HAZELWOOD: Thankful for memories of the Tribe

Oct. 7—Hans Robert Hoffman had the math all figured out.

As the demand for Cleveland Indians tickets surged prior to the 1995 season, the late Hoffman was thinking ahead. As others in his group of season ticket-holders grabbed any game they could, Hoffman targeted Sept. 8 against the Baltimore Orioles.

"The reason being, Cal Ripken Jr. was set to break Lou Gehrig's consecutive games-played streak on Sept. 6 that year," said his son, Hans David Hoffman.

"The Orioles had an off day for the next day (Sept. 7), so the thought was, if they just had one rainout or canceled game, then Cal would break the record in Cleveland."

As it turned out, Ripken broke the streak on Sept. 6, 1995, in front of an adoring fan base at Camden Yards in Baltimore in one of the greatest moments in sports over the last half-century.

But Hoffman and his son got to see some baseball history of their own — and something even more special.

"On top of it being the very next game after Cal broke the record, which was pretty cool in its own right, the Tribe clinched the division to head to the postseason for the first time since 1954," Hans David said. "The emotion in the ballpark was incredible, and to have shared that moment with my dad was special.

"I still have the image of (Jim) Thome (playing third) catching the final out in my head. I think about it all the time — and it's one of the few times I've ever seen my dad get emotional."

Hans Robert Hoffman died a few months ago on July 1 at age 60 after a brief bout with cancer. He's one of many family members and local residents who have gone through my head since late July when the Cleveland Indians organization announced its name change to Cleveland Guardians.

On Sept. 27, the team's final game as the Indians was played in Cleveland. The final game of the 2021 regular season — and official last game as Indians — was played on Oct. 3 in Texas, a 6-0 win over the Rangers.

This space isn't meant to debate the merits of the name change or to sell one viewpoint over another. But as the 106-year run of Indians baseball came to a close, it's a chance to celebrate those memories with various people.

Baseball lifer

Wes Douglas has spent the past 25 years as the head baseball coach at Norwalk High School, his alma mater.

Also a classmate and friend of the elder Hoffman, Douglas spent many years talking and attending Tribe games with not only him but others in a group of season ticket-holders.

They included Denny Corrigan, Douglas's NHS phys-ed teacher and predecessor in his current teaching post at the high school. Many nights spent at Progressive Field also included good friends Gary Wilde, Jeff Wiedemann and the late Mike Finnegan, a former NHS basketball assistant coach.

"In those glory days in the 1990s, we had a small ticket package, and we bonded with a lot of lifetime memories there," Douglas said. "And not just baseball, but 'guy time.' We were raising kids and working through life."

Douglas, who can remember his father, Bob, taking him to his first game as a kid — a doubleheader against the hated New York Yankees — last attended a game with Hoffman in 2019.

"It was the second game of the season and we got to sit in the dugout suites and just had a really great time," said Douglas, who also cherishes being able to attend World Series games in 1995 and 1997.

"It's funny because as much as I love baseball, I really just remember a lot of great times with a lot of great people," Douglas said.

When I was a student at NHS, Corrigan was my first gym teacher and then Douglas for the next three years. Corrigan and Dwight Tkach, previous owner of Kenilee Lanes bowling alley where Hoffman had worked, was in the original group as season ticket-holders from the year Progressive Field opened in 1994.

Anyone in gym class at NHS in those days remembers going to Kenilee Lanes for bowling. Douglas, Corrigan and Tkach would hang out at the front counter of the alley, breaking down both Truckers baseball and the Tribe.

Eventually, I was pleased to find myself joining some of those conversations. There was also a time or 12 when I needed to fill in both Corrigan and Douglas on how a Tribe game ended the night before — especially if it was played on the West Coast.

Reading up on the Tribe

John Kompa was a true Pittsburgh fan at heart, having grown up just to the northwest of the city in Beaver Falls, Pa.

But Kompa eventually found his way to a 40-year teaching career at Norwalk City Schools. And while there was no switching of allegiances when it came to a certain NFL rivalry, the late Kompa found a passion for the Cleveland Indians.

Kompa died on March 26 after a year-long fight with pancreatic cancer. He was 75.

"He loved sports in general, and he, of course, loved the Steelers — but he did really enjoy the Cleveland Indians," said Barb Kompa, his wife of 53 years.

Kompa, who taught mathematics, was stern but had a fantastic sense of humor and famous one-liners to keep his students engaged.

For two years, Kompa oversaw my study hall as the last class of the day. And every day for two years, he watched as I finished my homework, pulled out the Lorain Morning Journal and read the sports section from front to back.

Often standing just at my shoulder, Kompa would read the sports news, too. When I finished, he'd take the sports section and peruse it for a few minutes just before the final bell rang.

