Results tagged ‘ Ohio State University ’
Swisher and Francona discuss the outfielder signing for the Tribe
The Indians unveiled the team’s newest outfielder, Nick Swisher, at a press conference at Progressive Field on Thursday afternoon. The former Yankees standout could barely contain his enthusiasm throughout the event, speaking about his excitement to join the Indians and play for manager Terry Francona, while being close to his roots at Ohio State University and Parkersburg, WV.
TribeVibe caught up with both Swisher and Francona to get their thoughts on the slugger joining the team.
New Indians Outfielder Nick Swisher
On how he feels to have signed for the Indians:
“We’re excited to be here. This is the team that rolled out the red carpet in the right way, hit me in the heart in the right spots, and like I said before, every time we would sit back and look at the situation, all roads would lead to Cleveland.
On whether he originally expected to sign with Cleveland:
“[I was surprised] because we had a good amount of teams going on, and at the end when everything was on the table, we kind of laid it out, and like I said, this was the place we wanted to be… you never know how things are going to shake out. You never know how the market is going to work, but to be in the position we are – getting five years – that’s what we wanted – and we could not be more excited about the opportunity. It’s going to be great.”
On his time with the Yankees and his role in the Indians clubhouse:
“It was a great time. I had an awesome time, you know. I like to think I have fun wherever I go, but just to be part of an organization like that with the tradition – and the winning tradition – that rubs off on you, so hopefully that is something I can bring over here. Maybe be more of a leader in the clubhouse then I ever have been before, and I’m excited about that. I’m excited to get together with the guys, and be part of that team. From what I’ve heard from the guys, it’s a great locker room, a great group of guys, a bunch of guys that want to win, and I’m hoping this year we have a chance to.
On his feeling after his “recruiting visit” to Progressive Field:
We were walking out of here like ‘man, these guys did it right!’ It was just an amazing situation to be in, and I think they tugged on the right strings. They went Ohio State on me, they brought back Jim Tressel – one of my idols, who I hadn’t seen in years – and like I said, they did it right, and I could not be happier about the way it turned out.
Indians Manager Terry Francona
On his expectations for Swisher in the Tribe’s lineup:
He has hit anywhere from 2nd to probably 6th in the order. You can bet he’s not going to hit 6th, but I can see some scenarios where maybe he does hit 2nd. We’ll see, and you know I was being honest when I said I want to sit down and talk to guys about it.
On his philosophy for selecting the batting order:
You can’t let guys choose their spot in the batting order, but when there’s a comfort zone, I want there to be that, and I want there to be some consistency where I don’t want guys showing up every day and having to look at the lineup. I don’t think that’s healthy. You know, you go through injuries and things like that where guys have to make adjustments, but I like to be really consistent.
On the impact of Nick’s father Steve Swisher, a former Major Leaguer:
I think more often than not you see guys respect the game that grew up in households like that…I’m sure that Steve is extremely proud of Nick. I was actually watching him during the conference and you could see he was kind of beaming, as he should.
– TribeVibe Contributor Max Lom
Urban Meyer Visits Progressive Field
Ohio State University head football coach Urban Meyer and his sons, Jack and Nate, spent the day at Progressive Field on Monday. The Meyers toured the Indians Clubhouse, battled Indians pitcher Joe Smith in ping pong, and took batting practice in the indoor batting cages.
TribeVibe: How has your experience at Progressive Field been thus far?
Urban Meyer: It’s a little bit of a time warp because I grew up about 40 miles east of here. We used to come and watch the Cleveland Indians all the time in the old stadium. I was always a big Indians fan when Rick Manning and Duane Kuiper and all those guys were playing, so it’s just great to be back here.
TV: What’s your best memory of coming down to watch an Indians game as a kid?
UM: One of my dreams was that I got drafted by the Atlanta Braves, but when I came here when I was young, when I was 17 years old—a senior in high school—they invited me up here to eat. They took me on the field and said, ‘You’re going to be the next shortstop for the Cleveland Indians.’ It didn’t work out, but obviously that’s how excited I was.
TV: Do you have a favorite player on the Indians?
UM: I just have a following going. I’m a big Lowe fan. I’ve just watched him for so many years.
TV: Did you know Lowe would be starting tonight when you planned this visit?
UM: I just found out, and I’m all excited.
TV: Your son is throwing out tonight’s first pitch. Is he a Cleveland Indians fan?
UM: He’s actually a Tampa Bay Rays fan. He’s a tough one. All he knows is Florida, but he loves the Indians. He’s still learning about them.
TV: How would you describe Cleveland fans?
