Starters vs. Bullpen

Well there are two ways that we can look at this situation...... 

1.  Whenever you have a great bullpen, you expect them to do great things.  You especially expect them to close out games.  At worst, you expect them to "only" give up 1 run during their appearance. 

2.  Your bullpen is so bad that you expect them to blow leads, tied games, or even chances.  At best, you are giddy when they actually don't lose the game.

Point being.....Last year, I would have voted #1.  However this year, I am having a hard time adjusting to #2.

Laffey had a good outing, slightly better than Sanchez.  Francisco became the lone active Indian to be batting over .300.  

Yeah, we lost.

Cleveland - 2

San Francisco - 3

POG - I really don't know

Bullpen gives up zero runs

Byrd, Byrd, Byrd.........

Thank you for last year.  Your persona was definitely intriguing.  We loved the underdog status you absorbed.  It was fun.  But come on man.  In a season where you had a few of the guys slotted before you fall down, you could have easily cemented your spot in the 2009 lineup.  But that is just not happening.

Ben Francisco is by far the most productive offensive player we have right now.  So it was an obvious choice to have him sit on the bench today. 

After this series is said and done, I can honestly be satisfied.  But not overjoyed.  Byrd CAN NOT be traded for anything.  Face it.  He's a guy that's been OK for our franchise the past 2 years but is at the end of his rope.  No one will take him.  

As a die-hard Indians fan, at what point in the season do you start thinking about next year.  Not giving up on this year, but to be honest, you have to start that thinking at some point.  What moves do ya'll foresee?  What pieces of our puzzle need to be replaced?  I would love to hear some suggestions.

Cleveland - 3

LA Dodgers - 4

Audition?

Many of you commented and emailed me today about a controversial title to my last post. "Will he stay or will he go now?” of course referring to Cliff Lee. First of all, this was by no way any disrespect towards Cliff. I think he is an incredible asset to the Cleveland Indians. However, I also know that our front office prides itself on making moves that don’t make sense to most of us at the time, only later to pan out perfect and make the GM look like Nostradamus. We do know one thing for sure, something will be done soon. The only question is what.

Now on to today’s game. Is it just me, or is it extremely difficult to see the Indians and the Dodgers on the same field? Since the whole inter league move, I have been able to adjust to a few of the NL teams, but for some reason, it just doesn’t look natural.

Anyway, today was another opportunity for Sabathia to prove why he is the ace on our staff, after such an awful start to the season. Speaking of players that “could be moved” sometime soon........he sure looked like he was auditioning for all of the National League teams out there today. Great stuff on the mound, but he also was swinging for the fences. And whenever a 300+ lb professional athlete connects with a fastball, it’s going to go a long way. I couldn’t actually watch the game on tv, but I can almost promise you that his eyes were closed when he swung. Nonetheless, he connected, and tada Cleveland is up 1-0.

Jeff Kent proved again that he’s a jerk when he returned the favor in the 6th, evening the score to 1-1. This trade for Sal Fasano looks like it’s paying off already. Wait, strike that. Fasano struck out twice to end innings and flied to left for his third out (at least he made contact. Gotta crawl before you walk). But again, at least he’s got the stache working for him.

Just like last night, this one headed into extra innings. Carroll and Francisco singled to start the 11th. After Garko lined out, the Dodgers brought in Scott Procter. Procter has stats that rival even Betancourt and Borowski. Peralta singled to score Carroll giving the Tribe a 2-1 lead. Blake singled to drive in Fransisco, 3-1. Proctor walks Choo to load the bases. Shoppach singled to drive in Blake and Peralta, 5-1. Apparently Wedge sent out a cardboard cut-out of Randy Travis (his name is J. Velandia or something) and he drew a walk to load the bases, again. I’m no math wiz, but if my calculations are correct, Proctor has an infinite ERA for this game, exactly like a perfect game except nothing like that. Troncoso comes in to relieve Proctor, only thing is, his ERA makes Proctor look like Greg Maddux. Of course his first pitch was a single to right by Sizemore, Tribe 6-1. Double play = inning over. I would personally like to thank the pitching staff of the LA Dodgers for letting me get all 9 Cleveland players mentioned during the half inning that I have covered so far..

Elarton relieves Kobayashi in the bottom of the 11th to face “the jerk”. And I don’t mean “The Jerk” as in Steve Martin, I think that would be a complement. Kent lines out. Elarton gives up a single to Martin just for kicks, to fit in with the bullpen. Young strikes out. I’m watching this game on the computer with yahoo’s Gamechannel and “Scott Elarton’s” picture looks eerily like Borowski. But surely it can’t be him. Loney doubles to score Matrin, 7-2. OK, OK, it really is Borowski. Well maybe not, Maza popped out to end the game. I’m totally confused now.

Cleveland - 7
LA Dodgers - 2
POG - C.C. Sabathia - 7 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 ER, 10 K’s and 1 HR to take the game to extra innings. Dooooo I hear 1 dollar, 1 dollar, 1 dollar.

Will he stay or will he go now......

I must apologize to all of you for the recent departure. Thanks for the encouragement from all of you who have written in the past few weeks. And also thanks for the many Cleveland Indians fans that I have met in the past few months who live right here in Mississippi. When I set out to do this, I never thought it would be so real. I especially never thought it would be so tough to write a post about a loss.

