Ahhhhhhhh, Summer!

Birdie’s Rocket to the Pennant
In 1966, Cleveland Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts put together his “Rocket to the Pennant.” It was a sort of chart for success that helped monitor the Indians’ won/loss record for the season. It appeared in the daily paper as a rocket with a caricature of manager Birdie guiding the progress across the top of the sports page. Unfortunately, the rocket blew up sometime in August as the team finished the season at 81-81 after starting out 10-0. Borrowing Birdie’s Rocket, here is how the remainder of the season needs to play out to win the Central Division and make the playoffs:

• 9/28 90 wins
• 9/21 86 wins
• 9/14 83 wins
• 9/7 78 wins
• 8/31 74 wins
• 8/24 71 wins
• 8/17 67 wins
• 8/10 63 wins
• 8/3 59 wins
• 7/31 56 wins
• 7/27 54 wins
• 7/13 48 wins
• 7/6 45 wins
• 6/30 41 wins
• 6/22 37 wins
• 6/15 33 wins
• 6/12 31 wins

Not Quite As Bad As Gasoline Pricing…But Just As Sickening!
Ex-ref Tim Donahy, on the verge of being sentenced for his involvement in a gambling scandal as an NBA referee, stated that “rigging” of games is more widespread in the NBA. Commissioner David Stern dismissed the allegation claiming it was “baseless.”
Hopefully, Stern is just doing damage control and will launch a full-scale investigation (or ask that the FBI investigation continue). Tim Donahy may have ulterior motives to reduce or eliminate jail time that should accompany his upcoming sentencing, but just because a dishonest ref “blows the whistle” on his counterparts and league officials does not mean that a problem does not exist. Stern dismisses the claim saying, “He turned on basically all of his colleagues in an attempt to demonstrate that he is not the only one who engaged in criminal activity." Anyone who watched the Cavaliers – Wizards playoff series knows that Lebron James’ mother was a more effective whistle blower than the refs assigned to that series. The Cavaliers eventually outplayed the Wizards but the Wizards could have lost the series due to player suspensions if the refs were not looking the other way. Both the NBA and MLB are in desperate need of strong commissioners, the likes of the NFL’s Roger Goodall.

"It Seems There Are Those Who Don't Think Much Of Our Chances..."

“It’s June 10th and we’re 29 and 35.
We have 98 games left to play.

The way I figure it,

we’re gonna need 61 more wins to make the playoffs.

So, every time we win, we peel off a section.”

That means we need to reach;
41 wins by the end of June
56 wins by the end of July
74 wins by the end of August
90 wins by the end of September

We can control our own destiny by playing .622 ball!
That means the coaching staff coaches…DURING THE GAMES!
That means the no-hitting and no-pitching excuses stop now!
That means you play like champions and find a way to win…every day!
Just do it!

What A Day!

On June 10 in Baseball History...

• 1944 - Pitcher Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds is the youngest player in major-league history. Nuxhall, only 15 years, ten months old, pitches one-third of an inning in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He manages to give up five walks and two hits before Bill McKechnie takes him out.



• 1959 - Rocky Colavito hits four consecutive home runs in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium to lead the Indians to an 11-8 win. Colavito joins Lou Gehrig and Bobby Lowe as the only major-league players to hit four consecutive four-baggers.


• 1966 - Sonny Siebert pitches a no-hitter against the Senators. Leon Wagner homers off loser Phil Ortega as first-place Cleveland wins 2-0.



• 1972 - Hank Aaron hits his 14th career grand slam, tying Gil Hodges's N.L. record, as the Braves defeat the Phillies 15-3. It is career home run 649 for Aaron, enabling him to pass Willie Mays for second place on the all-time list.



• 1974 - During a 12-0 win over the Astros, Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt hits a ball off the public address speaker hanging from the Astrodome roof, 117 feet up and 300 feet from the plate. Schmidt must settle for a titanic single.



• 1975 - The Yankees sponsor Army Day at their temporary home, Shea Stadium (Yankee Stadium is being refurbished). During a ceremonial 21-gun salute, glass is splintered, the park is filled with smoke, part of the fence is blown away, and another part is set afire.



