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I want you to play the song below while reading this post. Try, as best you can, to not be distracted by the vicious, piercing irony of the chorus as it relates to the sports teams of Cleveland.
I know, it’s not going to be easy…especially after the events of last night rubbed even more salt into the (eternally?) tragically open wounds of an entire city’s fan base.
On the same that night that the last two Cy Young Award winners — both of whom were Indians when they won it — faced off in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series, the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James dropped to 0-2.
You might think, well hey, at least Cleveland fans have the Browns game to look forward to this Sunday!
And this sentiment, of course, would be met either with hearty laughter or plaintive cries, all depending on one’s perspective, mood, and current level of sanity.
No, ladies and gentleman, sports in the city of Cleveland most certainly do not rock. Last night was simply further confirmation of this ever deepening and depressing truism.
But don’t take it from me. Scan the Cleveland sports blogosphere. It’s hard to wait for next year when you can barely make it from day to day this year.
Have you been paying attention to the Major League Baseball Playoffs? If so, and you’re a present or former Cleveland Indians Fan, you have noticed the ridiculous amount of former Indians playing outstanding baseball.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan can’t figure out why the Indians’ attendance has plummeted since the Dick Jacobs days.
Here is a hint Larry: you have only paid Grady Sizemore, and that is it.
The Indians produce a mediocre team year in and year out, and the fans day by day miss Dick Jacobs more and more.
The title, “If You Pay Them, They Will Come” means that if you pay the players you let go, your fans would appear in groves to Progressive Field. With the talent you let go and that is currently stretched across the eight teams that made this year’s playoffs, you too would be contending for a World Series title.
As little underlying support there is, these Josh Cribbs rumors are not fun
He is exactly right.
Who knows how legitimate the Cribbs-to-Miami or Cribbs-to-whomever talk is, but there is nothing fun or exciting at all about the Browns’ clear fan favorite being mentioned in the same sentence as the word “trade.”
All the rumors about Cribbs got me to thinking: is he the second most untradable sports figure in Cleveland?
Courtesy of the good folks at the Dugout Sports Show (@DugoutSportsShow) and Waiting For Next Year, we can inform you that the Cleveland Indians have scheduled a 1:30 press conference, presumably to announce the firing of manager Eric Wedge.
According to Scott from Waiting For Next Year, the entire staff will finish out the year and then be replaced.
The Cleveland Indians, a choice by many including myself to rebound into 2007 form, and make this year’s postseason, fell into last place earlier this week. Yes, they now stand a game and a half behind the Kansas City Royals, who, like last September, have played good ball the final few weeks.
Since Labor Day, the Royals are 12-3, while Cleveland is a pitiful 1-13, losing nine in a row currently and more than ten games to KC in the standings. Has there been a better time to finally admit, despite the mid-season trades of a few key players and an injury or two (all teams have injuries), Eric Wedge has lost this team, as they sputter toward the worst record in the AL and potentially 100 losses?
Some say Cleveland has a “good young crop of players that will put them in contention for the future.” I disagree. For one thing, Columbus, the AAA affiliate of the Tribe, finished with the second worst record in the International League this season.
While the Indians have some decent prospects like 22 year-old Michael Brantley and 24 year-old Matt LaPorta, others have run their course, proving now in their mid to late 20s, they may not be the “answer”: Jeremy Sowers, Andy Marte, even 2007 hero Fausto Carmona, who’s arguably been one of the worst pitchers in the AL the past two seasons.
A great book on how the Tribe wisely rebuilt after 2001, planning for their runs in 2005 and 2007, is Dealing by legendary Cleveland sportswriter, Terry Pluto. Published in early 2008, it culminates with the miraculous 2007 run, leaving readers upbeat. Clearly, there is no expectation of the collapses of 2008 and 2009. Perhaps the book needs an updated edition.
I seek to preface this column by noting that baseball is by far my favorite sport. Despite the media narrative, I personally believe baseball is still America’s most popular sport and has fewer issues that need remedied than the other major sports. I have defended baseball to my friends on issues from steroids to competitive balance to many others for at least the past decade and a half. When folks say “Yankees/Red Sox/Mets/Phillies/Dodgers/Angels,” I reference the successes of the “Rays/Twins/Athletics/Indians” this decade.
