Munch Musings from E. 53rd and Hamm Ave

The Cleveland Guardians came home after a more than successful road trip (5-2) for the Home Opener on a sunny but chilly Good Friday. Fans down the 3rd base line will attest to the fact that for last afternoon games the sun favors the first base side of the stands.  Regardless Progressive Field was sold out and a few thousand more fans came downtown to hang, soak up the ambiance that baseball and a home opener provides and soak up some beverages.

Sure we all desire to go home winners and this is not an esoteric “Munch” rambling but having baseball back at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, seeing crowds downtown and being a part of the baseball experience especially in Cleveland makes us all winners and that IS A FACT JACK!

Flashing back to past Home Openers is truly a journey down memory lane, not antique alley, as the memories and emotions stick with me to this day no matter when the Home Opener took place.

It would take a “War and Peace” size novel to put into print all my Opening Day memories but let’s start with the “be all end all”!  At St. Henry grade school (E. 183rd and Harvard) it would be an understatement to say the Nuns were strict. We had 4 classes for every grade and there were 30 nuns teaching (plus office staff) along with 2 lay teachers and a few lay substitutes. There were rules that were dang close to being ironclad. If you walked to school you went home for lunch. What if your Mom worked? Very few if any Moms worked when I was in elementary school and if a Mom worked they needed to get lunch figures out! Still come opening day starting in the 3rd grade my Dad would send a letter with me to school. It was right to the point and noted “This is Max Bishop. I will come to school at 11a to pick up my son Mark so we can go to the Indians opener. Thank you.”  KAPOWEE!  Now I walked into the office with my head down before school started to hand the Principal the note and she would then come to the class and inform my teacher what was going on. With a scowl at the designated time my teacher would say “Mark Bishop pack up your things and go to the office. My Dad would be waiting usually in a bowling shirt over a white tee with slacks from a suit that the jacket wore out! I do remember the pride I felt walking down the hall out of the school with my Dad, the EasTech Golden Scarab, Max Hayes Laker, USMC plus tool and die maker. This sums it up.

Other openers come to mind in a big way and I will share only a few at this time!

* Frank Robinson became the first Black manager in MLB history and was a player/manager of the then Tribe! On April 8, 1975 Robby hit a HR as the DH off a Doc Medich 2-2 fastball. HISTORY!

* On April 4, 1992 the Indians and Red Sox played 19 innings and the sox prevailed 7-5. Tribe was down 5-0 after 4 and Carlos Baerga went 6-9 to bring the team back. Fun part of this game? Mrs. Munch and I had been married only a few months and we had dinner reservations after the game. More than fair!  Opener with my buds, dinner with my gal. One problem…once the game hit 15 innings I knew I would be late for dinner. I needed to keep going down to a pay phone to call her and keep her posted. Of course she felt I was boozing with my boys and not still at the game. It all worked out as I changed the reservation but it was  a crazy day.

* I must mention April 4, 1994 as lefty Bill Clinton threw out the first pitch (Bravo Bill as he wore the Cleveland “C” and not Wahoo on his cap) as Jacobs Field opened. I felt a pride for this city that was similar to when I was a real kid going downtown at the Christmas time! Of course singled home the winning run in the 11th after entering the game as a pinch runner in the 10th. Something else I remember too about that game was a young phenom by the name of Jim Thome did NOT start at third for the Tribe!  Why? With all the love we had and still have for Grover we know how crazed he was about lefty vs lefty match ups and the BIG UNIT was on the hill for Seattle.  Who started at third base for the Tribe? Mark Lewis. Use that to win a shot of Kesslers next time you ae HOTZ in Tremont!

Gotta go for now and as always enjoy every sandwich!  Adios Amigo, long may you run!!