by In the spring of 1981, the Cleveland Indians were led by manager, Dave Garcia, playing under the ownership of F.J. Steve O’Neill. It was a roster carefully put together by general manager, Phil Seghi. Bruce Drennan and Joe Tait were calling the Indians game on WUAB-TV, while Nev Chandler and Herb score were the play-by-play duo for Indians radio games.
The Cleveland Indians roster included 1980 rookie sensation, Joe Charboneau, fresh off his amazing first year in the big leagues. Rick Manning joined Charboneau in the outfield along with Larry Littleton. The team was anchored by “The Human Rain Delay”, Mike Hargrove, at first base with Duane Kuiper at second, shortstop, Tommy Veryzer, and Toby Harrah playing third base. They had Pat Kelly and Andre Thornton ready to come off the bench at any time. Chris Bando, was sharing time behind the plate with veteran, Ron Hassey. They had future Hall of Fame pitcher, Bert Blyleven, to lead the starting rotation.
On Friday, May 15, 1981, the Indians were 15- 8, surprising everyone by spending sixteen days in first place in their division. They were never more than a game ahead of the other teams in the division, but it didn’t matter because they gave hope to the fans. A five game winning streak at one point in April had fans already talking postseason.
Lenny Barker grew up in Rose Tree, Pennsylvania with two brothers and two sisters,but he was the only one to play baseball. He enjoyed playing in organized leagues but also in the streets with his friends. Barker recounts that he wanted to be a pitcher at an early age, “At the age of seven or eight I felt that I would excel at it. I always liked pitching and I would have kids in the neighborhood come over and catch for me. I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a pitcher.” They would find any field they could and pretend to be their idols such as Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and his own personal hero, Mickey Mantle.
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