But I understand that a loss is not the worst thing in the world. Just today, I saw something scroll across the bottom of ESPN saying that the Indians had traded with Atlanta for C - Sal Fasano. Why is this important to me? Well first of all, he is being traded from the Braves and their AA club is in my home town here in Mississippi. Secondly, if you do any research at all, you will be able to tell the he might possibly have one of the top 4 mustaches of all time. No kidding.

So we start fresh tonight, however, I will be filling in the previously skipped posts throughout the next few days, so go back anytime to check them out. I mean..... only if you're really a Tribe fan....and really bored.

On to tonight.......

Cliff Lee is on the hill again tonight. Trying to hammer down his 11th win this season. It's still disturbing to me that Borowski is still our team's leading saver with 5 saves. At least the hitting is finally starting to somewhat show up.

From everything that I have heard of read, Cliff Lee is quite possibly one of the best humans on Earth. If you think back only to last season, you can remember him being the goat. The guy being sent back to the minors to "find himself". Well good for you Cliff, good for you. I understand that it was during that time that Cliff discovered that there were more important things in life than baseball. And, in turn, that's when he actually started to play with no worries. I think you see that so many times in sports that just go unnoticed. And it's a shame.

The most important sports-town in my life is definitely Cleveland. The most important sports team in my life is definitely the Cleveland Indians. However, as loud as I yell when we prosper, or as much as I hurt when we fail, at the end of the day, it is just sport. And I think that Cliff Lee has realized that. And that is what makes him human. And that is also what has made him succeed this year.

As far as tonight, me patiently watching a baseball game on a computer (ugh), nothing sticks out more to me than the batting averages. Let's look.....(.266,.279,.299,.254,.298,.229,.269,.229, Cliff Lee=pass).

Bottom of the 8th, Betancourt comes in....and gives up a double to "Stupid" Jeff Kent, driving in a run.

Cle-4 LA-1 - prompting Wedge to pull Betancourt to bring in Perez........who in-turn gives up another single to drive in another run.....4-2. Perez strikes out LaRoche. Perez strikes out a high school junior to end the 8th.

Cle-4 LA-2- Borowski is in....uh oh. Runners on second and third. K. Infield single - Berroa scored.

Cle-4 LA-3- Borowski is intentionally walking Kemp. Stupid Jeff Kent drives in a run.

Cle-4 LA-4 - Thanks Joe for not losing it.. Finally...... Extra innings.....Carroll walks...Francisco singled (Carroll to 2nd)...Garko singles. (Carroll to 3rd, Francisco to 2nd)....Double play....Peralta doubled to deep right. scoring Garko and Gutierrez. Blake walked.. Inning over.

Cle-6 LA-4 - Enter-Kobayashi.....Ground Out......Ground Out.....Single...Ground Out!!!

Cleveland - 6

LA dodgers - 4

POG - Everyone other than Joe Borowski

Byrd finally gets some help

It looks like starting pitching and timely hitting is going to be the trend with this team this season. Paul Byrd pitched 7 strong shut out innings, which extending the shutout streak by the starters to 34 innings. That's amazing.

What is not amazing is the hitting. Although the 7 hits were enough to win today, I expected them to get around 13-14 hits today after getting chewed out by Wedge yesterday for getting 7 hits in the 2 games combined.

You can tell that there is a problem when you see quotes like this from starting pitchers.... "I definitely had a little pressure on me," Byrd said. "It was like I'm a loser if I give up one run."

Also, Cabrera and Hafner were lucky enough today to accidentally hit a baseball.

Cleveland (20-19) - 4

Oakland (23-17) - 0

POG - Paul Byrd - 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 7 k's, 0 bb's

Duece

Game 1 - It's hard to get too excited for a guy hitting .190 and being a total disappointment this season. But I guess I can muster something up. Cabrera was all the support that Fausto needed today. One swing of the bat. That's all. Fausto was incredible today. Complete game 5 hitter shutout. That's how it's supposed to be done. Who needs all the drama, just don't let the other team get on base and you win more times than not.

Game 2 - Again, it's hard to get too excited for a guy hitting .190 and being a total disappointment. But somehow this guy has done "just enough" today to make the headlines. Tonight, Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play. Sounds very exciting. That is unless you actually saw it. He just caught a bloop hit straight at him, took a step and touched the runner, then took another step and touched the bag. As rare as that is, it doesn't even compare to how rare it is that you have your best pitcher of the season come in, throw 9 innings of shutout ball, and to be thanked by ZERO run support and a bullpen that gets a kick out of blowing games. This really has become a problem.

Game 1 -

Cleveland (19-18) - 3

Toronto (17-22) - 0

POG - Fausto Carmona - 9 innings 0 earned runs

Game 2 -

Cleveland (19-19) - 0

Toronto (18-22) - 3

POG - Cliff Lee - 9 innings 0 earned runs

Size Matters

I guess it was a pretty good day in Cleveland. Especially for Grady Sizemore. What a guy. Always giving, and giving, and giving to the fans.

For starters, he personally handed out his own blankets with his own face on them to every fan that entered the Prog. Then, while walking to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first, he saw a bee that was in the outfield bleachers that was about to sting a kid. So naturally, he stopped, aimed and hit the ball directly at the bee. Killing the bee and saving the kids life (we later found out the kid was deathly allergic to bees).

