Interleague: Reds vs. Indians

Now that the dust has settled on baseball's first interleague weekend of the season, and the Indians are still resting comfortably atop the American League Central after taking two of three from the Reds, I must say I thought a little bit about a Reds-Indians game I attended in 2000.

I'm a Cleveland native and was living in Cincinnati that summer. Old girlfriend Heather and I got some last-minute tickets to a game at Cinergy Field. It was a beautiful Friday night in Cincinnati, and my Tribe was playing well.

The sold-out crowd watched a pair of gems by Cleveland's Chuck Finley and Cincinnati's Denny Neagle, giving the yard a postseason atmosphere.

And with the Indians trailing, 2-1 in the top of the ninth, up-and-comer Russell Branyan lined a double down the left-field line, and Travis Fryman tried to score from first base. I can't remember who the left fielder was for the Reds, but he fielded the bounce off the wall cleanly, then fired a laser to Barry Larkin, whose relay home beat Fryman by a step and the home team closed out the exciting win.

An hour later, still proudly sporting my Tribe hat, one dude passed me and we exchanged hellos. His was more like, "How you doin?" and then he saw my lid, and assumed I was in "a bad mood, huh?"

Not at all. I just witnessed an outstanding game that wasn't decided until the final play, a rarity in baseball. It was a pleasant summer night and I was enjoying a cold outdoor beer with the girlfriend. Life was good back then. I was hardly in a bad mood that night.

"Then buy me a beer," said the stranger, and like the pushover I am, I bought his ass a beer.