One More Day!

Just one more day and it begins again!

Finally! Although this winter passed a bit easier than the one before, that was probably because our hearts weren't ripped out like they were the previous October when we had the Red Sox down 3 games to 1 in the ALCS and let them up off the grass of Fenway.

So here we are, about to embark on another season of Indians' baseball. This is my 59th (and a half) and I must say the lure of Opening Day is very much alive as ever.

This year is the same but different.

We still have Eric Wedge but we don't have CC or Casey.

The field is still called Progressive but Spring Training was in Arizona.

Masa is still around (for the moment) but now we got Kerry.

Tom Hamilton and Rick Manning are back but a great guy named "Herb" will be missed.

The Cleveland Indians organization has found another classy way to remember a great contributor. The patch below will be worn by all Indians' players throughout the season to remember player/announcer Herb Score who left us last Fall.
So there is much speculation as to the make-up and performance expectations of this 2009 Cleveland Indians team. Plain Dealer writer Terry Pluto gave what I thought to be a kind of pessimistic view of this team all Spring training long from Goodyear, Arizona. However, in today's edition he picks the team to "squeak by" the Twins and win the division! Terry certainly has the advantage to seeing the Spring performance of the individual players on an up close view while I have to read about it. But we all make our predictions for the season with the same roll of the dice as the average fan. There are the pessimists, the realists, and the believers. Opening Day is for believers and I will not have it any other way.

In fact, in my family, Easter Sunday is a day where the entire family; brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, etc, all write their predictions for the season on a piece of paper and they are kept by a trusted family member until Thanksgiving. On that piece of paper go all 6 division winners and the 2 wild cards, the American League Central finish from 1st to 5th, and the leagues' as well as the Indians' MVP. It is incredible to review when the season has been concluded. Most are way off but a few are right on. Try it!

Anyway, Terry Pluto is honest in his assessment but harsh. http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2009/04/terry_plutos_talkin_about_a_to.html

I too, believe that the Indians will win the division despite manager Eric Wedge. I think that the team should have won more games in the Spring. However, playing Texas, Toronto, and K.C. from the get go could lead to an impressive 8-1 start! Then, on to the new Yankee Stadium to face old friend CC Sabathia...We will kill him! 2 outta 4 from the Yankees will put us at a very good start of 10 and 3 for the first 13 games.

Unlike Terry Pluto, I think that Travis Hafner will have a torrid, not horrid start to the '09 season. There are too many reason for the big guy to come out strong, some of them being hungry sluggers just 2.5 hours away in Columbus.

Carl Pavano is the real deal. He has found a new home and a new guru in Carl Willis. He impressed in the last 2 weeks of training.

If only Kelly Shoppach would cut down on his strikeouts, he would be the man of the year.

Scott Lewis has done absolutely nothing to hurt the Indians in any regular season game. This guy will continue to dominate the opposition. Look for some shutouts and even a no hitter from this young cowhide wizard.

Lee and Carmona will dominate...period!

Sizemore and Peralta have had monster springs! No doubt that will continue.

We still have two very big events from last season that will continue to fuel the fires of passion in this team. The first is Cliff Lee's Cy Young dominance...what a season he had! The second is "The Brawl" from September 19th, 2008. That little get together did more for team building and earning respect in the league than can be truly measured. Plus the entertainment value was priceless! Fausto, serve your final game of suspension tomorrow with a big smile and biceps flexed! Too bad Shef is outta reach in the National League.

Unlike Pluto, I am not as concerned with the Twins nearly as I am with the Royals! Next to the Indians in the Central, they are the most improved. I saw the same design unfolding in Tampa 3 years ago that I see in K.C. right now.

So there it is, a slant on the season more from the heart that the brain. But then again, Opening Day is more emotional than it is logical.

Enjoy the best day of the year when every team is in first place and every team starts with a chance!

Play Ball!

We Are Still 1-3!

