Boys of Summer...

Or should I say Spring and Summer? It is baseball time again. My time of year. I am not sure when or why it started, but baseball has always been my favorite sport. Even today with both the NFL and NBA probably passing it in popularity with the younger generation I still would rather watch baseball.

One of the big criticisms of baseball is how long the games are and how slow they can be. I do not have a problem with either thing. I like the idea of a game with no clock. Everyone is always in a hurry and wants their life in short bursts before moving on to the next activity. Baseball refuses to play that game. Each team gets three outs an inning and can take as long as they can before moving to the next one. More of life should be like that.

I have never been a cold weather fan. Give me the warm weather all the time. Baseball fits in perfectly here. I love the idea of sitting outside on a warm day with a cold beer and watching or listening to a game. You will never catch me freezing outside at a football game. I never have and I never will. I will admit to some fond memories of playing football in the cold weather. That is a whole different story.

Sunday is the start of the new MLB season. The time when we all are in first place and can dream about this being the year our favorite team finally wins the World Series. My team is the Cleveland Indians. They have two World Series Championships in their history. Both Long before I was born. They have three other appearances in the series which the lost. Two of those were when I was able to watch. I still have not got over the 1997 loss in Game 7. We have a good team this year. We also are in a division with three other good teams all of which can easily win our division. We have a long way to go before we know who will end up on top. For right now we are in first place and the dream of a championship is still a possibility. Maybe this could really be our year...

Baseball and new media...

I had fun watching Homer Bailey and the Reds shutout Pittsburgh this afternoon. Made me think about how much following baseball has changed in my lifetime. Today it is possible to see almost every game live or archived. (When I was a kid it I only had the Saturday game of the week to watch. Did I actually just type a sentence that started with "when I was a kid"? Now I am officially old.)

I had to follow my local team by radio as a kid. Nothing wrong with that and I still enjoy tuning in from time to time. There are many more options today though. Thanks to cable I can see almost all of my team's games. With the internet I can follow along with live updates if I am not near my tv. I sometimes wonder if this is a good thing or not. Does it cheapen the experience? It was a treat to have the Indians on the game of the week. On these rare occasions I would make sure to watch the whole game because you never knew how long it would be before you could do it again. Now I have a tendency to only watch parts of the games. It does not seem as important to see the whole game now.

Thanks to cable the options are so much better for watching baseball. In fact if you are willing to pay you can see almost every major league game now. With the mlb package on cable/satellite you can see several dozen out of market games each week. If you spring for the mlb online package you can see practically every game. Some you have to watch archived because of blackout restrictions, but you can still watch them. Again is this good or bad? Is there a point of overload? I guess it depends on how much of a sports fan you are.

Mitchell Report...

So it finally came out today. Here is a link if you want to actually read it. I sure don't. Here is a link to see the players mentioned by name. Yawn. We waited all this time for this? As if it matters anymore. Players have been cheating since the first game. Like this is any different. Hopefully we can now sweep this back under the rug where it belongs and get back to other topics...

Another award for the Indians...

I was surprised by this one. I figured CC was one of the favorites for the AL CY Young, but never thought Wedge had a real chance at AL Manager of the Year. A tip of the hat to him! Now if I can just figure out how we blew a 3-1 lead...

C.C. is king...

Congrats to CC!! He cruised to the Cy Young award with 19 out of 28 first place votes. The last Cleveland Indian pitcher to win the award was in 1972. Actually he is only the second Indians pitcher ever to win the award (Gaylord Perry was the first) and the first African American pitcher to win the AL award since 1971. And yes I am still bitter about blowing a 3-1 lead in the ALCS...

Baseball and free speech...

There have been a lot of strange clauses in sports contracts. I read an internet post with two very strange ones for baseball pitcher Curt Schilling. I am not 100% sure if this is true. Still, it is highly disturbing. $2 million dollars as a bonus to stop your blog? Can someone offer me that kind of money? Another $5 million to have your voicebox and vocal cords removed? This past season Schilling had some harsh things to say so I can see if the Red Sox had an issue with it. Still, I can't see the union accepting either of these clauses. Please let us find this to be a hoax. I can't believe any employer would be so stupid...

Hot Stove Heats Up Early...

