My Bad

After attending the first full 3 game series of my life (that is, I was at all 3 Red Sox games), and watching the Tribe get swept, I am banning myself for some time from the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. I'm 1-5 this season. Maybe going to a Reds game this weekend will change the luck.

With a lot of disappointment (that I'm still getting over) I thought I'd go with some non-game related hits:

• The Indians hats should look like this, http://www.lids.com/pid/20027032. I don't know why there is an "I" on their hats, we're not Indianapolis Indians. I prefer the script "C". The only change I would make to this hat is replace the Chief Wahoo with the old Chief Wahoo logo, seen in the inner circle of this hat, http://www.lids.com/pid/20019893. In fact, that full body Chief Wahoo should replace the oversized red head on the left chest of the home jerseys and the sleeves of all the jerseys as well. So, maybe I spend too much time thinking about this stuff, but this is my team.
• Anybody have any other suggestions for the Indians' unis? Why can't I get a forum to share my thoughts with the Tribe marketing department?
• Watching the new graphics on FSN is confusing and too full of sound effects. I feel like I'm playing a video game. If I wanted to play NHL '95 (the finest game ever made, outside of Tecmo Bowl), I'd plug it in and continue my season with the Boston Bruins.
• Also, if I see that commercial for the BDSSP with Jimmy Fallon saying, "That's not cool, Salley", or the Jimmy Fallon look-alike (with the bad mustache) telling his boss that "perfection takes time", sitting in a b-dubs, I'm going to throw up.
• TB's story about Grady Sizemore is a classic. Why is it that everytime I see Grady on the field, he reminds of the young Moonlight Graham character from Field of Dreams? He looks like he's 12, facing 30 year olds. I'm waiting for Ray Liotta to ask him if he thinks the next pitch is going to be low and away or in his ear. "Think low and away, but watch out for in your ear."
• The Batter's Eye Bar has EXPLODED and is THE place to be during a game, but why not open the two picnic type areas during the game to make it even more of a party atmosphere?
• Looking at the Media Guide, here's a quick question: How many Tribe players, on the roster today, were developed by the Indians?...4! Sabathia and Riske were drafted and Peralta and The Stick were non-drafted free agents.
• That means the rest of the roster is made up of free agent signings or players Shapiro acquired in trades. Which led me to the next question: Finding the cupboard bare when he became GM, who did Shapiro trade to get the current players?...David Justice (Jake), Richie Sexson (Wicky), Jacob Cruz (Gerut and Bard), Russell Branyan (Broussard), Bartolo Colon (Grady and Lee), Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese (Hafner), Chuck Kitaen (Coco), and Robbie Alomar (Arthur Rhodes, by way of Matt Lawton). Sure Sexson would look good in a Tribe uni, but the proof is in the pudding. Shapiro has made some great trades to form this current roster. Sure, there are some duds (Scott Stewart for Ryan Church comes to mind), but I'll take that track record.

The sweep at the hands of the Sawx, while disheartening, only shows that the Indians are close; but are not there yet. They're beating up on the teams they should (Rockies, D-Backs), but haven't yet figured out how to battle the really good teams (Sox of both varieties, Angels, and even the Twins). They're on the right track though.

At the beginning of the homestand, I said that 38-35 was the worst case scenario and that 40-33 was the goal. A sweep of the Reds accomplishes the 40-33 and only a complete meltdown (losing 2 of 3 to the Reds) brings about the worst case. The conclusion of the homestand should put the team in a nice place.

With the Reds (and presumably, GM Dan O'Brien) in town for the series, could this be the forum to get a young RH outfielder (Kearns or Wily Mo, who for some reason are both on the trading block)?

I'm working up an organizational depth chart that should be finished soon. With all of the player movement in the minors, I thought it would be good to have an easy place to go to answer the question, "Who do we have in the minors at 3B?"

Jake in Progress?

Excellent comments on the last couple of posts, if you haven't clicked on them - please do. While in attendance to Wednesday's game (there were less than 10K there), many things struck me about Jacobs Field and how it has evolved over the course of the last 10 years + 3 games.

