Wickman's
Warriors trading cards and effects provided courtesy of
Jimmy Havran Enterprises of Norwalk, Ohio
WICKMAN’S WARRIORS BECOMING A MONSTER!!
The
return of Wick to the bullpen from the DL on August 10th set up a
monster Saturday afternoon game.
Enter
Bobby in the top of the ninth to face the bottom of the Texas Rangers’ batting order in a 3-3 tie. Will he breeze through a 1-2-3
ninth on this hot August day, or must he summon the beast within to set up his
first victory of the year? Duh.
After
getting ahead of the .178 Sadler (who?), the count goes to full on some
questionable non-calls before this guy flies out to center. After a Herbert
Perry walk, Catalanotto singles off the glove of the diving Gutierrez. What
the…? Did I just feel a tremor? The whole place just shook!
Here
comes some guy named Lamb. Sacrificial, I hope. Come on, double play.
There
it is. A slow roller to short. Vizquel to Gutierrez for one, the relay to first:
Not in time! What’s that growling sound? Are we having an earthquake or what?
First
and third, two outs. Great, here comes A-Rod.
Uh- oh…
Bobby’s
ahead, 1-2. Ball 2. Fouled-off. Ball 3. Come on, call that! Fouled again. A
swing and a liner towards the right field corner! No! That’ll score two!
Wait, here comes a streaking Karim (I knew I liked this guy) Garcia!
He’s got a bead on it. He reaches up, snags it, crashes into the wall and hangs on!
Later in the inning, with Jim Thome at second, who else but Karim blisters a single off the left field wall to score J.T. with the winning run. Exit Bobzilla into the sunset with his first win of the season under a big throbbing right paw, with a little help from an old friend who can also go radioactive. Son of Bobzilla? Nah…
7-6-2004
After nearly two agonizing years, Cleveland’s beloved closer Bob Wickman returned to the mound on a glorious summer night at the Jake.
Activated earlier in the day, the match up between the Indians and the Rangers proved the perfect stage for our hero’s return.
Starter Cliff Lee (8-1) pitched a fabulous six and two-thirds innings against the red hot Texas team, turning over the 4-1 lead to reliever Matt Miller, who held the Rangers scoreless to the eighth.
Enter
the Dragon.
The
applause from the crowd built gradually as Wick made his way to the mound, and
he got a standing ovation as his name was officially announced.
Just
like he never missed a beat, Bob shattered Eric Young’s bat as the popper fell
harmlessly into Omar Vizquel’s glove for the first out. After Michael Young
ripped a line-drive single to right field, Bobzilla got down to business by
striking out Alfonzo Soriano on three straight pitches. The inning ended on a
high fly ball by Mark Teixeira to center, which Coco Crisp (Wickman’s Warriors
player of the month-June) smartly put away.
After
David Riske recorded the final out of the game, it was a joy to watch Bob go
through the post-game congratulation line, getting hugs and
high-fives from his teammates. It was finally here: The day that he worked so
hard for. It was the day that he deserved, and it seemed everyone there was
close to tearing up a little. But then he never would have
gotten the reaction from the crowd that he did if we all weren’t aware of what
he’s been going through for the last two years.
“The toughest thing has been
coming to the ballpark for two years knowing that you’re not going to play,”
said Wick. “The team is going out there at 7 p.m. and you’re going home.”
That’s all over now. Bob says he won’t hold back. “If she goes, she goes. I’m throwing every pitch I can. Either it’s healed or it’s not.”
Whatever happens, Bob Wickman took the high, hard road and never quit. I’m going to enjoy watching a great ballplayer honor the last 3 months of his contract, and take whatever lessons I can learn from his example.
Update: 7-12-04Loyal Bob Wickman fans everywhere are being rewarded for their faithfulness by the stellar performance of our comeback kid.
The popularity of Wickman’s Warriors is beginning to return to the
pre-elbow injury days of 2002, when Bobby was saving games at an alarming rate.
The website lit up like a Christmas tree the week of Wick’s return, and emails
of congratulations have been steady (you guys in Wisconsin are awesome homeboy
supporters). Tee shirt orders are going up as well as requests for yours-truly
to do some interviews. We all deserve a pat on the back for our unwavering
confidence in Bob’s perseverance.
Our success at the club, however, has always depended on Wick’s
performance on the field. He came through with flying colors.
In
his 3 appearances leading up to the All-Star Break, Bob’s numbers looked like
this:
As usual, our hero gets into some tight squeezes, but usually knows how to get out safely. Bob looks strong as a bulldog so far, and his pitches still have that wicked sinking action our boy is known for. Bob states his main goal as “finishing off the year strong.” We have no reason to doubt it- remember-
“IN BOB WE TRUST!” J.
Ladd
P.S. Why wasn’t Bob Wickman on the All-Star team? He hasn’t given up a run in almost 2 years!
With Apologies to Andy Warhol