I should also note — and those who know me would concur in a heartbeat — I am a fiscal conservative, a capitalist to the core who abhors socialism and redistribution of anything to those who have not earned it.
That said, the trade deadline looms, and if you have not noticed, the “rich are getting richer.” On the flip side, year after year, my teams (Padres, Reds, Indians, Pirates) stink, and constantly lose prime players, while the teams in the major coastal cities — where my friends live — get better and keep winning.
One, a “suffering” Dodger fan, emailed me after the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee (reigning Cy Young winner, just like Sabathia was when Cleveland traded him last July):
“Dodgers need to get Halladay if they plan on going to the World Series.”
Well, we all want Roy Halladay, but only a few can even dream of this, sir. It must be nice to reside in your (baseball) world.
The Dodgers and Phils are surely the class of the NL, but what if they were unable to acquire the Manny Ramirezes and Raul Ibanezes of the world like 90% of baseball? (I should note these teams have also drafted sagaciously with respect to Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney et al.)
As I drove back through very late Monday night from Pads-Reds in Cincy, I had the same suggestion (of “cry me a river”), however, for the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, Cubs, Phils, and a few others.
Truly now, what team has actually built a winner out of nothing the past decade?
Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and to some degree, Milwaukee, Colorado and Florida. Kudos to them. It can be done, but it’s tough. Everything must click and you must capitalize on all chances.
Joe Torre and Terry Francona (c.f. Phil Jackson in the NBA) need not worry about such ancillary matters. Brian C. and Theo E. will make sure of that. I’d like to see those two win in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego, Washington, or Kansas City sometime, though.
{Addendum: The unions are major culprits in this “system” as well, but that’s been thoroughly documented for more than a quarter-century. As is too often the case with unions these days, their employees benefit while the profession and society (in this case, it’s paying customers) suffers. I don’t need to spell much more out, do I?}
I’m headed down to Cincinnati after work this evening to catch the Padres take on the Reds. Yes, you read that correctly: I am driving 120 miles each way, on a work night, to watch a 38-61 team take on a 44-53 squad (coming off an 0-6 road trip) on a Monday night. And to top it off, both teams are throwing their 5th starters, who are a combined 2-8 with ERAs closer to ten than zero. Why you ask?
Well, I have free seats courtesy of a friend who works for the Padres; I was raised in SD and still cheer for this pitiful team; I also like the Reds; it’s sunny out; and a friend from Washington DC is in town, therefore this is the closest big league park to my home in central Indiana; and I love baseball.
No, I don’t know which team I want to win. At least both cannot lose, right?
The Reds had a key road trip last week, whereupon I mused they needed to win four of six versus two good teams. They lost them all, prompting even the usually sanguine Hal McCoy to rip the team, declare the season over, and spend the first half of his Sunday afternoon post, writing about steak instead of baseball. Can you really blame the legendary Dayton writer? He claimed:
“They might as well be waving a white surrender flag when they get off the team charter in Cincinnati tonight. They are dead. They are buried. They weren’t a very good team to start with and you have to give credit for them hanging around so long. But now with some underachievers and a whole lot of minor-leaguers, they are barely a notch above Triple-A and there may be some better Triple-A teams out there. Would you believe Double-A?
They simply cannot compete with the big boys and now can barely hold their own against teams of their own ilk.”
Wow, Hal, I love the honesty!
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians swept Seattle over the weekend. This is quite miraculous, considering the Mariners are one of the pleasant surprises of 2009, while the Tribe is arguably baseball’s biggest disappointment. Nonetheless, despite four wins in a row, the Cleveland Indians still sit 17 games under .500 and 12 back of first-place Detroit. At least they’re out of the cellar.
The Reds, on the other hand, might be there soon if they don’t take care of the Pads this week before the streaking Rockies (54-44, and an incredible 36-16 under Jim Tracy) hit town this weekend.
Maybe then I can start demanding Dusty Baker to be fired, much like Eric Wedge on the other side of the Buckeye State.
With the Indians still playing as poorly as anyone in baseball, this column will now be devoted to the Cincinnati Reds, even as they fade and ponder trading top players despite being just five and a half games back of first-place St. Louis with close to half the season remaining.
