Archive for the ‘MLB’ Category

I got thinking today about the Tribe and our players leaving or being traded. It used to be, if one of our better players left, they’d be prominent players wherever they went to. Jim Thome, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez are examples, and to lesser extent Jeremy Burnitz and Brian Giles. You’d hear about them on Sportscenter, and they’d make highlights for their new team.

Now players leave and they become low-profile role players.  Players that we’d cheer for, and thought well of – Casey Blake, Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Ben Francisco – all go to new teams  and somewhat disappear.  Is that because the other teams don’t see the value we did? No, it’s that the Indians are so talent-deprived, that even a mediocre player comes off as a solid talent.  Only our pitchers leave and have solid careers (Cliff Lee, C.C. Sabathia, even Carl Pavano is pitching pretty well in Minnesota).

The way the Tribe is run, the only way this will change is through draft picks and a heaping amount of luck. So go grab your horseshoes and rabbits feet, folks.

It can’t hurt.

Well the Tribe won last night in convincing fashion. A 9-3 thumping of the Rangers was great, but they’ve used up their offense for the next week or so. I wish they’d conserve their runs a little better!

The big news last night was Matt LaPorta getting knocked cold in the bottom of the third. He got hit in the head at first by Elvis Andrus of the Rangers and was out on the turf for a few seconds. By the time he came to, the runner from first had come around to score. That’s the least of  Cleveland’s worries, though. Matt has been red-hot lately, and if he’s out for a period of time with this injury (a concussion, officially) that really depletes the Tribe’s offense.

Jason Nix provided allot of the pop last night with two home runs, and LaPorta and Carlos Santana pitched in with dingers as well. Nelson Cruz of the Rangers nearly had a three run blast, but the umps reviewed it and correctly saw that it had gone foul before leaving the park.

It’s nice to see the Tribe scoring, but as I said at the top, they’ve likely used up their run allowance until the All-Star break. We’ll see.