Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports: Bottlegate, Bedbugs, and Burying the Pennant

by Vince Guerrieri

Cleveland sports If you can’t laugh about it, what else are you gonna do?

Cleveland teams have set records for futility in baseball, football, and basketball. But even beyond that, Cleveland fans have witnessed more than their share of weird, wild, random, and odd occurrences, from front office ineptitude to absurd losses to bizarre injuries and more, like …



The Cavs player who accidentally scored a layup in the wrong basket (and another who shot at his own basket on purpose) …The testy Tribe manager who got into a fight during an exhibition game with the Triple-A farm team …The Browns owner who took advice from a random stranger on the street and blew a first-round draft pick on “Johnny Football” …The rookie pitcher shot in the leg while riding on the team bus wearing a cheerleader outfit and go-go boots …The team owner once called “the dumbest man in pro sports” …One Browns star whose season-ending injury came while popping a wheelie and another whose eye was nearly put out by a referee’s flag …The Indians player who was traded for himself …A victory owed to a timely swarm of insects …The Cavaliers’ first draft, planned using bubble-gum cards …When Tribe mascot Slider fell off the outfield wall into live action during a playoff game …

Phew! And we’re just getting started. (We haven’t even mentioned 10-Cent Beer Night yet.) If you’re a Cleveland sports fan, you’ll enjoy this offbeat collection.

Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2022

Reviews

[Ramon Alarcon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book, I couldn’t help but hear the author’s voice in my mind, telling these stories. (I know Vince from our youth on the Westside of Youngstown.). Great stories; great book. Four out of five stars…just to keep Vince humble.

[Max Keyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that I read over the summer was “Weird Moments In Cleveland Sports” by Vince Guerrieri. This book doesn’t really have a main conflict because it is about many different stories that happened in Cleveland's sports history. The most impactful aspect of my book was the writing style. There were different stories per chapter and that was the most impactful because it made the book very unique and unlike any other book I have read. There was a different story about every two pages and there was a different chapter around every 30 pages so there were many different stories in just one chapter. The only drawback of the book was that there weren’t many good stories to write about. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes sports as much as I do.

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleveland professional sports teams have had their ups and downs over the years. As you read this book you get the impression that there have been a lot more downs than ups. Some of the downs are just weird, thus the title of the book. Fortunately, the author has a sense of humor which makes these stories of ineptitude more enjoyable to read. It is a fun trip down memory lane as players and executives from the past are discussed.

[Jason Monsman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an alright bathroom read. Would make an interesting book on a shelf in the living room or bar, not great as a library book for someone who lived through 1/2 the moments and had heard 98% of the others by way of first hand accounts 23 times by age 6. Might be a nice collection for my kids, so they can correct me when I tell the stories wrong.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended to anyone with even a small interest in Cleveland sports. There are some familiar stories included, but there are some that I had never heard before and each one is presented in a short but precise write-up.

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting compilation of Cleveland sport oddities. It was good to be reminded of many of these times and events. In fact, many of these had slipped my mind.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. As a long-suffering Cleveland sports fan, I lived through many of the moments and can laugh about them now.

[Chuck Ledger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting facts about the Cleveland sports scene. The bias in some of the sections was hard to swallow.