But before I leave the Tribe, two points:
1. Cleveland would be foolish to trade Cliff Lee. He is their only reliable starter. Period. Cliffy won the Cy Young last season, and despite a 5-9 record in 2009, still has a very respectable 3.31 ERA. Only one other pitcher in the majors this season has a better ERA with a losing record: STL’s Joel Pineiro (8-9, 3.09).
Mark Shapiro, however, seems intent upon not only rebuilding the team for the second time this decade, but perhaps being the first GM to trade THREE former Cy Young winners: Bartolo Colon, C.C. Sabathia and Lee.
2. I should also add that while I was not a fan of Casey Blake during his years in C-town, he has certainly been more than capable out in LA the past calendar year. This is not to say the Tribe shouldn’t have unloaded him, but the third baseman has 22 homers and 80 RBIs during his 146 game Dodger career. His batting average is around .270, for a career .266 hitter.
For the Reds of Cincinnati, they stand in a similar spot in terms of unloading veterans before the July 31 deadline, but considering their steady spot in the standings (even at 44-48, just 5.5 back), one wonders why.
This week’s road trip will tell a lot about whether or not guys like the durable Bronson Arroyo – 16 straight scoreless innings, team leader in victories – will be dealt. And apparently Dusty Baker and GM Walt Jocketty told the team that before last night’s game.
They responded Monday night with three in the first off a rusty Jason Schmidt, despite another pouting episode by Brandon Phillips. Unfortunately, Micah Owings – whose time in the rotation should thankfully end when Edinson Volquez returns — imploded by allowing four runs back in the bottom frame, then two more in the second and the Reds fell 7-5. Though only five and a half back, the Reds do have four teams — all playing better ball than they this month too – ahead of them in the mediocre central.
Homer Bailey should take Owings spot as, aside from his last outing, has finally been serviceable. Aaron Harang — just 11 wins the past two seasons and none since May — has not. Nor has Johnny Cueto, sporting an ERA over 8 in July.
So, the struggling Reds have two more against the best team in baseball, then a weekend in Chicago. They need to win three of the next five I think, or else the proverbial “bottom might fall out.”
Needless to say, it’ll be players leaving, not skipper Dusty Baker, who’s underachieving again in a weak division. Next year won’t be so easy.
One thing Dusty might want to learn is to play hot hitters with the best stats, rather than the obsessive righty-lefty mentality so prevalent in baseball. Case in point, Dusty continues to play the horrid lefty Laynce Nix against righties, while sitting righty Johnny Gomes, who actually hits righties better as is.
There’s more I could note, but it’s unnecessary until next time….Â
Major League Baseball’s first half of the season ended poorly for Ohio’s two teams.
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Hope has been gone since mid-April for the Cleveland Indians, and clearly, it’s only getting worse as the Tribe is looking at a 100 loss season if they don’t play decently the rest of the way. This from a team considered by many to be the favorite in the AL Central and by some to be a pennant contender. Thanks, Eric Wedge. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out — in October.
Though the loss of Jay Bruce – and the continued absence of Edinson Volquez — for an indeterminate amount of time with a wrist injury won’t help matters, Cincinnati is still just a few games behind first place St. Louis. So despite needing to leapfrog many clubs, there’s still hope in the Queen City for the first playoff games in Great American Ballpark’s history.
The calendar has flipped to July, trade rumors have intensified, and teams are preparing to start their final series before the All Star Break after getaway day on Thursday. That can only mean one thing: the Chicago Cubs are only a few months away from tacking another year of futility onto the ever-growing grand total (which you can now track on your iPhone!).
But it also means something else: it’s time to dole out some midseason awards.
Since our primary focus here at Midwest Sports Fans is, well, the Midwest, I am going to focus my award giving to just the Central divisions of the American and National League. Let’s get right to it.
NL Central 1st Half MVP: Albert Pujols, and I really don’t need to say anything else about it. His name itself is becoming hyperbole. I want to see a new version of “The Most Interesting Man in the World” commercials featuring Pujols. They could be called “The Most Dominating Presence in Baseball” and include lines like “he once struck out, just to see what it felt like” and “he’s seen less pitches than the World Cup, yet his goatee alone has hit more home runs than Ryan Ludwick.” Albert Pujols is amazing and is not just the NL Central MVP, but the MLB MVP for the first half of 2009.
