Keeping Up With the Joyces

With tickets to the first game of the “Battle of Ohio” (not a rivalry, regardless of what anyone says) with my buddy Joyce (a Cavs’ season ticket-holder) and the wives, I knew I was in for an interesting evening. The Cavs were showing the game at the Q for free, the Reds were in town, and downtown was actually THE happening place to be on a Friday night.

After watching the Tribe treat Kyle Lohse like…well, Kyle Lohse, the game was well in hand behind Garko’s blast (we decided that his ancestors had a name like Garkopopadopolous or Garkowskivich, which was shortened at Ellis Island) and, honestly, the Reds being on the field.

The Tribe game was, of course, overshadowed by about 15 people in our section checking their cell phones to get the score of the Cavs-Nets game because the Jake offers no updates on the scoreboard. As the Nets crept closer in the 3rd quarter (we had no idea why), the decision was made to forsake the last 3 innings of an Indians win to see the final quarter of the Cavs game. Hustling down the ramp from upper deck, not spilling a drop of beer, we found our way to the main concourse and a TV that was showing “The Donyell Marshall Show” to us and 300 of our closest friends packed around the TV.

We decided that we needed to either go to the Q or a local watering hole to catch the end of the game to (fingers crossed) celebrate a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. After chugging our beers, we sprinted (yes, sprinted) from Gate B (near the bleachers) to “Local Heroes”, which is the old “Cooperstown”. After nearly throwing up everything that we just Frank the Tanked at the Gate B exit, we caught our breath to make it into the bar for the final 5 minutes of glorious basketball.

There is no more satisfying feeling than sitting in a bar full of Cleveland fans, watching LeBron jump on Marshall’s back during a post-game interview while the Tribe put the finishing touches on a win.

That is, until you start stressing about the Pistons series.

Ah…the joy of being a Cleveland fan – never able to enjoy the moment, only dreading what you assume to be the inevitable.

Taking the 'Wood to 'Em

The Tribe got some revenge for last week's sweep last night in Boston, with Millwood dominating the potent BoSox lineup in the 7-0 win. Some quick hits:

• Has Millwood priced himself out of the Tribe's 2006 plans? I don't think that it's happened yet. But if he continues his current pace, it's very possible. His ERA is hovering around 3.00, which brings the closest thing the Tribe has to an ace every time he takes the ball. If he continues his torrid pitching, you've got to think that he'll be in the $8-$10 million range with 3-5 years on his next contract. If that's the case, I don't think that fits into the Tribe's plans for 2006 (and rightfully so). When you look at the players the Tribe need to lock up (Super Sizemore & Lee), you can't overpay for one player, especially if there's a risk of a Jack McDowellesque flame-out. As Cy e-mailed me, it's time to lock up Grady until 2015.
• Just when I was going to say that Broussard's beard made him look old enough to buy beer, he shaves it into a goatee. Someone needs to tell him that he's not Eddie Vedder and should stick with the tight beard.
• Interesting to see Shapiro in the stands last night with his good friend (and Patriots player personnel guru) Scott Pioli. With the hiring of Danny Ferry (another Shapiro buddy) by the Cavs; had the Browns pursued Pioli further, there was a possibility of these 3 buddies running the 3 major teams in a town. To put that in perspective, think about yourself and two of your friends running the major sports teams in a city. Unreal.
• I've looked through the RH sticks that might be available in a trade and the pickings are slim.
• The first option is Moises Alou, who is 38 and is paid $7 million a year. Alou's numbers so far are .315/12/33/.931 OPS. The Giants, though, would probably want Tallet/Traber, Cruceta, Hernandez, and probably another minor-leaguer to make it happen.
• Another option is Kevin Mench, who had been rumored to be coming in a trade a few years ago. Mench is 27 with a $345K salary. He's hitting .290/12/37/.903 OPS in the young season. With the Rangers (still!) deep in position players and weak in pitchers, this could be a Hafneresqe trade, giving up Tallet/Traber (probably Traber) and Hernandez.
• The final RH option out there is Juan Encarnacion, who's 29 and pulls down $4.4 million a year. He's recently shown some signs of displeasure in Florida, where he's hitting .269/9/40/.795. The Marlins would like Howry (and maybe Hernandez) to stabilize a battered pen.
• As you can see, the pickings are slim. There are other RF's out there, but most are overpriced LH (Berkman, Jenkins, Ibanez). So, if the Indians are buyers, I'm interested to see which direction they'll go to add the "middle of the lineup" hitter that Shapiro has referenced. Mench might fit the bill (and the budget) the best, but I can't see my Uncle Joe tearing his way down to the Jake to see Kevin Mench.
• One of the WKNR Update guys refers to Cliff Lee as "The General". I'm not sure if I'm on board with that one yet. He also called the Indians "Team Windex" last year. Get it, they're streaky?

