This is How We Do It!

Before we get to the Yankees' games, the Tribe picked up Aaron Boone's 2006 option and restructured his contract to include a mutual option for 2007. Before the Boone detractors come out in full force, let's remember that Boone's average has steadily risen as his solid defense has been a HUGE upgrade over Kasey Blake's of 2004. Additionally, the 3B that are available in Free Agency this offseason are as follows:
Bill Mueller
Lenny Harris
Abraham O. Nunez
Jared Sandberg
Wes Helms
Joe Randa
Chris Stynes
Jeff Cirillo
Geoff Blum
Brandon Larson
Any of those names really jump out at you?
Me neither, which makes Boone at 3B for (probably) the next two years look even better. Rather than complaining about extending a player's contract who's hitting under .230, I wish that people looked at the big picture in these instances. No, Boone is never going to give the Tribe great numbers from 3B, but the fact that Peralta and Martinez are two run-producing players, playing positions that are not traditionally power positions allows this team to take advantage of Boone's glove and solid, if not spectacular, offensive numbers.

The offense is still without Le Pronk (who continues to shake the cobwebs out in Akron), but he may be back for the finale of the Yankees series or join the team in Detroit for the weekend. The offense, though, has looked good in the first two games, mainly because of Jhon and the Stick (plus a renewed commitment to patience and seeing pitches). But, boy, adding Pronk to the mix really makes this lineup look better for the dog days of August.

I love watching Cliff Lee work when he's rolling. He, like Millwood and Westbrook, looks like he's in total control - dictating the tempo of the game by throwing strikes and retiring batters seemingly the way that he wants to. He doesn't let a 3 run job by Georgie Porgie Posada allow him to become unraveled; he bears down and gives the team a chance to win.

Breaking the 9 game personal losing streak (though, barely), I was at the Jake last night to shout down Yankees fans and lose about 10 pounds in water weight. The crowd was solid last night, though (as always), I'm floored by the bandwagoners. I've never seen so big-boned girls in Jeter jerseys. One of the best comments was that only girls whose weight starts with a "2" can comfortably wear the "2".

I ended up yelling at some kid in an A-Rod jersey, asking him what borough he was from, then pointing out that Wadsworth and Brunswick are not technically boroughs of NYC. He shot back that A-Rod was better than Boone. REALLY?

The infuriating thing about Yankees fans at the Jake (outside of their obnoxiousness) is their sheer ignorance of baseball and their belief that counting World Championships ends arguments.

I'll take the Indians and their brand of baseball, strong pitching combined with timely hitting (of late), over the Yankees current strategy (outslug all opponents) any day.

The game was not broadcast on ESPN (as promised) tonight, so I'd be interested to hear from our out-of-towners how the game was handled by the national announcers. We got to hear the enthralling banter of Rick Manning and Mike Hegan, 2 color guys without a lot of color.

Assuming that the bullpen can hang onto a 7-4 lead over the last two innings, Millwood will go for the sweep tomorrow night against Shawn Chacon.

Indians Fever is thick in the air, like the humidity. Can you feel it?

Back in the Saddle

With a week away, I thought I'd get some Quick Hits in:

• At the ChiSox game last Tuesday (which I attended), they drew 18,000! They have the best record in the majors and a 7-0 Jon Garland was going, but fans are more concerned about the woes of the Cubs than they are with the hot start by the South Siders.
• My buddies from Minnesota, who I sat with, still think that the Central will come down to the Twins and the Tribe. The consensus in both camps remains (as it has for over a month) that the White Sox cannot keep this up. WHEN (not if) they fall apart, the Twins are in a great position to barrel right past them. The Indians need to position themselves similarly. As a side note, this conversation did not make us popular guys in the 3rd Base Field Boxes.
• US Cellular Field is located in Beirut. I've never been so scared to walk 500 yards from my car to a stadium (with Chicago's "Finest" in sight at all times) than I was after I dropped $18 to park as close as humanly possible. There were cops on ATV's after the game controlling the crowds! It was like a scene from Mad Max. I was half-waiting for Tina Turner to come over the loudspeakers with "We Don't Need Another Hero".
• True to White Sock Fan stereotype, a drunk fat guy whipped his shirt off in the 8th inning. With his body covered in tatoos, he implored the crowd to get fired up. As the Security Staff came swarming, the crowd egged him on, forcing him to remove his skullcap, then chug 2 full beers. To his credit, he did not charge the field and attack a coach.