AL Central 1st Half MVP: This one is not so clear cut. Let’s take a look at a few of the candidates (stats as of July 9th):
Obviously I really want to say JD, or even Scott Podsednik, and I think there is an argument to be made for them as their value has been highlighted by the injury to Carlos Quentin, but I have a hard time giving it to anyone other than Justin Morneau or Joe Mauer with the impressive stats both have racked up.
It certainly isn’t Zack Greinke, whose team becomes more irrelevant with each passing week. If his ERA was still 1.00, then maybe. But he hasn’t been as lights-out recently, which is to be expected since he isn’t the greatest pitcher in the history of mankind and all beings, as some have suggested.
While everyone is salivating over Mauer, and don’t get me wrong — he has been great since returning from injury, Morneau has been producing at a high level for 24 more games and over the span of almost 100 more ABs than Mauer. Plus, batting average is an overrated stat, so Mauer gets no bonus points from me because he’s making everyone dream about .400. Both are great candidates, and by the end of the year such a difference in games won’t be so magnified, but right now I have to go with Morneau, who has been the most consistent run producer in the division over the course of the entire first half.
NL Central 1st Half Cy Young: I see two primary contenders: Adam Wainwright of St. Louis and Yovani Gallardo of Milwaukee. Here are the stats:
Pretty damn close based on the numbers (and you could probably throw Ryan Franklin in the mix here too, who has been great as the Cardinals’ closer). My first instinct when comparing Gallardo and Wainwright is to go with the guy pitching for the team in first place, but it’s hard to use team record as a tie-breaker considering the Cardinals are only one game up on the Brewers in the standings. Or is it? With two pitchers this close, sometimes it comes right down to head-to-head battles.
Thus far in 2009, Wainwright has absolutely dominated Milwaukee. He is 2-0 in two starts against the Brewers, going 15.1 innings and giving up just a single run while striking out 18. Gallardo, on the other hand, has struggled somewhat against his team’s primary competition for the division title. Despite having a better overall ERA and WHIP than Wainwright, Gallardo is 0-1 against St. Louis. Sure, he pitched 8 innings of shutout ball while only giving up 2 hits in the teams’ May 25th battle, so you can’t blame him for the no decision there, but that game was not head-to-head against Wainwright like the July 7th game was. In that battle, Gallardo lasted only five innings and gave up four runs in a 5-0 loss for the Brew Crew.
So maybe that one game difference for the Cardinals is the difference between Wainwright and Gallardo. I’m giving the 1st half Cy Young for the NL Central to Adam Wainwright.
AL Central 1st Half Cy Young: Lots of legit contenders here. Let’s list them out with stats:
Mark Buehrle, White Sox: 9-2, 3.14 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 114.2 innings, 65 K, 25 BB
If we were giving this out to the pitcher who has been the most generous to opposing hitters and teams, Fausto Carmona would win in a landslide. And yes, this is the same Fausto Carmona that went 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 2007. But obviously I only listed Carmona here to throw more salt in the multitude of open wounds Cleveland’s start has given its fans. More on him later.
Back to the subject at hand. Zack Greinke obviously has the best numbers, but I just don’t believe in handing out awards to players whose teams are not in the playoff race. There is a different level of pressure when your team is expected to win and when games are meaningful. If the award were Most Outstanding Pitcher, it’s Greinke by a landslide. It’s not, and it clearly states in the fine print of my own personal Cy Young and MVP criteria that last place teams (Cleveland sucks so bad they don’t count anymore) cannot have Cy Young or MVP winners, so we’ll let Willy Wonka tell Zack Greinke what he’s won:
(By the way, credit goes to Hugging Harold Reynolds for tweeting that video yesterday. I hadn’t seen that in forever, but always loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie Bucket is a golden god.)
Honestly, I can’t find a whole lot to separate Buehrle, Verlander, and Jackson. All three have had excellent seasons. I’d give the edge to Buehrle because he owns the Tigers and Verlander sucks against the White Sox, and both have more wins than Jackson, but it’s really splitting hairs between those three.
My 1st half AL Central Cy Young goes to Joe Nathan, who has just be out-of-this-world awesome. The Twins’ pitchers (other than Nick Blackburn, who is having a very good yet under-the-radar season) have struggled this season. Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, and Kevin Slowey have all dealt with injuries and bouts of ineffectiveness. The one constant (throughout all the years Ray, has been baseball) has been Joe Nathan at the back end of the bullpen making sure that when the Twins do have a late lead, they do not surrender it.
