Caravan wraps successful journey
01/26/2006CANTON, Ohio -- All week, Eric Wedge has been riding a bus.
But when the Indians Winter Caravan pulled into the Marriott McKinley Grand Hotel here Thursday morning, cars were on the mind of the Tribe manager.
The hotel's basement contains an impressive collection of about 100 rare, vintage cars, all of which are for sale.
Wedge perused the vast Motorcar Portfolio, which includes such gems as a 1956 Ford Fairlane convertible and a 1964 Chevy Impala sport coupe, and seemed intrigued.
He was asked if he's a collector.
"I'm a wannabe-collector," he said with a smile. "I get a kick out of some of this stuff."
Wedge is currently having the first car he ever owned -- a 1980 Chevy Camaro -- restored to its original beauty. The car was blue when Wedge first had it, but he's not sure what color it will be when all is said and done.
"It was in good shape when I had it in high school," Wedge said, "but not now."
C.C. Sabathia was equally intrigued by the car collection, because he's in the process of building one of his own. One of his prized possessions is a '64 Lincoln Continental, but he's keeping his eye out for a vintage Cadillac '62 or '64 series.
In fact, looking at the list had Sabathia wondering if he might be able to duck out of the luncheon and ensuing autograph session.
"I want to check this out," he said.
But first there was business to attend to. Upwards of 500 Tribe fans -- mostly adults -- packed the hotel's ballroom for a boxed luncheon that included a Q&A session with Wedge, Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Travis Hafner and Joel Skinner.
Rich Bossler, the vice president and general manager of WHBC 1480 AM, which staged the event, said the Canton stop of the winter press tour is always a popular one.
"We had made about 450 tickets available, and we sold out within three days," he said. "We notice, as far as our radio station is concerned, from our spring book to our fall book, it's incredible what the difference is in our listenership to our evening hours through the week. Our audience is always larger in our spring book, which happens during the Indians' season."
Leonard Stevens is one of those fans tuning in. The Canton resident, who is also a member of the local Rotary Club, which helped stage the luncheon, said he's excited about the season ahead.
"I've been an Indians fan all my life, going back about 45 years," he said. "I go to a lot of games every year. I'm expecting this year to be a great year, especially the way they finished last year."
In what can best be described as a state-of-the-team address, Wedge told the crowd to expect his young club to learn from the lessons it endured when its bid for the playoffs came up just short last season.
"We're wiser for it today," he said. "We're tougher for it today."
Wedge will be joined on the bench this season by Skinner, who will be moving from third-base coaching duties to bench coaching duties. So what, exactly, does Skinner's new job require? That was the question posed to him by emcee Tom Hamilton, the voice of the Indians.
"What do I have to do, Eric?" Skinner asked Wedge, drawing a laugh from the crowd. "Actually, I talked to [former bench coach] Buddy Bell about this, and he said, 'Sit next to Eric and don't say anything. If something bad happens, go get a drink of water.' "
That wasn't the only moment of comic relief at the event. Hafner probably got the biggest reaction from the crowd when he grabbed the microphone and asked Hamilton, a Wisconsin native, why the Wisconsin Badgers recently dropped a basketball game to the North Dakota State Bison, from Pronk's neck of the woods.
"Well, I think when the guys from North Dakota drove in on their John Deere tractors, the Badgers were overconfident," Hamilton said with a laugh.
He then turned to Hafner and remarked, "Boy, he's as dangerous with a mic as he is with a bat, isn't he?"
Yes, he is. But Wedge is hoping Pronk is more dangerous with the latter than the former in '06. He promised the crowd that his team, as a whole, is something for local fans to be proud of.
"It's a special group already, and it's going to be more special," Wedge said. "They respect the game, and part of respecting the game is respecting each one of you and your support."
The Indians, who wrapped up their Caravan with Thursday's stops in Canton, Youngstown, Lima and Mansfield, also seem to respect the beauty of a vintage car.
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home