He was also in such a good mood, that in the bottom of the 5th, he saw the same kid, and hit him another ball just to help him start his collection of Grady Sizemore homerun balls. What a guy.

Also, congrat to Aaron Laffey. Great game.

Cleveland (18-18) - 12

Toronto (17-21) - 0

POG - Grady Sizemore - 3-5, 2 HR's, 5 RBI, 1 kid saved

6 in one...half dozen in the other

Who says you have to play all 9 innings to get a win. What a 7th inning. And it's about time that they gave C.C. a little run support. I'm sure, up until the 7th, that it was going to be another one of those nights. Here we go again.

But no, there was something different about tonight. It turns out the field players have been playing a joke on ole C.C. all season. Some would say pulling a fast one.

So there you go, after 8 games and 33 earned runs, it was a joke after all. Well that's refreshing.

Cleveland (17-18) - 6

Toronto (17-20) - 1

POG - C.C. Sabathia - 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks and 9 k's

Get to walkin Jason

"NEW YORK (AP)—Jason Giambi and the sluggish New York Yankees suddenly turned sluggerish."

I'm not sure if sluggerish is really even a word, but I think I get their point. You expect guys like Giambi to crush the ball when they make contact since he's eats and drinks roids, but Damon/Cano/Betemit? What's up with that? I guess you really can't complain though. I'll take 2 of 3 on the road every time.

More big news today.....Jason Michaels, pack your bags. I'm definatly not devistated about this move. I just hope we don't bring up another reliever. We need bats. Bats that like to hit the ball. Bats without holes. You get my point.

Cleveland (16-18) - 3

New York (18-18) - 6

POG - Steroids

Cliff Lee throws strikes

This game was set up perfectly. You had Cliff Lee, 5-0, having an incredible start to his season facing Wang, 6-0, who also has had a pretty decent start. We also saw the return of Victor to the lineup, which is important because he's the only player on our team batting over .300 and I hear that's good.

By all accounts, it looks like Cliff Lee has had it up to here with losing. And what's that? Our relievers? Perez and Betancourt go 2 innings and give up 1 hit combined. And with our lineup right now, we will have to continue playing small-ball and having solid pitching to get wins.

In a related story....... When I was a kid, we had this place in our neighborhood called "The Dips". It was a spot in the woods that had ramps and bike trails and stuff like that. There was a time when it was run by a group of older kids. They were bigger than we were. They smoked. They had more expensive bikes than we did. Well one day one of them dared one of us to race them and finish with a jump over a really large ditch. I took the dare, he beat me in the race, but when it came to the jump, he wouldn't do it. So I jumped the ditch and won his small collection of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards.

Cleveland (16-17) - 3

New York (17-18) - 0

POG - Cliff Lee - (6-0) 7 innings, 6 hits, 7 strikeouts

- On the year - Lee - 44.2 innings, 25 hits, 4 ER's, 39 strikeouts, 2(two) BB's

Joba the Hit

As previously noted, I love to see the Tribe beat the Yankees. But again, I get more joy from watching the Tribe beat the Yankees in a heartbreaking way.

It seems like every 6 minutes, ESPN says something about this Joba Chamberlain guy. He's the next best thing. He's soooo great. And then pair him with Mariano. If you only took what they said, you would think it would be impossible for the Yanks to lose a game this season.

Take tonight...... The Yanks are up 3-2 in the 8th. Joba comes in to relieve Farnsworth. The announcers made it sounds like there was no reason to even keep listening to the game because it was "over". And then walk, walk, goodbye.

I'm not sure what I was more impressed with tonight? 5 runs off of 6 hits and a 3-run bomb off of the "unstoppable" setup man. Or, Perez, Lewis and Betancourt coming in and getting the job done perfectly.

Cleveland (15-17) - 5

New York (17-17) - 3

POG - Bobby Abreu - 0-3 and striking out looking to end the game......at home. Atta boy Bobby, atta boy

Cliff Lee is good at pitching

February 3, 2008 -

(Cliff Lee) - "How do you think we'll do this season?"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Well Cliff, I think we will be decent. Potentially good"

(Cliff Lee) - "I'll probably start off slow again this year and just be a mediocre pitcher, maybe a #5 starter"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Well that's all we can ask of you. You're a role player and we appreciate that"

(Cliff Lee) - "Thanks, I just want to get paid"

(Mark Shapiro) - "Would you like to be paid more?"

(Cliff Lee) - "Of course"

(Mark Shapiro) - "OK then, lets make a bet. If I win, you have to win a lot of games this season. If I lose, then you can only win a few games"

(Cliff Lee) - "Sounds like a deal. Paper-rock-scissors."

(Mark Shapiro) - "Two out of three right?"

(Cliff Lee) - "Duh"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Rock

(Mark - Paper

(Moderator) - "Round One goes to Mark"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Scissors

(Mark) - Paper

(Moderator) - "Round Two goes to Cliff"

(Moderator) - "One Two Three Throw..........

(Cliff) - Scissors

(Mark) - Rock

(Tribe Fans) - "Booo Yaaa, Now Cliff's got to win lots of games"

Well it looks like Cliff is holding true to his word. Thanks man. Paper-rock-scissors is definitely a binding contract.