Yes, Carl Pavano, one of the "stars" from past manager Joe Torre's book "The Yankee Years" had a very solid 2 inning outing yesterday, but we still lost the game.
I so want to like Indians' manager Eric Wedge but I can't help but find him one of the most stubborn individuals in the organization. I would bet he and new Browns' head coach Eric Mangini would just hit it off great together. Can't you just see them singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" together and not missing a single bottle?
Yeah, everyone and their great, great grandmother knows that the spring training games are a testing ground and don't mean a thing whether you win or lose 'em...or do they?
Yes, this is an extra long spring training due to the "other" baseball tournament that merely serves as a distraction to what needs to be done. But why so many triple and double A players getting so much playing time? What about "B" games for those guys?
There is too much at stake early on. I want to know who is healthy and who is not. I want to know if Barfield is real this year as he is off to a great start (I hope, I hope, I hope). I want to know that they can't be serious about Garko playing anywhere but 1st base. I want to see De Rosa at 3rd, Cabrera at 2nd, Peralta at short, and this team starting to come together even though it is early.
Most of all, I want to see winning habits taking shape and stop the experimentations in the "A" games that will never, never, never come to fruition.
Play ball, manage ball, win ball!

Play Ball!

Yes, the 1st spring training game of 2009 is underway in Goodyear, Arizona!

It is fantastic to see the green grass, the blue sky, and hear the crack of the bat once again!

Hope springs eternal but I get a pretty good feeling about this year, this team, and their chances.

I don't get the World Baseball Classic, other than it being a huge distraction and an opportunity to lose a franchise player to injury. Anyway, if we can get that behind us, the season looks very promising.

The team is far from being set, the players that will make the 25 man roster have not yet been decided, and the usual spring phenom has not yet been identified, but no team in the American League Central did as much to improve themselves as the Indians did over the off season.

So, what do you think?

What is your initial take on the '09 Tribe?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has picked the Tribe to finish 3rd in the division, by committee.

Share your thoughts and let's see who the great prognosticator is.

I still stand, and very firmly, that the Tribe takes the Central in 2009!

Your prediction?

HONESTLY!

Recently, Cleveland Indians' General Manager Mark Shapiro has indicated his concern over ticket sales for the 2009 season. Don't worry Mark, even in the tough economic times of the 70's, the die hard Indians' fans continued to find creative ways to purchase season tickets. How many times in the 60's, 70's, and 80's did we hear of the team nearly being sold and moved away? That is all in the past because what the organization didn't have back then was the built-in corporate accounts that make up the greater number of season ticket purchases today.

But if you are truly concerned about the minority of season tickets purchased by the little people...the true remaining Indians fans and supporters, you could have been more thoughtful and honest almost one year ago.

As the season started, there were injuries that were masked and hidden. These players were not 100% but went out to play as if they were up to it, in many case jeopardizing their futures in the game. Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, and Joe Borowski to name a few should have stayed on in extended spring training, rehabilitation programs, or went under the knife as the individual case dictated.

As the season began to sour early on, Mark Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge vowed not to take any action until well into the season, some 40 games or so. At that point, when the fans and media were pleading with them to do something, they still insisted on waiting things out to see if on-field performances improved. The only saving grace was that Detroit was doing the same head scratching over their over-paid under-achieving team. As it turned out, it didn't matter as neither team contended for the division. The Tigers wondered what happened to their power shortage of high priced veterans while the Indians hid injuries and refused to make roster changes or adjustments.

Fast forward to the 2009 Indians' season. Is Travis Hafner healthy enough to not only play but hit like he is paid to hit? Is Victor Martinez able to raise his right arm over his shoulder to make an accurate throw or swing a bat with any velocity? Who will play where? Who will be the 3rd baseman? It appears to be Mark DeRosa but listening to Shapiro and Wedge during the winter tours, DeRose could play 2nd base if Cabrera doesn't hit or outfield if Francisco or Choo falter. These things should be established in spring training but it sounds like there will be some tinkering after the season starts. OK, I'm good with that if the wheels begin to fall off early on as they did last year but come out of spring training with a solid and tested team on the field and in the batting order. Apparently the Jhonny Peralta 3rd base experiment did not pan out this past fall/winter, proven by the acquisition of Mark DeRosa.

What would you do if you knew Martinez and Hafner to be healthy and ready to go?

Victor plays everyday spliting his time between catching and 1st base. Hafner is the DH only with Victor batting in front of him and Peralta behind him to get him fastballs to sock. Peralta starts the season at shortstop with DeRosa at 3rd. Cabrera is given a chance to hit everyday playing 2nd. The outfield appears to be solid with Sizemore, Francisco, and Choo playing most everyday. Garko plays first when Victor catches. Garko and Delucci are solid pinch hitters and both decent defensive replacements late in the game. Shoppach catches when Victor is at 1st but he must concentrate on reducing his strikeouts this spring.

Don't bring back Jake Westbrook too soon!

