Hats Off To Carston Charles!

O.K., here’s how the season finishes for Cleveland Indians ace C.C. Sabathia;
With a record of 17 and 7, he is scheduled to pitch on 9/14 vs. Kansas City, 9/19 vs. Detroit, 9/26 @ Seattle, and the season finale on 9/30 @Kansas City. That is four more starts with a chance to reach 20 wins.
But wait, what if the Indians, with a magic number down to 15, clinch the division prior to C.C.’s last start? Manager Eric Wedge has said that if that happens, he will pull C.C. from his final start to have him pitch two games in the first round of the playoff. So, the scenario could become that C.C. fore goes a 20 game season to help his team advance in the playoffs.
This is the same C.C. that has been robbed of at least 3 victories in August because of an offensive slump by his team mates.
This is the same C.C. that has been giving up an average of under 3 runs per game and maintaining an ERA under 2.00 since the All-Star break and when asked about the lack of run support responded that he only cares that his team wins and gets to the playoffs.
This is the same C.C. that has earned even more respect from his team mates with his unselfish approach to helping his team reach the playoffs.
Cleveland is a small market team. They don’t (yet) get the exposure that Boston’s Josh Beckett or New York’s Chien-Ming Wang receive. But when you look at what C.C. has accomplished and what he has and may have to sacrifice, he should be heavily (no pun intended) considered for the American League Cy Young Award.
What a great team player we have in Carston Charles in his fabulous season.
Should he still win 20 games while missing his final start of the season to pitch twice in the first round of the playoffs there should be no question who wins the award.

Cleveland Fans Got A Wedgie!

Sunday, September 9, 2007, Akron Beacon Journal, Sports, "Wedge Knows What He Is Doing" by Sheldon Ocker.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/9672737.html

Sheldon Ocker writes that it is time for the fans of the Cleveland Indians to acknowledge manager Eric Wedge's role in the team's success.

Absolutely, he has had a huge role.

That role has been based on a mix of experience, good planning, a strong farm system, a very good relationship with team brass, a very good relationship with his team, and luck.

Wedge and general manager Mark Shapiro have assembled a team that has been in first place in their division for most of the season. Wedge is in his fifth season as manager of the Cleveland Indians. There have been many ups and down during that time that have given Wedge much experience to draw on; the unexpected early success of the team in the 2005 season, the unexpected collapse of that same team, the disappointment in the 2006 team, his timely discipline of players (Milton Bradley, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, etc.), and the handling of this current team.

Last year, the team theme was "Team, One Through Nine" that did not quite play out. This year, the theme is "Win, One Game At A Time." This is a good theme that seems to get clouded by another Wedge-ism, "There are 162 of these games to play." However, the players give Wedge credit for a never-give-up attitude that they all have adopted as indicated by their come from behind victories, their one-run victories, and their two-out, clutch hit and scoring performances.

The farm system has been very generous to these Indians. Ryan Garko, Asdrubal Cabrera, Franklin Gutierrez, Aaron Laffey, and more have all made excellent contributions to the success of this team. Wedge has handled them masterfully, as he has his pitching staff.

Mark Shapiro has constantly endorsed his manager, which for the most part has been well deserved.

The players appreciate Wedge's support and are very dedicated to their manager. They live his never-say-die style. They are disciples of Wedge and his winning plan. There is no griping when a player is rested. Only positive "Team" words have been uttered by C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona when they were the victims of insufficient run support. Casey Blake has played unselfishly in right field, first base, and third base as needed by Wedge and Blake has responded with a strong season.

That brings us to luck. Wedge has been guilty of sticking to his plan despite his team's offensive collapse that lasted almost five weeks. He stuck with his line up and made references that the team would work through the current problems with their chins up. While the Indians were slumping offensively, the Tigers and Twins collapsed.

What if this collapse did not occur? The Indians would be in third place in the division and out of any playoff contention at this point. Wedge's reaction to the slump was viewed by the fans of the team as "missing." Instead of winning and putting the Tigers behind by 10+ games, the Indians struggled to stay close while the Tigers stumbled. Only when the line up was given a shake up late in August did the team respond and come out of their offensive doldrums. Whether the turn around was coincidental or a reaction to the line up changes makes no difference. There was a huge factor of luck involved in arriving at the current five game lead that the Indians now enjoy over the Tigers.