Last night's lineup looked like it should for the rest of the season (barring a trade). To recap, check out the boxscore online.

Any thoughts on the lineup?

With an dime from TB, I was able to get the Organizational Depth Chart, which will remain on the sidebar and be updated as is necessary.

All right, the Red Sox just cut the lead to 4-3 on the "General" (Nope, sorry. I don't like it). I've got to focus.

What Have I Done?

After witnessing all 4 games of the current 4 game losing streak, I am seriously banned from the Jake for a while. I was so upset at my role in the losses, I spent the drive home figuring out what I have been doing differently or what I can do to change the luck. The decision was made that the new belt that I had gotten last Sunday and had worn to all the games was the culprit. As I held the belt over the trash can last night, I said, "what the hell am I doing?" Had I become that superstitious that I truly think that I can change the outcome of the game?

I wondered where this philosophy could have come from. It couldn't be those countless Browns games when nobody could change seats if the Browns were winning and HAD to change seats after an interception or a fumble, could it? During the Browns-Jets OT playoff game, my father didn't let my friend's mother (who was at the house watching the game) leave our downstairs bathroom for the whole OT, because "it would ruin the momentum that we had going". In retrospect, how insane is that? But it made perfect sense to everyone there at the time. During the Tribe-BoSox Game 5 in 1999, me and my buddy C-Badd changed seats 3 times during Pedro's pitching performance to see if we could "change things up a little bit". My buddy Dozer's family are big Illinois fans and he said they switched seats over 10 times during the Final Four games. Maybe it just makes us feel like we're doing our part to bring home the W.

I think that in Cleveland (where the only "luck" we've ever had is bad), it's amplified. I hear conversations of people that say that LeBron is certain to leave, but maybe if they get a LeBron jersey, it'll change the mojo to make him stay. As if, one Saturday as the cashier is bagging a 23 jersey in Great Northern, LeBron (sitting at home in Bath) will have this revelation come over him that he should stay in Cleveland. It's such an insane premise, but normal, intelligent people subscribe to these superstitions every single day.

I remember this one TV movie when I was a kid called Tiger Town, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086439/, with Roy Scheider (the guy from Jaws), with the premise being that this little kid's favorite player was this washed up vet (Scheider). When the kid went to the games, and prayed real hard when Billy Young (Scheider) came up, Young would always go yard. The movie ends with the player finding out about it, and the kid not making it to the big playoff game in time, but the player hits a homer to win it at the end, without the kid's help.

It's a ridiculous movie, but there I was, about 7 years old, whenever the Tribe was up at old Municipal, head in my hands, deep in prayer. Never worked for the Indians teams of those days though.

What's wrong with us?

On a Tribe note: Let's be patient and see how they close out the homestand. They should've touched Milton up for a ton more runs and it should not have been that close at the end. There is no production coming from the corners.

On a Cavs note: The draft is rapidly approaching, they've cut ties with Traylor and Harris (no argument here), reportedly almost traded Gooden for Kurt Thomas, and are trying to deal Jiri Welsch to get into the draft. One question: WHO'S MAKING THESE DECISIONS? Wouldn't it make sense to have someone in place WELL before the draft and the Free Agency period begins?

Interestingly, they showed on the scoreboard that yesterday were birthdays for George Vuckovich (remember how he always made his hat fall off?) and Doug "Special Delivery" Jones (what a horrible nickname).

I'll recount the conversation between me and my wife about what's wrong with Cleveland sports fans tomorrow. I promise to be nowhere near the Jake tonight.