I’m not a huge proponent of giving Cy Youngs to closers who typically pitch less than a third of the amount of innings a top-line starter does, but Joe Nathan has given up only 18 hits in 33.1 innings and is 22-24 in save opportunities. He has been beyond dominant and there is no way the Twins would be as close to first place as they are without him. It’s a competitive field, but Nathan is the choice.
NL Central Manager of the 1st Half: Tony LaRussa, and I don’t think it’s close. Ken Macha has done a nice job in Milwaukee keeping the Brewers in the race without C.C. Sabathia or Ben Sheets, but LaRussa has the Cardinals in first place with one legit hitter in his lineup. Yes, that hitter is the great Pujols, but look at the rest of the team’s offensive stats. Putrid. And it’s not like their pitching has been lights out. Ryan Franklin has been a revelation in the bullpen, and getting Chris Carpenter back has helped, but this is still a rotation that counts on guys like Kyle Lohse, Joel Piniero, and Todd Wellemeyer. That LaRussa has the Cardinals in first place is a testament to his managerial genius (and to Pujols’ utter dominance, of course).
AL Central Manager of the 1st Half: I really want to say Ozzie Guillen, and I think that he’s done a great job, but my vote goes to Jimmy Leyland of Detroit. It’s not just that the Tigers are in first place, it’s that they’ve been able to rebound from last season’s disappointment with a far less potent offensive attack and without the benefit of an above-average bullpen. Leyland has navigated his way through the struggles of Dontrelle Willis and Armando Gallarraga, plus had to deal with Magglio Ordonez’s sharp decline. Leyland essentially has a lineup with only three hitters who have been consistent producers (Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson), yet there the Tigers sit, a couple games up and eight games over .500.
2009 has been an excellent rebound season for Detroit, and Leyland deserves credit as the man steering the ship. He also deserves credit for having one of the most hilarious old school baseball cards ever. The hat, the mustache, the sunburned face…I’m not sure if he’s at Spring Training, a train conductor, or working at a carnival.
And with that, let’s transition into a few “alternative” awards for the first half.
NL Central Least Valuable Player of the 1st Half: Milton Bradley wins this one. Signed in the offseason after putting up terrific numbers in Texas, The Angry One has only gotten 203 ABs so far this season and hasn’t done much with them. He’s hitting .236 and, even worse, is slugging only .374. Ouch. Plus, he is being his usual distracting self and getting into public pissing matches with his manager when he’s not forgetting how many outs there are in an inning. Like most things having to do with the Cubs, you just get the feeling that this is not going to end well.
AL Central Least Valuable Player of the 1st Half: Fausto Carmona of the Indians. We touched on his stats above, and they really say it all. This guy has just gone straight downhill since 2007 and the Indians have to be wondering if he’ll ever be able to recapture the ability that made him appear to be one of the bright young pitching stars in the big leagues. Despite a rough 2008, a lot was expected out of Carmona this year. Well, the Indians have gotten a lot out of him…it’s just all been bad.
AL/NL Central Worst Manager of the 1st Half: Hands down Eric Wedge. You need look no further than this site, where our very own AJ Kaufman calls for Wedge’s head in pretty much every article he writes. The Indians were expected to contend for the AL Central crown, yet they are 13.5 games out and 19 games under .500 already.
AL/NL Central Manager with the most potential to give his kids truly awful awesome names: Eric Wedge. If he had any sense of humor he would name his kids Orange, Potato, and Cheese. No such luck though. As it is, he and his wife named their kids Ava and Dalton Cash. Oh well.
Come to think of it though, Dalton Cash Wedge is a pretty sweet and unique name. The kid is either going be a scrappy middle infielder/#2 hitter in the majors or the lead actor in his generation’s version of Dawson’s Creek. Well done Eric. (See, we don’t always criticize you on Midwest Sports Fans.)
AL/NL Central Quote of the 1st Half: This one is easy and goes to (who else?) Ozzie Guillen. And there were a few of them, all of which were gloriously derogatory towards the team from the North Side.
“But one thing about Wrigley Field, I puke every time I go there. That’s just to be honest. And if Cub fans don’t like the way I talk about Wrigley Field, it’s just Wrigley Field. I don’t say anything about the fans or anything now. But Wrigley Field, they got to respect my opinion. That’s the way I feel…I don’t care if they hate me. They don’t feed my kids. If they hate me, that’s cool.”
