Pretty Girl Update! - Kourtney Kardashian

Yeah-ah!

A Quest Called Tribe

Hey guys, guess what?  I goddamn hate losing.  I don't like idiots.  I don't like modern society much, but I hate losing as much as I love the sparkling green eyes on a pretty redhead or, say, breathing.  The Tribe won today, and thank goodness, but we'll get back to that.  I am still stung by the team's sensational inability to give Josh Tomlin (btw, he's now the 9th pitcher since 1909 with 19 straight 5+ inning starts to begin a career) two freaking runs.  The dude did not put a runner on base until the 8th inning and that was on an error!  I know that home runs count, blah, blah, blah.  David The Jesus never stood on a base, so we'll discount him.  Trevor Cahill made the Indians look stupid, flat out stupid.  Especially Matt LaPorta, there is simply no excuse Matty.  Admittedly, the ire inspired by the wasted gem of yesterday has just been tweaked by the ghetto flippancy of Domonic Brown.  I won't get into it, and believe me it is an effort, but that punk is deuces.  Enough.

Moving on.  On to happier thoughts.

Chad Durbin pitched well.  I should have known that world had gone all topsy turvy when Durbin threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win.  Heck, Chad pitched better than Vinnie Pestano (sorry Vin, can't say you're nasty today) or Chris Perez (How's about Pure Vage?), whose ERA is 7.11 over his last seven appearances.  It was also nice to see Jack Hannahan redeem himself with the go-ahead single, appropriately a carbon copy of the bloop double that tied the game for the A's.

And let me say, thank god that we are out of Oakland.  That stadium is infuriating.  I don't know if I could ever get used to the cow pastures that they call foul territory, but it also seemed like the outfield was all of Yellowstone.  I have never seen so many cheap hits in my life, nor so many outfielders sprint vainly for so many pop-ups.  What's the deal with Oakland playing its outfielders on the warning track?  Bah.  It's over, letting go now.

Carlos Carrasco has thrown off of a mound without pain and could go on a rehab assignment as early as next week.  This begs the question: Jeanmar Gomez or Alex White?  Each, of course, will have at least one more start before the decision needs to be made.  Still, as of now, I would keep White.  Gomez tossed a beaut today, his best of the season, but he does not seem to possess either command or great stuff.  His start today was nice, true.  The fact of the matter is that Jeanmar has little future in the major, especially with the glut of talent knocking behind him.  Sorry, dude.

Enough of this.  I was supposed to post this last nite.  More to come.

Cheers.

P.s.  I have never seen a better play by a pitcher on a fly ball than Joe Smith's.

Pretty Girl 05.06.11 - Anna Paquin

Hottest girl ever with a huge gap between her front teeth.

Coming Up Next... the Apocalypse

I'm still looking for footage of her version of "Rape Me."

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.

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.