In those days of the '90s, we had plenty of Tribe news to absorb. The Indians won four division titles and went to the World Series twice during that time.

When I later became a sportswriter, I'd see Kompa at Truckers' sporting events. The conversation always — and I mean always — went straight to the Cleveland Indians.

"He enjoyed watching baseball on television so much, and when the Indians got really good, it was perfect," Barb said. "He was quite the sports fan ... it was good for him when he was sick, too."

'My Indians'

Mary Jean Collier lived and died with every Indians pitch.

And that's not an exaggerated description of my wife Megan's late grandmother, who died on May 27 at age 84. I sat and watched with her most of a July 4, 2019, game between the Tribe and Royals in Kansas City.

Despite the game being just an average outing in the middle of summer, she somehow turned it into October baseball. If an Indians player struck out, that player was simply bad and not playing well. When Zach Plesac walked a batter, she muttered, "Here we go. He's not doing too good."

Cleveland won the game, 8-4, with relative ease. Yet win or lose, she described the team as "my Indians." She lived and breathed with the day-to-day triumphs and struggles of the Tribe — even if she often struggled to pronounce their names (Avocado instead of Oscar Mercado being a personal favorite).

The last time I saw Mary Jean was a video call from inside Progressive Field. She was pleased to hear that our daughter, Chloe, had been tossed the warm-up ball from Tribe pitcher Triston McKenzie before the May 21 game.

But I can only imagine her reaction when the Indians lost that game by a dreadful 10-0 score.

My interactions with Mary Jean often reminded me of my grandmother on my mom's side, Joann Henry. Also a huge Indians fan, Joann died in 2002. Serious about her Tribe, she once chided me for not waking her during Cleveland's epic 12-run comeback win over Seattle in August 2001. Never mind that she was sick and it was past midnight.

Prior to that, she stayed on the phone for over an hour despite her health struggles with an oxygen tank to get me postseason tickets in 1997 through Ticketmaster while I was in school.

Those tickets became Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, a 4-3 win by the Tribe in the first-ever sudden death postseason game played in Cleveland. The anniversary of that game was Tuesday.

Tying it all together

On Sept. 27, I went to Progressive Field for the final time this season as the Tribe hosted the Royals.

I wore a hat that the team issued to my daughter when she threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a September 2019 game. On the hat was an Indians pin that belonged to Mary Jean Collier. I wore a Larry Doby shirt because he was Denny Corrigan's favorite player growing up. As a tribute to John Kompa, I carried a Morning Journal newspaper from the Tribe winning the 1997 AL pennant.

And last, I took with me some ticket stubs, including one from the 2019 All-Star Game that my wife and I attended, a game which she graciously accepted as our 10-year wedding anniversary "gift." She knew what that meant to me. She and our daughter were unable to attend the final home game because of school.

The other two ticket stubs are from the 1997 World Series and a 2001 July game from the Tribe's 100th season, a game where Thome hit three home runs.

Those tickets were used by Deloris Wheeler, the sister of my wife's grandfather, Ken Collier. A former teacher at St. Paul, she had season tickets for many years. Before Deloris died in June 2019, several members of her family graciously gave to Chloe and me dozens of her pins, programs, ticket stubs and other Indians collectibles that she'd collected over the years.

Finally, I opted to "trade up" for seats directly behind the Indians dugout as a nod to the late Hoffman. The co-owner of the Freight House in Norwalk always had top-tier seats behind the dugouts, which is where we sat for the 8-3 win.

On Sunday, I ventured to Thirsty Pony in Sandusky and watched the final Indians game ever with Giorgio Sortino. For over a decade, Giorgio has called or messaged me on a daily basis.

Sometimes it's 40 or 50 times per day, other times it's just a handful. I would say 90% of those messages are about Cleveland baseball. I have to admit I've had to reintroduce myself to math probabilities more than I ever thought I would. Nor did I ever imagine chasing down weather forecasts not just locally (check for fog tomorrow), but across several major cities throughout any given day or week. But here we are.

Just during the game on Sunday, Giorgio and I went over about a dozen different MLB postseason scenarios, tracked five different games and looked up the weather in Boston and New York. I appreciate having that constant chatter — it keeps me on my toes. Every time I'm around him, I'm reminded of how sometimes the simple and little things can bring so much joy to your life.

My favorite thing about sports is the relationships you build through them, and Indians baseball has certainly created many, for which I'm forever thankful.

And I've refused to let a name change influence how I (or anyone) should feel about culture and politics. These are just some of my connections to people and memories. These last games were about them. Indians baseball created many irreplaceable positive memories and bound me tighter to several people in my life.

I have little doubt Cleveland Guardians baseball will do the same.