It is usually December before things start happening in Baseball's off season. Fans got something to chew on a little early this year. First we had Joe Torre getting pushed out of New York when he felt insulted with a contract offer that would continue to make him the highest paid manager by far. Now on the same day the Yankees officially announce his replacement, the Dodgers make their own announcement hiring Torre as their new manager. The funny thing is the Dodger's owner Frank McCourt is just as bad as the Steinbrenners. It is obvious Torre took the job just to try and stick it to the Yankees. Lets see how this works out for him. He will make less money than he would have received in New York. He has less talented players and it is not a sure bet that the Dodgers will shell out big bucks to give him more weapons. And LA is the Laker's town and always will be. The fans their go to Dodger games late, leave early and generally don't care much about the team. At 67 Torre would have been better off retiring with his dignity instead of trying to hang on another season or two to try and prove the Yankees wrong...

Trail of Tears...

Apologies to anyone of Native American descent. That said, wtf happened? How could the Tribe blow a 3-1 advantage in games? It breaks my heart to see us lose another series. I have been waiting my whole life to see a Cleveland World Series Championship. 10 years since our last appearance. 59 years since our last Championship. We are overdue. We have a young team and will be back. Still there are only so many chances.

I have to mention the Fox announcers are the worst I have ever heard. It was so apparent they wanted a Boston victory so they will have better ratings for the World Series. Tim McCarver is horrible. I would rather listen to anyone else. The sad thing is since the World Series will be on Fox now that the Indians are not in it I have no desire to watch. Maybe if it was on another channel that actually was impartial. Sour grapes? Maybe. But I dare anyone to defend McCarver as someone who could call a game today. To think I thought Deion Sanders was wrong to dump water on him back in 1992...

Tip of the Cap...

clipped from mlb.mlb.com

Tonight just was not our night. We do need to give a tip of the cap to Josh Beckett on his effort. We are still up 3-2 and only need one more game to move on. Next stop Boston and then home for Colorado...

Torre walks off...

clipped from sportsillustrated.cnn.com

So it is official--Joe Torre turned down the Yankees offer to manage the team next season. Are we surprised? I don't think so. What surprises me is the reaction from some of the media. They treat Torre like a god. Yes he led the Yankees to 12 straight playoff appearances. Four World Series Championships. But what have you done for me lately? Baseball long ago stopped being a game and became a business. Owners sign whomever they think will help and when they don't think a player or manager is the right person they move on. Same with players. They move to whichever team will offer the most money. It is a business and should be treated as such.

Torre took a job where anything less than a World Series Championship is considered a failure. He has had the highest payroll of any team. With that offense my wife could manage it. Yes, the pitching had a lot of problems this season. Part of it falls on Torre. He has a reputation as someone who burns out his bullpen every year. The Yankees offered him the highest salary of any manager in the game. Yes, it was a pay cut from last season, but it had some easily reached incentives built in that would have pretty much kept him at par with this season. Pride? Only he know exactly why he turned it down. It was fair. He has been around this game too long to not know how things work...

A Byrd in the Hand part 2...

An amazing game. Paul Byrd came up big again! He held Boston scoreless for 5 innings and then the Indians offense finally woke up by putting a seven spot on the scoreboard. We had a little scare in the 6th when Boston went back to back to back with solo home runs. Our bullpen settled in after the last home run and that was that!

A funny side note to Boston's 6th inning. After Youkilis hit his solo home run the fan who ended up with the ball threw it back on the field like they do in Wrigley. Then when Ortiz hit his home run the woman who caught the ball was ready to throw it back when the fans around her talked her out of it. A couple innings later Fox showed her selling the ball to a Red Sox fan. They claimed she got $20 for it. Only in America...

clipped from www.sportsline.com

10 year Anniversary...

It is ten years since the Tribe has played in the World Series. Up 2 games to 1 I am hoping I don't jinx my team by mentioning that. That is a series I don't think any Clevelander can forget. 7 games. 2-0 threw six innings. 2-1 going into the bottom of the 9th. Then to have the lead slip away and eventually lose the game and the series in the 11th. Heartbreaking. No other words for it. We have been waiting since 1948 for another World Series championship. We deserve it! Only the Cubs have gone longer in between World Series wins. This is our year! I can feel it.

clipped from www.sportsline.com

Westbrook Wins...

