Second Thoughts

MLB reality doesn't quite imitate the art

Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes ended an 0-for-27 string with a double, then suffered a separated shoulder
in his next at-bat after taking part in a sacrificial ceremony mirroring one that took place in the 1989 movie “Major League.”
Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes ended an 0-for-27 string with a double, then suffered a separated shoulder in his next at-bat after taking part in a sacrificial ceremony mirroring one that took place in the 1989 movie “Major League.”

The Cleveland Indians tried to help catcher Yan Gomes break out of a slump over the weekend by performing a sacrifice to the baseball gods and Jobu, the strange little idol worshipped throughout the 1989 movie Major League by the voodoo-loving, no-curveball-hitting Pedro Cerrano, played by Dennis Haysbert.

The Indians got mixed results.

Gomes went 0 for 2 Saturday but ended his hitless streak Sunday with a double in his first at-bat, snapping an 0-for-27 skid with his first extra-base hit since June.

The good news didn't last, though. Gomes got hurt in his next at-bat when he took a hard fall while running to first base, stumbling and falling hard on his shoulder.

The Indians said Gomes, 28, does not need surgery at this time, but that he will be sidelined for at least one month, possibly two, with a separated shoulder.

"I thought the sacrifice was supposed to be a good thing," Gomes told reporters Sunday. "It got me a hit, though. We got a win. That's plenty."

Second baseman Jason Kipnis said the Indians held what he described as a "sacrificial ceremony" in the clubhouse before Saturday's games, taking a page from the movie.

"We bought a chicken from [Target]," Kipnis told reporters, according to MLB.com. "We bought a little blade and we had him chop it in half. We sacrificed a chicken to the baseball gods and Jobu. We gave them gifts and peace offerings."

Manager Terry Francona laughed out loud when asked about the exorcism.

"I thought that was probably clubhouse humor to the nth degree," Francona said. "It's probably stuff that you don't do in the normal workplace, but I thought it was good. It showed Gomer how much they care about him, which is good."

But, as catcher Chris Gimenez noted, "I don't think it worked.

Maybe, as Wesley Snipes' character Willie Mays Hayes said in the movie, "We should've got the live chicken."

Sundae for days

Arizona Diamondbacks fans looking to beat the heat this summer at Chase Field can enjoy the Triple Play Sundae, a 2-pound, 3,540-calorie sundae with 15 ingredients, which rings up for a paltry $25.

"Which means the baseball team isn't the only thing at Chase Field that's tough to stomach," writes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times.

He said it ...

From Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "SEC media days just ended. It was a good year; only three players were arrested at the podium."

New strategy

At least three NFL teams are scouting top Madden NFL players to represent them in the esports world, according to Eben Novy-Williams of Bloomberg Businessweek.

Esports presents a golden opportunity for traditional sports franchises to capture a segment of the 18-34 demographic generally lost to them, as Novy-Williams notes. Esports also provide cheaper marketing opportunities than traditional sports due to how quickly a player's popularity can go viral on social media.

"It feels like a very small expense for what seems to get a large amount of publicity," Peter Moore, head of EA Sports' competitive-gaming division, told Novy-Williams.

Well, sure. All it takes to keep most gamers happy is a fast internet connection, a case of Mountain Dew and a few bags of Doritos.

Sports on 07/19/2016

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