on MAY 14, we were in first place.  we also were in the midst of a wonderful starting pitcher scoreless innings pitched streak.  against a good team, the BLUE JAYS.  this was when i last posted a blog.  ALOT HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN...

as of the the start of MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd, the INDIANS are one game above 500!  had i prognosticated at the start of the season, i would have been majorly bummed if i had known this statement would be true.  and i was majorly bummed when we hit our low mark of 16 games under 500 on july 8th.  when we were without C.C. and CASEY BLAKE after trades; after major injuries to FAUSTO, JAKE, VICTOR, and PRONK.

since JULY 9th though, we have been 17 games better than 500 with 41-27 record.

will the real INDIANS please stand up!

the offensive surges of struggling RYAN GARKO, ASDRUBAL CABRERA, and FRANKLYN GUTIEREZ have definitely played a huge factor in during this time span.  JHONNY has also hit much better than he did at the start f the season.

and MARTINEZ and PRONK are now off of the DL.  both have made contributions during this stretch.  MARTINEZ actually has finally homered.  one was a game winner.  and PRONK looks better too. 

MARTE has continued to be a 200 hitter.  with a so so glove.  it would be nice to upgrade at this position.  i do not think MARTE is another BRANDON PHILLIPS.  MARTE has been too consistently underwhelming.  maybe i am impatient.  but he has had two years now to impress.  i thik it is time he moves on, and we find a sure thing.

KELLY SHOPPACH though has made the most of his opportunities this year and last.  especially this year.  against DETROIT in CLEVELAND on JULY 30, he tied the record for most extra basehits by a batter in the AL with 5 (3 doubles, 2 HR's) in a 14 - 12 13 inning loss.  he has a strong arm, and seems yo call good games.  he strikes out a crazy bunch.  but when he doesn't he is crazy good.  it is definitely good to know our back up catcher could be our staring catcher as well.

GARKO to me is maddening.  he was so inconsistent and streakingly bad for most of the year.  then he had to be benched for his lack of hustle in St Pete.  ever since, he has been en fuego.  i was sooo ready to dump him forever after that.  he got hot immediately afterward,but then cooled down.  that was a mere aberration.  he is hot again.  he drove in 5 runs and had a 2B, (a gift)3B, and 2 singles today in our landmark day of getting back over the hump.  as far as i am concerened, he only has success at the end of the season.  but he is young.  he almost blew it, but has redeemed himself for one more year.  since there are much bigger holes to fill.

GUTIEREZ is another one who worries me.  he started off hot, and then sucked.  now he is doing good again.  his D is ALWAYS good though.    i think his surge is worthy of trying him out next year.

and NO ONE has seemed more solid (sorry MR BEN FRAN) than SHIN-SOO CHOO.  he currently is at .310 - 27 2B - 13 HR - 59 RBI - .400 OBP.  he has even held his own vs lefties.

the bullpen fell to pieces, as it did in '06.  i think BENTANCOURT, just like JUAN RINCON,

is done.  overuse would be my guess.  unfortunately, JOE BLOW folded mid season and was cut.  RAFFY PEREZ has been good, but not great like last year.  but JENSEN LEWIS has been very good as closer.  not great, except for his save percentage (11 of 12).  MASA was doing good, then he got tired.  they say MLB is a little but tougher than that JAPANESE league.

i like how ASDRUBAL has done.  i (still) think JHONNY should be trade bait though.  his D is too sub par, his O is too inconsistent.  he is another one who strikes out way too much.  

and the staring pitching?  for some reason, i do not see ZACH JACKSON as being real.  and i cannot fathom ANTHONY REYES as duplicating his short live success.  SCOTT LEWIS came up from 2A ball nad impressed in his first 3 starts.  then again, LAFFEY was dominant for awhile before he started getting rocked regularly.  i do look for FAUSTO to rebound.  i think injuries wreaked havoc with him this year.  

and as for CLIFF LEE?  i hope he can, but i doubt any pitcher could duplicate his season!  he has been phenomenal!!  not with the strikeout, which i would prefer.  but he has been the definition of consistency.  he is a lock to keep the AL CY YOUNG in CLEVELAND again for the second year in a row.