That’s just a great quote, although the part about Ozzie not talking about Cubs fans may not be entirely true. Ozzie also had this gem:
“…our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans.”
AL/NL Central Home Run Call of the Year: Hawk Harrelson, two days ago. Hell yeah!
That’s all I’ve got. Sorry for not even mentioning your teams Reds, Astros, and Pirates fans…they’ve all been pretty uninteresting so far this year, at least as far as I’m concerned. But feel free to add your own midseason awards in the comments.
The White Sox bring out the brooms again tonight, and then play the Twins in a pivotal pre-All Star Break series. As Hawk might say, I loooove baseball.
You all know that I love Hawk Harrelson. And obviously I think his signature home run call (You can put it on the board…YES!) is so great that sliced bread should be jealous of it.
Well, last night Hawk took it to another level when Paul Konerko jacked three home runs in the White Sox series-opening victory over some random AA team that is in town for the weekend. During the second and third of Konerko jacks, the second being a grand salami, Hawk adds in a jubilant “Hell yeah!” to his normal home run call.
Unfortunately, MLB.com does not allow you to embed videos (or at least they don’t make it very easy or intuitive if they do) so I’ll just have to link you over there. But it’s worth it.
(Thanks to Jimmy Traina at Hot Clicks for linking to this since I had to miss the game last night.)
Apparently, Cleveland Indians GM Mark Shapiro is no admirer of President Harry S. Truman. That is, when it comes to results and accountability, the “buck (does not) stop here,” as in, with the man at the top.
It was reported Sunday that, despite a team that was a pennant contender in April having the AL’s worst record most of May, June and July, manager Eric Wedge will serve out his term the rest of 2009, and perhaps beyond.
“As I’ve said all along, the responsibility for the disappointments of this season don’t rest on one person,†Shapiro said. “The responsibility is spread equally throughout the players, the front office, Eric and his staff.”
Really? In most jobs, or in politics, the man at the top is rewarded or punished for the company’s or his administration’s successes or failures. In sports, it is often the same, especially in baseball. But apparently, not on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Who knew?
On the surface, sure, the team has been doomed since mid-April after they lost eight of their first nine games, so why bring in an interim skipper at mid-season?
On the other hand, why not? It might spark the team, help them avoid an embarrassing 100 loss season, and maybe that interim manager might stick, as they occasionally do?
In fact, many Indians’ fans believe Joel Skinner, who took over for Charlie Manuel when the current Philly manager was fired seven years ago this week, deserved the job over Wedge, who took over at the outset of the 2003 season.
It’s easy to argue that Wedge’s hire was a mistake at this point. He had a great team built for him to contend for years after the bad 2002-2004 stretch, and has just a .500 record to show for it, one playoff appearance (2007) and three very disappointing seasons (2006, 2008 & 2009.)
Shapiro, disagrees, and has cashed in 2009:
“I thought it was important for the second half to remove a potential distraction that exists from that speculation,” he said.
“This is not a vote of confidence, nothing has changed,” said Shapiro. “I have the ability to be decisive about this right now. I want to eliminate distractions and make sure there is accountability.”
Sure, Mark.
Actions speak louder the words.
And what a shame for a city desperate for a winner.
**********
In other non-Indians news…
I should add that, while we all know all-star selections are silly, if Ryan Howard made the NL reserves, so should Adam Dunn or Mark Reynolds, who have better statistics with about 10% of the talent around them.
This is not opinion, but fact. It’s laughable only because it was predictable.
ESPN was so confident and biased toward Ryan that earlier this week they were talking to him about how many ticket requests he had, not about whether or not he deserved to be chosen.
* – Mark Shapiro / Eric Wedge photo credit: AP via MLB.com
MLB betting: Jays Try To Keep Up With Streaking Yankees
The Toronto Blue Jays will make the trip to New York this weekend for a four-game set. The Jays started off the season guns a blazing but have cooled off since. They find themselves in fourth place in the division with a minimal chance of winning it, and we just hit July.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have been the exact opposite. They are as strong as they’ve been in the win column this year and they’ll look to keep on building on it.
They’ll have a couple of hurdles this weekend as both Roy Halladay and Ricky Romero will pitch for the Jays.
