Time to Take a Breath

Before we panic that the Tribe has now lost two straight series to the Orioles and the Royals, let’s take a look at the big picture. It’s a marathon, gentlemen, not a sprint.

There’s a formula that I’ve come up with to get through the ups and downs of the regular season. If the Indians go about .500 on the road, they’ll end up with a 41-40 away from the Jake. If they win 2 out of every 3 games at home for the season, they’re final home record would be 54-27. If the team can accomplish that, they end up 95-67. I’ll take that. Right now, the Tribe is 4-2 at home (so far, so good) and 6-7 on the road (almost there). Keeping that in mind after games like the Orioles’ blowouts and the Royals’ loss lends some perspective that should let everyone keep their shoelaces.

Would you like to do better against the O’s and the Royals? Sure, but it’s a long season and that has to be remembered to keep an even head.

With that being said, it seems like the Indians team that took 2 of 3 from the White Sox and swept the Twins is a completely different team that has, at times, looked unmotivated and uncaring more recently against the Mariners, Tigers, Orioles, and Royals. Maybe this is a matter of a team getting too hyped up to “start out the season on the right foot”, and then having a bit of a hangover after an exciting start and some early success.

There’s no question that the Indians, talented as they are, should have feasted on the teams that most figured would be some of the doormats of the AL. Something has gone wrong against these teams, whether it be the starters not going deep enough into ballgames, the bullpen exploding, or the offense getting shut down by the likes of Joe Mays and Jeremy Affeldt. Are they playing down to their competition, or lacking focus (which some have suggested), or are the injuries taking their toll on an early season? The past two years, the Indians have taken a while to find their groove, so let’s hope that this is what we’re seeing.

We’re going to find out if the Indians just need to “get up” for these games in the next few series against the upcoming series with the Red Sox, White Sox, and A’s (with some Ranger action thrown in).

Schilling faces Westbrook on Tuesday, so hopefully the Tribe can get their heads right on their off day and be ready to face a hot Red Sox team (and a dominant-thus-far Schilling) at the Jake.

On a quasi-Lazy Sunday note (though not Indians’ related), the Sports Guy has a fantastic piece, connecting the NBA Playoffs and Pearl Jam. After reading the exceptionally written piece, I listened to “Ten” and “Vs.” and could still sing every word of every song despite not listening to either in probably 8 years. That’s the sign of a fantastic album.

Finally, the Indians are running a ½ price sale for lower reserved seats with a Giant Eagle card (though the guy at the team shop didn’t really need one), which means that you can sit in lower reserved for $11 for the Red Sox series, which features some nice pitching match-ups (but no Coco).

When do I start getting commission for hyping up going down to the Jake?