You're Waiting For a Train...

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Pretty Girl Update! - Michelle Trachtenberg

Pardon me, I have to go thither.

I'll leave you with this classic.

Pretty Girl 05.05.11 - Cobie Smulders

#9 on the new Maxim Hot 100. I can dig it.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Minor Points Of Interest

Nick Hagadone continues to demand a promotion with his play upon the ball field. Tonight, Nick picked up his second win of the season in a 6-3 Akron victory. Hagadone scattered three hits over two and a third and struck out one to run his 2011 scoreless innings streak to 17. Soon, the Indians will be forced to make room for him at AAA.

Kinston was able to finish up Tuesday's suspended game and take a 5-1 win. Adam Miller pitched the 9th for the little Indians and was much more successful than in his first appearance. Miller (13.50 ERA) pitched around a hit and a walk in a clean frame, striking out one. Best of continued luck to Adam, both because the man has endured long enough in order to get into games and because he would eventually be a nice addition to big league 'pen.

Lake County 1-hit Bowling Green, defeating the Hot Rods 4-0 to open their series. Seven innings came from Mike Rayl, who did allow the hit but fanned 11 against zero walks. Rayl, a 15th round pick in 2009 who will turn 22 in November, has started 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA for the Captains. Derek Dietrich struck out in each and every one of his three plate appearances.

Cheers.

White Dogs, Cool Tricks

Happy birthday, Mom!

A Quest Called Tribe

I feel like I'm in the minority. Not that it's an uncommon sensation for me, I just don't think so many Tribe fans stay up for these west coast contests. Tonight's game was certainly worth it. In a true pitcher's duel, Fausto Carmona went 8, allowing just a run on five hits. A clutch Matt Laporta single tied it in the 7th and the offense took the lead for good in the 9th off of A's closer Brian Fuentes, who did not retire a batter. Michael Brantley singled to begin the inning but was picked off when he misjudged Fuentes' movement to the plate. His mates picked him up though. Singles by LaPorta and Jack Hannahan, in front of an Oakland outfield playing five feet from the track, put the go ahead run at third with one out. Orlando Cabrera, who had entered in the 7th as a pinch runner, came through with an RBI single to put the Indians on top. Two batters later, Asdrubal Cabrera brought in a pair. Then, of course, came Pure Rage.

If a team is going to put together a 20-8 record (best in baseball, ahem) to start a season, it is likely to win in a variety of ways. Such is absolutely the case with the Indians. Tonight's game exemplifies the focus that the Manny Acta's boys have. Held scoreless for six innings by a virtual unknown (Tyson Ross?) the hitters kept a good approach until Ross finally faltered. Although it may seem like a small issue, the fact that Acta has kept his entire bench involved in the starting lineup is a big part of that focus. Despite starting the game on the bench (Adam Everett got the nod at second), O-Cab delivered the biggest hit of the night. The players are locked in both individually and as a team. When Brantley gaffed in the 9th, there was no admonishment, the guys simply went back to work and took the lead anyway. In case I have yet to mention it, that's called teamwork.

The funny thing about Choo's DUI? He stopped and asked the Sheffield Lake 5-0 for directions to his house just before getting pulled over. Then he proceeded to blow .20! Choo knows how to party, but call a cab, bro. We do not need another Donte Stallworth. This is the second such incident for the Tribe this season. I had totally forgotten about the Austin Kearns/Kentucky thing on the eve of spring training.

For any of you wondering about Indians radio coverage in the Columbus market, the Dispatch has a nice piece here, although it's a month old. There have been no further developments. Bummer.

I saw an article today that indicated that Indians were pitching over their heads, but the offense would keep them in the hunt when the staff, inevitably, regressed. Although a nice compliment to the bats, any sort of Saber-metrics that doom the hurlers to disgrace is a load of hooey. The big quote, "This just isn’t a great pitching staff, and while the results have been good, there’s a ton of room for regression there." This just isn't a great pitching staff. If you're going to manipulate numbers, fine, but don't make blanket, judgmental statements. Such things make we want to punch certain statisticians in the mouth. C'mon, two starters are on the shelf already, the ace has just reached .500 with an ERA of about four and a half and the big free agent arm (Chad Durbin, ugh) has a WHIP of 1.90 and an OBA of .388. This sort of statistical wizardry is based on past performance and generalized trends; I shan't go any deeper. I'll talk to FanGraphs in September as the Indians prepare for the ALDS.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 05.04.11 - None

Withheld in honor of my mother's birthday. Send her some love with your mind.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Clip Joint Road Trip Is Over

And the Clippers won every game. Luck, good or bad, didn't have a damn thing to do with it. Columbus has succeeded in the simplest manner, with excellent pitching, timely offense and solid defense. It sounds trite, but the Clip ship is firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, the staff allowed 12 runs and the offense went nutso with 18. Tonight, Zach McAllister surrendered only two and the offense put up eight anyway. In securing his fifth straight win to begin 2011, Zach (3.08 ERA) produced his longest start so far, going 8 full innings. He gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out five. Over his last three starts McAllister has averaged seven innings per with an ERA of 1.71. Carlton Smith struck out the side in the 9th and is still unscored upon in 12.2 innings. Columbus is now 21-5, the best in all of minor league baseball.

As noted, the offense didn't slouch. Keeping the habit of the big inning, the Clippers put five on the board in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Jason Kipnis (.276) was the star at the plate with two hits and 3 RBI. Luis Valbuena (.300) extended his hit streak to 8 games, while Cord Phelps (.289) broke an 0-for-16 string with a 6th inning double. Chad Huffman drove in two and leads the team with 20 on the season.

Lehigh Valley brings top prospect Domonic Brown, HOF manager Ryne Sandberg and former Indian/current pitching coach Rod Nichols to town on Thursday. The Clips will offer Corey Kluber as their starter.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Another outstanding start for Michael Goodnight (gotta love the name!) this evening. Goodnight (2.27) tossed six innings for the second straight start and evened his record at 2-2. He walked two and fanned ten. A 1st inning single plated Lansing's only run and the Lake County staff did not allow the Lugnuts another hit. The opposition is batting a cool .150 against Goodnight in 2011. Kudos to Michael.

St Ignatius grad Derek Dietrich comes to Eastlake tomorrow with his Bowling Green Hot Rods for a three game set. Dietrich had cooled some from a torrid start, but a 3-for-3 game tonight elevated his average back to .328. Derek smacked his fourth dinger and drove in three to bring his season total to 14. Despite the minor slump, his OPS remains at 1.002. He has been playing shortstop although the Tampa organization projects him more as a second baseman. Dietrich can also play third but the Rays have a third baseman, right? Whatshisname?

St Eds graduate Stetson Allie, the Pirates second round pick a year ago, remains in extended spring training even though first rounder Jameson Tallion has been activated to the West Virginia Power. No word on when Allie might get the call, but the word from the Pittsburgh brass is that there are absolutely no injury concerns. After his pro debut was shortened to 2 innings by rain, Taillon made his second start yesterday throwing four scoreless and mowing down six.

Cheers.

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