Sheldon, the fans were 100% right to demand the bar to be raised, to expect a change, to demand a reaction of a team that was playing below their abilities and losing out on opportunities to vault ahead to a comfortable lead in the division.

Wedge should be supported and celebrated for a great job to date but acceptance of mediocrity will never be tolerated.

Here is hoping the recent struggles have made Wedge a much better manager than he was a month ago.

Cleverly Conceding?

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press on Thursday, Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leland all but conceded the American League Central Division title to the Cleveland Indians.
Leyland said, "At this point, I tip my hat to them. They are winning the way division champions win. For the most part, to be realistic, we are playing for the wild card. I'm sorry if people look at that and get mad and say that's negative. It's not negative. It's a fact."
Cleveland Indians Manager Eric Wedge isn’t buying it and rightfully so. Wedge said in response, "If you don't focus on today, the game will kick you in the butt. Our entire focus is getting to the postseason and winning our division."
Not exactly words to go down in history but he has the right idea…cautious optimism with a strong dose of aggression. Thursday afternoon, the Tigers beat the White Sox and the Indians lost to the Angels. All of a sudden, that comfortable 7 game lead over the Tigers is down to 6 games with 3 games left with those same Tigers. Hmmmm… Clever, Jim!
It is a fact that the Indians have been the recipient of Jim’s cleverness and savvy exactly 10 years ago in October. His tongue in cheek pronouncement is premature by design. Is he trying to fire up his stumbling team? Is he trying to relax the Indians by lulling them into a false sense of security? Yes and yes!

The time is right to be cautious, but also aggressive in winning one game at a time. I like the swagger that this Indians team is displaying. During the 10 – 3 loss to the Angels last night/early this morning, it was impossible to turn the game off near 1 AM thinking that this never-back-down-team could rally with 7+ runs in the late innings. Well, it didn’t happen and the team was humbled by a very aggressive Angel’s team. However, tonight is a new game and a new situation. Westbrook ought to be able to keep the ball on the ground and the Indians offense has got to stick it to John Lackey early and often. If the Indians can leave Anaheim with two wins out of the four games, they will set themselves up for success vs. the White Sox and Royals prior to hosting the Tigers on September 17th, thus keeping the monkey on Leyland’s back!

I've Passed This Way Before...

On his third time around with the Cleveland Indians, hot-hitting left fielder Kenny Lofton can share some playoff and world series memories, as well as tips with this young Indians team. He also wants everyone in and out of Cleveland to be engaged in what is happening on the shores of Lake Erie.

Interviewed after the game on Tuesday night, Kenny made the following comments and observations;
"Since I've been back, we 've only had a couple of sell-outs at Jacobs Field. It's not like it used to be. Guys have caught a glimpse of it, but they don't understand what it was like. It was unbelievable. The fans were so loud, that they scared me at times. I'd say, 'Wow, these people are going crazy.' It was awesome...awesome! The guys now will come back to the dugout and say, 'Wow, it's loud.' I tell them, 'Man, you just don't get it. It was loud like this almost every night, from the first inning through the ninth.' I think the other teams would come to Jacobs Field afraid. The fans came out in bundles, and they were loud and rowdy. I've seen glimpses of it, but it's not like it used to be. Hopefully, we can get that back on our last home stretch. Hopefully, the fans can really show the support for what the guys are trying to do on the field. It would be fun to see that again. Players feed off that. It can be a difference maker for our team."

Well said, Kenny. The "Home Stretch" that Kenny is referring to is a nine game home stand beginning on Friday, September 14th, and ending on Sunday, September 23rd. They will host Kansas City, Detroit, and Oakland, three games each.

The air waves and print media are full of popular and positive conversation about our Cleveland Indians. Afternoon radio host Mike Trivisonno is trying to get a theme song for the Tribe. What song did he pick? He chose "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. Good choice, Mike! He played it all afternoon along with the Indians' radio play by play announcer Tom Hamilton's comment at the final out of today's game:
"The Indians continue to steamroll to the Central...Division Championship!"

