Posts Tagged ‘Cleveland Indians’

In a move that can only signify forfeiture of a season, the Indians traded away Mark DeRosa to St. Louis for a player to be named later.  Anytime a player is traded away to a contender for a player to be named later, it usually signifies the team getting the player later doesn’t need him yet because they quit.

Coming off of the heels of a 7-3 loss to the Reds Saturday night, the trade was announced immediately after the game.  Personally, I am suprised this move came before the firing of Eric Wedge.  See if the team can make a move with new any leadership.

DeRosa is batting .270 with 13 HR and 50 RBI in 278 at-bats.  He will be a good fit for St. Louis, probably seeing a bulk of the action at third base. 

So-long Mark, it was nice to have you here for a little while.  You are a versatile player who does what it takes to win. 

For Cleveland, failed closer Chris Perez and a “player to be named later” are coming.  Maybe DeRosa will outhit Albert Pujols and he will be the player we get in return..  haha fat chance.

Way to go… Go Pirates.

Kerry Wood is having a bumpy ride in his first season as a Cleveland Indian.  The former Cubs closer has really been struggling as of late.  Over the weekend, Wood blew two saves against his former Cubs team in his return to Chicago.  Last night, Pittsburgh almost rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the 9th inning to put an exclamation point on how terrible the Indians bullpen is this season.

In his last four appearances, Wood has pitched three innings, given up six hits, three walks, four earned runs and blown two saves.  His ERA over those four games is 12.00, and his overall ERA is currently at 5.68.  These are not the numbers expected when paying someone $21 million.

So what happens?  I believe Wood will be headed to the DL soon.  History is on my side.  I don’t know of any report of injury to Wood at all, but if he blows another save this week, expect his back to ache just to get him cooled off a bit. 

The Indians bullpen obviously is horrible.  No lead is ever safe, regardless of the size of the lead.  I have watched the starters consistently turn in good performances only to play roulette with a group of pitchers who struggle every single time they are called upon.

Wood is the least of the bullpen problems as bad as he has been lately, and that is a pretty sad but true statement.  I can recall at least seven games this season already, when the Indians had at least a three-run lead after five innings and have lost the game.

Eric Wedge needs to go.  He is bringing in the wrong pitchers in the wrong situations and has had zero luck finding a cork for the leaky dam we call the Indians bullpen.  The bullpen, and Wood in particular, need to step it way up and do a better job for the next manager.  Wedge downplayed last nights almost tragic collapse and said, “Wood got the last out and that’s what matters most.”  Wrong Eric, what matters most is the fact that Wood should not have even been used in the game and that you have serious problems behind the fence in your bullpen.

Well, seems as though the Cavs have dug themselves a nice fat hole to climb out of.  Problem is while trying to climb out, Orlando keeps piling dirt on them with their big shovel.  Cavs have to win tonight or they are in big trouble.  Here are some stories from other great sites:

Royals Skipper Trey Hillman Spits In Umpire Paul Emmel’s Eyes * Detroit4Lyfe
Lebron James & Kobe Bryant Muppets One-On-One Nike Commercial * NESW Sports
Percy Harvin Dishes Some Dirt On Tim Tebow * The Viking Age
The Interweb: Star Wars Bathroom And Charlie Steiner’s Sweet Science * NESW Sports
Mr. T Butchering Take Me Out To The Ball Game * Total Pro Sports
Rehab Proving To Be Too Much For Jeremy Shockey * InGameNow
NBA Mock Drafts And Where NC Tar Heels Fab Four Sit * The 5th Corner
Jose Canseco Gets Pummeled By 7’2″ Korean Kickboxer * Chicago’s MMA
Albert Pujols Home Run Breaks Big Mac Sign * Sports Rubbish
Pretty Ugly Woman Starring Dirk Nowitzki And Cristal Taylor * Hoop Doctors
Steroids In MLB: Before And After Photos * Sports2Debate
Cavs Sign Ownership Deal With Chinese Group * FOX Sports
Brandon Roy’s Thoughts On The NBA Playoffs So Far * A Stern Warning
Indians Post Remarkable Comeback Against Rays * Tribe Daily
Lakers vs Nuggets Game 4 Recap * The No-Look Pass
Sharapova Gets A Nice Win To Open The French * Sharapova’s Thigh
Anthony Johnson Bloodies Mo Williams… Intentionally? * Talk Hoops
Where Have You Gone, Aramis Ramirez? * The Friendlyblogfines
NCAA Women’s Lacrosse? No Hot Chicks Here * The World Of Isaac
Manchester Soccer Player Says He Will Streak Naked If He Scores * Steady Burn

The Cleveland Indians got drilled by Texas in their opener, 9-1.  Cliff Lee, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, got shelled.  The powerful offense could only manage to score one run, a gift passed ball.  The funniest part about it is that Indians fans I have talked with are disgusted already.  Lighten up folks, it was one game. 

I must have heard conversations that I was not a part of three times yesterday where people were discussing how bad the Cleveland Indians are going to do this season.  “They stunk all spring, now it carried over to the regular season”, was one dandy I caught.  “They will always be bums, look for Shapiro to start trading guys next week”. was probably the one that made me laugh the hardest.

161-1 is probably out of the question, but they are playing in arguably the weakest division in baseball.  90 wins might be good enough, and I believe they have at least 90 wins in them. 

It is a very busy weekend in sports!  Here are some other great stories from other great sites!

