Tomahawk Time

The Tribe rebounds from a tough loss and the Tomahawks are loose:

• As deflating as the Papi HR was against Carmona, all it does is add Fausto’s name to a list of very established closers who have been victimized by Ortiz. Who else knew that Carmona was in trouble when Youkilis was walked? The Loretta pop-up was nice, but I read a comparison of Ortiz coming up in the 9th at Fenway this year to the 1995 Tribe, when a walk-off is almost the expectation. Judging from the electricity last night at Fenway - that sounds about right.
• Before anyone decides that Carmona can’t be the closer, let’s give the kid a chance. He obviously showed enough talent to earn the opportunity, now give him the chance to seize it without using one night (and, really, could there be a tougher 1st save opportunity – Big Papi in Fenway).
• On the topic of the bullpen, how great would it be if the young fireballers (Carmona, Cabrera, and Davis) could find their grooves in the last 2 months to go into 2007 with some confidence and some defined roles?
• Has anyone ever noticed that Ortiz’s HR numbers absolutely exploded when he got to Boston? I know the argument that he was released from the confines of “the Minnesota way” that focuses on situational hitting and that he’s a very affable, likable guy, but are we putting our heads in the sand on this one? No accusations, it just seems curious.
• Casey Blake’s value to this team, in performance and versatility, not to mention consistent effort, is making picking up his 2007 option a pretty easy decision. Blake simply plays the field where he’s asked and has excelled. I don’t know what the guy this year has done to Kasey Blake of 2005, but he has justifiably shed the K.
• When Victor catches, he is noticeably slower down the line than he is when he’s at 1B. I can’t think that I’m the only one who’s taken notice.
• Realizing that a prolonged slump could cause Andy Marte to question his ability to hit in the ML, why isn’t he playing every day? Isn’t he supposed to be learning how to play 3B with the Tribe coaches and seeing ML pitchers on a regular basis?
• Speaking of Marte and the player that he will always be linked with, Coco is under unbelievable pressure from the Boston media. Think Kenny Roda and Bill Livingston on their most irrational day and multiply it by 1000 to get an idea of the ranting heads and bitter writers in Boston that have Crisp in their crosshairs.
• Anybody want to take note that Jason Michaels has a better average (.276 to .271), a higher OPS (.737 to .705), double the HR and RBI than Crisp? Sure, Michaels has 70 more AB’s than Covelli, but he has replaced Coco in LF more than adequately for the Tribe this year.
• Nice to see a return of the “Free and Easy C.C.” that we grew to love in May and not the frustrated overthrower that we’ve seen since June 4th. Who says the Big Fella needs to work on conditioning? He worked 8 strong on a hot, muggy night against an outstanding lineup. If we could get that out of C.C. every 5 games, maybe the naysayers would leave C.C. alone. Who am I kidding? C.C. will always be maligned for something in this town, despite the fact that he now has 77 career wins, and just turned 26 two weeks ago.
• Ken Rosenthal gave the Tribe Honorable Mention in the Winners section in his Trade Deadline: Winners and Losers. SI’s Jon Heyman also puts them in the category of Winners.

Tomorrow, we’ll see if Sowers can extend his scoreless inning streak from 18.