at one point, i argued with a friend against them reaching 500.  what was the point.  they were a disappointment.  who cares!  they did not make the playoffs, so F 'em.

after listening to the TIGERS game today, i am happy about our situation.  yes, there are definite question marks and holes to fill.  but we are not that bad off.  and we play the game the right way.  WEDGE has his faults.  don't we all?  overall, he is not too bad.  i think a pitching advisor we be a great job for him to employ.  i am willing to hear your offer ERIC.

we are back in first place. thanks to c.c. my how times have changed. the last time i posted, 17 games into the young season, i was feeling very bleak in regards to c.c. now his resurgence has led the charge to retake first place. we are back in first place thanks to his complete game shut out tonight against the one team that has owned him throughout his career. his arch enemy: the oakland A's.

once again, our depth has been tested. jake westbrook went down shortly after i posted. jeremy sowers was called up to take his place and pitch against the yankees. jeremy did adequate, and we won the game. two days later, aaron laffey was called up and had a no hitter thru 5 innings, also against the yankees. a rain out and subsequent double header against KC was listed as the reason for requiring both call ups. i believe is was an audition. laffey won out, and has stuck around and pitched AWESOME. he looks way better than he did at any time last year. he fits in, which is saying alot.

the reason, our starting pitching has been phenomenal. c.c. started a streak against toronto and every member of the rotation has kept it going. they quit giving up runs.

our starting pitchers have quit giving up runs. fausto had a complete gamer. cliff did too, but we did not score any runs either, so he only got a ND for his efforts. then tonight, c.c. kept the ball rolling. now it is laffey's turn again to throw up goose eggs and help us sweep the A's. so the count is at 43 some innings. plus, as a team; we have 5 shutouts in our last 8 games.

i am still worried overall. the bullpen is still sketchy. and an anemic offense sooner or later will further expose this weakness. masa does look awesomely adjusted. despite two saves vs the a-rodless yanks, raffy b IS NOT THE SAME PITCHER HE WAS LAST YEAR. but raffy perez does seem more consistent. as does jensen lewis. and if joe b comes back and is 100%, then we will be alright. any of the three aforementioned pitchers can take his place. as long as they REMAIN consistent. and i think raffy can rebound. he has never done this bad, ever. once joe b comes back, i would let raffy b sit. for about a week or two. rest him up, he was used alot last year. have him fresh and hot for the end of the season. he is too good to be this bad.

as for that anemic offense. jason michaels got the axe. i liked him. he was one of those gritty hard nosed players and his D was most excellent. a perfect late inning defnsive guy who hit pretty well against kefties. he was mostly a walks and singles guy though. i am sure that is why he was let go. his awesome D is a luxury we cannot afford right now. definitely a wake up call to all. but ben fransisco does own last year's AAA batting crown. and he has produced at this level. it was good to see him gun down a runner at third. even if it was just a slow footed rolen running like he was a fleet footed runner that he never has been.

peralta looks terrible. he and hafner look at times like the are simply guessing, then shutting their eyes and swinging. and peralta's improving D has seemed to have somewhat regressed. i wanted to trade him last year. i wanted them to trade him this offseason. i hope they trade him this season. get a good run producing OFer, move AC to his natural position, bring up barfield.

and i am unsure about garko. he does have HR's in consecutive games. but he often looks over matched. and the only period of great success he ever had was the end of the year '06. he had to battle for his spot on the roster to start '07. at the start of camp that year, it sounded doubtful that he would be in the bigs. but after making the team, he has never looked back.

and as far as marte, what the heck dude?! he will have to battle just to get his BA up to .200.

and we have the casey blake from an alternate universe this year. this casey only hits clutch. he leads his team in RBI despite .200-.230ish.

i am worried, but i feel i should not be. i hope my gut is right.

