JFG Nation, the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series, and any baseball fan (well, any older baseball fan like myself) remembers exactly where they were the last time the Indians were in the World Series. That 1997 World Series was a classic. Cleveland had a murderer’s row: Vizquel. Manny. David Justice. Sandy Alomar. Jim Thome. Matt Williams. And their rotation was sick: Colon. Orel Hershiser. Jaret Wright. Remember Chuck Nagy?

The Marlins, meanwhile, had (at the time) the best team money could buy: Bobby Bonilla. Luis Castillo. Conine. Renteria. Moises friggin Alou. Cliff Floyd. Sheff. And their rotation with Leiter and Livan Hernandez was backed by an amazing bullpen – Robb Nen and Alfonseca, the 6-fingered wonder. It was an amazing matchup.

I remember exactly where I was for that Game 7 – in college, sitting in a basement common room with my friend Darren, watching the game on a large tube TV that had a shaky connection. No HD back then, kiddos. As a Yankee fan I was BITTER that Cleveland beat them, coming off of the Yanks WS win the year prior, so I openly hoped that Cleveland would crash and burn, even though I knew the Marlins were annoying as hell. Counsell with his stupid stance that blocked half his face. And the walkoff single by Renteria – it was story book. I saw it, man! I SAW IT.

Of course, baseball fans know what happened next. Wayne Huzienga fire bombed… I mean, held a fire sale…of the entire team and the team finished dead last the next year. The Indians, meanwhile, never made it back as the Yanks went on to take the next three World Series. And now, 19 years later, the Indians are back.

It’s pretty amazing, really. Who knows what’ll happen on the NL side, but I’m happy for Cleveland to make it back to the World Series. You had to endure all those years of Albert Belle, so I feel for you. And you’re welcome for Andrew Miller, too. *grumble*

Any baseball fans remember where you were for the ’97 World Series? Let me know in the comments below.

Todays junk food: Lay’s Receta Campesina Chips!

This bag of Lay’s Receta Campesina Chips is another chip variety I picked up in Spain, and was another flavor that I saw EVERYWHERE. “Receta campesina” means “peasant’ recipe.” As you can see from the bag, there’s just a bunch of onions and tomato and herbs on there. When I opened the bag and sniffed, there wasn’t a distinct flavor – just the general Lay’s potato chip smell. Maybe a tad bit of savoriness.

I gripped several chips into my fingers and munched – the “peasant’s recipe” turned out to be a very very light savory flavor, sort of like a ranch dressing but without the creaminess. Just a bit of tomato powder here, a bit of onion powder there, some garlic, some herbaciousness. Nothing out of balance, nothing overwhelming. Everything just came together to produce a tasty, savory, chip. It’s a mouthwatering flavor, even if it is just potato chips with essentially a seasoned salt mix on it.

All in all, this is one of those chip flavors that is (1) boring generally, as there’s nothing new or exciting about it, but also (2) tasty as hell where you’d crush the whole bag because it just hits the tongue right. I liked the flavor a lot, even if it didn’t break any new ground. Plus, the crisp thin Lay’s potato chip is still a winner.

Sincerely,

The JFG