UM: I know Cleveland fans very well because I was here for all those years with the Browns and Indians. The Indians weren’t very good when I was growing up. The Browns were pretty good. [The fans] are passionate; they’re the craziest fans I’ve ever seen. I’m glad to see the Indians doing so good this year. It’d be great for Ohio if the Indians had a good run.
TV: What are you looking forward to most at Ohio State this coming fall?
UM: I’ll be coaching at a place I’ve followed since I was a little kid — Ohio State. I’m anxious to get back. I took a year off, so I’m anxious to get back into it, just anxious to get back on the sideline.
-Megan Golden, TribeVibe contributor
Battle of the MLBlogs
TribeVibe’s arrival on Indians.com raised at least one question – how would Jordan Bastian, the master of his very own Major League Bastian blogosphere domain, react to the new kid on the block? Would there be backlash resulting from the increased competition? Should we expect a steady dose of press box silent treatment? Or would he bake us cookies and welcome TribeVibe to the MLBlogs neighborhood?
To find out, TribeVibe turned to Bart Swain, the senior (emphasis on senior) member of the Indians Baseball Information Department, to execute these hard-hitting questions and find out how Jordan has adjusted to his new scene after completing his first full season covering the Tribe in 2011. Bart, a native of Elyria (OH) and proud graduate of Ohio University, has been with the Indians since 1992 and would be happy to tell you all about his love for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Bart also throws batting practice. A self-described “roaming gnome,” Jordan was born in California and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago with a two-year high school stint in Colorado Springs. He graduated from Michigan State University’s School of Journalism and covered the Toronto Blue Jays for MLB.com for 5 years before starting his Indians beat in November of 2010. Jordan also owns a fancy camera.
Let the friendly banter and good-natured barbs commence.
Major League Bastian vs. TribeVibe...Bastian vs. Swain...Sparty vs. Brutus
TribeVibe: How do you like Cleveland?
Jordan Bastian: We have enjoyed Cleveland since the move; it was a great move for our family. I grew up in the Midwest, in the south suburbs of Chicago, and the place where we live in Cleveland feels a lot like the area where my wife and I grew up. We have felt right at home, the team has been great to deal with – a great PR staff [smirking] – it has been a great move and we are really happy we did it. It is a place we can see ourselves for a long time.
TV: Did you enjoy your time in Toronto?
JB: I did, I enjoyed Toronto a lot. It was cool to be right out of college, newly-wed, living downtown in a big city, covering a big league ballclub. It was a fun experience being in that type of situation. But after five years there it was a family need to get somewhere that was closer to home.
TV: Is this an easy team to cover?
JB: I think Cleveland is a great team to cover. I would say first and foremost because it is such a young team and they are really easy to deal with and really easy going. I have been lucky that the three GM’s that I have had to deal with [Alex Anthopoulos, J. P. Ricciardi, Chris Antonetti] have all been very accessible. Chris falls right along those same lines. If you need him he will be available for you and Manny Acta is great to deal with in terms of availability for the media and just being easy to get along with. It has been a really smooth transition and a fun team to cover.
TV: Do you still enjoy the travel and the day to day stuff?
JB: One thing I do when I am on the road is get out and experience cities a little bit, whether it’s going to museums or going for a run or things of that nature that make the travel more bearable. It can be tough being in airports and hotels away from our families as much as we are. Being away can be tough, so keeping yourself active and getting the most out of each trip is key.
TV: I have noticed you have a camera [laughter from JB]; would you call yourself a photo-journalist?
JB: No I wouldn’t. I would say that photography has been a family hobby that was passed down from my dad and my brother – they were big into photography, I have always toyed around with it on the side when I am not covering baseball and I got a new camera over the winter using [hotel] points. I have always taken some photos each spring to enhance my blog and fans seems to like it, so it has been something I have done to keep that hobby alive and [spring training] is a good time to kind of work on different types of photos.
TV: As camp went along, we [regrettably] saw less and less of your photos. Were the game schedule, increased roster activity and regular season preparation to blame for this sad turn of events?
Exactly. For the past 4-5 years, I’ve always tried to use those first two weeks of spring training workouts to take the majority of my photos. That really helps me throughout the year when I do blog entries or things like that. Throughout the season I can use my original content instead of using photos from other places.
TV: Now you’re also a runner, correct?
JB: Yeah.
TV: How would you describe your level of running? Novice, intermediate, expert?