it is 17 games into the young season. and i am just now posting. we improved to 7-10 with tonight's win in minnesota. our first two games were good. then there were 13 games in which we only won 3. now we have won our last 2, ending this blogless period the same way the it started it, with two straight victories. in that stretch of seeming doom,; c.c. and the bullpen were mostly to blame pitching wise. the offense as a whole mostly struggled. loss number 10 might just have been the slap-in-their-face blow that awakens the bats. a 25 year old rookie armando gallaraga was making his '08 debut for the tigers in the inaugural game in the cleveland series. every series we play against detroit is critical. no one in the division is better than these two teams. we are the two heavyweights in a division that is tough.

as it stands, the two teams that figured to be the worst are battling it out for first place.

the starting pitching is much better for chicago this year. john danks and gavin floyd are living up to their potentials, so far. contreras is better. javier isn't any worse. and the offense is bailing out a very bad buehrle. the offense and defense is boosted by joe crede, who looks like he just had a year of rest, not a year of surgery and rehab. and their bullpen doesn't absolutely suck anymore, so far.

and the royals are right there too. and they are doing it the legitimate way. with pitching and defense! bannister is the ace of the staff right now, although he stands to be the loser tonight as the royals are down 2 - 5 in 7th inning as i type. zack g is his ace co-pilot. meche is not doing anything surprising either way. tomko has been a solid veteran. and bale is the weak link. but the defense has sparkled too. except in LF. alex gordon is playing superb D at third base. and hitting too. but behind gordon in the outfield is teahan. the bullpen has been solid too, just like it was last year. their closer soria looks to be a nathan-like force. mahay and yobuta have been good acquisitions, so far. they should be tough all year. they are even missing dejesus right now.

and minnesota looks alright. carlos gomez is adjusting fairly well to life in the bigs. liriano is back on the mound. he still is trying to work his way back to his '06 dominant form. if he does so, all of baseball will notice. the offense should get better when mauer and morneau get hot.

regardless, neither of these teams has the combined talent that cleveland and detroit possess. so to get bombed 11-2 in our first game against them with our ace on the mound against a rook that pitching starved texas traded away seemed like a death bell toll. that rook one hit us through 6 plus innings. our ace had his worst start of the year. and that was no small accomplishment, as all of his starts have been bad, so far.

but we responded superbly! we turned the tables on them. our number two ace beat their ace by the exact same tally, 11-1. the two games were mirror images of each other. total dominance by the winning team. this is not a coincidence. it speaks the obvious. these two teams are equals. there offense is better than ours by the same difference that our pitching is better than theirs. when these two teams face each other, anything is possible. this is always true with any team. even more so with detroit.

but after 15 games, my worst case fears of '08 being an equal of '06 seemed to be coming to fruition. the bullpen was alot to blame that year. now that joe b is down, i am worried. raffy b has not looked sharp this year, now he is the closer. raffy perez and jensen lewis look great at times, look terrible at times. these are most likely the new set up men. masa looks like joe b, which is scary. these four men are crucial to the bullpens success, and to tribe's success as well.

at least fausto quickly recovered in this key spot. he must have been up late celebrating after signing his long term contract. he has had three awesome starts, and that one bad one. so far, no sophomore slump for him.

jake has been very good. and cliff has been oustanding! i think jake peavy might be the only pitcher in all of baseball who has been better than cliff. what a way for him to respond. and if anything happens to any of the starting five, then we have two solid experienced options just waiting for a chance in buffalo in laffey and sowers. it does sorta suck that adam miller is hurt again.

so far, not so good for us. 13 was a bad number that overshadows all else. hopefully we are getting out of it. if c.c. turns things around, and the offense stays consistent, and the bullpen 'botom' doesn't fall out; we should be alright. lets hope we are on the start of something good.

go tribe!

the time is getting near. the posts are becoming much more frequent. what i see as significant. the reason i had to post on this tuesday night, 03/11/08.

we lost today, 4-2 to the tigers in 10 innings. the only two runs came via two grady sizemore solo shots. one could be concerned about the offense. it has been a trend. then again, boston and the mets had a 1-1 tie after 10 innings yesterday. i think it is safe to assume both of those offenses have nothing to worry about either.