Cleveland (13-15) - 8

Seattle (13-15) - 3

POG - Cliff Lee (5-0)

Oh Come on.

My favorite player pitched tonight for the Tribe. And did a pretty good job. But apparently, the rest of the team enjoyed losing last night so much, that they decided to "make it happen" again tonight.

When I made the decision to blog each game of the season, I had no idea how tough it would be to write back-to-back losing posts. I've had to do it a few times already and it is not awesome.

Our number 2 pitcher should not be losing games to the Mariners. I could understand the lose if the Mariners were fielding Griffey Jr, A-Rod, Ichiro, Randy Johnson, etc., but they are fielding a bunch of jazz hands. Unacceptable.

This blog is getting tough. I think I have a wrinkle.

Cleveland (12-15) - 2

Seattle (13-14) - 7

POG - I guess LeBron James. He's still relevant in Cleveland right?

Aaron gets an A......almost

It's very unfortunate to have a young player come in and be devistated during his first outing. Laffey pitched a great game until the 6th inning. I mean a great game. Even in the 6th, when the wheels fell off, it wasn't all his fault. The first 2 yanks that got onbase with infield hits. And then he hit A-Rod in the cup. Confidence is key for any pitcher, especially a very young, un-proven pitcher. I was please to see Wedge announce that he would be giving Laffey at least 2 starts when he called him up.

As good as he did pitch, it was unsettling to see him beat himself up on the bench after getting pulled. We can only hope that he takes the good and the bad from this game, but still comes out positive. Taking a no-hitter into the 5th has got to be worth something, especially for a young kid.

Cleveland (12-14) - 2

Yankees (14-13) - 5

POG - AL Central (For keeping the losing pace and keeping the Tribe in the race)..... Bottom line, ther has to be someone to make the playoffs for the Central.

Dang it Wang!

I was pretty excited about day 2 of Weekend-O-Sports-O-Awesome. It was basically just like yesterday, with a little church mixed in. Also throw in that Talladega was today and arguablly, 2 of the best pitchers in the game right now were facing off against each other (C.C. and Wang).

Well it's very difficult to accept a loss to the Yankees, but I was actually pleased with today's performance. C.C. and Wang pitched just about identical games, with the exception of one change-up to Cabrera. I can only hope that C.C. takes away the good from this game. He's only given up 1 run in the past 14 innings.

Cleveland (12-13) - 0

New York (13-13) - 1

POG - Kansas City Chiefs - I know they didn't play in this game today, I don't even like the Chiefs at all, but I have heard so many times, over and over and over again today how they "won" the draft. So i'm officially brainwashed.

Starting to get a little cocky.

There are now two things that I am absolutly positive that Kobayashi truely loves. Nathan's hotdogs and beating the Yankees. Did you see how happy he was?!?!

And what a great day! Indians at home against the Yankees on TV. 2008 NFL Draft started. NBA playoffs. NHL playoffs (i think). Byron Nelson Classic. Even got to lay a few pallets of sod in the rain, but the sod definalty won that one.

To say that I enjoy watching the Indians beat the Yankees is an understatement, but what I enjoy even more is when we win a game like this. They came back in the 6th to tie, had more hits, almost had it. Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, outfield in.....and then Vic happened.

Cleveland (12-12) - 4

New York (12-13) - 3

POG - Masa Kobayashi - 2 innings pitched, 2 k's, 0 er's, 1st Major League win

Yankees = Royals....HaHaHa

For the first time this season I actually feel a little cocky about the whole deal. I mean, if we can have Paul (maybe HGH) Byrd going up against Andy (Yeah, I took HGH) Pettitte and still getting the win, well things must be going good right?

Two of the last three starters haven't pitched incredibly, but they have continued to do just enough. And what more can you ask for than just enough? I mean, today is Friday. How many of you out ther can seriously say that you did "just enough" at your job today?

Although the 15 run outing kindof scared me, now it's good to see us combining runs scored > runs allowed in a more favorable manner.

Jhonny was onny tonight

Cleveland (11-12) - 6

New York Damn Yankees (12-12) - 4

POG - Jhonny Peralta - (not to show a sensitive side, but I giggle each time I type "Jhonny". I mean, does he not know his mom spelled it wrong? Or is he just OK with it? 2-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Turn your head and Kauff....man

In a long season, you take any series sweep you can get. This might just be exactly what the Tribe needed to get back on track. So we are not going to go 162-0 this season. Maybe not even 150-12. Oh well, I guess there's always next year.

The main objective now is to secure a solid pitching rotation. The other night showed promise that C.C. might be making a few adjustments (getting ahead in the count, and throwing stikes). Carmona has continued last season's success like a true vet. Cliff Lee, funnily enough, has been the most consistent pitcher this season. Paul Byrd is reeeeaaalllyy old, but every win he can give us is a gift. He's even a nice compliment to the C.C/Carmona combo. And then there is Jake. Oh Jake.... We really need you to be more dependable. You make a lot of mulah. You have huge potential. You have had an incredible start this season. You are also.....soft. Our starting rotation is extremely shallow.

Although we swept KC, this weekend is a very interesting and important series for the club. As we showed last fall, we can handle the Damn Yankees. But at this point in the season, it's important to instill confidence in the team, even if that means beating an over-rated over-paid over-hyped team.