• 1981 - Phillies first baseman Pete Rose singles off Nolan Ryan in the first inning to tie Stan Musial as the N.L.'s all-time hit leader with 3,630, then strikes out in his next three at-bats. Rose's single is the only hit off Ryan until the eighth inning, when Philadelphia scores five times for a 5-4 win over Houston.



• 1986 - The N.L. announces that Yale University president A. Bartlett Giamatti will be its next President after Chub Feeney's retirement in December.



• 1995 - Orioles third baseman Jeff Manto, who had four home runs in his first three years in the major leagues, homers in his fourth consecutive at-bat. In all, he homers five times in six at-bats in three games.
  

"It's Too Late, Baby...It's Too Late!"

"There's too many games left in the season to start talking about what we can't do," said first baseman Ryan Garko.
http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/06/disappointing_indians_dropped.html

There are 99 games remaining in the season for the 2008 Cleveland Indians. A better statement might be, “There’s too few games left in the season to start talking about what we can do!”

By comparison, the 1997 Indians won the Central Division of the American League with a record of 86-75. They took over first place for the rest of the season on Sunday, May 18 with a 20-20 record. By the end of the season, the Indians were the only +.500 team in the division. Everyone knows that the season ended in the seventh game of the World Series in defeat at the hands of Edgar Renteria and the Florida Marlins.
For a similar situation to take place, Detroit would need to stay broken, Minnesota would need to continue their collapse, Chicago would need to suffer from a long losing streak, and of course the Indians would need to start playing baseball.

Perhaps another comparison may be the 2005 Indians who had a great late August and September surge and came up short of a wild card playoff berth, finishing at 93-69. They lost 6 of their final 10 games. The 2007 Yankees made a similar run at the wild card only without the choke in the last week.

It would be great to think that this team could follow either pattern and make a season out of it. However, with the offense mired in a season-long slump, the bullpen in disarray, and the starting pitching limping to the DL, it is just not going to happen.
The coaching staff leads you to think that they believe that coaching at the major league level is not necessary. They appear not to be able to recognize mechanical or mental issues and would instead prefer to send players with options down a level to work out those issues. From a fan standpoint, the entire coaching staff looks to be waiting for an offensive epiphany to take place, rather than hold individuals accountable for non-performance. Perhaps last year was an anomaly that these under performers out-performed.

It is time to sign or trade C.C. Sabathia as an investment in the future, either way.
It is time to sign Casey Blake or bundle him with some talent for the 2009 season.
Now is the time to look to the future and make some low risk trades with contending teams willing to give up the talent we desire so that those teams can make a run at the playoffs with a Sabathia, Blake, Byrd, etc.

2008 is over in Cleveland, look to the future and build.

Which Way To The Mountain?!

All is not lost with Tribe
Wedge says there are 100 games left, offense starting to take different direction
By Sheldon Ocker Beacon Journal sportswriter
http://www.ohio.com/sports/19625719.html

Shelly, Shelly, Shelly!
Come on!
Has Eric Wedge sucked you in to the “Balance of the World” management style that he has adopted? Did Wedge visit the Dali Lama in the off season?
All repeat;
“Ooooo-na-na-na-na, Ooooo-na-na-na-na, Ooooo-na-na-na-na!”
What secrets of the universe has Wedge learned that have placed a winning season in perspective behind listening to your facial hair grow?
Obviously Ozzie Guillen didn’t visit the mountain with Wedge.
Ok, so let’s say the 2008 Indians still have a chance for the playoffs which I so greatly hope but so desperately doubt.
The Wild Card playoff spot will more than likely come from the East division so to make the playoffs, The Tribe must win the Central division.
It will take at least 90 wins to win the division. That is being generous since the White Sox are playing at a 91.8 win clip currently.
Cleveland is 28 – 33 with a .459 winning percentage.
With 101 games remaining, the Indians would have to win 62 games to reach 90 wins.
That means that they would have to play at a .614 clip to win the division the rest of the way.
Impossible…no.
Probable…no.
Come on, unless Chicago and Minnesota completely collapse, it’s over.
Maybe Wedge can take Guillen and Gardenhire to the same mountain.
“Ooooo-na-na-na-na, Ooooo-na-na-na-na, Ooooo-na-na-na-na!”

