Astrals 3
Subcontinentals 2
contributed by NeilT
People ask me, what was it like? Growing up in Cleveland? Cleveland, city of mystery, exotic, extravagant, elegant, eclectic, it is the city of a billion faces and experiences, Cleveland! And of course there are the Subcontinentals, the baseball representatives of our City, with the stylized picture of the Father of our City, Gandhi, on their caps. The Subcontinentals are the reincarnated souls from a dozen other teams, including the third base coach, Brad Mills, and tonight’s starting pitcher, Brett Myers, both of whom in former lives were Houston Astrals.
Going into a stadium where the Subcontinentals are playing is a special experience. There is the bustle of the street market, the smells of humans and spice and something indefinable, something not always pleasant but always rich and exciting, a challenge to the senses. I bought a chai and a couple of lamb somosas and a plate of the goat byriani and pushed my way through the crowd in time for the opening raga..
It is a divided stadium, as is our City, with Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics. Did you know there is a special vendor for the Jains, who are fruitatarians? These Houston Astrals talk of their diversity, but we ClevelandIndians are a very ancient diversity. Cleveland, city of mystery! City of a million faces! But the material world is often a harsh reality. In the third, J.D. Martinez hit a two run homer after Pena walked. Ankiel, who today’s Houston Chronicle described as “Hit or Miss”, followed with a second home run to make it 3-0, Astrals. Ankiel is on track to hit .194 with 100 RBI, 40 home runs, and 200 strike outs.
It was the Astrals only scores of the evening. Fortunately, the Cleveland fans restored harmony and balance by beginning chants. I joined in with ommmmm, ommmmm, but the Krishnas sitting next to me, all of whom were resplendent in saffron, began to chant the names of Lord Krishna, “Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare . . . “, and play those damn finger cymbals. I hate those finger cymbals. There’s no place for finger cymbals in baseball.
Myers, whose former-life Karma must not have been very good, did manage to shut the Astrals down. J.D. Martinez may have injured his knee on a checked swing in the bottom of the fourth, but Brandon Barnes hit a pinch hit single. Altuve had a lead-off single and a steal in the 5th. Maxwell walked in the 8th. That was the offense.
In the fourth, amidst clouds of incense, the most holy sadhu, Lonnie Chisenhall, homered to right, driving in Mark Reynolds. Ommmm. Ommmm.
In the 7th inning stretch, we went through three yoga positions, dandayamana-dhanrasana (the standing bow pulling pose), dandayamana-bibhaktapada-paschimotthanasana (the standing separate leg-stretching pose), and trikanasana (triangle pose), and sang this classic raga.
Wesley Wright replaced Harrell with two outs in the 6th, after Reynolds singled for the Subcontinentals. Sadhu Chisenhall grounded out to end the inning. Wright allowed a single in the 7th, and was replaced by Armbriz in the 8th. Armbriz allowed the reincarnation of a former Yankee, Nick Swisher, to double in the 8th, followed by a Santana swim in the holy River Ganges. The inning ended with a nice 1-4-3 double play. Veras got his first save in the 9th, allowing a Drew Stubbs single. Harrell got his first win.
Namaste.