Enough about the Sox, on to our beloved Erie Warriors:

• Games from now until June 5th are going to determine a lot about the 2005 season for the Indians in the Central. After 4 against the Twins in Minnesota and 3 more at the Jake with the A's, it's off for 3 game sets in Minnesota, then Chicago. If the Tribe can piece together a hot stretch, they can make up some serious games in the Central, and not continue to be 10-12 games back.
• They've won 4 out of their last 6 series. As I've said before, I don't know if this team is a team that just rattles off 10 in a row, so this is what we're going to have to do- inch our way back into it and hope that the leaders go ice cold. What's needed though is to take 3 of 4 in long series and get one or two sweeps in the month of June.
• We all wondered where Jody Gerut would fit in. As has often been said, things in baseball just work themselves out. With Coco in Baltimore seeing a hand specialist, we'll see if Joseph Diego (Jody) can recapture the success of his Rookie season. So far, I've been encouraged.
• Now we wonder where (or if) Gonzo will fit in, then Ludwick goes shoulder first into the fence. Baseball has a funny way of working this stuff out.
• As was hoped, Davis went to Buffalo. However, they did so to keep him as a starter!?! Hoynes described the Indians' handling of Davis as "unusual". That's being diplomatic.
• I still don't like the makeup of the lineup, but can't figure out what I would like to see as an everyday lineup. C.C batting 3rd or 4th? Any ideas?
• When FSN introduces the Indians' defense, they show a picture of the lawyers of Elk & Elk (those 2 elves from the front of the Yellow Pages) while Hegan says, "let's take a look at the Tribe defense". The timing of it is hilarious.
• The Reds CUT Danny Graves and his mullett after yesterday's meltdown. Who's got the itchy trigger finger over there? Rather than demote your closer to a bullpen pitcher to build some confidence, you just cut him? I realize that he made an obscene gesture to a fan, but this is in the same town that Rob Dibble (he who launched a ball over the center field fence, striking a woman's chest AND attacked his manager in the clubhouse) thrived.

I'll be down at the park tomorrow night. Hopefully it's over 4o degrees. Seriously, it's almost June.

Editors' Note

I would be remiss if I didn't point out my mistake yesterday that Wayne Kirby is not Buffalo's Hitting Coach, he is Akron's hitting coach. Thus, Terry Kirby's brother, a career .252 hitter with 119 career RBI's, would be bringing his huge lips north on I-77, not on I-90.

The Buffalo Hitting Coach is...are you ready for this? FELIX FERMIN! "El Gato", a career .259 hitter with 4 HR and 207 RBI in 903 games, is teaching the Herd's AAAA (Andy Abad, Mike Kinkade, Ernie Young...I know, who?) players how to hit. I guess that he had to work at his hitting to be a good hitter. He did only strike out 147 times in 2,767 career at-bats, so maybe he knew what to do, he just couldn't do it himself.

So, to rectify the past statements about a possible replacement for Eddie Murray, Felix the Cat (and his El Guapo mustache from Three Amigos) would be making the westbound trip on I-90 if needed. I'm rooting for it only so when they show Fermin on TV, I can say "Heffe, what is a plethora?"

Maybe I should reserve judgement on Eddie. I know that great hitters do not make great hitting coaches (see Mattingly, Don), but to put Murray's career accomplishments in perspective, he had more RBI than Kirby and Fermin combined by 1980 (his 4th year)! Keep in mind that 15 years after that, he was still a cog in the 1995 Tribe lineup. Plus, he has a head that a baseball hat simply cannot fit onto. Someone explain that to me.

Nice game by Woody last night. I hope that C.C. takes it as a challenge to put up some 0's on the scoreboard.

I also hope that Mike Hegan smokes a whole pack of cigarettes before the game, because he is more insightful than usual when he's got a nice nicotine buzz going. On a related, but equally ridiculous note, does Manning wear a piece?