Everyone is talkin' Tribe. The Indians are the hottest team in baseball just in time for their drive to the pennant!
Let's follow Kenny Lofton's wish and fill the Jake!
It's time to pick your seat!

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/ticketing/index.jsp?c_id=cle
or 216.420.HITS (4487)

Be loud...Be proud...See ya there!

Disneyland?!

Tonight's game, well, actually last night's game now, had all of the makings of a Disney movie. Laffey was facing Slowey. Because the game started at 8 PM Cleveland time and went past midnight into 11 innings, you may have become Sleepy. Getting up for work tomorrow, you may be Grumpy. Heck, even Doc was needed as Victor Martinez went down hit by a pitch (but he's OK) and Mike Redmond was removed from the game after re-injuring his left thumb pinch hitting. Casey Blake played Dopey as he ran from 1st to 3rd on a no out, deep fly ball by Grady Sizemore in the 7th inning that was caught and Casey was doubled off 1st. Blake's miscue probably cost some runs as the Indians continued to rally and load the bases with 2 outs but failed to score. Still, this game was nothing to be Sneezy about as the Tribe continued their never quit style of baseball. Travis Hafner certainly was not Bashful tonight as he hit 2 home runs (one tying the game in the 9th inning) and a game winning sacrifice fly in the 11th inning to make all Indians fans Happy!

Eric “Swami” Wedge

Perhaps Cleveland Indians Manager Eric Wedge is hiding a crystal ball in his office. After all, he professed that the 5-week offensive slump his team just got over was a “concern” but not “critical” at the time. How were we supposed to know that he knew that the Tigers would fold? How did he know that Seattle would stumble in their quest for the Wild Card spot, that Minnesota would fail to put another stretch run together? While his team was “finding” themselves, the Tigers, Mariners, and Twins were "losing" themselves.
Here is to manager Eric Wedge. Though he hasn’t won anything yet, he certainly maintained nerves of steel and the patience of Job during his team’s 5-week offensive zoning out.
So with 4 weeks left, what are the chances that the Indians can win the division?
The Indians are 78-58 @.574 with 26 games remaining.
The Tigers are 73-64 @.533 with 25 games remaining.
If the Indians play .500 for their remaining games (not likely), the Tigers would have to win 18 of their 25 games to catch them. That would be a .720 clip…(not likely at all).
The Indians have 9 home and 17 away games remaining.
The Tigers have 16 home and 9 away games remaining.
The Indians are .620 at home and .556 away.
The Tigers are .523 at home and .563 away.
If those percentages hold true over the next 4 weeks, the Indians would finish at 92-70 and the Tigers would finish at 88-74, 4 games behind the Indians…(much more likely, not a lock but more likely).
If Eric Wedge were standing in front of me at the ticket window at Northfield Park or Thistledown horse racing tracks, or at the grocery store buying lottery tickets, I would be paying very close attention!

Natural-ly!

41,131 delirious fans watched Paul Byrd pitch a complete game, 4-hit shutout tonight at Jacobs field. Then, after catcher Kelly Shoppach served up a cream pie to Byrd during the post-game interview, those fans were invited onto the outfield grass to view the movie "The Natural" on the center field scoreboard.

The crowds are back at the Jake as the Cleveland Indians extended their current and longest winning streak of the season to 8 games and stayed 5.5 games ahead of the Tigers in the American League Central.

As the playoffs draw closer, the Indians are gaining momentum and the attention of the media across the country. They are the hottest team in baseball and their hot streak couldn't have come at a better time!

Fans across the country are starting to believe that the 2007 Cleveland Indians are the real deal!

Jeremy from the St. Petersburg Times dons his Tribe cap!

All in all, the Cleveland Indians appear to have put it all together at the right time. It still is no cakewalk to the playoff and the division championship because the Tribe still has some tough teams to face as they proceed through September. Minnesota, Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, Detroit, Oakland and Seattle all await to give the Indians a true test of their mettle down the stretch. With the pitching they are enjoying, combined with the rediscovered potent offense, strong defense, and a great sense of fun and camaraderie that surround this team, They are steamrolling into October with a swagger!