A Quest Called Tribe

Something that you may not know about baseball writers is that they begin composing their pieces in the 6th or 7th inning and if something happens late then they pretty much have to scrap it and start over.  While I am not delusional enough (close) to count myself as one of the brethren, I have been forced to rewrite this about six times.  The first draft led with Hammerin' Jack Hannahan, the middle few with the paragraph below and now, well, I am sure that you agree that Asdrubal Cabrera has earned it.  Breaking out of an 0-for-13 skid AzCab delivered three hits including the game winning shot, on cue from Underwear.  Take a second and drink it in.


(double-click to play)

I do believe that Jim Thome simply being on the field makes it feel like a playoff game and nothing is better than a playoff win.  It took Jimmy seven Indians plate appearances to make solid contact for the first time, but the result was, simply, beautiful.  The sixth inning solo home run, #602 for Thome, tied the game at four and commanded a curtain call from the future Hall of Famer.

Hannahan came through twice with two outs, an RBI single in the second and a two run triple in the 4th.  Since August 12th Jack is rapping at .429.  He also gained the ignominious distinction of becoming the 1000th Tribe hitter to strike out this season.  That leads the league.  Lou Marson quickly followed with #1001 as the Wahoo's squandered a fantastic opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the 6th.  Or was it the 7th?  Yeah, no, the 7th was two K's and a pop-up to strand ducks on the pond.  Classy.

And if you want the textbook definition of ignominious ("deserving or causing public shame") just look at the top of the 7th.  HBP + E3 + "Gas Man" Sipp = 7-4 Royals.  I know Tony has been solid all season, but 8 gopher balls in 53 innings?  Good grief.

Shin-Soo Choo left the game in the middle of the 5th inning after aggravating his strained back or maybe it is "left side soreness."  Regardless, Choo is currently listed as the infamous "day-to-day."  We should all hope that Choo can play again soon, as the Indians have exactly zero additional healthy outfielders left on the 40-man roster.  With September 1 right around the corner, I would not expect him to land on the DL.  Should Choo be sidelined for an extended period the organization will be forced to DFA someone and add an extra outfielder.  Unless Grady Sizemore would be ready (doubtful), either Jerad Head or Travis Buck could be called on with Luis Valbuena the probable odd man out.

In case you missed it earlier, Jeanmar Gomez was scratched from his scheduled start at AAA.  The Clippers brought Paolo Espino back on 3 days rest, so the change was not on a whim.  All signs point to Gomez getting the start on Tuesday against Oakland.  Should Zach McAllister take the ball for Columbus tomorrow, this becomes a foregone conclusion.

Best game of the season.

Here's to PFP.

Cheers.

Jade Bile

I wonder if anyone else will ever truly understand the final straw.  Since nothing has innate value and only those things to which we ascribe worth hold any meaning, the details of my particular stalk of wheat are irrelevant.  Let's say your priority was making money and you worked for Enron or you value child-rearing and your first born will no longer speak to you.  Imagine if you were the last person to honestly believe that the world was flat.  None of these would destroy you, but each would fundamentally alter your view of the world. 

After an arduous agony of attempting to attune with the status quo (that is, playing by the rules), for the dismal and rejection to be so public and intentional demands that the course be reverted.  I had been told to change my ways often enough that it lost all meaning.  Having actually committed to integrating myself and having so colossally failed, I can only do what I should have since minute one: trust myself. 

Get ready, it's gonna be a helluva ride.

Jeanmar Gomez Scratched @ Columbus

Expect JG to start Tuesday vs Oakland.

Cheers.

Minajin' Selena Gomez

Dunno if I dig more the rap or the legs.  Damn, now I've got the words "wrap" and "legs" stuck in my head with Selena Gomez.

Cheers

MVotD - JGL! OMG!

Cool cat, but does he really have the chops?

Pretty Girl 08.27.11 - Megyn Kelly

Possibly hot enough to make me consider watching FoxNews.  And feisty, check it out.

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It's always an entitlement unless it's something you want. Wah, wah.

A Quest Called Tribe

Well, it is now official: Jim Thome is not the second coming of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.  Hopefully, Thome (0-4, 2 K, 0 balls out of the infield) rid his stomach of fluttering butterflies and will come to the park tomorrow ready to mash.  Still, it was beyond awesome to see him wear the Wahoo again. If I had been surfing the NC tonight, I would have made it my business to help welcome Mr. 601 back into the fold.  Serendipitously the Thominator's return fell on Dollar Dog Night and the pairing produced a sellout, just the Tribe's fourth of the campaign.