Two Out Of Four Ain’t Bad…

It ain’t good but it ain’t bad, it’s .500 ball and we haven’t been playing that for some time now.
The most disturbing factor of the last 4 games was to see Milton Bradley take apart Indians’ pitching, not to mention his flaunting and taunting that went along with it. There is no denying that this is a very talented player who, as he hooks up with different teams since having his butt kicked out of Cleveland by manager Eric Wedge in 2004, loves to rub it in as he passes the Cleveland dugout. We just aren’t sure what uniform he will do it in next. How hard would it have been to take Bradley out of the game(s) with an inside pitch or two, or ten? It is too bad that Milton’s brand of baseball includes a lack of hustle, not running out ground balls, and a selfish attitude. His off-field problems are troublesome as well. As much as the Indians could use a solid outfielder with a big stick like Bradley, He is not a good fit for this team or this manager. There needs to be one manager, not 26. This team went deep into the playoff last season without Milton Bradley. Perhaps next year they can go deeper without compromising the makeup and ideals of the team on a Milton Bradley type player. I commend Eric Wedge and the Indians’ organization for not bending on their values.

Good news?

Not much other than the constantly repeated Alltel commercials on STO may improve with the merger of Alltel with Verizon. Now, if we could just get rid of “Todd” for the Caesar’s Windsor casino ad or the Labatt’s beer bottles swimming up stream in (it’s pronounced) Canada. The “new arrival” airplane for Continental was cute, the first 250 times it was aired.

How about Coco Crisp mixing it up with the Rays? Don’t you just love the Rays playing for 1st place in the East? Is that all it took was to shed “Devil” from their team name?...Hmm.
Well, tonight should be interesting to say the least when the Tribe motors into Detroit. It could be a replay of the Texas series depending upon whose hitters and pitchers show up. I truly wish Eric and the boys could “find themselves” quicker.

Getting Warmer, Getting Warmer...

The Indians have scored 35 runs over the past three games but don’t think for one minute that all is right again. Texas scored 30 runs in those same three games. A redistribution of runs and we could be 1-2 instead of 2-1 in those three games.
This is a good hitting Texas team. Could you imagine if they had our pitching?
Better yet, could you imagine if we had their hitting?

Were you worried about Cliff Lee busting a blood vessel last night? Geez Cliff, chill out! A bad call on balls and strikes allowed the game to be tied last night in the bottom of the 5th inning. Lee finished the inning and went on a little tirade in the dugout. With the look on his face, it is probably a good thing that firearms are not permitted in the ballpark for Cliff's sake. As it was, his team came back to retake the lead and preserve his 9th win of the season. Maybe the tirade was just what the team needed!

We need to win this game tonight to take the series from Texas and be “tuned-up” for the next four games in Tiger Town. If we can hit Detroit pitching and keep their bats under wraps, then we could possibly show signs of coming out of this season-long funk we have been in.
It is C.C. vs. Kevin Millwood tonight. Tough match up but the Tribe should win it.

What is up with Milton Bradley? He obviously still has an axe to grind with the Indians and specifically manager Eric Wedge. His taunting of the Cleveland dugout after each of his walks or hits is so unprofessional and very childish. Victor Martinez for one has had enough of these antics and David Dellucci was quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer as wondering why players that do not respect the game are even in the lineup.
Look for further Milton Bradley antics to possibly cause issues tonight. You have to give manager Eric Wedge full support for ridding the Indians of this selfish player. As talented as Bradley is, he has pretty much worn out his welcome with most major league teams.
Note to Dellucci; Be cool tonight, your bat has spoken for you and you are in a better place for it. However, if things get out of hand in Texas tonight, I would want David Dellucci on my side of any melee!