Tribe Time

Jacob’s Field

By Josh Watkins

One warm, calm summer night,

I travel to Jacob’s Field where the Indians will put up a fight.

The atmosphere is filled with happy emotion,

The weather is so nice; I don’t need any lotion.

Souvenir shops open and fans fill the walks,

Music fills the stadium and announcers have their talks.

The Jumbo-Tron is awake and filled with happy faces,

Many of them have come from far away places.

The players are on the field and ready to play,

Hoping to bring a victory home by the end of the day.

Fans leave the stores and fill the seats,

With their arms packed full of drinks and ballpark meats.

The players take their positions and the umpire shouts “Play ball!”

Fans cheer loudly, wanting the Indians to take it all.

The first pitch is thrown and is called strike one,

The batter swings, strike two, strike three and he is done.

Two more challengers step to the plate,

Both become hitless as they have met their fate.

The Indians step up and start with two strikes to none,

Then SMASH! A ball is hit over the crowd and lost in the sun.

Fans cheer as the batter makes his way to home plate,

It looks like tonight’s game is going to be great.

I relax in my seat as the sun is about to set,

The Indians are up by five, but it isn’t over yet.

I begin to smile as the fans begin to chant,

“Let’s go Indians!” is their rant.

It’s the top of the seventh and the score is tied,

Strap yourselves in for a wild ride.

CRACK! Is the sound of the bat as the crowd starts to boo,

That ball is out of here and boy, it did flew.

Bottom of the ninth and the Indians are down by three,

The hometown crowd is looking like the raging sea.

Bases are loaded, two outs, two strikes, and it is getting dark,

The swing! The hit! And this ball is out of the park.

The crowd goes wild as a grand slam seals the deal,

The feeling is all too great, all too real.

The Indians have done it; they have won it all,

They are bound for the playoffs in the fall.

The regular season is over, the Indians have won,

What a year! It has been a lot of fun!

Why are you an Indians fan and don't you mean Progressive Field? Shouldn't you be a Phillies fan? Some of you may be thinking this right now. Yes I grew up in southern PA, but I didn't follow baseball until I moved to Cleveland and my first baseball game ever was at the 2004 Mountain Top where they took 1000 people to that game. Then came the first magical run since the 90s in the year of 2007 when the Tribe made it to the AL championship game. I was a die hard after that point. 

The ballpark was originally named Jacob's field (a.k.a. The Jake) before Progressive bought the naming rights. I still call it the Jake (stupid advertisements). 

This piece's inspiration came from some fiction, some fact. The part about me being at the ballpark is from how I felt at the MT game. The Tribe claiming the division and making it to the postseason was from that 2007 season. As for the actual game play, I guess that was my dream scenario to see on one of my visits there.

As for critical reading, look at that horrible line "it did flew." I wanted to use the line before it and tried and tried to rhyme it, but that was the best I could come up with. Note: Forced rhyming makes for bad flow and bad writing. Also notice the exclamation points on the swing and hit, but a period for out of the park. I guess the ball clearing the fence wasn't as exciting as the swing and the hit...I don't know what I was thinking.

I hope y'all enjoyed this tribute to the Tribe. Here's looking forward to claiming that World Series in 2014. Go Tribe!