering around the stadium, I heard the unmistakable boom-boom-boom of a bass drum coming from the outer reaches of the ballpark. Bing a National League fan, I was not familiar with John Adams, a super fan who brings his drum and pounds away to inspire the team.

The sound echoed throughout the stadium, and I wandered out to meet Adams, sitting in a section he pretty much had to himself, with the drum propped in the seat in front of them.

We watched the game together, and he converted me. I described the scene in my story about the trip for the Bridgeport Post.

“People say a lot of bad things about this stadium, but they’re wrong,” he said, drumstick in hand, waiting for the next Tribe hit.

“First of all, there are plenty of great seats. This place seats more than 70,000, so I know I’ll never have any trouble getting a ticket.

“Now I know a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, but there are columns that block the view,’” he said, pointing the drumstick at the upper deck. “But that’s bull and I’ll tell you why. Let’s say there are 10,000 seats that in some way block a portion of the field. Even better, for the sake of argument, let’s say there are 20,000. That still leaves 50,000 seats with an unobstructed view. And 50,000 seats are more than Wrigley Field has in the entire ballpark.”

Adams was cut off when Indians star Joe Carter, one of our favorite non-Mets, launched a two-run homer, sending Adams into a drum-pounding frenzy.

The game was a good one, with Mark McGwire and Dave Henderson – another of our favorite non-Mets – starting for Oakland, and Rickey Henderson delivering a broken-bat pinch single to drive in the winning runs.

Adams sold me on the park. It was comfortable, and a great contrast from our previous day at the brand new SkyDome. It became one of my favorites.

The Indians moved to their new park, Jacobs Field, in 1994 and the Browns left for Baltimore after the 1995 season.

That left the massive stadium without a tenant and a date with the wrecking ball. Pieces of the stadium were dumped into Lake Erie to form a reef for fishermen.

Not every piece. Will was living in Columbus at the time, and called with some news. The Indians were selling seats for a reasonable price. He was making the trip to Cleveland to get one, and wanted to know if I wanted one, too. Actually, he knew I wanted one. That was a rhetorical question.

He said workers directed him to drive right into the stadium, where they loaded two yellow seats into his car. Andrew and I made the trip down soon after, a wonderful reunion. And today, the seat from Cleveland Stadium is one of the centerpieces of the basement baseball room.

Baseball Place No. 23: League Park; and Place No. 23A) Ray Chapman memorial, Progressive Field

I used to end up driving through some really bad neighborhoods.

But that was before I had Mandy, the magic voice inside my TomTom, to get me where I’m supposed to go without accidental detours.

That also explains why I didn’t accidentally stumble into what’s left of League Park in Cleveland when my son and I explored the city last summer.

All that remains of the former Cleveland Indians’ home is a section of grandstand wall and the ticket office that has been converted into a community center. Will, who lived in the city for a while, says the 6601 Lexington Ave. site is in a really, really bad part of town.

But it’s still important. Baseball was played on the site from 1891 until 1947, home to Cy Young. Babe Ruth hit his 500th homer there, Nap Lajoie and Tris Speaker picked up their 3,000th hit there, and Jo DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak was snapped in the park.

Josh Pahigian bravely takes us to site as spot No. 23 in his “101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out.”

But while we didn’t see the park’s remains, we did find something that was one of its features.

I present: Alternative Baseball Place No. 23A) The Ray Chapman plaque in Heritage Park, Progressive Field.


Chapman, of course, is the only major-leaguer ever killed by an injury sustained in a game. He was struck in the head by Yankee pitcher Carl Mays at the Polo Grounds in 1920.

A 175-pound brass memorial was soon hung at League Park. It features an image of Chapman over an infield and the inscription “He Lives In The Hearts Of All Who Knew Him.”

The plaque moved with the Indians to Cleveland Stadium, and for unknown reasons was taken down at some point put in a storage room under an escalator, according to a USA Today article.

It was discovered when the team moved to Jacobs Field, then, according to the story, was forgotten.

