vinnie's indians stories

from tonight's broadcast -- actually,...just from the first three innings

vin scully went over the various names the cleveland baseball team has been called -- spiders, blues, forest cities, then, finally, in 1901, they were a charter member of the new american league, and they were called the indians, and they've been called that, ever since

hey, wait a minute, i said -- what about the naps

then he added, there was another name -- it was a sarcastic name -- there was a great second baseman, named napoleon lajoie -- he was player-manager for the team -- well, people started calling 'em the naps, because they 'folded' -- like a napkin

the next inning, he continued -- speaking of that sarcastic name, one of my favorite lines is from frank robinson, who said that a pennant-fever in cleveland usually turns out to be a forty-eight-hour virus

the season after the indians won their last championship, they were eliminated -- bill veeck wasn't going to take that, lying down -- so he organized a funeral ceremony -- they played the funeral dirge -- he called out all the players, coaches, fans -- they went out to the flag-pole and brought down the championship flag -- they folded it, put it into a casket -- pine, i think -- they brought out a hearse -- put the casket in the hearse -- veeck rode atop the hearse, like he was leading a funeral procession,...with everybody following the hearse -- they went out to center-field -- it was a big center-field -- maybe this was beyond the fence -- and they buried the flag

then there's one of my favorite indians stories -- the best baseball player i've ever seen...played with the indians -- his name was jackie price -- he only played in seven games

i saw him in 1946 -- in yankee stadium -- i think it was bob feller against...i forgot the name of the yankees pitcher -- a pretty famous one

jackie price would stand on his head and play catch

then they brought out this rig -- and jackie price was hung, upside down, from the rig -- his head was three feet above home plate -- they gave him a bat -- and then they threw pitches to him -- he hit ropes, all over the place

he went out to the mound -- he had two balls, and he threw them both -- one pitch was a fastball; the other, a curve

then they brought out a jeep -- jackie price drove the jeep in the outfield -- a guy working with him...hit balls from home plate -- jackie patrolled the outfield, in the jeep -- he would drive around, and catch the ball -- with one hand on the steering wheel, driving the jeep, and, with the other hand, he caught the ball

i'm not making this up -- i swear to you

he continued, the next inning -- one more thing about jackie price, and then i'll shut up

jackie price never wore a belt -- instead, he wore a snake

one time on the train with the indians, he let the snake loose -- they asked who did it -- price said, boudreau

too bad i couldn't hear vinnie, when the indians pulled off a...7-2-4 triple-play in the fourth -- with two replay challenges -- maybe, after the cleveland broadcast