Jason Kaminski, Writer

Growing up in the Cleveland area I lived and died with Cleveland sports teams. I can remember going to my first Indians game in 1986 with my dad and sitting wherever we wanted since the stadium was monsterous and sparsely filled. My fondest memories include the final game at Cleveland Stadium, the 1997 All-Star game, and the “bug incident” game in the 2007 Divisional Series vs. New York. I enjoy baseball history so I chose to keep my writing topics related to that. In addition to the Tribe I am also a big Chicago Cubs fan and make a yearly trip to Wrigley Field every summer. I teach junior high English and History for a living as well as write and perform music in my spare time.

Check out Jason and his music on Facebook at:

 

Kevin Schneider, Writer

I grew up in Columbus loving Cleveland and baseball and the bad fortunes this usually meant when combined.  I inherited the passionate following for the Tribe from my dad, though, and when it turned out I wouldn’t play for the Indians one day, I decided to contribute as I can.  I now live with my mutt, Lofton, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, for instance.  Kenny’s spirit lives on in his crazy sprints up and down the stairs and his fierce pursuit of rabbits and birds – instead of fly balls – in the backyard. I beat the Tribe drum in Braves country, where I teach high school language arts.  Formerly a staff writer for the News-Herald’s Geauga County bureau, I now pursue my doctoral degree at the University of Georgia and write in my spare time.  I still love listening to Tom Hamilton, via the Internet, and cherish meeting him, along with Bob Feller at an Indians charity event.  I still value memories of my family sitting among hundreds of others beneath a Cleveland Municipal Park roof in the 1980s. That makes the Jacobs Field sell-out successes taste that much sweeter.

Dave Roberts, Writer

A Northeastern Ohio native, I have been a lifelong Indians fan and lover of all things baseball. My first memory of the Indians was catching a game that featured Kenny Loftonmaking one of his spectacular catches in Center field. I graduated in 2011 from Youngstown State with  my Bachelors in History and currently working on my Masters there in Professional Writing and Editing. I hope to one day become a writer for Major League Baseball. 

 

 

 

Evan Matsumoto, Writer

I was born in Chicago but grew up watching my dad’s Tribe and Browns. I moved to Columbus, Ohio and eventually found myself playing a different springtime sport, lacrosse, at Otterbein University while pursuing a degree in journalism. It seemed natural that I would eventually mix my love for the Indians and writing, and journalism seemed to be the best way to do that. I don’t remember any defining moment that solidified my fanhood, I just remember an era in which I got to watch my favorite players, Omar Vizquel and Jim Thome, and some roller-coaster heartbreaks along the way.

 

 

Bob Toth, Writer

Through the good times and the bad, I have always remained a Cleveland sports fan. I am a lifelong northeast Ohioan and therefore I inherited the unique birthright that is bestowed upon those willing to support the big three sports franchises in Cleveland. Baseball always had the strongest allure though of the three to me and was reinforced by my family, who felt the same way about the sport.

After graduating from Case Western Reverse University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology, I found work at a local organization providing therapeutic services for emotionally and behaviorally troubled children. The opportunity to engage sports and write about the Indians was too good to pass up, as writing has also been a passion of mine. I have been present at 11 of the last 12 home openers and plan to continue that streak for many years to come. I attended the 2007 ALCS games in Cleveland; Game 4 remains one of the loudest and most exhilarating sports memories of my life. I want to eventually see games in all 30 Major League ballparks. My goal is to entertain and educate and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way.

 

Christian Petrila, Writer

I’m currently a journalism student at Kent State University and the sports director at Black Squirrel Radio in Kent. Those, however, come second to my love of the Tribe. It started when I was very young, but didn’t really hit me until I went to my first game in 2006 (I’m a late bloomer. I know). I saw Grady Sizemore hit a walk-off triple and it was simply amazing. I’ve been lucky enough to see some great games since then. I was at Snow-pening Day 2007, as well as seeing Greg Maddux’s final career start in an AL ballpark. If I had to describe my writing, I would call it sarcastic and brutally honest. I’d give it all up, however, if it meant another gold World Champions banner in right field.

 

Steve Eby, Writer

Steve is a fan of all sports, specifically Cleveland sports and Ohio State. First and foremost, however, Steve has been a huge Cleveland Indians fan ever since he can remember. Steve was at Jacobs Field to see Paul Sorrento’s walk-off homerun against Toronto in 1995 as well as the division clincher that same year. He saw Albert Belle’s grand slam against Armando Benitez in ’96 and saw Sandy Alomar’s homerun off of Mariano Rivera in ’97. From 1999 to 2005, Steve worked for the Indians as an usher during high school and college. Steve met his wife, Jennifer, who also worked at the ballpark during the 2002 season.

 

 

Ronnie Tellalian, Writer

Ronnie is a native of the Akron area where he grew up a Cleveland sports fan. He picked up a love of baseball at a young age and took a particular interest in baseball history. At the age of 16, he read the 1996 Sports Baseball Encyclopedia cover to cover. Ronnie was frequently in trouble in school for filling his notebooks with pages and pages of baseball stats. His earliest memories are of watching Joe Carter at old Municipal Stadium, and his favorite player of all time is Kenny Lofton. Ronnie brings a statistical mindset, one that he developed working as a baseball researcher since 2007. He has worked for Fantasy Baseball Magazine and Baseball Prospectus doing statistical research and projecting player performance.

 

Laurel Wilder, Writer

My first Tribe memory is from 1997, when my parents took me and my sister to get souvenirs from the Indians’ World Series appearance against the Marlins. I bought a Cleveland Indians hair scrunchie and proudly wore it even after they had the heartbreaking loss in Game 7. I still proudly wear that scrunchie, even after many equally heartbreaking but exciting seasons of being an Indians fan. But the team has never really let me down -my enthusiasm for baseball and Cleveland has given me a lot of incredible opportunities, including an internship with the Indians during the summer of 2012, and now writing for DTTWLN.

Born and raised in a suburb of Cleveland, I graduated from Allegheny College in December 2012 with my BA in English. After three and a half years of living in Meadville, PA, and being forced to listen to the rants and raves of Pirates, Red Sox, and Yankees fans, I am extremely excited to return to Ohio and once again be surrounded by fellow Indians supporters. When I’m not writing about or watching baseball, I’m usually drinking too much coffee, watching a lot of Friends, or reading any book I can get my hands on.

 

Rob McLamb, Writer

Rob McLamb is a rising junior at North Carolina State University and will be covering Cleveland’s hot prospects at high-Class A affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats. A staff writer at his school’s paper, Technician, McLamb received internet praise and several republications with his article “A Prayer for Dean Smith” and he covers football, men’s and women’s basketball, and softball at N.C. State. As a boy, McLamb appeared in two Pepsi commercials due to his basketball prowess and was a ballboy for the Durham Bulls. He also was an extra in the movie “Bull Durham.”

McLamb has been to one Cleveland Indians game in his life.

On Memorial Day in 1998, the defending AL Champions were hosting the Detroit Tigers. Charles Nagy, fresh off his Game 7 defeat the season before, was pitching to the second batter of the game, Bip Roberts,-who had also featured for the Tribe in the previous postseason. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Roberts lined a fastball foul on the third base side and McLamb had his very own major league souvenir. The dirty American League baseball remains on his mantle to this day and is one of his most cherished keepsakes.