Pretty Girl Update! - Aly Michalka

Plus bonus Brenda Song!  Aly should be schilling for every plastic surgeon with an advertising budget.  Oh mon dieu.

Alter Ego: Bruce Whiskers!

So I guess the feud with Catwoman is done with.

A Quest Called Tribe

How is the 2011 Indians season different than that of 2010?  Here it is in a nutshell.  In 2010, "closer" Kerry Wood would enter, get knocked around and then toss his glove into the stand over the dugout at the Tribe suffered yet another loss.  In 2011, closer Chris Perez becomes frustrated at his rust after not being needed for a week and vaults the pill over the center field wall after a 4-run Indians win.  Gotta love it.

Two days after I lamented Michael Brantley's team leading batting average of .298, boy have I gotten my come uppins.  After tonight's victory the Tribe boasts Trvais Hafner (.345), Brantley (.302) and Asdrubal Cabrera (.288) all in the top 22 in hitting for the AL.

It's very nice to see Carlos Santana starting to hit a bit more (3-for-6, 4 BB in the series, .325 AVG & .460 OBP over his last 11 games), although it has still yet to play out if Manny Acta's faith in him will be rewarded with true cleanup hitter production.  The highlight of the day for me, however, was not his dinger, but the throw he made to pick KC backstop Matt Treanor off of 2nd base.  Awesome.

Speaking of round trippers, Asdrubal Cabrera spanked his 7th of the season.  That is, loyal readers, a career high.  AzCab put up 6 in 581 plate appearances two years ago.  Much of the credit for the power surge is owed to double play parter and fellow Cabrera, Orlando.  O-Cab sat down with the younger middle infielder during spring training and explained that Asdrubal embodied more raw power than he had been showcasing.  Orlando recommended that Az pick an at-bat for himself every night, as long as the situation allowed, and just let 'er rip.  He has and the result has been the team lead in home runs.  This is a tangible example of the leadership and experience that Orlando Cabrera brings to the clubhouse and why he will stick with this team all the way to the playoffs.

I'm still not sold on Carlos Carrasco (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB 5 K), but I have figured out a way to rationalize his presence in the rotation.  Not only is he an entire shade better than Jeanmar Gomez, but Carrasco (2-2, 5.03), who came into the season as the nominal #2 starter, could now very easily be regarded as our #5 man.  He's certainly the last of the bunch that I would pick to take the hill on any given day.

Lastly, I'll be surfing the North Coast this weekend and had my sights set on diggin' the Tribe/Reds game on Saturday whilst grabbing my free Shin Soo Choo jersey.  Cool, right?  Well, I made the mistake of putting an associate in charge of ticket acquisition.  Tonight, roundabout 9:40p, he informed that the game was sold out.  "No!", I said.  "How is this possible?"  But true it was.  Scrambling, I was able to snag some cheapies off of Stubhub before even those flew off of the shelves.  It will be awesome to drink in the vibe of a capacity crowd at the Jake for the first time since the ill-fated 2007 ALCS.

And I though I had nothing to say tonight.

Cheers

P.s. The Cavs pick at spots 1 & 4 in the NBA draft.  They got the top spot with the pick acquired from the Clippers, which had a 2.8% chance of being selected for #1.  Wow, but we'll chat about that tomorrow.

Pretty Girl 05.18.11 - Leah Remini

Ok, Leah calm down, you made this list.  As long as you don't speak.

And I Thought My Wife Was Bad

Maybe they should just lez it out. ;-j Dear Nintendo...

Minor Points Of Interest

Adam Miller made his fourth consecutive scoreless appearance for Kinston on Sunday.  Miller (3.86 ERA) was, in fact, perfect over two innings, striking out 3.  Over those four games Miller has tossed six clean innings allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while fanning nine.  The smart money is on Adam getting the call to Akron within the next couple of weeks.

Giovanni Soto won again on the 14th to raise his record to 2-3.  Soto pitched seven shutout innings allowing 3 hits and walk as he whiffed 8.  Over his last four starts (including a rain shortened one third inning appearance) Giovanni is 2-0 with 0.47 ERA.  He has averaged 9.31 K/9 and has a 0.78 WHIP.  Expect the 20 year old Puerto Rican to spend most, if not all, of the season at high-A Kinston.

The same cannot be said of 2010 first rounder Drew Pomeranz.  Despite losing his last outing (4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 6 K) on the 12th, Pomeranz's numbers are quite impressive (1.93 ERA, .188 OBA, 1.04 WHIP, 13.22 K/9) and he is still on track for an early June promotion to Akron. 

Lake County has not played since the 13th due to rain.  What?  That's like a week dude.  In the two games we missed, LeVon Washington (.214) went 2-for-8 with a double and 4 K's and Steven Wright produced another gem on the mound.  The neophyte knuckleballer provided six shutout innings during the Captains last game, but was robbed of a win when the bullpen blew a two run lead.  Wright (2.10) allowed 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out nine.  He has yet to register a decision but has shown marked improvement over each successive outing.

Before we go, let's give a shout to catching prospect Chun Chen.  Chen (.271) slugged his 5th and 6th long balls of the season on Saturday and leads the Aeros in both home runs and RBI (20).

Cheers.

Pretty Girl Update! - January Jones

Should I make an Ice Queen joke?  Her name is January, the character is Emma Frost.  Wait, I got... no... there once was a... Her rack is just too damn distracting!  This is a still from X-Men: First Class.  My appetite is whet.

Flick to Click: Passion Play

Looks like a 09.10.11 release, but here's the best part...


megan-fox-angel-passion-play by EgotasticMedia

Cheers

R.I.P. Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011)

Killebrew is often described as one of the giants of the game.  No one has such quite such a literal understanding of the phrase as I do.  When I was 10 years old, I had the opportunity to meet Harmon Killebrew.  During the brief window between his career as a player and that as a broadcaster, Rick Manning spent some time working with my father.  Through Rickey my dad and I were given just a touch of behind the scenes access at an event where both Manning and Killebrew were signing autographs.  My father was able to have a conversation with Killebrew while all I can recall is shaking the man's hand.  His mammoth paw completely enveloped mine.  This is not an overstatement, not the misremberance of a child dealing with adult things, Killebrew's hands were immense.  I stood there, dumbfounded, as he asked me my name.  I was so shocked at the gargantuan grip that I feared my own hand might never return.  Harmon chuckled and signed a ball for me.  It would be nice to say that I cherish that ball still, but some assholes stole it a couple of years ago so that they could buy more meth.  Ob la di.  It's not about that.  Today we celebrate Harmon Killebrew.  Cheers, big man, even if some disbelieve, I know that is your silhouette.

Pretty Girl 05.17.11 - Lindsay Lohan

How did it take this long?  I remember when no one was hotter.  And she's still, y'know, a'ight.