-the scoreboard layout was changed this year, making it much easier to read. However, they are a little slow on getting what each player has done in previous at-bats onto the screen because of all of the graphics. While I can always peek over the shoulder of the guy who always sits in front of me who keeps score, I'd rather just have the information readily available.

-Chief Wahoo is no longer a part of Jacobs Field...anywhere. Why is it that the Tribe doesn't embrace their nickname and use it for clever marketing ideas, rather than shunning it like the plague. Are they that afraid of offending that tiny, tiny part of the population who takes offense to the name?

-the new Batters-Eye Bar in Center is brilliant, but they didn't go far enough. It is a great addition to the Market Pavilion (which has very good and cheap, relatively speaking, food) and now the area leading down to center field, next to the Tribe bullpen has tables and seats set up. This area should have been fully cultivated, with the area with tables having TV's and places to buy beer there. Advertise that it's open early and late, make food and beers available for discounted prices before the game and make it a party atmosphere. Name it "The Reservation" and have those girls behind those big tubs selling to the crowd that you want in there, the pre-game Panini's crowd. Have a big machine that sends up smoke signals when the Indians are threatening, make them correspond with John Adams banging on the drum. Make port-a-potties out there that look like teepees. Go all the way! I'm tired of these decent ideas down there being half-baked and not fulfilling their potential. There's a segment of the fanbase that would embrace that atmosphere, love the proximity to the bullpen and center and make that the "place to be" for a game.

-please, get rid of Slider!?! My hate for him grows and his profile seems to grow from year to year. Why can't the Indians have MoonDog (who's not quite as annoying) and the Cavs, oh I don't know, actually have a Cavalier for a mascot?

-I swear that I could get 5 guys together and bring back that party atmosphere at the Jake, while not turning off the segment of the population that the Indians seem so afraid to offend.

On to the actual games - last night, the bats woke up (particularly Pronk and the Stick) to save the team from Elarton and a sweep. I agree with the comment on Alex Cora, I think that the further that the season goes on, the more and more he's going to factor into the future. We'll see if the hitters can figure out Santana tonight and if Jake's sinker is actually sinking.

More to come on steroids in an upcoming post. I have some thoughts on this that may surprise. As a teaser, I've got two words, "Ripped Fuel".

Random Thoughts

Watching the Tribe take Friday night's game in Detroit, my mind was racing...
...why does Wickman always have really red cheeks while breathing uncomfortably hard when he's pitching?

...since when have the Indians' hats gotten a lighter shade of blue? It certainly is no longer navy.

...the Chief Wahoo logo is getting smaller and smaller. Next time you're at the Jake, try to find him anywhere in the stadium. It' all script "Indians" or the "I" that's supposed to look like a feather.

...Friday's PD carried a picture of CC in his Akron rehab assignment. I thought that I read that he was in the best shape of his career. He looked huge. Maybe it was a tighter uniform, toit like a tiger.

...I like the renewal of the longer hair by players. Boone, Riske, and Ludwick just to name a few have that "baseball curl" coming out of the back of their hats. It certainly isn't a Danny Gravesesque mullet, but it is a step in that direction.

...if Wickman, Rhodes, Riske, Miller, and Rocky keep pitching like they have (Wickman's meltdown notwithstanding), it will go a long way to keeping the Tribe in contention all year.

...you have to like the flexibility of the current lineup. Boone batted 4th last night and came through with the big homer. Hernandez, Cora, and Bard give Wedge the necessary bench players to keep everyone fresh (something that was sorely lacking last year).

...why doesn't Cleveland have a cool "C" for a logo. We used to have the Reds "C" with Chief Wahoo, then the Flintstones "C" of the late 70's, and finally the block "C" of the Andre Thornton era. What would be wrong with the script "C" from Cleveland on the front of the road unis. I've seen guys outside the Jake selling them and they look pretty cool.

...does anyone else see Ben Broussard as a cross between Herbert Perry and Paul Sorrento. I just don't see him on this team when they really start to put it together.

...Jhonny Peralta's inconsistency thus far can be chalked up as inexperience. I think that once he figures it out, he'll be fine.

...who put Ivan Rodriguez's head on Derek Jeter's body. That is scary looking. Just goes to show what can happen when you "eat right in the offseason", you drop 60 lbs. and completely change your body type. Right.