MLB betting: Tigers, Twins Square Off Square Off At Metrodome
The Detroit Tigers hold a three-game lead in the American League Central but that lead could shrink to nothing by the end of the weekend.
The Tigers have slowed a little bit as the calendar has flipped to July. While Magglio Ordonez is trying to regain his power (went 150 at-bats in between home runs), the lineup seems to be in flux as manager Jim Leyland is moving batters up and down.
The Twins entire starting rotation is on fire right now from Kevin Slowey, to Nick Blackburn, to Scott Baker, which is more bad news for the Tigers bats. Look for the Twins to take advantage and gain some ground on the weekend. The sportsbook odds makers should have them favored throughout the weekend.
A few years ago, sports picks on this series would handicapping a matchup of two playoff contenders. Not nowadays as both teams are a combined 64-93.
The A’s are usually a scrappy bunch but injuries have taken a big bite out of their production. They have put 12 players on the disabled list already this season and they simply don’t have the depth to compete when it gets that’s bad.
The season hasn’t been much brighter for the Indians who have lost five straight and are just 2-8 in their last 10 games. The Indians are having problems scoring runs, especially with Travis Hafner’s pop disappearing over the last two seasons.
The Indians are off a sweep at the hands of the White Sox and have been outscored 38-13 in their last five games. I’m betting management wasn’t expecting that with a lineup consisting of Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and the aforementioned Hafner.
Kudos for the lovely art work go to KVB, who was so pumped about the White Sox actually completing a sweep (only their second series sweep of the season) that he immediately jumped on Photoshop in the throes of unbridled White Sox optimism and excitement.
And even though the sweep was against the lowly Indians, perhaps the worst team in baseball right now, it was still very important for the White Sox. Tonight’s 6-2 victory put the White Sox two games over .500 for the first time in what seems like forever, and has them only three games back of Detroit in the Central, tied with Minnesota.
I’ll have more on this in the morning (in fact, I’ve already got a draft started) but this picture demanded immediate posting.
Well done White Sox! You can put it on the board…YEEESSS!
One Ohio team has mercifully closed the chapter on their 2009 season, even though the calendar has yet to flip to July.
Truthfully, the Cleveland Indians season ended the first week and a half of the season when they stumbled out to a 1-8 start. How on earth a team with that much talent could play so poorly in early April can only be answered by manager Eric Wedge. Aside from 2007, his teams have underachieved like no other three of the past four seasons — yet, for now, he still has his job, despite his team displaying the AL’s worst record (31-46).
With the economy in northern Ohio sputtering, and now Mark DeRosa gone, with perhaps others to follow, Jacobs Field could be a sad site this summer.
Let the next “phase” begin, I suppose. It can’t be worse than the first, and we have seen Tribe teams bounce back after rebuilding. It’s just that this team only gave its fans ONE year of success after a bleak three year period (2002-2004) following the magical mid to late 90s’ squads.
Meanwhile to the southwest, the tease that is the Cincinnati RedLegs, fresh off taking two of three in the “Ohio Cup,” have found their way back to .500 again at 37 up, 37 down. They’re somehow ahead of the Cubs, who might be as disappointing in 2009 as Cleveland — maybe.
Cincy moves on face some crucial home games this week versus the putrid Diamondbacks, then the first place Cardinals. Win four or five of those six, and this team is a legit contender in a jam-packed NL Central as we reach the All Star break.
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That said, the trade deadline looms, and if you have not noticed, the “rich are getting richer.” On the flip side, year after year, my teams (Padres, Reds, Indians, Pirates) stink, and constantly lose prime players, while the teams in the major coastal cities — where my friends live — get better and keep winning.
I’m headed down to Cincinnati after work this evening to catch the Padres take on the Reds. Yes, you read that correctly: I am driving 120 miles each way, on a work night, to watch a
1. Cleveland would be foolish to trade 
Major League Baseball’s first half of the season ended poorly for Ohio’s two teams.
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You all know that 
Apparently, Cleveland Indians GM Mark Shapiro is no admirer of 
Kudos for the lovely art work go to KVB, who was so pumped about the White Sox actually completing a sweep (only their second series sweep of the season) that he immediately jumped on Photoshop in the throes of unbridled White Sox optimism and excitement.
One Ohio team has 
