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Double duty History made with three teams, two games, one day
CLEVELAND (AP) -- There wasn't time for Cy Buynak to think about making history or anything else. Not with some of the Chicago White Sox still in the showers, others eating dinner, equipment piling up near the door, golf carts buzzing around and the Minnesota Twins' bus en route to Jacobs Field. "I think he's already kicked out a few guys," said Chicago's Paul Konerko. "They want us out of here -- now." On a hectic and historic day at Jacobs Field, no one was busier than Buynak, the visiting clubhouse manager, as the Cleveland Indians played the White Sox and Twins in baseball's second three-team doubleheader since 1900. "I've been doing this for 39 years," Buynak said before the Indians won the opener 9-2. "I've never had this situation." Cleveland lost the second game, 4-3 to the Twins. It was the first three-team doubleheader in the majors since Sept. 13, 1951, when the St. Louis Cardinals faced the New York Giants and Boston Braves at Sportsman's Park. With history being made, the Indians said they would send a ball from each game, signed by the starting pitchers, along with tickets and the lineup cards to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. With three teams on hand, there was a little more of everything -- four team buses, two equipment trucks, three TV crews, nearly 100 players, more than 80,000 fans and eight umpires. The unique twinbill came about when the AL rescheduled a Sept. 10 rainout between Cleveland and Chicago. Indians general manager John Hart complained it was unfair to his team, which is fighting for the wild card, to have to play a game that might not be necessary. Hart's argument got louder when Oakland's Sept. 17 game in Tampa was postponed by Hurricane Gordon, but the AL said the Athletics would not have to make it up until Oct. 2. White Sox manager Jerry Manuel sympathized with the Indians, who Monday played their third doubleheader in six days. "I think it's a difficult call for the league," he said. "But I don't know if it's fair that this team has to play as many doubleheaders as it has, especially with them coming home after a long road trip. I don't know if the league took everything into consideration." Buynak, on the other hand, had all his bases covered. He ordered extra food so the Twins could have a hot postgame meal and plastic plates so dishes wouldn't have to be washed. He brought in five extra workers -- he normally has seven -- to help him move trunks, equipment bags, medical supplies, wipe down the lockers, vacuum and tend to the player's needs. "Cy loves this," John Gibel said as he hung a Twins jersey in a locker. "He's got everything under control. We all know exactly what to do." Buynak said before Game 1, that with the Twins due to arrive at 5 p.m., he was praying for a three-hour game. He nearly got his wish when it ended in 3:03. At 4:10, the fun started: As quickly as a White Sox player zipped his bag shut, a clubhouse kid grabbed it, ran into the hallway and tossed it on a cart headed for the equipment truck. • 4:32 -- Before leaving, Chicago's Frank Thomas grabbed Buynak and joked, "Should I pay you for today, Cy? What did you do anyway?" • 4:45 -- Two clubbies running toward the door nearly barrel into a TV cameraman trying to record the changeover. • 4:47 -- As lockers are being wiped down in preparation for the Twins, Buynak finds a pair of white socks -- fittingly -- left behind by a Chicago player. "They'd better hope that's all that's left," Buynak said. • 4:48 -- Chicago reliever Kelly Wunsch is the last Chicago player out the door. • 4:50 -- The first Twins equipment bags are delivered and unloaded. • 4:54 -- Buynak notices that the message board reads: "Good Luck, Central Division Champs!" "I don't think the Twins would want to see that," he says. • 4:56 -- There's a constant traffic flow at the door of the visitors' clubhouse, and Indians pitcher and team clown Dave Burba, pulls up in a golf cart seeking help. "Did anybody see a Titleist?" he cracks. • 4:57 -- Third-base coach Ron Gardenhire is the first of the Twins to arrive, and immediately jokes with Buynak. "What are we getting to eat? Chicago's leftover meatballs?" Gardenhire said. "Only for you," Buynak said. "I got the good stuff for the guys that play." • 5:12 -- Minnesota manager Tom Kelly, followed by coach Paul Molitor and several Twins players, restored order. "Out, out, out," Kelly said. "What are these cameramen doing in here? All the media out! We've got 15 minutes to get ready." Buynak shrugged. He knows all about not having any time.
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