The Indians are about to start a three game series with the Minnesota Twins – here are a few bits of news and links as we wait for Justin Masterson to take on Carl Pavano this evening.
First, tonight’s game will honor the new inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. Both players will be throwing out the first pitch.
Austin Kearns was designated for assignment today to make room on the roster for Shin-Soo Choo. After months and months of complaining about Kearns, this DFA feels somewhat anti-climactic. I was under the impression that Choo was going to move up the minor league ladder after his games at Lake County, with a couple at Akron and maybe even a game or two at Columbus. I was surprised that they activated him today; this may mean that Michael Brantley’s wrist is worse than originally thought. (Otherwise, why the urgency? Why go against the plan you established? Choo didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball at Lake County). Choo is supposed to be in the lineup tonight against the Twins.
Jim Thome’s career home run total currently sits at 598. He likes to hit home runs at Progressive Field, so it’s entirely possible he reaches the 600 milestone at his old stomping grounds. What are your thoughts on that? Would you be happy to see it, or prefer that he gets it somewhere else? If it has no bearing on the game’s outcome, I think it would be kind of nice to see. (You know, the Indians up 10-1 and it’s a solo shot!)
A couple of links of interest:
At The Hardball Times, Chris Jaffe takes a look at the great Indians come from behind victory against the Mariners in 2001. (You know, the one where they were down 14-2 but won 15-14.)
At Cleveland.com, Paul Hoynes took a look at some of the promising pitchers the Indians have in their minor league system. I’m a personal fan of Austin Adams, T.J. McFarland, Josh Judy and Kelvin De La Cruz…I’d like to see them here in Cleveland at some point in the future.
I thought this story by Paul Lukas at ESPN’s Page 2 was really interesting – and it cites Indians radio broadcaster Mike Hegan. Lukas, who also runs a cool blog named Uni Watch, took a look at the use of the Confederate flag on baseball uniforms, particularly the uniforms of the Columbus, Georgia, Yankees from 1964-1966.
Austin Kearns designated – this may be the best news all year.
we have to have the saddest starting outfield in majors right now….keep in mind you usually expect to have some power bats in RF/LF….carerra (PLAY IN DAMMIT!), fukudome (waste of money when not getting hit with bases loaded) & duncan (hey i like that you’re more selective since your callup…but if it’s close with 2 strikes with an ump giving the edges SWING THE DAMN BAT)….i mean it’s hard to compete at a high level when 1/3 of your batting order is dead wood….am i off my rocker here?
Not off your rocker Stu, but I can live w/ the outfield below:
In Fukodome’s last 7 games, he’s batting .312. He’s not the solution but absolutely an upgrade form Kearns/Buck.
Once Brantley’s wrist heals, he’ll be back in center and I LOVE what I see in Brantley.
With Choo, well, I guess it’s (1) is he healed and (2) will he return to being the Choo we expected him to be this year (‘cuz to be frank, I haven’t seen it).
I don’t mind Ezequiel Carrera. He’s fast and plays good defense, IMO.
Shelley Duncan – well, he’s Shelley Duncan.
I agree that power-wise, our outfield is extremely weak (unless Choo steps it up to last season form over the next month and a half); however, how many teams have the power we now have in a SS and 2B?
In any case, I’m sure we both have the same mindset – ROLL TRIBE!
Regarding Thome home run #600, I don’t want to see it happen at Progressive Field. I still have a sour taste in my mouth when Thome left to go to Philly in 2003, despite a very generous offer from the Tribe. If I recall correctly, we offered a six year deal for the same annual salary as Philly but they offered 7 years. He ended up playing less than 3 seasons there. Everything you read about Thome now (nice guy, throwback player, etc) made his decision to leave the team he grew up with even more surprising. His decision soured my attitude toward baseball players and their greed since I thought he was different. He could have been our Jeter, Ripken (one great player with one team).
Get #600 somewhere else, Jim.
I miss Herb Score
thankfully the Twins have a worse defense than we do…that was pathetic…i actually felt bad for pavano…although why we make him look like a 20 game winner everytime we play is beyond me….no way we should have won this game….and Manny again is partially at fault in my mind for leaving Masterson in too long….after he got lucky and got out at plate we should have pulled him (if not after first batter got on)….cant complain too much, as we won, and we’ve certainly had our fair share of those games go against us.
I have to agree with stu on this. Same thing has happened on several other occasions the past week. Starter stays in for 8th and gives up tying or go ahead runs or forces bullpen to come in with men on base. None of the starters has been so dominant lately that letting the other team have another shot at seeing the same stuff is better than getting a fresh arm in to hold a lead or preserve a tie in the 8th. Our bullpen does not need that much rest going into last month of season.
It seems like Acta may have learned his lesson about leaving the starter in too long – Tomlin was pulled at the first sign of trouble tonight.
And I used to be so, so angry at Jim Thome. For some reason, when that original contract ran out and he signed with the Twins, the anger sort of dissipated.