Life-long Search Going Unfulfilled

February 12, 2009: the first day of Spring Training 2009. With split season tickets for this season, I am excited. The Tribe's spring training venue has shifted after 14 seasons in Winter Haven, Florida to Goodyear Park, in Arizona. Goodyear: better yield a good year, indeed. Knowing that I have a ticket to at least a few games causes me to wonder: do I have adequate gear? This is an interesting question. Although baseball is a warm-weather sport known for being played under blue skies and a shining sun, most games go late into the night, when the temperature tends to dip into the cooler temperatures of the summer. Let's make a check-list for necessary gear. 1) Headwear: I have a Cooperstown Collection 1975 Cleveland Indians Fitted Cap. Blue hat, red bill, red crooked "C" on the front. Check. 2) Footwear: Brand new, blue Saucony running shoes will suffice. Check. 3) Bottomwear: Jeans will suffice on most nights, with the occasional khaki shorts thrown in. Check. 4) Topwear: This is where it gets tricky. I have a white t-shirt that proudly asks, "Are you in the Tribe?" I don't know what that means. I have a gray t-shirt that says, "Cleveland Indians" on the front, with Chief Wahoo on the back. But t-shirts aren't going to cut it for a part-time season-ticket holder. This brings me to the point of this post. As long as I can remember my favorite player has been Omar Vizquel, the great Indians shortstop preceding Jhonny Peralta. For just as long, I have wanted an Omar Vizquel jersey. Surprisingly, these jerseys are few and far between. While seemingly everyone on the planet has an NFL, NBA, or College football jersey, rarely are MLB jerseys seen, in public or in stores. I saw a Vizquel jersey in my size at an acceptable price only once at a Finish Line store at Chapel Hill Mall, but it was a youth medium, and I was about to cross over into a youth large, so I passed it up. Even with sites such as eBay, Vizquel jerseys are unfindable. Unless I want to buy a personalized jersey and put Vizquel and 13 on the back. Expensive. I will continue to scour the lands for the glorious jersey I am looking for, and would appreciate devoted Wonder Readers, Wondeaders, if you will, to do the same. Let me know if any finds are found. For now though, go Tribe. Wonder out.