The Chapman memorial was discovered again in February 2007 by workers cleaning out a storage room, discolored with its writing unreadable.

The team had the memorial refurbished and became the centerpiece of Heritage Park, an exhibit of Indians history that opened in centerfield later that year.
It’s an impressive exhibit, with plaques honoring Indian greats, and ex-Mets like Carlos Baerga.


We later went to Lakefront Cemetery, where Chapman is buried. We didn’t find his resting place, but we did tour President James Garfield’s impressive tomb and stumble upon the graves of John D. Rockefeller and Eliot Ness.
Now, I know you’re thinking that I forgot Place No. 22. Not so! I’m planning something special, and it is taking some more time. So we just rearranged things a little.

Cleveland sites creepy -- but kinda cool

Where in the heck is Rush?

That, I explained to my son, is a very valid question.

But gaping induction holes aside, we had fine time on the second day of our Cleveland adventure.

We made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum just before it opened, arriving just ahead of a tour bus full of people we suspected would be absolutely horrified at much of what they were about to see inside.

The hall is a neat-looking building — designed by I.M. Pei — but I wonder if its unusual shape limits what organizers can display, because for all its size, there doesn’t really seem to be all that much space, and much of the space that is there doesn’t easily lend itself to displays.

My wife and I visited the hall not too long after it opened in 1995, and I checked it out again with the Baseball Truth gang in 2003, discovered that there had been almost a total overhaul – a dramatic improvement.

You might be wondering why such an institution is in Cleveland. A sign out front reads that Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with coining the term "rock and roll" and that the city was the location of the first rock concert. What it doesn’t say was that civic leaders pledged $65 million in public money to fund the construction, which didn’t hurt.

One of the few things you are allowed to photograph in the hall: The Trabant cars from U2's Zoo TV tour.

We started in the lower level with the baseball exhibit and found it kind of lacking, but they did show a Dwight Gooden album that I never knew existed.

My favorite part of the lower level is the display of all the stage clothes. There’s a good representation of everyone from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. For people who are supposed to be larger than life, rock stars are often smaller folks, at least that what it looks like when you see their outfits.

Pausing at the David Bowie exhibit, I saw a kid who looked to be 12 studying some "Ziggy Stardust" era artifacts and say "Is that a boy or a girl?" and suspected Bowie would have been pleased.

Not having any Kiss outfits on display is a gaping hole in the exhibit, but I’ve heard that stems from Gene Simmons refusing to offer up anything unless he got a cut of the admission fees. We can’t fault the museum for that.


But there are plenty of interesting relics, including John Lennon’s piano and glasses, one of Elvis’s jumpsuits and Billy Joel’s motorcycle.

Heading upstairs, we found a new Ramones display that was just glorious — a set list even includes when Dee Dee would yell "one-two-three-four" between songs. We immediately picked Joey out of his elementary school class photo in his Cub Scouts uniform.

We also found the display that includes the cremains of Alan Freed. This is either really creepy or really cool. Or both.

The actual "hall of fame" is an audio-visual presentation showing each year’s inductees and snippets of songs, lyrics and interviews – and in the case of the Sex Pistols, their letter calling the museum "a piss stain" and stating why the surviving members chose not to appear at the induction ceremony.

Most of the songs selected to represent the inductees were obvious choices, some seemed of odd. For Madonna, the hall picked "Vogue." It seemed strange to select a throw-away track on a greatest hits CD that is better known for its video for someone who has a boatload of iconic hits.

And is "Kiss," the best example of Prince’s work? I thought something – anything – from "Purple Rain" would be better. And "Why Can’t This Be Love?" sure isn’t what I think of when I think of Van Halen.


The hallway leading out passes what used to be the hall, etched glass with simulated autographs, the names of the performers and the year inducted. It was kind of a letdown when it was all there was. But it’s perfect as a compliment to the video.

Then you pass through another temporary exhibit – this time it’s about the Beatles’ movie "Help!" – before taking a circular staircase to the very top of the building. That used to be the proper hall with the etched glass. Now its more temporary exhibit space, now dedicated to The Doors.

