Puskas: Baseball’s pennant race goes deep into the night


I’m not a fan of West Coast baseball games. They impede the progress of putting out a sports section, especially in the eastern half of the United States.

That’s the sports editor in me.

But the kid in me remembers staying up late with a transistor radio (look it up, millennials) and ear buds to follow the Indians on their various road trips out west.

I was reminded of those days on the way home from the office Monday night. It was an off night, but I had to deliver an urgent care package to the family’s new college student and was enticed downtown by the promise of donuts in the sports department.

Thank you, Tom Williams.

Everyone knows about cops and donuts. Insert punchline here. But I’ll take a sportswriters over police officers in a donut-eating competition any day. Throw in a few hungry reporters and editors from the other side of any newsroom and the life expectancy for a box of donuts is non-existent.

But back to baseball.

After the donut, I got in the car and remembered the Indians were playing the Athletics in Oakland. Scoreless through seven by the time I turned onto Front Street.

By the time I was out of downtown, Carlos Santana had untied the game with a home run. If that had happened in the late 1970s, I’d have had to celebrate quietly for fear of waking the rest of the house. No such issue this time — just the guy in the next car over wondering why I was so happy.

The other difference is that there was never a pennant race in the mix when I was a kid.

Unless you’re completely immersed in football (it doesn’t count yet) or the election (God help you), you know that the 2016 Indians are one of baseball’s best teams.

They entered Tuesday night’s game against Oakland with a record of 72-51 and an American League-best winning percentage of .585. They had a 71/2-game lead over the second-place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

Only the National League’s Chicago Cubs (79-45, .637) and Washington Nationals (73-51, .589) were better the Indians entering Tuesday’s games.

By the time I turned onto my street, the game was in the ninth. After a couple of spins around the block, it was the bottom of the ninth and Andrew Miller was in to try to save it.

In other words, game over.

The rule of thumb in baseball for a dominant pitcher is averaging a strikeout per innng. The left-handed Miller — virtually unhittable — averages nearly two strikeouts an inning.

Adding him to an Indians team with a deep rotation and just enough hitting might could lead to an AL pennant.

And that prospect has made me forget what a pain West Coast baseball can be.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.