Tomahawks and Ballot Boxes

The countdown is on to Game #1 and the Tomahawks are flying:

• Sheldon Ocker has stirred up a bit of controversy with his latest piece on how Garko may not make the roster due to his defensive regressions and his marginal performance this Spring at the plate (.630 OPS with the most AB in camp). It certainly comes as a surprise (if this does indeed have any merit) as most thought the fact that Mike Rouse seemed to be the leader for the Futility Infielder job (and he’s LH), made it easy for Garko to make the team as a RH off the bench and a part of the convoluted 1B/RF platoon.
  So, why would the Indians do this and is this possible?
  The thought here is that Garko’s glove is enough of a liability that the Indians aren’t comfortable putting in the infield on a regular basis due to last year’s deficiencies. It would continue that regardless of Garko’s success at the plate last year, the Indians feel that their offense without Garko is still potent enough to not jeopardize their infield defense by putting him in the lineup against LHP.
  Perhaps they’re thinking of having Blake be the full-time 1B and allowing (maybe) Ben Francisco platoon with Trot Nixon in RF. By no means is this a thought process that I’m endorsing as I’d rather see Garko given a shot from Opening Day, as he earned it with his run production last year. However, if Garko is an absolute butcher at 1B, offsetting any strides that the rest of the infield may have made – the Indians’ offense is a juggernaut, with or without The Gark. It’s a situation that bears watching as the last week of Spring Training just got a lot more interesting.
  
  
• In case you were wondering why Opening Day’s game is scheduled to start at 4PM, which is kind of an odd time, here’s the answer – Opening Day falls on Good Friday and the Dolans asked the Bishop of Cleveland what time they should have the game start. With the time between Noon and 3PM of Good Friday being a sacred part of the Catholic Faith, Bishop Lennon “advised” the Dolans to start the game at 4PM. They complied. The Dolans decided to make Fish and Chips available to the “faithful” at the Jake that day on their own.
  
  
• Rumors persist that STO will begin to show Bisons’ games (perhaps through the Empire Network that airs them in Buffalo) and Aeros’ games on a tape delay in the morning and afternoon. Where have I seen this idea before? Perhaps when the announcement was made? In the link, please that it was written 13 months ago and the prediction for the broadcast teams
  
  
• A few new links up on the sidebar, notably the Ohio Sports Report, which links every article in the local fishwraps about the Tribe. It’s a nice way to start the day, as long as you still start it here on the Mothership.
  
  
• Speaking of the Mothership, if you haven’t received the newest Sports Illustrated (and I just got last week’s yesterday, then received this week’s today…thank you, USPS), it’s the big Baseball Preview. On the Indians’ page is a breakdown of how the Indians’ SI.com page is going to look and puts it to the fans to vote the best blog onto the site. One of the participants is….drumroll, please…The DiaTribe. Here’s the link, so let’s all heed the words of Richard J. Daley – “Vote early, vote often” and give me some love.

I’ll also put the link up on the sidebar, under “Vote for the DiaTribe”