the big news was that someone finally stepped up in the three way 'battle' for the 5th spot in the rotation! i was glad to see the stepper upper was cliff lee. as bad as his season was last year, the game he pitched against anaheim in cali was a reminder of what he was capable of. a gem in an otherwise field of poo that was last year for cliff. the same pitcher who won 46 games in '04, '05, and '06. i like laffey and sowers both. the one thing they share in common (other than their struggles this spring), success as a rookie after a mid season call up. but those 3 years of success mandate cliff's place in the rotation. having him return to his career best form of '05 when he posted 18 W's and a 3.79 ERA while in the 5th spot in the rotation would be a wondrous thing :)

pronk has been turning it up at the plate. that is wonderful to see.

andy marte is not. plus he made some errors in today's game. i really fear a brandon phillips scenario. we trade him for peanuts, then he blows up for his new team. but what can we do? i would not trade casey blake and hand marte a job just to keep him. that is what happens with a team with alot of talent throughout the roster and throughout the levels. it is a nice situation to be in.

i like what i see and read about josh barfield. all that time he put in with derek shelton this winter. his .360 batting average is very encouraging.

on the other hand, i think the white sox are doing what they will all year. loose, and loose badly.

spring training has begun! so far, it has not been really good. the offense has struggled. we almost got no hit by the braves! a two out ninth inning single off the wall not only broke up the no no, but simultaneously averted the shut out. but i am not really worried about the offense. i have a feeling DD will earn his contract this year, and make up for some of last year. pronk will be more like his 'old' self. jhonny will be about the same. maybe better, maybe worse. victor is the proverbial 'steady eddy' at the plate. grady has someone in the great lakes vicinity to push him towards further greatness. i can see him maintaining his new found penchant for walks, maintain his huge improvement against lefties, and reestablishing his dominance against righties. casey may drop his numbers some. but he does do surprises. he does not though hit in the clutch with any consistency. i do fear both franklyn and AC faltering. i hope i am wrong. i have a feeling garko will hit; a ton. .330/.340 range. with clutch hits a-plenty. he is due to have that kind of year. the kind where he emerges as an elite first baseman. a .330, 30, 100 guy.

the pitching is what scares me. the pitching is the reason many predict that we will win the AL central. question marks abound. both for the starters and for the relievers. IT IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH YEAR. for the whole central division. it is without a doubt the toughest division in all of baseball. even after the departure of the best pitcher in baseball. to compare by position:

starting pitching
lost: johan, jon garland, carlos silva, matt garza, andrew miller, billy buckner
gained: dontrelle willis, livan hernandez, unproven prospects?
we did loose a 'few good' starting pitchers. i sincerely hope that dontrelle does not have a year that helps soften the blow for the 'gaineds'.

relief pitchers
lost: david riske
gained: koyabashi, octavio dotel, scott linebrink, ron mahay
we definitely gained more quality than we lost.

outfielders
lost: torri hunter
gained: delmon young, jose guillen
although delmon has great promise, torri is one of the better CF'ers in baseball. i guess the competition was too tough for him. he had to bolt to leave the massive shadows left by grady and grandy. slim advantage to the 'lost' column.

infielders
lost: jason bartlett
gained: miguel cabrera, mike lamb, orlando cabrera, nick swisher, brandon harris, alberto callapso, migeul olivo
an overwhelming win for the 'gained' crowd.

the division is tough. that is the point. it seems like the type of year where everything must go right to rise atop of a tough crowd. every team has question marks though. i do think an ALC team will go far in the playoffs, once again this year. i just hope that once again, it is us.

i last posted on december 4. i was really bummed that detroit had someone stolen both the D-train AND miguel cabrera from florida. my consternation has been lessened by the fact that various national media type still predict the indians will win the AL central! we are recognized as a powerhouse. our pitching overcomes the tigers BIG potential O. the tigers have too many question marks because of their D, their pen, their lack of depth in the minors, their old age (especially sheff, kenny, and jones). i had not considered these factors. they are very real concerns for detroit.

but we have our own concerns.

-can AC perform at that level all season offensively? i am doubtful. but i truly believe josh barfield will be there to return the favor and pick him up. as disappointing a season as josh experienced last year, it was his large amount of errors that alarmed me. so he must step it up in both aspects this year. i have nothing to go on but gut feeling.

