Putting It All In Perspective!

The Cleveland Indians arrived in Washington DC this past Thursday for their 3-game series vs. the Nationals over the weekend. Friday morning, many members of the team were treated to tours of the White House and Capitol Building. Saturday morning, many players and coaches took the time to visit wounded soldiers at Bethesda Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Hospital.

At the hospitals, they found many baseball fans and even some Cleveland Indians fans as well. Paul Byrd told one of the wounded that the team would try to win the game for them that night. The soldier, who is recovering from a gunshot wound by a sniper in Iraq, said, "It's a done deal! I survived a bullet to the head so you guys will win!" Victor Martinez, the eventual hero of that game that evening, shook the soldier's hand.

This was a very unselfish and classy gesture on the part of these ball players to visit the recovering soldiers. The player that put it most into perspective was C.C.Sabathia, showing much wisdom beyond his 26 years. He said, "Last weekend, I got upset because I gave up a few hits. That was just about the time many of these guys got wounded!"