2008 Woodie Awards
Tribe plays final game in Winter Haven
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Sports
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) - Carlos Pena hit one of Tampa Bay's three home runs and the Rays beat Cleveland 9-7 in 10 innings yesterday in the Indians' final spring game in Florida.
Minor league infielder Andy Gonzalez hit a grand slam for the Indians, who extended their 16-year stay at Chain of Lakes Park by 30 minutes with a ninth-inning rally to tie it at 5.
"It's always bittersweet to leave a place, but times change," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "There's a lot of memories here."
The Indians are moving to a new $76 million spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz., in 2009.
This was no ordinary getaway day. Moving vans replaced Cadillacs in the players' parking lot. Fans pleaded with players to sign one last autograph in the Florida sunshine.
One fan held up a sign that read "Go ahead and call security. I don't want to leave."
They came to be a part of history - Central Florida style - in what appears to be the final game at the outdated park, which was built in 1966 as the Boston Red Sox spring home.
The Red Sox left in 1992. When the Indians' brand-new complex in Homestead, Fla., was leveled by Hurricane Andrew that fall, the team hurriedly moved in.
"We're going to miss our boys," said 77-year-old Audrey Miller, who moved to Winter Haven from the Cleveland suburb of Parma in 1996 in order to see her favorite team train each year.
Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and C.C. Sabathia are among current players fans had seen grow from teenage hopefuls into All-Stars.
"My first game in America was here in 1999," said Martinez, a native of Venezuela. "I was scared and excited at the same time. It was home to me and I will miss it."
Cliff Lee, the Indians' No. 5 starter, gave up four runs over 5 1-3 innings, including homers to Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford. The left-hander will head for Kinston, N.C., to make an exhibition start Tuesday for the Indians' Class A team before rejoining his teammates in Cleveland. The Indians will not need a fifth starter until the second week of the season.
Minor league infielder Andy Gonzalez hit a grand slam for the Indians, who extended their 16-year stay at Chain of Lakes Park by 30 minutes with a ninth-inning rally to tie it at 5.
"It's always bittersweet to leave a place, but times change," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "There's a lot of memories here."
The Indians are moving to a new $76 million spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz., in 2009.
This was no ordinary getaway day. Moving vans replaced Cadillacs in the players' parking lot. Fans pleaded with players to sign one last autograph in the Florida sunshine.
One fan held up a sign that read "Go ahead and call security. I don't want to leave."
They came to be a part of history - Central Florida style - in what appears to be the final game at the outdated park, which was built in 1966 as the Boston Red Sox spring home.
The Red Sox left in 1992. When the Indians' brand-new complex in Homestead, Fla., was leveled by Hurricane Andrew that fall, the team hurriedly moved in.
"We're going to miss our boys," said 77-year-old Audrey Miller, who moved to Winter Haven from the Cleveland suburb of Parma in 1996 in order to see her favorite team train each year.
Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and C.C. Sabathia are among current players fans had seen grow from teenage hopefuls into All-Stars.
"My first game in America was here in 1999," said Martinez, a native of Venezuela. "I was scared and excited at the same time. It was home to me and I will miss it."
Cliff Lee, the Indians' No. 5 starter, gave up four runs over 5 1-3 innings, including homers to Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford. The left-hander will head for Kinston, N.C., to make an exhibition start Tuesday for the Indians' Class A team before rejoining his teammates in Cleveland. The Indians will not need a fifth starter until the second week of the season.
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