The Parrot has flown it’s last at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. It was an alright trip"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsAnalysis & EditorialsCleveland Indians prospects & minor leaguesGame RecapsTransactionsAnalysis & EditorialsThe quiet end of the Edwin Encarnacion EraNew Johnny Damon Jersey ,94commentsThe Parrot has flown it’s last at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. It was an alright tripByMerritt RohlfingDec 15, 2018, 10:22am ESTShareTweetShareShareThe quiet end of the Edwin Encarnacion EraThomas B. Shea-USA TODAY SportsThe Edwin Encarnacion Era has come to an abrupt end. Generally expected to be in Cleveland for another year, the Tribe turned Edwin and Yandy Diaz into Jake Bauers and two more years of Carlos Santana on Thursday. There are many complex feelings around this trade. Most all of them will be covered somewhere on this site. But I want to talk about Edwin, and how really, it just never felt right, did it? It’s not a knock on Edwin, or at least it doesn’t mean to be. He was a fine player for the Indians. He did about everything expected of him. It was just so out of character for them to even sign him. Like, prior to him a “big free agent signing” was Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn after he’d overvalued himself. So watching the Indians go and drop some $60 million on him was amazing and a bit baffling at the same time. It made you question what was real. It was for less money and years than he was searching for - he wanted $80 million over 4 years, he ended with 3/60 and an option year - and it seemed like, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian wrote at the time, a perfect fit. But at the same time, it just seemed so鈥?off. Out of sync with reality. Not in a bad way you understand, but the Indians are not the team to go out and spend money. It’s one of the traditions of the offseason when you follow the team - complaining about the Dolans being cheap. We get to do it this year because they’re supposed to be shedding salary. But with Edwin, suddenly they were signing the big bat. Which was strange, ill-fitting, even if it was kind of cool. He had a role to fill as Mike Napoli - who somehow fit right in, probably the Tito connection, maybe the big bushy beard - departed, and he did that and more at that and more at the plate. But something was missing.And that was the thing with Edwin as a whole. He was a good, solid player for the Indians. In his two years in Cleveland he posted basically his career averages Masahiro Tanaka Jersey , popped 70 homers and was a central part of the offense. Not the keystone like in Toronto, but he played an important role. It could be that it was the camera work or bad timing, or just how he expresses himself, but when the broadcast cut to him I rarely got the sense he was “part” of the team. Not like Kipnis or Lindor or Ramirez or Brantley, not like the guys who we’ve watched flourish in an Indians uniform. There wasn’t the fiddling about in the dugout. Maybe that’s not him, I don’t know. He was a hired gun at the very base of it all, as embraced by the fanbase as one can be when they launch baseballs into the scoreboard, but it never felt or looked cohesive. Luckily for everyone, baseball doesn’t need cohesion. You can have a team where everyone hates everyone and they can win a million games, just as you can assemble the most kumbaya clubhouse in the majors and watch as they fall to the bottom of the league. With Encarnacion on the team the Indians won 102 games and took 22 straight and it was amazing. During that stretch Edwin posted a .909 OPS and popped 5 home runs. Which is good, though not otherworldly. It was a bit better than his season numbers - .881 OPS, and 5 homers in 22 games works out to 36 over 162 - So he was who he was at the pinnacle of the Tribe season. He was dreadful in October - when he got to play - but the whole team was, so who really cares? Even that didn’t draw that much ire, especially with how guys like Jose Ramirez struggled. It’s like expectations weren’t that high, which for a supposedly big free agent signing is strange in itself.This was a beloved player in Toronto. For the parrot,for the dingers, for the camaraderie with Jose Bautista, and his leaving was heartbreaking to a lot of Jays fans. For the same reason Carlos Santana leaving was for Indians fans. This was a player they saw turn from a young kid into an absolute behemoth, and he was all theirs. And then he left. Cleveland fans have lived that story all too many times, so being on the other side of it was strange.Things have reverted, at least in Tribe Town. Edwin is starting the usual path of the aging slugger Paul O'Neill Jersey , wending his way through the cheap teams trying to eke another solid year or two out of him as his powers erode. He’ll of course be missed in Cleveland. That inside-the-park homer in Anaheim was amazing, so were all the moonshots that nearly knocked John Adams out. But it’s not a painful exit, for so many reasons. Hopefully he helps Seattle, or Tampa, or whoever, and has another season of tape measure shots. I won’t really be looking in, not like I did with Santana or probably even will with Diaz. Now that’s a player I’ve barely even seen play baseball, and yet seeing him go is a tiny gut punch. Edwin was a nice surprise, like a free cookie. But like that tasty chocolate chip, you enjoy it for what it is, and move on. There will be other cookies. The Indians have one right now. This analogy has gone too far. But it’ll be an era looked back on with something resembling fondness, though it won’t be him at the center of those memories. It’s a strange way to view a player of his stature. But that’s just the way it is. 30 years after the most memorable moment in Dodgers history, we look back at the improbable ninth inning that helped the Dodgers win the 1988 World Series."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections 2019 Spring TrainingProspectsCommentaryNews and NotesPuigs in a blanketDodgers History & RecordsRemembering Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run 30 years laterNew,29commentsByBlakeHarris@BlakeHarrisTBLAOct 15, 2018,2:05pm PDTShareTweetShareShareRemembering Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run 30 years laterOn October 15, 1988, Kirk Gibson delivered one of the most iconic moments in baseball history. Down to his final strike, Gibson homered to right field, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland A’s in the World Series. The Dodgers trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, with arguably the best closer in the game on the mound. Dennis Eckersley http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , who had 45 saves on the season, looked as if he was going to lock down the ninth and secure the game 1 win. He got Mike Scioscia to pop out, and then proceeded to strike out Jeff Hamilton. With two outs, Mike Davis stepped up to the plate. After spending eight years with Oakland, Davis had a disappointing year with LA. On the year, Davis hit .196 with a .260 on-base percentage. On the season, Eckersley allowed only 13 walks. He got ahead in the count 0-1, but then threw four straight balls, allowing Davis to reach with a two-out walk. For Eckersley, it was the third time all year he issued a walk with two outs and the bases empty. With a runner on first and two outs, manager Tommy Lasorda turned to Kirk Gibson, looking for a pinch-hit homer to win the game. Gibson battled injuries during the postseason, hurting his left hamstring in game 5 of the NLCS, and hurting his right knee in game 7. Not in the starting lineup for game 1, it appeared Gibson wasn’t going to suit up. Later in the game, the camera panned across the Dodgers dugout, with Gibson nowhere in sight. Supposedly Gibson heard Vin Scully’s comments and decided to go take some practice swings in the clubhouse. On the season, Gibson hit .290 with 25 homers 76 RBI and took home MVP honors. Gibson hobbled up to the plate with two bad legs, ready to face the best closer in the game. He swung at the first pitch, fouling it off into the stands. After the swing, Gibson limped around http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , looking as if he could barely walk. Eckersley delivered the second pitch, and it was the same result. Gibson fouled it off, looking like he could barely stand up. On the third pitch, Gibson dribbled one up the first base line. Struggling to get out of the box and run to first, the ball rolled foul. It looked as if Gibson stood no chance, and was one pitch away from losing the game. After battling through the at-bat, Gibson managed to even the count at 2-2. On the next pitch, Davis stole second, his eighth stolen base of the season. Now, standing at second, all the Dodgers needed from Gibson was a single to tie the game. The count stood at 3-2. After seeing fastball after fastball, Gibson connected on a backdoor slider, sending it into the right field pavilion to give LA the 5-4 win. 30 years later, the moment is just as memorable as ever. It’s cemented into every baseball fan’s memory. Watching Gibson struggle to round the bases, hearing Vin Scully’s memorable call, it will forever remain timeless. With their series against the Brewers currently tied at one game a piece, the Dodgers will look to recreate some of that same magic, and deliver the first World Series to Los Angeles in three decades.