One my favorite exhibits includes some of the huge stage props from Pink Floyd’s "The Wall" tour, which was a big part of the soundtrack for anyone going to high school in the early 1980s.

After navigating the massive gift store, we walked around the lakeside for a little bit then moved on to our last adventure.

We had to work presidents into this trip somewhere, and James A. Garfield has what must be the most unusual of all presidential tombs. The 20th president rests in Lake View Cemetery on the city’s east side.

We arrived at the castle-like memorial about 4:02 — only to find it closed at 4 p.m. We ran up the stairs and found the doors already locked, and were about to walk away when it slowly opened.

The caretaker said he was sorry, and that he had just closed. I asked if we could quickly pay our respects, and was slowly shaking his head when I added, "We’re from Michigan!"

I intended this to show that we came a long way, forgetting that in Ohio State University country, this is like saying, "I would like to be pushed to the ground and kicked."

But I also know that people who volunteer to staff such places do so because they are passionate about the subject.

He opened the door all the way and said, "Let me go and turn all the lights back on."

Yes!


And once inside we saw a spectacular rotunda with a large white statue of Garfield, dramatically lit. The caretaker said the architect didn’t want the statue in there, thinking it was unnecessary, but was overruled by the committee overseeing the project.

The caretaker pointed out some of the features, then sent us to the circular stone staircase to the lower level.

And there, on simple stone pedestals, were the caskets of President Garfield and his wife, Lucretia as well as urns containing the cremains of their daughter and her husband.


I’ve been to a number of presidential gravesites, and in every other place the caskets are either buried or stashed in a vault. Like with Freed, I couldn’t decided whether this was cool or creepy.

I didn’t want to impose any longer, so we rushed back upstairs and thanked the caretaker profusely. But he said we weren’t done, and pointed to stairs leading up to an observation deck, where, he said, we’d have the best view of the Cleveland skyline in the city. And he was correct.

Asking him to stamp my National Parks passport would have been pushing our luck, so we were on our way.

Lake View is home to a number of other famous Ohio residents, including John D. Rockefeller, lawman Eliot Ness and Ray Chapman, the Indians player killed during a game.

We found Rockefeller and stumbled upon Ness, but were unable to locate Chapman before deciding we needed to start our 5-hour trek back to Grand Rapids.

Cleveland rocks!

I have a new favorite road trip destination -- Cleveland! My son and I picked the city on Lake Erie for our semi-annual bonding trip that included baseball, rock and roll and even a president.

And, of course, we had some adventures and even a nice encounter with some fellow Mets fans.

I like Cleveland. We had a nice visit back when the Indians played in the monsterously huge Cleveland Stadium, and I sat for a spell in the bleachers interviewing John Adams, the guy who bangs the huge drum. And Will and I returned in 1997, first for a game and later for the All-Star Game Home Run Derby, won shockingly by Tino Martinez.

And we toured the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Baseball Truth gang after the opening game of our 2003 weekend was rained out. There was a massive upgrade since my prior Hall visit, and we'll get into that in the next post.

We started with the Cleveland Hard Rock Cafe, which is located in a mall-hotel complex just two blocks from Progressive Field, the unfortunate new name for Jacobs Field.

If you've seen one Hard Rock, you've kind of seen them all, which is not a bad thing. We took turns walking around the restaurant checking out all the sweet rock and roll memorabilia on the walls. We also added to my son's collection of Hard Rock t-shirts and pins.

After our pulled pork sandwiches, we headed over to the ballpark. It was "Beach Weekend," and the Indians had all sorts of music and activities, including truckloads of sand. We had more than an hour before the gates opened, so we walked on down to the Rock Hall to plot our visit for the next day.

The Indians have some neat plaza art, with an impressive Bob Feller statue, and large letters spelling out "Who's on First?"

The Jake is a nice ballpark. Built at the start of the new wave of design, the team passed on the retro look for a sleek, modern look with lots of exposed white steel. It's already 14 years old, but doesn't look it. The video display on scoreboard is just incredible, and blows away what the Reds had to offer the week before.