Louisville Recruit Peyton Siva With A 360 At McDonalds All-Star Game * NESW Sports
Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears * Zoner Sports
There Is No Crying In MMA * Total Pro Sports
Stretch Like An MVP:The Evgeni Malkin Edition * PSAMP
Top 10 All-Time Wrestlemania Moments * Ask Men
Wrestlemania I – XXIV: A Highlight From Each * Hugging Harold Reynolds
Joe Paterno Remembers When Basketball Was Dominated By The Jews * Sports Rubbish
Durrell Summers Of Michigan State Posterizes UConn’s Stanley Robinson * Hoop Doctors
Boxing Middleweight Division Rankings * Profighting-Fans
The Mistreatment And Disrespect Of Allen Iverson * Ed The Sports Fan
Mets And Gary Sheffield Close To Striking A Deal * FOX Sports
AL Central Preview * Gatorsfirst
Future Final Four Host Cities * Moon Dog Sports
Maurice Clarett – Sports Blogging From The Cell * The Love Of Sports
Mangini Denies Almost Trading Brady Quinn To Denver * Smack Caster

Enjoy All Of These Great Stories!

Here are some stories from other great sites!

In Like A Lamb, Out Like A Tiger * Josh Q. Public
Blake Griffin Is Too Cool For School * Total Pro Sports
The Final Four: Who Will Win It All? * Sports2Debate
Minor League Baseball Team Offers “Gassy” Promotion * Zoner Sports
Examining The Indians Competition: Minnesota Twins * Sharapova’s Thigh
Lebron James Pregame Homerun Video, What’s Next Shaq? * NESW Sports
Why Jamie Dixon Won’t Leave Pitt * PSAMP
Indians Send Trevor Crowe Packing * Deep Left Field
The 10 Ugliest Uniforms of The 1970’s * Fantasy Pros 911
Andrew McCutchen Sent To The Minors * BUCCO Fans

Enjoy These Great Stories!

For years now, I have attended games at both Municipal Stadium and Progressive Field (The Jake) when the New York Yankees come to town.  One of my biggest headaches in life is looking around at the crowd and wondering who the home team is.  No matter which way I turn, there is an overabundance of Yankee merchandise in the stands.  Hats, shirts, pennants, babies dressed in one piece pajamas, posters, gold chains, and keychains ~ the stuff is blinding.  The applause for the Yankees is even close to the crowd noise on behalf of The Tribe.

The Average Joe would pin this on a loyal fan base, people who traveled West to see the ballgame and maybe go to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame afterwards.  Unfortunately, on many occasions, I run into people I know wearing the stuff, and they are from the Greater Cleveland area.  They are devout Yankee fans.  here are a few observations I have made of this group.

• Most Yankee fans like the LA Lakers in basketball, they root for the Dallas Cowboys in football, the Detroit Red Wings in hockey, and will tell you that Rocky Marciano was the greatest boxer of all time.  What all of these “favorites” have in common is that they are winners.  These are the Cleveland area fans who just can’t accept losing, so they manipulate the system at a young age and root for traditional winners.  Let’s face it, the Cleveland Sports Faithful have not had much to scream about for the past 50 or so years.  However, the loyalty of a Cleveland sports fan is so much more praiseworthy to me than the local bandwagon jumping fans of teams that win.
• The argument that Cleveland teams refuse to spend money to keep athletes gets old.  Just because the Yankees have so much more to spend does not mean that the Browns, Cavs, and Indians, do not pay well.  Let me put it to you this way:  When you play monopoly with your friends, give the Yankee fan half of the deeds and three quarters of all of the money that comes with the game.  We will call the other players Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Cleveland.  They have what is left to divide amongst themselves.  This is why baseball sadly needs a salary cap.

This debate has caused grief for many years.  I have friends and relatives who are diehard Yankee fans.  They will argue that George Steinbrenner spends money to assemble these All-Star caliber teams.  I find it ironic that New York has not won a World Series for awhile.  I also encourage those who surround me in pinstripes to go pay the $1,000 price to sit behind home plate at the New York Yankees new stadium.  Sadly, some will.

I once went to one of those Indian pow-wow deals when I was in high school. I was wearing a Cleveland Indians ballcap and never realized it meant anything until we left when I mentioned to the friends I was with that the people seemed rude and cold toward me. It was then brought to my attention that I had Chief Wahoo on my head. Obviously, I may have offended some of the people participating. I did not do it intentionally and nobody asked me to remove the hat or to leave.

I do not feel that the artwork on the current Indians logo is racially offensive. I have a friend who is part Sioux who I asked (he is an Indians fan). He explained to me that the Washington Redskins name and logo are much more offensive because it is a generalization that stereotypes skin color. Without getting too controversial, many races would go nuts over a team name that did that.

A few more things to ponder:

• While growing up I played Cowboys and Indians. Nobody corrected me saying it was wrong, so I kept playing.
• I was raised to believe that Thanksgiving was a holiday that the Pilgrims celebrated with their friends, the Indians who occupied their fair share of the land. Kids in school still make head dresses out of construction paper this time of the year. If that would seem racially offensive, I’m sure schools would halt the gestures.
• Indians had more controversy with each other than with the early English settlers. Had they banded together, history would surely be different in a few ways.

Bottom Line: I am sorry to all people that this logo offends. I have spoken with a few Native Americans about it over time and they say the minority cries about it. Most are not offended and could care less. I am also sure that over the next twenty or so years that the logo will be changed because a new politician from Oklahoma will feel he is doing his job by creating new laws about racially insensitive sports names.

Bonus: Mark Shapiro will bring in someone for the playoff push. That someone is going to be Roy Halladay. Another long reach here, but the Blue Jays are going to be unloading salary when they are eliminated by the break this year. Cleveland will look to add one more big arm for the push!