Pretty Girl 08.23.11 - Raquel Alessi

You almost got rid of me, but this broad is just too hot.

Pretty Girl 08.17.11 - Olivia Thrilby

She thrills me.  Check her out in the upcoming alien invasion flick, The Darkest Hour.

Point/Counterpoint

I'll probably see it. Hopefully while I'm tripping on shrooms. ;-j

Cheers

The Top 10 Indians Prospects For 2012 (v.1.0)

This list might need a little tweaking after the minor league season ends, but no one else has a top 10 list right now.  I'm here for you guys.  The ranking are based on three criteria: ceiling (how good the player will be if everything goes right), performance (what the player has done as a professional) & proximity (how close the player is to helping the big club).  I have rankings down to 35.  Maybe I'll share the rest later.

Players (Positions, Age, Highest Level, Draft)
1. Francisco Lindor
(SS, 17, None, 2011 1st Round #6)
2. Tony Wolters
(SS, 19, Mahoning Valley, 2010 3rd Round)
3. Nick Hagadone
(LHRP, 25, Columbus, 2007 1st Round #55)
4. Dillon Howard
(RHSP, 19, None, 2011 2nd Round)
5. Felix Sterling
(RHSP, 18, Lake County, Undrafted, Signed 2010)
6. Scott Barnes
(LHSP, 23, Columbus, 8th Round 2008)
7. CC Lee
(RHRP, 24, Columbus, Undrafted, Signed 2009)
8. Austin Adams
(RHSP, 24, Akron, 5th Round 2009)
9. Luigi Rodriguez
(CF, 18, Lake County, Undrafted, Signed 2010)
10. Jake Lowery
(C, 21, Mahoning Valley, 2011 4th Round)

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 08.16.11 - Paula Garces

There's another Harold & Kumar coming; lotsa smoke, NPH and eye candy included.

Earth's Mightiest City

Check out E 9th & Euclid standing in for NYC's 42nd Street during filming for the Avengers flick.  Awesome.

It Ain't Sexist If It's True

Where can I get me summa them Polyglas?  My woman nearly hit a cow yessirday.

Pretty Girl 08.15.11 - Candice Swanepoel

How could I have neglected her for so long?  Point out a flaw.  I dare ya'.

Sometimes It Ain't Pretty At the Clip Joint

CC Lee

This one certainly did not start out well.  Mitch Talbot (1-1, 5.40) did indeed get the start, though he retired only six hitters en route to giving up 6 earned on 6 hits.  The three run bomb in the 1st did not set a positive tone.  Fortunately, the relief corps was up to the task of holding the Red Wings right where they were.  The combination of Matt Langwell (3 IP, 5 H, ER, 3K), CC Lee (2 IP, H, BB, 4 K), & Zach Putnam (2 IP, H, 3 K) would allow just one more run in their 7 innings out of the pen.  Lee (5-1, 1.99) returned from a family funeral in Taiwan and picked up right where he left off.  CC has excelled since his promotion to Columbus (3-0, 1.14) and significantly elevated his organizational standing.  In fact, he was the piece that San Diego asked in exchange for Ryan Ludwick.  The Indians declined.  Lee, whose most eye popping statistic is his 12.93 K/9, will most likely not see time on the lake this season, though he will compete for a bullpen spot next spring.  Langwell, tremendously effective for AA Akron (4-1, 2.66), has labored since joining Columbus (7.27 ERA, .342 OBA), but today's outing was certainly encouraging and good for his 1st AAA W.

I am not quite sure who reminded Jared Goedert that he does not always need to swing for the fences.  Whoever it was, Goedert (.252) responded with two doubles, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored on his way to posting a 5-for-5 night and raising his batting average over .250 for the first time all year.  Also, from nowhere, Tim Fedroff (.258) had 3 hits (2 2B) and five RBI.  Ho hum, 2 more hits and 2 more RBI for Chad Huffman (.251) who is mashing at .550 (22-for-40) with 11 XBH (8 2B, 3B, 2 HR) and 11 rib-eyes during his current 12 game hit streak.  Luis Valubena (.304) drove home 2 runs of his own.

The Clips remain in Rochester tomorrow for a 6:05p tilt with Joe Martinez taking the pill.

Other Minor Points of Interest --

Friends from Youngstown like to call them the Crappers, but these Mahoning Valley guys are anything but shitty.

Tony Wolters -- Poised as the top prospect currently under contract with the Indians, Wolters has impressed all onlookers in his first full professional season.  On top of a great number line (.311, HR, 17 RBI, 17 SB), Tony has tremendous tools (+speed, +arm, +bat speed) and intangibles that causes coaches to rave.  He possesses not only outstanding instincts and baseball IQ, but also a professionalism of well beyond his 19 years.  Wolters has been even better of late, batting .400 over his last 10, including a 5-hit game on August 3rd.  Expect Tony to be an elite prospect in 2012 and begin the campaign at Low-A Lake County, although he will not stay there long.

Jake Lowery -- My pick as the top Indians catching prospect, the 2011 4th round pick is coming off of a Junior season at James Madison that earned him both All-America honors and the Johnny Bench award (top collegiate catcher).  Lowery came out of the gate hot (.313, 2 HR, 10 RBI in June) and has tailed off some since (.258, 5 HR, 36 RBI overall), but seems to be back on track of late.  Jake is 3-for-8 with 3 RBI in his last two games, with all of those hits being doubles.  The Tribe system does not have substantial catching depth at the middle levels and Lowery is fantastic behind the plate, so it is entirely possible that he will skip to High-A Kinston in 2012.

Alex Lavisky -- A local product (St Edward's) and former battery mate of Pirates fireballer Stetson Allie, Lavisky has endured some substantial struggles in 2011.  He began the year at Lake County with mixed results (.207, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 66/38 K/H) before descending to the Scrappers.  Alex's performance was expected to improve, yet it has remained pretty much the same (.207, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 48/40 K/H).  While he is an asset behind the plate, his discipline (114 K, 25 BB in 377 AB) is a huge concern.  One would image that Lavisky will get the bulk of the catching duties with the Captains next season.

Cheers.

Pretty Girl 08.14.11 - Felicity Jones

UK beauty from Like Crazy.  I sure could go crazy with her.  Or do the TMD thing.  Whatevs.