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Turn Back Clock Day turns into win over Seattle
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
SEATTLE: It was not a very good year for either the Seattle Mariners or the Indians, but Turn Back the Clock Day at Safeco Field on Saturday was a celebration of 1989, anyway.
The Tribe did more rejoicing, vanquishing the Mariners 9-6, as Jeremy Sowers (1-5, 7.33 ERA) won for the first time this season.
''A win is a win,'' Sowers said. ''It doesn't matter how you do it, you're going to feel good. Of course, you want to be more process oriented, you want to pay attention more to how you do it than the result.''
The way Sowers did it was both good and bad. He lasted six innings, giving up four runs, five hits and three walks. He threw one wild pitch, but mixed in two double-play balls.
''Jeremy was back and forth,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ''Again, he showed a good arm, and he got a couple of double-play balls, which means he was keeping the ball down and making good pitches when he needed to.
''But I felt like he made it harder than he had to on himself, getting behind in the count, running the count to 3-and-2 a few times. He's a work in progress. He understands what he needs to do, but sometimes he gets in his own way.''
Compared to early in the season and particularly last year, Sowers is throwing harder, and his pitches seem to have more movement. Maybe that has made it more difficult for him to throw to spots.
His most erratic moments came in the sixth inning, which started with Raul Ibanez getting hit by a pitch. Sowers followed by giving up a single to Adrian Beltre and walking Jose Lopez to load the bases. Jose Vidro forced Lopez at second to score one run, and Sowers unleashed a wild pitch to score Beltre.
But as quickly as events went awry, Sowers reined himself in to strike out rookie Bryan LaHair and Jeff Clement, both of whom flailed at pitches they thought were traveling in one direction but ended up elsewhere.
If Sowers lacked consistency against the Mariners, he was much more in control than in his last start, when he walked seven and struck out eight in four innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
''I wasn't quite as energetic as I was that day, and I mean that in a good way,'' he said. ''Even so, I walked three guys, one on four pitches.''
At times, a pitcher can feel that all of the body parts necessary to make a pitch aren't in sync, but it's not easy to do something about it in the midst of trying to retire major-league hitters.
''Sometimes you do feel out of whack, and you don't know what's going on,'' Sowers said. ''When that happens, you take a deep breath, then get back on the mound. You trust your catcher (to find the problem), and you try not to worry about it.''
The Indians owed the win mostly to a three-run first inning and a six-run third that forced starter Miguel Batista (4-11, 6.98 ERA) from the game after he faced five batters in the third and got none of them out.
Shin-Soo Choo was the leader of the pack, whacking his fourth home run of the season with a runner on base in the first and driving in another run with his first of two doubles in the third.
Until he was traded for Ben Broussard on July 26, 2006, Choo was a member of the Mariners' organization, though he made it to the big leagues for only 10 games in 2005 and four the next year before the swap to the Indians.
''It was exciting to come back; it's been almost two years since I've been here,'' Choo said. ''I really like Seattle, and I got to see my (former) teammates and everybody I knew here.''
And what, if any, satisfaction did Choo receive returning to play against the team that traded him?
''Hopefully, you play the same in Kansas City or Chicago,'' he said. ''But playing in Seattle is different. But I'm not with Seattle anymore. Now I am an Indian.''
Choo almost had something else to worry about: his right knee. He suffered a bloody gash when he slid into first trying to beat out an infield hit in the fourth inning.
''Jeff Datz, Eric Wedge, they all told me not to do that again,'' he said. ''David Dellucci said I look like I got kicked by a Ninja.''
As for the significance of Turn Back the Clock Day, it is interesting to note that both teams finished sixth in their divisions with 73-89 records in 1989, when the American League was divided into only East and West segments.
Ken Griffey was a 19-year old rookie who hit .264 with 16 home runs for the Mariners, and Omar Vizquel, 22, batted .220 as the everyday shortstop. The Indians' top hitters were Jerry Browne (.299) and Joe Carter (35 homers, 105 RBI); Albert Belle appeared in 62 games and batted .225.
Although 1989 was a long time ago, events of that season have a familiar ring.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
SEATTLE: It was not a very good year for either the Seattle Mariners or the Indians, but Turn Back the Clock Day at Safeco Field on Saturday was a celebration of 1989, anyway.
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