Quick recap....Game 1 - Grady hit alot(4-5). Carmona pitched good enough to win. Perez sucked, but bullpen survived.

Game 2 - "Note to self........Cliff Lee might really be legit".

Not to go un-noticed....Rafael Betancourt got his first save tonight. Maybe he won't hate saves as much as Borowski.

Game 1 -

Cleveland (9-12) - 9

Kansas City (9-12) - 6

POG - Grady Sizemore - 4-5, HR, 2 RBI

Game 2 -

Cleveland (10-12) - 2

Kansas City (9-13) - 0

POG - Bob Gibson/Cliff Lee - Obviously the Strickland's plug worked. EAT AT STRICKLAND'S. Cliff Lee - Complete game - 3 hits, 9 KO's, 0.28 season ERA

KC is still KC

There are only 2 things that you never fear in baseball.......Barry Zito or the Kansas City Royals. So you have to know that I knew something was wrong about this season when last night I was nervous about our ace/Cy Young winner pitching against K.C.

So it's hard to tell if this was just C.C. being C.C., or K.C. being K.C. Either way, it worked out fine.

Casey Blake decided to personally make sure that there was no way possible for the bullpen to blow the lead. Going 4-4 to improve his batting average to a whopping .233

Cleveland (8-12) - 15

Kansas City - (9-11) - 1

POG - Casey Blake - 4-4, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 2 doubles

Hit Balls, not Byrds

In another strong outing, Paul Byrd did what he could, but wasn't able to close out the deal.

I guess i can't get too upset that we keep losing low scoring games. Especially with the lineup that we have, right? How can you sit here and blame Perez for giving up the runs, and not ask yourself, where have our bats gone?

I'm not asking for grand slams every inning. But I do feel like I can ask for our offensive players to try to touch their bats to the opposing pitchers balls.

I might be WAY out there, but I do think that we are missing a crucial part of the game. Hitting is good. Seriously.

New season starts now. Can we put together a game in which both offense and defense decide to play together. Let's do this guys.

Cleveland (7-12) - 1

Minnesota (9-10) -2

POG - Me- For being the most consistant part of the Indians' season (again thanks to bf trey www.chd3.blogspot.com)

Pirates of the Blackburn

WOW! Were we robbed tonight? It might be something to look at. I mean, his name is Blackburn.....One Eyed Blackburn (I think).

I can't be too disappointed with Jake. I mean, he is doing his job. Over and over again.

This was just a hard faught game, that was won by one team's hitting.

Still not worried. It's just the Twins. Right?

Cleveland (7-11) - 0

Minnesota (8-10) - 3

POG - Justin Morneau - 2-4, 2 RBI, yeah, that's all it took.

Cliff on Mound/Casey at Bat

Cliff Lee - Going into tonight, he was 2-0. With a 0.61 era. 12 K's. 1 (yes one) walk.

Francisco Liriano - So much "promise". Going into tonight, he was 0-1. With a 7.71 era.

It has made me sick today seeing the "potential vs performance" debate rage on in the national media. Obviously Liriano is the better pitcher because of his potential, right? And obviously Cliff Lee is only looking good because other Cleveland pitchers are under-performing, right? Well at least that's how ESPN wanted to set it up.

Every now and then you see an unexpected player step up and take the Twin by the horns. Well tonight was that night. Cliff lee pitched one hell of a game. In the midst of a questionable start to Vthe season, Lee has been the most consistant piece of the puzzle. Tonight only giving up 2 hits is nothing but exceptional.

I always wonder why pro sports players can't play like pros every night. I have always thought that it was just because they were a bunch of spoiled brats. Well I just might have been proved wrong tonight. Take Casey Blake for example. He has obviously been holding back the entire season. I couldn't understand why, until tonight. Casey decided to "let it all out" tonight with a 2-4 game with 3 RBI. And we say thank you.

Cleveland (7-10) - 4

Minnesota (7-10) - 0

POG - Clifford Lee - 8 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 2 hits, 8 KO's

[special thanks to bf Trey for a few tips. Check him out at http://www.chd3.blogspot.com/]

------Photo caption------ Cliff at Strickland's. By far the best ice cream joint in Ohio.

Tigers....Schmigers

Now this is what I signed up for. I understand that there have been a few rough days we have had so far, but it is days like this that make it worth while. It's clear that Wedge lit into the team last night. I can hear it now....."Hey guys, lets think outside the box. Throw strikes!!! Make contact!!!"

Well skipper, your words have been heard loud and clear.

Selfishly, I am glad that our guys decided to start playing on a night when Fausto was pitching. I mean, what a great night across the board. Carmona became an ace tonight. He proved that if you stick up for your teammates, then they will give everything they have for you. Fausto pitched 6.2 strong innings giving up only 1 earned run, improving his ERA to 1.96. More importantly, Lewis, Kobayashi and Betancourt closed the game out by not even giving up a single hit.

Equally impressive was the hitting tonight. Most people look at Hafner and think he's all muscle and no brain. But I have heard a rumor that this afternoon, before the game, he addressed the team and said.... "Hey guys...me have idea...we hit ball tonight." It must have been an inspiring speech because even Jason Michaels got involved.

It is great to win a game. It is greater to win a game by alot. It is greatest to win a game by alot when we are playing a team in the Central Division.

