Sometimes I have become a little jaded re the huge amounts of money some professional players make, but then when it comes to a group of young players just starting out and dipping into their relatively small salaries to help a teammate in need, well, that's a different story. Here it is.

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Yes, I am a baseball fan.  I blame my Slovak father for that.  He got me hooked
on the game on would you believe- the radio?  Those of us who grew up during the
30's and 40's learned the process of visualization.  We could hear the crack of a bat
meeting the ball and we visualized either a base hit, a fowl ball, or hopefully a home
run if the Indians were at bat.  Of course, we had to wait for the play by play from
the announcer for the verdict. 

This week had some inspiring news from the present Indian team - many of them
young players.  On August 4th they had just beat Boston (7-4) and the visitors'
clubhouse was crowded with equipment bags and moving trunks as the Indians
prepared to board two buses for the airport and a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth to
play the Texas Rangers the next night.

But then one player would not be on that flight.  Instead Jack Hannahan was now
looking for a flight back to Cleveland where his wife Jenny was in labor at Fairview
Hospital with the couples' first child.  There had been complications and she wasn't
due until October 26th.  But since she had been on bed rest for the past month, the
baby was on his way.  

Mike Seghi, director of team travel, told him that the earliest flight out was the next
day at 6 A.M.  But then they started looking up phone numbers for private jet service. 
The cost was astronomical - $45 to $50 thousand dollars. 

Well, Jack knew that he couldn't just drop 40 or 50  grand on a flight and said he
would take the morning flight.  But his teammates -Justin Masterson, Austin Kearns,
Travis Hafner, Chad Durbin, and Shin-Soo Choo who had been looking on over his
shoulder during the discussion with Seghi decided - no way.  The hat was past around
and young and old put something into the pot.  Jack was on his way to Cleveland. 

And it was a good thing because he arrived at Fairview Hospital 15 minutes before
John Joseph Hannahan V was born by emergency cesarean section at 3:11 a.m. on
August 5, 2011.  Johnny only weighed in at 2 pounds, 12 ounces and was placed on
a respirator.

But for Hannahan, Johnny is a little miracle and since he was born, he was doing fine 
in the hospital.  With preemies, lung development is critical and the doctors say he
is doing well.

As for the teams' response to this emergency, Hannahan said "That the guys would do
that for me.  I've played on three different big league teams. It just doesn't happen on
any team.  It takes a great group of guys to do that." 

Manager Manny Acta agrees, but is not surprised his players acted as they did.  He
said:  You're talking about a team where a bunch of guys are making the major-league
minimum or barely over that.  For them to be so unselfish and do all that, that's what
is going to make this special for years to come."

I agree and no matter what the outcome of the season, we Clevelanders should be
justifiably proud of our Indians.   Win or lose -go tribe!

Authors Bio:
I have been concerned about animal suffering ever since

I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I've been a vegan for the past 30 years and I thank God every day that I am. I am most disturbed at how little the Catholic Church and Christian churches generally give to concern re animal suffering in their ministry. I wrote to 350 bishops in 2001 and only 10-13 responded. I feel that the very least they can do is to instruct that the priests give one sermon a year on compassion to animals. I am still waiting for that sermon. I also belong to Catholic Concern for Animals - founded in England in 1929. (They are on the internet) I recently sent a sample copy of their bi-monthly publication called the ARK to the 8 Catholic bishops of Ohio. Only ONE kindly responded. Somehow we have to reach the Christian teaching magisterium. There is next to nothing re animal concerns and compassion for them. They basically believe that animals are the lesser of God's creation and that gives us the right to do anything we want to them. Way wrong. We need to change their mindsets. The animals are God's first and He expects us to treat them compassionately.