For One More Night, Jim Thome is King of Cleveland

The exciting Indian summer turned into a fading fall as the calendar turned to September.  The Indians have been out of it for weeks now, and at this point are playing out the string.  Manny Acta has done his best to try and make these games mean something for this young team – avoiding a complete meltdown mail-in.  As a fan though, it’s hard to get excited about late-season meaningless baseball games getting in the way of fall football optimism.

But for one night, as a fan, this ‘meaningless’  September Twins-Tribe game was as thrilling and special as it gets.

The night belonged to Jim Thome – it was, in fact, “Jim Thome Night” at the ballpark.  One night after the Indians and White Sox arranged to have Omar Vizquel and Thome exchange lineup cards, the Indians organization brought back some of Thome’s old ’90’s teammates and revealed that they had commissioned a statue of Thome to be built in centerfield (more on this later).

With the pre-game hype having subsided, Thome settled in at the plate to provide some wonderful symmetry and magic to the evening.  With the Indians trailing 2-0, he snuck a pitch from Twins starter Carl Pavano down the left field line for a double to score Kosuke Fukudome.  Matt LaPorta would even the game at 2 one inning later with his own double.

Then, with the Tribe once again trailing by 2, Thome stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the third…and he hammered a 1-1 pitch from Pavano to straight away center – an absolute bomb into the trees.  It was later marked at 445 feet, although Jordan Bastian reported and noted that the Indians initially announced it at 425 feet, or “for 25.”

It was his 604th career home run, his 15th of the season.  Thome received a standing ovation and curtain call from the Progressive Field crowd.  It was one of many in a night of standing ovations that started out simply to honor past achievements but quickly transformed into bliss and awe honoring the present.

The opposite of a 450 foot bomb – an infield dribbler, was “legged out” for a lumbering single in the 5th.  It was truly a show, magical.  He finished his night 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs.

In non-Jim Thome related matters, the game ended in nearly as exciting a fashion when Carlos Santana hit his 27th home run of the season for the walk-off 6-5 win.  Santana was pinch-hitting for catcher Laser Lou Marson, and Carlos made the most of the only pitch he saw all evening – a grooved 92 mph fastball from Matt Capps.  Ballgame.

Justin Masterson struggled in what Manny Acta announced postgame as his final start of the season.  It was the first time the Tribe ace failed to get through 5th inning this season.  He gave up 4 runs and was pulled in the 5th as he clearly didn’t have it in this late-season start, walking 6 Twins batters.  The bullpen kept the game within reach over the next four innings, setting the stage for Santana’s walk-off.

The Indians continue to play well in these mundane final days of the season.  They stand at .500 and will face off against the Twins in a double header today with David Huff pitching this afternoon and, unbelievably, Mitch Talbot scheduled to make his long-awaited return to glory this evening.

But on a night where the Brewers, Rangers, and Diamondbacks all celebrated with champagne and not statues, the Indians, and Jim Thome, gave Tribe fans a night to remember in this final week of the 2011 season.