Cleveland - 11

Detroit - 1

POG - Fausto Carmona - 6.2 innings pitched. 7 hits. 1 ER. 1 rebound from a terrible outing.

C.C. See Ya

I originally started this blog as an effort to chronicle the great achievements of our Indians this season. Of course this was our year. Right? A returning Cy Young pitcher. A hard nosed lineup that just finds ways to get it done. A manager who adjusts the lineup day-to-day like a crab fisher trying to get paid. A general manager, taught by the Hart, that seemingly has everything right and in place.

I have heard many praises for Shapiro for "building" a team and locking up so many of our young stars for many years to come. He even said on national TV that he was looking to build a team of quality "team" guys. While I can, and do respect him for that, when is it OK to factor in wins? Honestly I am proud, as a die-hard Cleveland fan, to hear us nationally recognized as having the best group of men playing baseball. But is that enough?

I'll be a Cleveland fan until my last breath, let's make that clear. It is far to soon to bail out on this season, but I don't think that it's too soon to start asking for our players to take some responsibility.

Take tonight for example. I could sit here and write so many reasons why it is OK for us to lose to Detroit. I mean, they have got an All Star lineup (Ivan Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria, Magglio Ordonez, Jacque Jones, Gary Sheffield) and pitching staff (Verlander, Bonderman, Rogers, Robertson) at least on paper. But C.C., this is your 4th start. Something has got to give. Maybe it isn't the Tiger's lineup. Maybe, just maybe, it could be you. Four games, 18 innings pitched, 32 hits, 27 earned runs, 5 hrs, 14 bb's, 14 ko's (what?), 13.50 era.

Tonight was just embarrassing. The key to winning series is pitching and batting, and tonight, we did neither. Michaels...just go home. I almost would rather place a tire in the outfield, at least then Akron would get some press.

I have reached a moral roadblock : I do enjoy that we have quality men playing ball for us each night, but if Michaels can't figure out how to touch his bat on the ball, then I might be leaning to other options......Barry Bonds..... I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Cleveland - 2 (sick)

Detroit - 13 (sick)

POG - Not C.C. - Miguel Cabrera - 4 hits, 5 RBI

Borowski is Outski....and still same results.

Today there were two very interesting things that took place.

1 - Joe Borowski went on the "Disabled List" after starting off with the worst first two weeks imaginable by a closer. This is very interesting to me. As I predicted in my previous post, Shapiro was going to have to find some way of getting him off of the roster. Who would have guessed that he would have had an "injury". Thanks to my dad, I was informed about a prophetic comment made last night by none other than Manny Ramirez. When asked about the pitch he hit out of the park last night, Manny said... "I'm not sure if it was a change-up, or a hanging curve ball". Why is this interesting? Well only because the pitch that Manny hit out last night to win the game for Boston was actually Borowski's fastball (84 mph). Unless this guy can come up with an awesome skill (aka. hitting, telling jokes, cooking grits), there is absolutely no reason to keep him on the roster. Especially since we have the guys that CAN finish the job. Right?

2 - Well, so much for having the guys to finish the job. I guess you have to give a little credit to Jensen Lewis for being a team player. "If Joe Borowski is hurt and can't blow a game.....Maybe I can be the guy - Jensen Lewis".

This is starting to get old and we are not even to May. If the starters do well, the bullpin tanks. If the starters give up 90 runs, the bullpin comes in and shuts down. I think I have a remedy. The starters and the bullpin need to take a quick picnic, just so everyone knows that they are all playing for the same team.

Starters - It is not fun for the bullpin to come in during the 4th inning to save you.

Bullpin - It is not fun for the starters when you blow leads or ties.

Baseball 101 - (Batting) Score more than the other team. (Pitching) Give up fewer runs than the other team.

Cleveland - 3

Boston - 5

POG - Okajima - 1 inning pitched (9th), 2 K's

.....and then it happened..again

Being one of maybe 7 Cleveland Indians fans living in Mississippi, I was overly excited to have one of our games nationaly televised by ESPN tonight. Westbrook has been incredible so far this season, so I was absolutely pumped to see him live.

Game time..... Everything looks great. Jake gives up a run, but everything looks great. Especially when the bats start to catch fire on another 30+ degree night. It was great to see Garko get on base for a 12th straight game. It was great to see Haf get a 2 RBI single. It was great to see Wedge bring in Betancourt to face a lefty (Ortiz) only to get a strikeout and then face Manny and do the same. Everything was great, especially how Victor was calling the game from the catcher position (Almost like Sandy). Everything was GREAT.....and then it happened..again

Joe Borowski came in to "save" the game. NOTE TO SELF : "SAVE" no longer means "SAVE"

Cleveland - 4

Boston - 6

POG - (I absolutely hate to write this) - Manny Ramirez - Stupid game winning HR

Cliff was Cold/Hot

Well apparently it was January in Cleveland yesterday. 38 degrees gametime temp with a 28 degrees windchill factor? Maybe it's the Mississippi in me talking, but forget that. You're not supposed to play baseball in the middle of April if it's 38 degrees.

Obviously Cliff Lee agreed with me. He didn't want to have anything to do with the cold either. So far this season, when our other pitchers didn't want to pitch anymore, they would just start giving up runs so Wedge would yank them. Well I like Cliff's approach better. Just get outs, don't waste any time, and get back in the warm dugout.