It was cap night -- never a bad thing -- and I was impressed that small programs were handed out for free. But they lack a scorecard, so I picked one up at a concession stand, and learned that the yearbooks were half-price. A sale at a ballpark?

The gift store was more than adequate, with a charity section selling game-used jerseys for $175, and autographed tags that looked like locker signs for between $25 and $75, depending on the player.

Of course, I opted for the lower-end of the souvenir spectrum, buying an Indians Statue of Liberty pin to get change for the penny squishing machine.

I didn't notice of there were any specialty foods, but we were still full from our meal at the Hard Rock.

Strolling around, I discovered the Indians' Heritage Park in centerfield. It's basically a collection of plaques commemorating the team's greatest moments and players. It was nice, but a drastic step down from the Reds' over-the-top Hall of Fame from the week before.

The lower level had this plaque for Ray Chapman, the only player killed in a game. There also was a section for what appeared to be the 100 greatest Indians, with autographs etched into polished black stone. Ex-Met Carlos Baerga gets some love there.


I also ran into Slider, dressed in his beach party attire. We could not figure out what Slider is supposed to be, which makes him a bad mascot. Then again, not everyone can be Mr. Met.

Speaking of the Mets, I was wearing my 1994 Indians Eddie Murray jersey for the occasion. My son and I settled into our seats behind home plate in the upper deck, and in the middle of the second inning a man and a woman came and sat in the seats next to us.

I saw him looking the out-of-town scoreboard and say to his wife, "Oh no, the Mets are already down 4-0," in a perfect accent. Instinctively, I turned and said, "I guess Brandon Knight is getting roughed up in his debut."

"What are you, an Indian fan who also roots for the Mets?"

"No, I'm a Mets fan who collects jerseys. Where in New York are you from?"

"Wantagh."

"No. Freaking. Way. Massapequa Park!"

OK, so there are 38,500 people at this game and I'm lucky enough to get to sit next to a Mets fan from two towns over. I lead a blessed life.

Turns out my new friend was in the middle of a ballpark tour with his wife, seeing the Pirates the night before, then heading to Detroit the next day and over to Toronto before heading home. And he, too, was at the second game of the Subway Series, where Johan Santana was denied and my streak extended.

Naturally, we had all kinds of fun talking about our resurgent team and how Cleveland was a nice city. I warned him about Detroit.

We noticed that the Indians fans were very polite. The Twins rocked Fausto Carmona for 9 runs in two and a third innings, and he walked off the mound to a smattering of polite applause. That's not quite the response he would have gotten at Shea.

But we also had praise for our hosts. "I haven't seen a single person in Yankees gear all night," the wife testified. "I saw three people in Pittsburgh last night wearing Yankees stuff."

I say anyone who rates crowd intelligence by the lack of Yankee logos is pretty darn astute. And I pointed out that I saw a guy with a David Wright t-shirt and Mets backpack, plus my son was wearing his inherited Mets batting practice jersey. That's a good ratio.

There was a beautiful sunset and clouds on an absolutely perfect evening. I'm loving both Costco and my new camera for allowing me to capture this.

Here's an aside for some Costco love. My old camera -- old in relative electronic terms -- died in Key West in April, and we bought a new one from Costco.

Well, sometime in the glory of the steak snapping in Cincy, either I dropped the camera or someone stepped on it in my backpack because the viewing screen was shattered. There was much sadness.

I know Costco changed its electronics return policy, which we have used liberally after a series of iPod deaths. I thought we had 30 days to return something. But when I brought my shattered camera to the store to check into buying a new one, I discovered that you actually have 90 days -- and I was on day 85.

So I was able -- encouraged, actually -- to return the broken camera and get a replacement. Since they don't sell the model of the broken one any more, I had to upgrade to a model that features a much better zoom feature.

And this why all of my gold fish are named "Costco." But I digress.

The Twins eventually spanked the Indians 12-4, which I could enjoy as a neutral observer. We did have some angst following the progress of the Mets game. The team had caught up with the Cardinals, then lost the lead again.