On the field, the top third of the Indians' lineup combined for a solid 0-for-13.  Asdrubal Cabrera (.281) is hitless in his past 13 AB's and is stuck in his first real slump of the season. At least he has stopped slamming the bat down after every at-bat.  Luckily, Captain Jack Hannahan (2-for-3, RBI, .236) continued to lead the charge.  Jack has hit in 9 of 10 for a .419 clip and turned a couple more of his standard highlights at the hot corner.  I have always said that a huge key to the team's success is the 5-8 portion of the order.  Tonight, they were 7-for-12.  They might have produced another run or two, except Steve Smith has, apparently, forgotten what the stop sign is.  Even Carlos Santana, as he scored run #1, would have been cut down without a fantastic hook slide.  I am all for being aggressive, but maybe you choose not to run on the league leader in outfield assists.  Maybe...

Ubaldo Jimenez claims that he was able to get ahead of hitters tonight.  While this is flagrantly untrue (16 2-0 counts), the first pitch is phenomenally important for the erratic right hander.  Hitters stroke .406 off of Ubaldo on the first pitch, compared to a .331 league average and .310 after a 1-0 count, versus .274 AL wide.  What does this mean?  Simply put, if Jimenez (7 IP, 7 H, ER, BB, 10 K) does not have command of his fastball, cannot throw it in a good spot for strike one, then he is going to get the shit kicked out of him.  Against the Royals, he was able to establish that command after surrendering the blast to Eric Hosmer and escaping a very shaky fourth inning.  During innings 5 through 7, big U fanned five while allowing one hit.  That is the kind of dominance that the organization paid for.  We need that every 5th day.

In case you missed it, Josh Tomlin (sore right elbow) and Michael Brantley (sore right wrist) have ballooned the Indians' disabled to seven players.  LHP Nick Hagadone was in the bullpen tonight, though he will likely depart when Tomlin's spot in the rotation comes up.  Hopefully, Carlos Carrasco is ready to pitch by Tuesday, as neither Jeanmar Gomez nor Zack McAllister seems like a positive choice.

Here's to Matt Underwear whipping his dick out on air.  That one moment of discomfort would be well worth never having to hear him blather again.

Cheers.

Flick to Click: The Rum Diary

Wow. Depp as Thompson AND Amber Heard?  I might go to the theater for this one.

Opens 10.28.11

Are You Cereal?

Apparently this is a joke.  Why Emma Stone?  All very strange.

A Quest Called Tribe

Jim Thome is expected in uniform tomorrow.

I do not want to talk about yesterday's game.  It was not televised and nothing positive happened anyway.  Instead, as your Cleveland Indians sit 6 full games back at 63-64, I shall throw some numbers at you to explain what exactly went so horribly wrong after a 30-15 start.  I have officially given up.  That is not to say that I will not cheer on the Tribe, but that sense of hope and joy, the expectation of winning that arose during April has now completely evaporated.  How did our magical season degrade into another of the North Coast's well-worn exercises in disappointment and futility?

Let us tackle this in chunks --

May 24 (30-15, 7 games up) to June 12 (34-29, tied for 1st)

Blame this on the bats.  Batting average: 227, Runs per game: 2.89, OPS: .633, K-to-H: 146-to-136.  As this was the first rough patch, we have all been apt to throw the offense under the bus, regardless of what has gone wrong.  But, wait...

July 3 (44-37, 1.5 games up) to August 7 (56-56, 4 games back)

Hang this on the bullpen with their 7 losses and 4.82 ERA.


Everyone was culpable -

C Perez: (07.09-08.06) 0-2, 2/4 SV 8.64 ERA .333 OBA
Pestano: (07.06-08.02) 0-1 8.00 ERA .308 OBA
Smith: (07.18-08.07) 0-2 5.23 ERA
R Perez: (07.10-08.05) 1-1, 6.00 ERA .297 OBA
Sipp: (06.28-08.02) 3-2 6.17 ERA .283 OBA [(06.28-07.20) 1-2 9.95]

That is an unbelievably rocky stretch for a 'pen that has only dropped 17 games all season while posting a 3.28 ERA.   Every single member simultaneously forgot how to pitch.

August 19 (62-58, 1.5 games back) to August 24 (63-64, 6 games back)

You guessed it, the starting five.  These numbers boggle the mind.  0-5, 9.61 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, .362 OBA, 1.034 OOPS.   Oops is right.

In a nutshell, everything (except for the defense, the Tribe is still 2nd in the league) went to shit.

Here's to the boys pulling up their bootstraps and giving us a September ride.

Cheers.