It was something that started as a weight loss venture. When I stopped playing baseball in college I put on a lot of weight and I decided I needed something to keep me motivated. I have never been a “go to the gym to workout” type guy and I needed that carrot dangling in front of me, so I took up marathoning to always have something on the schedule. You cannot mail in marathon training, you have to stay motivated. I wouldn’t call myself an expert – I’m just an average runner – but I have done 6 marathons. It’s something I do to stay in shape, keep myself motivated and keep the mind busy.
TV: Now your last marathon wasn’t your most successful…
JB: [interrupting] It was my worst marathon.
TV: Would you attribute that to being a little under conditioned and out of shape?
JB: I was a little under conditioned and out of shape. I would also say that the bridges in NY just absolutely killed me, namely the elevation change leading up to them, and I wasn’t prepared for that. In the future if I were to run NYC again I would probably go into downtown Cleveland and run some of those bridges a little more often rather than doing all my training closer to home along Lake Road. That was a big part of it and there were some unforeseen circumstances that crept up that really killed my time.
TV: Would you care to elaborate on those unforeseen circumstances?
JB: They are pretty gross actually, so no; I do not want to elaborate. I don’t want to. I think in baseball terms you would call them flu-like symptoms or stomach issues.
TV: So when our players come into camp out of shape, you find different ways of asking management “how does Player X look to you right now?”. If someone were to say “How does Jordan Bastian look to you right now?”, how would you answer that question…
JB: I would say he came into camp in pretty good shape and maybe, um, let spring training get away from him. A couple of pounds have been put on, but once the regular season gets into full swing and he is in the lineup on a more everyday basis, I think the weight will come right off.
TV: Just a few more….
JB: [Conversational laughter]
TV: What type of injury would be the toughest to come back from?
JB: I think an injury to the index finger on my right hand would be devastating and very tough to overcome. I do a lot of typing with that finger. I could do without the pinkie and ring fingers but that index finger is key.
TV: Your favorite stadium?
JB: It depends on what you mean by favorite. I’d say Safeco Field in Seattle is at the top of the list in terms of being a great place to work in a great city to visit – and it’s a gorgeous ballpark, especially when the roof is open. San Francisco (AT&T Park) and San Diego (Petco Park) are high on my list, too. If you’re asking me as a baseball fan, I’d probably say Fenway Park or Wrigley Field because I’m a big baseball history buff.
TV: Favorite city to visit and squeeze in a run?
JB: Boston. I love staying out in Brookline, which is about a 20-minute walk from Fenway. It’s a quiet part of the city where you can run west to the Chestnut Hill reservoir or north to the Charles River. That’s easily my favorite city to run in. As for road cities in general, I’d say San Francisco, Seattle and New York are high on the list. I don’t really count Chicago because I’m always visiting family. I don’t actually spend much time downtown on road trips there.
TV: Are you “Chicago-tough”?
JB: Nice. I like to think I’m tough, but my wife would probably disagree. Besides, all us sportswriters are a little soft around the middle. Maybe it’s all that Chicago pizza I ate growing up. I am the grandson of a steel worker and I did grow up with parents who preached being able to fend for yourself and to not always rely on others. I do think that has carried over to my career. Does that make me Chicago-tough? I don’t know. I set my high school’s all-time record for being hit by the pitch. That’s got to be worth something, right?
TV: What was your time at NYC marathon and what is your PB [personal best]?
JB: I honestly don’t know what my time was for New York. I never looked it up. I think it was around 4:45 or 4:50. A lot of people would say that’s a time to be proud of, but I was pretty disappointed and embarrassed. I could be a 3:30 marathoner. I ran a 1:42 half marathon in Cleveland last year. My best time for a full is 3:43 in Tampa in February of 2010, but that was two years ago. I’m running the Cleveland full in May and am hoping to be around four hours again. This job makes it hard to train completely right, and having a two-year-old son doesn’t make squeezing in long runs any easier. If I give up sleeping, I think I could find enough hours.
[EDITOR’s NOTE: A quick search on the internet reveals JB ran the 2011 NYC Marathon in 4:50:09, so there’s that.]
TV: Are you worried TribeVibe is going to run over the Major League Bastian blog? A “new sheriff in town” so to speak?
JB: Well, considering @tribeinsider likes to frequently remind me how far behind I am in terms of Twitter followers, I’m sure TribeVibe will gain a pretty good following as well – I’m sure I’ll hear all about it. It’s not a competition, though. I think fans will get a cool behind the scenes look at the Indians on TribeVibe and some solid baseball analysis over at Major League Bastian. Maybe it’ll be like having two Number One starters in the same rotation.
TV: Good stuff, my friend. Thank you for being a good sport.