Kudos, Cliff, Kudos.

Cleveland - 7

Oakland - 1

POG - Cliff Lee - 8 innings pitched, 2 hits, 8 K's, 0 BB's (ZERO BB'S!!!), 0.61 ERA

Where's Fausto?

I'm not too sure exactly who this guy in the #55 jersey on the mound today. He kindof resembles Fausto Carmona a little, but nah, can't be him right?

3 Earned Runs in 3.1 innings. 8 Walks? 1 Strikeout? I have to admit that I was in New Orleans this weekend and didn't get to see the game. So I'll just assume right now that it is only a mis-print. Yeah, a mis-print.

Cleveland - 3

Oakland - 7

POG - Joe Borowski - 1 inning pitched, 3 batters faced, 1 strikeout, o hits, 0 walks. Atta Boy Joe.

C.C.? Really?

Ladies and Gents..........C.C. Sabathia. It's almost like my CD is set on repeat. Is there anyone out there that knows exactly why C.C. absolutely hates Cleveland now? That's the only explaination right? How can someone go from winning the Cy Young one year, and the next year forget the rules of baseball and just assume that the more runs you give up, the more you win? Apparently, even Dale Murphy came back to knock in some runs tonight. C.C., dude, seriously, stop it.

Don't get me wrong. I really do like Sabathia. Really. Obviously it must be inside his head. I'm sure he's thinking....."Boy, I really let myself go this offseason. Am I getting bigger? I AM getting bigger. How can I fix this? Oh, I know!! I'll try to blow every game this season so coach takes me out. That way I can go back in the clubhouse and do some yoga. Genious!"

Well I'm not buying it C.C. In fact, I saw this same thing happen a few years ago. So......whatever happened to Bartolo Colon? Is he working at Captain D's yet? C.C., you still have time to turn it around this year, but it still might not be a bad idea to start taking those junior college courses on how to teach a 7th grader to throw a curve.......and how to stuff down that last Krispy Kreme.

Anyway, about tonight. Again it was a roller coaster. I got so mad watching the first 7 innings, and then there was hope!!!!! And then the hope was gone.

On a brighter note, Joe Borowski did not blow a save tonight nor did he give up any runs. Hooray!!!

Cleveland - 7

Oakland - 9

POG - Joe Borowski - 0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs allowed. Great night for Joe.

Carmona got Paid

I don't usually make morning posts, but today I am making an exception.

Thanks to http://www.cleveland.com/ for the story. Fausto Carmona (my favorite player) and the Indians just agreed to a contract that could keep him in Cleveland for the next 7 years.

I'm not quite sure how this plays in to the whole C.C. Sabathia negotiations, but it has got to be great news for any Tribe fan.

Good for you Fausto, good for you. Going from $375k/year to around $6.857 mil/year. By the way, can you just imagine if today when you walked in to work, you were given a 1,771% raise? Not too shabby. No more Hot Pockets for him.

Lame Duck

ATTENTION INDIANS' PITCHING STAFF........ Giving up homeruns is not fun!!!!!

---Growing up, one of my best friends was a pitcher. In high school, his mother would not park behind the outfield fence on days that he pitched. Paul Byrd's mother does not park behind the outfield fence either.

Yesterday was the second game of the year that I was able to get paid for watching. What a roller-coaster. I also saw an interesting quote taken from Mike Napoli (who?) after the game...... "We're hitting home runs right now, which is good for us". Really? That's pretty deep. Thanks Mike.

This "Napoli" however did go Barry Bonds on Pauly. As did Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman. I have to give props to Vlad for not making Jensen Lewis feel left out also.

On a positive note, Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch.

Cleveland - 5

LA Angels - 9

POG - Mike Napoli - 1-4, 4 RBI

Thank You Haf

For the first time in a few days, I'm finally starting to actually have a positive feeling about the team. What a great game all around. I also think that Jake has also had it up to here with Borowski.

I had to watch the game online last night since it wasn't on TV. It was total heartache when I was watching the top of the ninth. Carroll.....out 1. Sizemore.....out 2. Cabrera.....walk. Then Hafner came to bat. If you ever watch games on Yahoo.com, then you will know what I'm talking about. Whenever there is a long pause and the updates hault, either.....

A. There is a pitching change
B. There is a disagreement going on (ie. manager upset at a call, batter charging the mound (see Robin Ventura)
C. Someone just went deep.

Well in this case, thankfully there were no managers yelling at each other, and Sandy Alomar Jr. was not karate kicking anyone, so that leaves us with option "C".

Pronk sure saved the day.

Cleveland - 4
LA Angels - 3
POG - Jake Westbrook - 9 innings, 3 ER's, 4 K's
Honorable Mention - Eric Wedge, for not putting Borowski in to close out the game. Save, Schmave.

Hunted Down

Borowski........

Apparently, when the Angels of Anahiem (?) signed Torii Hunter to the ridiculous contract over the offseason, Borowski was also included in that deal. That's my only explaination. Why else would he enjoy giving up homeruns so much? I really knew something was fishy when he started pitching underhanded to Hunter in the bottom of the ninth.

What should have been a Welcome-Back party for Victor turned into a Welcome-to-California party for Torii. At least we were invited to the party.