Carmona must return to form for this starting pitching staff to be stabilized. Cliff Lee should have another solid year coming off the Cy Young award. Carl Pavano must be solid and injury free. Scott Lewis absolutely has earned a shot at starting for this team. Keep Kerry Wood on a pitch count and healthy.

Other than that, I still see Grady Sizemore as a #2 batter in the order but that will not happen until we get a bona fide leadoff hitter on this team.

Other keys to success this season?

Get off to a strong start. If not, we cannot wait 40 or 50 games into the season and expect to contend.

Beat upstart teams like the Royals everytime we play them. The Royals are coming fast but still a year or two away. We are the superior team now and need to beat teams like this everytime we face them. Remember how we let the Tampa Bay Rays bedevil us out of the playoffs in 2005?

Be honest about injuries and don't risk an injured player's future on waiting out the first part of the season.

React quicker if you have to with the minors. There are some very strong players ready to take their shots at most positions. Don't let "options" dictate the fortunes of this club. Did we learn anything from the Andy Marte experience?

Win the season series with the Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox, and Angels. This may not be the highest paid collection of ball players assembled but I like their chances very much, especially against these teams!

Be honest with the organization and with the fans and media.

Play ball!

Good Luck Jason!

So, last week I was in the Pittsburgh, PA International Airport and I ran into Jason Stanford. He was a left-handed pitcher in the Cleveland Indians organization. He and his wife and baby of 4 weeks were on their way to his first college, Barton County Community College of Great Bend, Kansas where he was being inducting into their baseball hall of fame.
Jason was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians in 1999 after being an All-Conference selection at the University of North Carolina. He was promoted to the majors from Triple-A in 2007 but released later that year. Last season, he played in the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs minor league systems.
Although Jason did not have a stellar career with the Indians, he rates the Indians organization as the best he has ever been associated with.
Jason has signed with a new agent and is once again a free agent looking to catch on with a team.
Good luck to Jason Stanford. I hope he catches on with someone and gets another shot at the "Bigs." Perhaps it could be with the Indians one more time.

We Are Ready...Are The Indians?

The recent acquisition of RHP Carl Pavano adds another dimension of talent to the 2009 edition of the Cleveland Indians. They have improved themselves in the off season and look to be ready to compete for the Central Division title once again. But taking into account all of the recent injuries and adding to that the new players that are also so injury prone, the question is, are they ready?
Our pitchers have a long history of abdominal muscle pulls and arm strains. CC Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee, and many others suffered these injuries over the last several years as Cleveland Indians. We all remember the Joe Borowski (no injury) incident. At the very least, he had to be suffering from a strained neck watching balls go over the scoreboard. Enter Carl Pavano and Kerry Wood, two guys that will need to stay healthy despite their chronic injury problems.
Opening day, catcher Victor Martinez went down with a pulled hamstring as he rumbled into second base. He played on with the injury all while hiding a shoulder problem.
Travis Hafner must be at 100% or he will not produce the numbers he is capable of as well as the numbers the Tribe is depending on him to produce.
Is Shin Soo Choo healthy at this point?
When can Jake Westbrook safely return without risk of additional injury?
Do the Indians have a strong enough medical corps. to support the conditioning and training necessary to last the season in health?
Recent history would support looking at getting a prescription in that department because it is just as critical as what is needed on the field with this collection of talented but injury-prone professionals.

De-Who?

Yawn! The Tribe acquired Mark DeRosa from the Cubs for 3 minor league pitchers. Don't get too excited, we now have a little more depth. He had a pretty good year in '08 batting .285 with 30 doubles, 21 home runs, and 87 RBIs. That ranks him on the team as 2nd in average, 4th in doubles, 3rd in homers, and 4th in RBIs.

Well, OK...maybe we should get excited a little.

I am sure that Little Italy will embrace him but not to the extent of favorite "adopted" son Rocky Colavito...not just yet.

So, have we improved?

Yeah, sure we have.

Kerry Wood will be a dominant closer if he stays healthy, but the Indians have a poor record of late with keeping pitchers healthy. Almost the entire staff has been decimated over the last several years with muscle pulls that seem to be screaming out to poor conditioning.

Cliff Lee must come back strong.

Travis Hafner must put up very strong numbers and be the dominant force that he once was.

Asdrubal Cabrera has to produce on offense...period.

The outfield of Sizemore, Fransico, and Choo will be solid in offense and defense.

Scott Lewis will be counted on heavily to prove that his late season heroics were for real.

OK, now I am beginning to get excited!