Indians unable to start Hafner
By Paul Hoynes
Cleveland Plain Dealer
If the TV cameras happen to pan the dugout at AT&T Park today and they settle on a big guy lounging in the corner of the Indians dugout wearing shades, flip flops and a Tommy Bahama shirt, that would be Travis Hafner hard at work.
The Indians opened a nine-game interleague trip Friday in San Francisco. The DH isn’t used in National League parks, which means that outside a pinch-hitting appearance once a game, Hafner is going to have plenty of time to study the sight lines of the Giants’ jewel of a ballpark, the Diamondbacks’ Chase Field in Phoenix and Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.
Hafner would love to play, and manager Manny Acta would welcome him at first base, but he just can’t do it. The surgery he underwent in October 2008 on his right shoulder made throwing a baseball a non-option. For most of 2009 and 2010 Hafner had enough trouble just swinging a bat.
This year is different. Hafner is hitting .338 (44-for-130) with seven homers and 29 RBIs. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting .500 (18 of 36). He has 15 RBIs in his last nine games.
Lamented Acta after watching Hafner hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over Colorado, “Travis is at his peak right now. He’s so intimidating and locked in at the plate. It’s just sad that we’re not going to see him for nine games ... very sad.”
The Indians played the same nine-game stretch last year. They lost seven games and Hafner went 0-for-5 with a walk as a pinch hitter.
Acta complained, saying he enjoyed interleague play, but not when he had to play nine straight games without his best hitter. The schedule makers were so moved, they gave the Indians the same schedule this year.