*Closer For Sale.....Cheap

Cleveland - 4
LA Angels - 6
POG - Torii Hunter - 3-5, 5 RBI

Here He Is Folks

Ladies and Gents.......May I introduce.......Cliff Lee!!!!!!

I have to admit that the only time I have personally seen him throw was last season in Dallas where I watched him pitch an awful game. Maybe he was distracted since he was pitching on "Sosa Appreciation Night". Which makes total sense. There was a parade and even a speech from Vin Diesel. Can't get better than that. (the funniest thing about that night was that it was "Sosa Night" and he was beaned in the head on his first at bat and was out for the rest of the game.....except for the parade in the 7th inning of course)

Well today, Cliff pitched an incredible game......and Borowski somehow didn't blow it. I guess at the end of the day I could say I was happy with it all.

Cleveland - 2
Oakland - 1
POG - Cliff Lee - 6.2 innings, 4 hits, 0 ER's

4-Man Rotation? Wait, what?

I am not saying by any means that I am perfect. But I am saying that I do not understand in the least why we have gone to a 4-man rotation so soon. If my numbers add up correctly, Cliff Lee is the 5th man in the rotation and is being paid around 3 million a year. Let me clarify that a little more.......

Cliff Lee is being paid 3 million dollar bills a year, but somehow is not qualified to make a start in the fifth spot in the rotation?

C.C. is obvisouly still thinking that he's going to screw up the first part of the season and "make-up" for it later on, in order to land a sweet big money deal. While I hope that he does follow through with that deal, I am already starting to become impatient with him. Is he alot fatter or is it just me?

Cleveland - 1

Oakland - 6

POG - D. Eveland - 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 ER, 7 K's

Why aren't Fridays always good?

I have to say that it's too bad they cracked down so hard on "performance enhancing drugs" because it really looks like this new rule is taking it's tole on Byrd. 8 hits in 4.1 innings? Come on man. Maybe Paul just really misses the minor leagues that bad.

Another thing, we have Garko and Hafner going deep with no one on base? That can't be a good thing. Also, 1 run scored on a passed ball and another on a wild pitch. Victor, suck it up, we need you to start playing more like Alomar and less like Pierzynski.

On a brighter note, Detroit is 0-4. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Cleveland - 3

Oakland - 6

POG - J. Duchscherer(who?) 5 innings, 4 hits, 1 ER, 6 K's

HR's are not always awesome

This was the first game of the season that I was able to watch at my real job. I guess now that I have this blog, at least I can say that I am only watching the game at work because it's for my "other job". If anyone knows a way to convince your boss of that, please feel free to let me know.

Obviously, C.C. is trying to convince Jake that it is uber fun to give up homeruns. That's at least the best excuse I can come up with right now. Jake pitched a helluva game for the most part though. How does a lineup like this get 2 hits? Hillary would definately say it was Bush's fault. I however, say that it must have been the game time. So for now, we can chalk this one up to sun-in-eyes.

Cleveland - 1

Chi White Sox - 2

POG - J. Danks 6.2 innings, 2 hits, 1 ER, 2K's

Cama Cama Carmona

One thing that will soon be realized throughout this blog is that I am extremely passionate and loyal whenever I choose a "favorite" player. For instance, I can say that I am, and have been, the biggest Sandy Alomar Jr. fan outside of Ohio since he was a backup catcher in San Diego in 1988 (where he played in only one game). Last season, I saw the same hard nosed grit in another young star in the Indians organization. His name........Fausto.

Tonight, Fausto started right where he left off last season, except no bugs. 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, 4 K's and 1 earned run. You're my boy blue! Sizemore and Cabrera basically carried the offense with 6 hits and 5 RBI's (or R'sBI.....never quite figured that one out). It was also the first time we got to see what new signee Jorge Julio had to offer, and he was able to match Borowski's effort from last night. Money well spent I suppose.

2-0 in the Central to start the season. Detroit is 0-2. KC is 2-0. Too early? Tooshey.

Cleveland - 7

Chi White Sox - 2

POG - F. Carmona 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 er, 4 bb and 4 k's

Well here we go

Well let me start by saying that I have been waiting for this day since the Tribe tossed it in last October. What an awful way to go out. Well stop pouting cupcake, today is a new day. I'm just going to have to slowly make the transition from "The Jake" to "The Prog".

It didn't take long to get my blood pumping for this season. The second inning was incredible......until Victor apparently pulled a hamstring due to all the running around the bases that was going on. Shoppach came in and handled his business so it ended up not really mattering. The bats were on fire, there's no doubt about that. Thirteen hits!!! C.C. had a rough day however. It's usually a good idea to not give up 5ER's in 5 innings. But since he's in a contract year, maybe he's just approaching it in a different way. Actually I think he's a genious......If you start off on fire and fizzle out at the end of the season, then everyone is upset. However if you start off reeeeaaallly crappy and finish the year on fire, then you are a hero. Bravo CC, Bravo.

Thome, on the other hand, had a great day. It's good to see him do well and for the Tribe to still get the W. Is it bad that it is the first game of the season and I am already terrified about what Borowski is going to end up costing this team.

Cleveland - 10

Chi White Sox - 8

POG - Franklin Gutierrez 3-3, 3RBI, 0LOB, 2R