-will fausto labor through a sophomore slump? i do not fear this. that sinker is too damn good. want proof? despite his career high in innings pitched last season / post season, fausto is NOT on a strict pitching regimen this spring like c.c. is. the reason: his pitch counts were always low. brandon webb has yet to falter. he did used to have problems with his control. i do not fear this of fausto either.

-i do fear jhonny yo yoing back to a disappointing '06 season. i do feel he could still improve in both areas too though. this just feels too much like wishful thinking.

-will casey blake maintain his level of defense at third? the dude of a beard scares me. i wish marte could hit ML pitching. i still think he can figure it out. once again, that sorta seems too much like wishful thinking.

-will the pen be as good? this is a big question. rafeal b did have a career year. doubtful he can even match his numbers of last year. rafael perez could also experience a sophomore slump. jansen might not be able to handle a full season. joe blow could do so at any time. this jap dude could be a joke. the top minor league option is mr shuffle ed mujica.

-everyone assumes pronk will return to form. i hope so, i hope so, i hope so. the ALCS playoff 'record' scares me.

-our minors is somewhat depleted, as alot of their players have become regulars up in cleveland. our top prospect adam miller never seems healthy.

-trot nixon is gone. he was huge for us this year. who will carry on his pie in the face antics this year?

these are all very real concerns. on the flip side, none of these scenarios seems disastrous. if all the above occur this season, it will be a bad one. the chance of that happening seems slim.

i love that everyone is there already. and a majority have been for awhile.

we now have jason tyner! jake westbrook cannot be happy. i heard he would have rather have given up 758.

i can't wait to see blake's beard!

pronk won his second consecutive fantasy football league. he won because paul byrd had no faith in his QB derek anderson, and dropped in the final, big game. byrd, o ye of faith.... pronk reminded his elder to keep the faith.

props to eric and kate on the birth of their second child, dalton.

interesting, buck showalter is has left the organization. i think he was a back up in waiting.

what is this about MAGIC MUD????

no one on our team is being implicated in the mitchell report! ok, paul byrd maybe?

baseball is back! and so is my optimism. and my excitement! it was only a matter of time :)

wow! i did NOT see that happening. WOW! detroit is seriously world series hungry. the tigers are hands down the team to beat in the AL central.

they made the first trade of the off season, and it was a big one.

they obtained edgar renteria from the braves, for some prospects.

one of those prospects did beat us last year. i believe he one hit us in his second start of the year against us. i only have ever called him jj. anyway, as devastating as that loss was, the impact of having egdar at short is tremendously worse. edgar did have a terrible year (offensively and defensively) in his only AL stint with boston. no chance that happens again. he is coming off a career best year offensively. edgar is one of the best all around short stops in the league.

the only shortstop who may be better (sorry derek jeter, u do not get my vote) has also moved into the AL central. the white sox traded away jon garland to obtain the wizard of o.c., orlando cabrera. jhonny should not feel that badly about being the third best shortstop in the ALC. i kinda still wish we did have omar back. i miss his D so. i bet so do the few current pitchers with us who had the opportunity to have omar as the shortstop (jake and c.c.).

so, edgar is at short, and defensive liability / sweet bat man carlos guilen is at first. crap, i have been thinking, detroit is going to be tough to beat this year.

then i read espn's MLB website. i expected a blockbuster. i thought it would be johan. i did not really care, either way he seemed to be going to an evil empire. the distinction between boston and new york is now non-existant. miguel cabrera would be the second guess for the blockbuster. but i thought florida would rightfully so ask for too much. the angels seemed to be taking the bait for awhile though.

detroit came out of nowhere to snag him, and took the D-train to boot. and did not give up a single proven starter / regular. six minor leaguers, only a handfull with any big level experience. WOW!

now detroit's line up will include:
curtis granderson
placido polanco
edgar renteria
miguel cabrera
magglio ordonez
gary sheffield
carlos guilen
pudge rodriguez

that leaves brandon inge as the 'easy out'.

their rotation is:
jeremy bonderman
justin verlander
dontrelle willis
kenny rogers
nate robertson?


we signed a japanese pitcher. a groundball reliever. a japanese bob wickman / joe borowski. yeah.

I AM SCARED!