We hit a place in The Flats and found ESPN showing the Mets had tied it up again and were deep into extra innings by the time our ballpark pretzels and dipping sauces were served. They didn't blow the game until after we got back to the hotel and took advantage of La Quinta's free wifi to follow the progress.

That was a lot of excitment for Day One. I'll return with the rest of our adventures.

Tin soldiers and Mets Guy's coming...

I seem to be spending a lot of time in Ohio this summer.

After breaking the streak in Cincinnati last weekend, my son and I are headed to Cleveland to take in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an Indians game.

Deezo’s a Cleveland guy, so I don’t he’ll object to his fair city taking up a big chunk of the Deezo Friday Five.


1) It’s my son’s first trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s been learning about classic rock, and I expect this to be a crash course.

There’s a special exhibit about The Doors, which had that huge revival when I was in high school. That must have frustrated bands at the time that were actually alive and functioning.

Some things seem to have changed since my last visit to the hall in 2003. Mainly the admission price at $22 a head! I’m glad I discovered this in advance and found a hotel package that throws in the tickets. Otherwise an exchange like this might have happened:

Me: $22? Are you kidding me? Well, at least I can see the Rush exhibit.
Poor ticket-seller: Sorry, sir. But Rush has not been inducted.
Me: What? $22 and no Rush? Fine. I’m sure the Twisted Sister display will be well worth the price.
PTS: If we had one, I’m sure it would be.
Me: No Twisted? Next thing you know you’ll tell me they never got around to inducting Kiss.
PTS: (blank stare)
Me: Aw, c’mon! It is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right? Who do you guys have in there, Madonna?
PTS: Actually, she was inducted this year.



2) I swear it’s just a coincidence that the Hall has a baseball-themed exhibit right now. “Take Me Out: Baseball Rocks” “celebrates baseball as a pop-culture phenomenon through displays of sheet music, sports memorabilia, records and film. It also includes listening stations stocked with early recordings and will include displays on baseball-associated songs from “I Love Mickey,” Teresa Brewer’s 1956 Mickey Mantle tribute, to the Seattle Mariners/New York Mets anthem “Who Let the Dogs Out?” (Baha Men, 2000).”

We shared that thing with the Mariners?



3) It was about 95 degrees when I went to see the Mets and the Reds last Sunday, and my seat was right in the blazing sun. Luckily, I had some packets of sunscreen left in my backpack.

Now, had I been at the sinkhole called Yankee Stadium, I would have been either burned to a crisp or broke.

The Skanks took all kinds of heat for adding sunscreen to the list of things banned at the ballpark, allegedly telling fans they could cover themselves one last time at the turnstile, then throw away the rest.

Apparently the team feared the sunscreen would be used by terrorists, as if anything or anyone is more terrifying than anything or anyone in the Yankee Stadium bleachers.

Not to fear, the team was willing to sell you a one-ounce bottle of sunscreen for a whopping $5. That’s probably more expensive than Derek F. Jeter’s cologne — put the sunscreen probably smells better.



4) We’re seeing the Indians play the Twins at what is now called Progressive Field. Last time I was there we saw the 1997 All-Star Game Home Run Derby and the celebrity softball game, buying tickets from a scalper on the street for $5 over the $20 face value. That wouldn’t happen today.

It’s free cap day, so we’ll be bringing home some Wahoo wear. I’m torn about that. I have a friend who thinks Wahoo is a tremendous logo, but I can also see why some might find it offensive.

The Tribe’s new retro uniforms are pretty sweet. Then again, calling them “The Tribe” is probably as offensive as the logo. This is going to be a tricky weekend.



5 ) The awesome Uniwatch blog today published these old comics proving that Spider-Man is a Mets fan. Check out the classic panels on Shea!

Well of course he’s a Mets fan. “The Amazing” is a part of his name.

Plus, can you imagine being a superhero going to Yankee Stadium? You’d be so busy fighting crime in the stands — confiscating sunscreen and all — that you’d never get to watch the game.