Indians have played host to some bizarre events

April 29, 1958

Jim Williams scored the first run. Rodney Milward of Colbert was the first fan – and 8,403 followed him through the gates to watch the first game in what was then Fairgrounds Recreation Park. When Glen Gorbous smoked a curveball over the fence in right field for a three-run homer, he collected $100 from Troy Hood, who built the stadium, and the Indians collected a 6-5 win over Seattle.

Sept. 5, 1988

Mike Humphreys was joking when he suggested a steal of home. His manager, Steve Lubratich, didn’t get the joke. Greg Mills, the umpire, guessed on the call – but he guessed right. And Humphreys’ brazen dash against Southern Oregon with two out in the eighth inning delivered the second of four straight Northwest League titles to the Indians.

April 26, 1979

The date is approximate, but sometime during Spokane’s first homestand as the Seattle Mariners’ Triple-A team, manager Rene Lachemann (pictured above) – who slept on the clubhouse floor in lieu of renting an apartment – awakened to the sight of a gun pointed at his head and a German shepherd growling next to him. It seems he’d forgotten to lock the stadium gate and the county cops – who didn’t know of his housing arrangements – thought someone had broken in.

July 6, 1963

Bob Radovich’s 18-0 no-hitter against Hawaii comes to a bizarre conclusion, when pinch-runner Stan Palys intentionally dances into the path of a slow ground ball with two out in the ninth. By baseball’s rules, Palys would be out No. 3 – but batter Brown Taylor would be credited with a hit. Except that Pacific Coast League president Dewey Soriano, in town for the league’s all-star game two days later, is in the audience and rules the play unsportsmanlike conduct, and affirms Radovich’s no-hitter.

July 21, 1993

The benches emptied twice after a needless collision at the plate and a retaliatory hit batsman, and manager Tim Flannery, right, was among three Indians ejected. But what the umps never knew was that Flannery commandeered the mascot costume of Otto the Spokaneasaurus and returned to the field to pilot the Indians to a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Bellingham – in between dancing to “Louie Louie” and “Tequila.”

Aug. 30, 1961

Any number of Hall of Famers have scuffed their cleats on the stadium’s dirt, but none did it with as much style as Satchel Paige. At age 55, Paige pitched four innings for Portland in a 9-8 win to cap a doubleheader – striking out five, though his most theatrical out was a ridiculous slow-motion blooper pitch that Mike Napoli weakly grounded back to him. And after each inning, Paige made it as far as the top dugout step and lit up a cigarette.

Sept. 3, 2002

Fans booing an Indians no-hitter? Indeed so – when manager Tom Poquette pulled starter Greg Atencio after eight innings because he’d reached the 90-pitch “limit” imposed by the parent Kansas City Royals and inserted reliever Justin Taylor in a 14-0 blowout of Yakima.

Aug. 5, 1970

Indians shortstop Bobby Valentine, above, speared a sinking line drive by Tacoma’s Garry Jestadt to start what could have been an unassisted triple play. Instead, Valentine threw to Tommy Hutton for the third out rather than tagging runner Roger Metzger or running to first himself. Second baseman Bart Shirley had hollered to Valentine to throw it to insure at least a double play, thinking he’d caught the ball on a short hop – so Valentine did, figuring perhaps the umpire had seen it the same way.

Sept. 7, 1999

Spokane hadn’t been in the playoffs in nine years, so Northwest League batting champ Ken Harvey, right, made sure the Indians seized the moment – belting an eighth-inning grand slam to beat Portland 5-1 to start a 3-0 series sweep.

Aug. 3, 2003

With a field full of stars and a stadium named for the local power company – Avista – the last thing anyone expected at the first NWL All-Star Game was a blackout. But that’s what happened when a melted fuse on a Havana Street power pole caused a 73-minute power outage. The game was shortened to seven innings and management tried to recharge fans’ batteries by offering tickets to a future Indians game.

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