What a game. Westbrook pitched a gem tonight. The ground ball double play is the pitcher's best friend! Lofton continued his post season ride with a two run home run to put the Tribe in front. Solid relief pitching closed it out. Boston had an air of invincibility coming in, but I think Cleveland has shown they are afraid of no team. Regular season games mean nothing now. Byrd versus Wakefield tomorrow. Two crafty veterans. I can't wait to see what happens...

clipped from www.sportsline.com

Sweet Split...

We got the win tonight we needed. A split is oh so sweet after how we played last night. Now we are guaranteed three games at home. And more importantly we showed the Red Sox we belong here and we will not give up! Go Tribe!!!!

clipped from sports-ak.espn.go.com

Sabathia Stumbles...

We started out on a high note with Travis Hafner's 1st inning home run. Things took a down turn after that. I don't know if it was the extra rest or what, but CC just was not sharp. 5 walks and 7 hits leading to 8 earned runs. Not what we hoped for from our number 1 starter. Hats off to Beckett though as he continued his postseason heroics with another outstanding game. Losing the first game of a best of seven is not as bad as in the best of five first round. I think we have the better match up tonight with Carmona pitching. Let's get the split and head back home to Cleveland! Go Tribe...

Next Stop Boston...

clipped from espn.go.com

Can you see me smiling? It is a big smile. Bryd pitched the game of his life tonight! Wedge went to his bullpen at the right times and the offense did what they needed to do. So sweet! Anytime we can beat the hated Yankees is a good thing. I am not sure what is going to happen in the next round against Boston. They are a tough team. Before if you asked me if we could beat both New York and Boston back to back I would have had little confidence. The way we played this series though showed we can play with anyone. Bring on Boston...

A Byrd in the Hand...

I hope it is just a smokescreen. I cannot imagine why the Indians would start Paul Byrd tonight against the Yankees. Byrd has not exactly had much success this season against them. An 0-3 record with an ERA of 6.86 over his last 4 starts against them does not exactly scream pitch me. Yes, Sabathia would probably be better on one more day of rest but this is the playoffs! You go with your best players at all times! If he falters then you still have Carmona on normal rest Wednesday. I don't think Joe Torre is the one who has to worry about his job. Eric Wedge needs to get a clue on how to handle a pitching staff. The Yankees must be champing at the bit to get at Byrd tonight. I only hope that Wedge will have him on a short leash...

Baseball and Patriotism...

An extra thought on last night's playoff game between the Indians and Yankees. Why oh why do we still have to listen to America the Beautiful during the seventh inning stretch? Take Me Out to the Ballgame is the only song that should ever be sung at that time! It was annoying when it started after 9/11 and is even more so now. To make it even worse the Yankees had Ronan Tynan sing it. Nothing against him. He is a great singer and is one of the Irish Tenors. But he is Irish! Born in Ireland. They can't even find an American to sing it? If the idea is to show your patriotism then at least have someone born here sing the damn song...

Two Games to One...

A hard game to watch tonight between Cleveland and New York. I was hoping we could close out the series tonight and start thinking about playing Boston in the next round. I guess the Yankee bats had to come alive for at least one game. They did lead the majors in home runs and runs this season. Still, it should not have been as bad as it was. I cannot understand what Eric Wedge was thinking. He should have had Westbrook on a shorter leash. The Yankees had good success against Westbrook this season. I was surprised Wedge did not pull him sooner in the 5th. Who cares if he needs to pitch 5 innings to get credit for the win. I don't know if that is why he left him in, but I can't think of any other reason. Then Wedge makes things worse in the 6th. He leaves Westbrook in to pitch to Arod. He finally pulls him after Arod gets a single. Posada follows with a walk. Then Mientkiewicz sacrifices putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. So Wedge has Fultz intentionally walk Hideki Matsui to load the bases. Why? Robinson Cano had a .328 average vs. LH pitchers this season. Plus Matsui was 1-7 vs. Fultz this season. With no bases open Fultz had to put the ball over the plate and Cano hammered it. Throw in an error by Trot Nixon and that was the ballgame. Lets hope Wedge handles his pitching staff better in the next game...

Two Games Down...

clipped from espn.go.com

With a little help from an unexpected source our Indians take game two of the best of five series against the Yankees. What a game! Last night's game was all about hitting and tonight's was about pitching. I don't think the Yankees knew what hit them. We showed that we do belong and now need just one more win to move to the next round. All the pressure is on the Yankees now. One more loss and they will have a long winter to think about what might have been...