CLEVELAND, Ohio --
Seen and heard around Progressive Field on Friday.
Clubhouse confidential:
The days of Jose Mesa plunking Omar Vizquel are over, but the two have yet to reconcile.
The former Indians teammates feuded after Vizquel was critical of Mesa's involvement in Cleveland's Game 7 letdown in the 1997 World Series. Mesa then vowed to throw at Vizquel every time he encountered him on the diamond.
"He hit me three times," Vizquel said. "He said he was going to hit me every time he faced me and he did that."
Vizquel said he got redemption in their final duel.
"He was playing for Colorado in one of his last years and he had bases loaded," Vizquel said, "and I came up to hit and I said, 'Well, if he hits me, I'm going to get an RBI.' He pitched to me and I got a base hit to right and I got two RBIs. I got him back. That was the last time I saw Jose."
Vizquel said the two were close when they played together in Cleveland.
"It's so funny, because he was one of my best friends when I was here," Vizquel said. "We had lockers right next to each other. We lived five minutes away from each other. We fooled around a lot. We cooked together.
"It was kind of sad that I never got to tell him that I didn't really mean anything bad about what I said in the book or whatever people said about it. It was just a bad incident that turned a detour and he took it in a different way. It's bad that I haven't really talked to him about it."
Still raking:
Victor Martinez, 35, entered Friday's action with a .328 batting average, 17 home runs, 45 RBIs and a .969 OPS. He ranked third in the American League in batting average, fourth in homers and second in OPS.
"If he keeps hitting like this, he'll be teammates with his son, Victor Jose [one day]," said Indians manager Terry Francona. "They'll be together."
Martinez is batting .394 against lefties and .304 against righties.
"I don't think he's biased," Francona said. "He's good against everybody. Victor goes through periods when he's hot that are difficult. He's the perfect guy behind [Miguel Cabrera]."
Stat of the day:
Nick Swisher had two extra-inning, game-winning home runs in a span of five days this week. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Albert Pujols (June 4-5, 2011) is the only other player in the majors over the last 10 seasons to slug two extra-inning, game-winning home runs in a span of five days. The last Indians player to accomplish the feat was Albert Belle on Aug. 30-31, 1995.