Thursday, June 29, 2006

Flying Tomahawks

An absolute disastrous 9th inning by Indian defenders allowed the Redbirds to avoid the sweep. As promotional seat cushions rained on the field, one could sense that the breaking point had been reached for the Tribe. Eric Wedge’s post-game press conference proved it.

This is about as emotional as we’ve ever seen Eric Wedge:
"It was a total defensive collapse. It was an embarrassing end to what could have potentially been a big game for us. That's a play he's got to make. We gave [the game] back a [heck] of a lot easier than we took it from them. You've got to want the ball to come to you. You want it to come to you every pitch. If you don't, you shouldn't be out there."

With that ugliness out of the way, it’s time for some tomahawks:

  • As Cy Slapnicka noted in the comments section, the maturation of Grady Sizemore, the hitter, is coming along nicely. At this point, he’s on pace for 30 HR’s and 26 SB. Did someone say 30-30 Club? The last (and only) Tribe player to join the club is Joe Carter, who achieved the feat in 1987.
  • I see probably 3-5 commercials for Sonic (the fast-food restaurant) a week. As amusing as I find them, I’m baffled as to where there’s a Sonic. They’re nowhere in Northeast Ohio, so what kind of use of advertising dollars is that? I’ve posed the question to friends all over the country and everyone has the same response, “Yeah, I’ve seen the commercials; but I’ve never seen a Sonic.”
  • I’ve been thinking about this renaming of Jacobs Field (naming rights are up after this season), and this is what I’ve got. How about Continental Airlines (Hopkins is a hub) buys the rights and call the ballpark, The Reservation? Get it, reservations for plane tickets, playing up the Indian angle? It might not be politically correct, but it’s time for the Indians to both embrace and flaunt the fact that they’re the Indians or just remove all other remnants of the Chief.
  • Speaking of the team being named the Indians, did you know that when the Cleveland baseball team joined what is now the American League in 1901, they were called the Blues or Bluebirds until 1903? At that point the team was renamed the Naps to honor Nap Lajoie, their best player and manager. After Lajoie retired, the Cleveland baseball writers were asked to come up with a new name for the team. It was decided that they would be called the Indians, because one of the earlier incarnations of the team had a player that was a Native American and the team was referred to by opposing teams as the Indians, possibly derogatorily. When the name change was announced in the paper, the first mention of the Native American, Louis Sockalexis, didn’t appear until page 8 of the paper. The first time an Indian appears as a logo isn’t until 1928. I’m not trying to discount the significance of Sockalexis in the whole process, but it seems to me that the name selection was a pretty arbitrary process and the team could just have easily been renamed the Blues, Bluebirds, Spiders, or Bronchos (all names that they had gone by).
    What would I like to have those sportswriters call the club? How about the Barons? The old logo for the Hockey team (played in the AHL) is one of those logos and names that would be cool today, in a nostalgic sort of way. The way that the Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, and Giants are timeless sports nicknames, the Indians never really caught on. Maybe it was the team’s ineptitude or maybe because Cleveland never had the market share. Indians just never had the panache for me.
  • The actress from those Mercury commercials is on the new SPIKE show “Blade” with (get this) a rapper from Onyx playing Blade. Yes, the same Onyx that came out with “Slam” about 10 years ago. Where’s he been in the interim? But back to the girl, rarely has a commercial spokeswoman gotten noticed (think the Noxzema girl before she became Dylan McKay’s girlfriend on 90210 or the Doritos girl before she married A.C. Slater in real life), but I think this girl might be entering that stratosphere. Nothing too fancy about her, just nice.

Off to the shores of the Ohio River to catch the Tribe on Saturday night and hang with some buddies in Cincinnati. I’ll be representing the Tribe, but it won’t be pretty. People in Cincinnati think that Cleveland is their big rival, oblivious to the fact that the Reds/Bengals aren’t even on our radar screen.

8 comments:

Krems said...

I had many fine experiences at Sonic in Texas. The Sonicburger is pretty solid. I'm not sure why anyone in their advertising dept. still has a job, b/c why they are running ads in Ohio I don't know. If you drive from C-Town to Austin, I don't think you'll hit a Sonic until Texarkana

Cy Slapnicka said...

I actaully read up on this and almost chose that as my screen name here when this whole blog first started. Apparently some folks disagree with Soxalexis' relevance to the name change and say it was influenced by the Boston Braves. Who knows, as there are many writings that both support and dispute these stories. And its not too far fetched to think that during those times they took on the nickname from people calling the club the "Indians" b/c they had an american indian playing for them. I can only imagine what the nickname would have been if we had a person of another race playing.

Sadly all I know is, I like my politically incorrect mascot. I like my hat. It makes me smile when somewhere else in the country I see someone wearing a lid with Chief Wahoo on it and I always let out the obligatory "go tribe". I'd pay good money for the old wahoo that hung outside cleveland stadium to hand on my new place in Chicago...right above the red line tracks where all those weak cubs fans ride. And the day they get rid of Chief Wahoo I am buying up enough lids to last me a lifetime. I've even thought about stocking up now, but I'm worried the HGH is gonna make my head huge and they won't fit.

PC, with any luck your trip to Cinci will result in a Cinci sweep and we'll get Marte up before the break.

Cy Slapnicka said...

Guess who's back, back again Terry's back, tell a friend Guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back...

He posted some interesting defensive stats today. Him and Peter King really need to coorinate off time better so they don't overlap.

If you haven't seen Coco's catch yesterday, you may want to watch Sportcenter. If you miss it, you'll always be able to catch it on the Espy's. It was that good....my be the best I've ever seen.

t-bone said...

If the Jake has to get renamed, I hope it's a company headquartered in Cleveland that buys the naming rights. National City Field? Progressive Park? Sherwin-Williams Stadium?

I'm perplexed, shocked, etc., by PC's hatred of the Indians name and the Chief.

Perez to Seattle. Garko (hitting .255 in Buffalo) up, for a little bit, at least. Interesting.

Baltimoran said...

is garko a good defensive catcher, i'm wondering if wedge might start giving martinez more time at 1st?
i hope booner is next to go

Indians is a solid team name

YOU GOTTA COME STRONG WITH THAT TOT ACTION!! no Sonics here either, i was told they start in tenessee, and are found in every city in Arkansas where waitresses serve your cars on roller skates. if they can train monkeys to serve the food on skates, i'm moving to razorback country

t-bone said...

Also, saw Coco's catch live. Pretty solid, but i've seen better. those Edmonds over the shoulder ones still do more for me.

And to play devil's advocate, or just to be a jerk... isnt it kind of like preaching to the choir by giving us a history on the "Indians" nickname?

Rockdawg said...

Let's be honest, Ivan Drago has delivered his final blow...the one where the lighting in the background makes it looks like Creed's head comes right off his body.

There is a Sonic about 25-30 miles outside of Athens, Ohio, towards Nelsonville. I have eaten there many times....They not only have great burgers, they actually do have chicks on roller skates that cruise out to your car and prop the tray on your window, exactly the same way they do in Vacation.

Cy Slapnicka said...

I asked Pluto about Garko and he said he wasn't any better than the stick at defense.

I am speachless about last night. I got out of the car after having drove in from chicago to catch the 8th and 9th on STO. Funny part is, there was no doubt in my mind how that game was ending. Negativity? Nope, PC was in Cinci.