Minor League Sweep

While the Indians big league club was off getting swept in Texas, their minor league clubs were fareing quite nicely. The top three clubs (Columbus, Akron, Kinston) all pulled off victories on Thursday, and many of the top prospects were out helping the cause.

Columbus beats Louisville 12-4

Michael Brantley 3-5 2 RBI

Luis Valbuena 2-5 HR, 2 RBI

Matt Laporta 3-5 2 doubles, HR, 3 RBI

Michael Aubrey 2-4 HR, 3 RBI

Jordan Brown 2-5 HR, 3 RBI

The team put together 14 hits and looked pretty impressive doing it. Good to see the young guys slugging it out. The pitchig was pretty good also...

David Huff 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 K's 2 HR's allowed

Vinnie Chulk 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K's

Tony Sipp 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's

Huff didn't have eye-popping numbers, but kept his team in the game (unlike another team I watched this week). Sipp struckout the side while Chulk continues to roll. Great way to start off a season.

Akron defeats Bowie 2-1

Frank Herrmann pitched great, allowing one earned run in six innings. He only struck out one batter but he is more of a finese guy anyways. Ryan Edell threw 2 shutout innings for a hold, and Beau Mills went 2-3 and an RBI. This is the Aeroes second win in a row as they beat Bowie 9-5 Wednesday as Hector Rondon fired 5 2/3 innings of one run ball while stiking out 6 in earning a victory. Randy Newsom added 1 1/3 of shutout baseball to earn a save, while Carlos Santana provided the offense going 2-4 with a Homerun and 4 RBI.

Kinston defeats Winston-Salem 5-2

20 year old phenom Kelvin De La Cruz stuckout a whopping 10 batters in 6 innings while giving up 2 runs on just 2 hits. Outfielder Matt Brown added the offense going 3-4 with a run batted in.

Not a bad way to start a minor league season. Most of these same names to pop up early and often as the Tribe's farm system is looking more stacked by the day.

Heading Towards the 480 Bridge

I know it's just 3 games. I know a baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. But c'mon! Being down a combined 18-0 in the first 2 innings of each game is down right horrifying. Allowing 29 runs in 3 games is an abomination. Another sign of bad things to come was Grady Sizemore promptly leading each game of with a strikeout. The Tribe fell to the Rangers 9-1, 8-5, and 12-8, but the games weren't even that close. There really isn't much to say about the series, besides...

Lee and Carmona were bad, but weren't a complete disaster.

Carl Pavano is really really bad and a complete disaster. I want to pick him up in my fantasy league just so I can cut him.

Sans the long ball, the team collectively had really no clutch hits whatsoever.

The Indians are still in sleep walk spring training mode.

Hafner's swing still looks slow.

The review was pretty short because I just don't have the heart to rehash this garbage of a series more in depth. The great thing about baseball is tomorrow is another day, another game, and the home opener. Scott Lewis takes on some guy named Scott Richmond of the Toronto Blue Jays. Let's pray the rain holds off and the starters allow less than 5 runs.

Cardboard Flashback: Tommy Hinzo

In 1987, the Indians needed to make move toward youth. Manager Pat Corrales had been fired in favor of Doc Edwards, so the house cleaning had begun. The Tribe decided to trade Topps All-Star Tony Bernazard to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Darrel Akerfelds and catcher Brian Dorsett, two guys who were pretty terrible. Dorsett played in 5 games as an Indian, while Akerfelds posted a 6.75 ERA in 16 appearances. This trade paved the way for a young hot second base switch hitting prospect named Tommy Hinzo.

This University of Arizona product may have been rushed to the majors a bit too prematurely (drafted in the 7th round a year earlier). Teflon Tommy hit a respectable .265 the rest of the year in 257 at bats, but didn't have a lot of power (3 HR, 21 RBI). Also going against Hinzo was he rarely ever walked (10 Bases on Balls) and was a bit of a butcher out in the field, booting the ball 9 times. The team ended the season 61-101, while Hinzo's career in Cleveland subsequently ended as well. Apparently the ability not to get on base much and have an iron glove were not what Cleveland was looking for in their two-bagger, as the Indians decided to move the ageless Julio Franco over to second instead of letting Tiny Tommy man the diamond.

Hinzo did make his valiant return to the Wigwam in 1989, amassing 17 more Major League at bats. He unfortunately went hitless. That put a stamp on the career of the San Diego native. Maybe Cleveland was too cold? The great thing about this 1988 Topps gem of a card was that old Municipal Stadium looked pretty full in the good seats for a game that definitely meant nothing. I will always remember Tommy Hinzo for the mere fact that I had like 8 of these cards and nobody would trade me for one. Now I remember why.

Ran off a Cliff

I was debating whether just to forget this game even happened blog wise and just move on. Well I couldn't do it. All of my preseason fears about the 2009 Cleveland Indians came true today as they were battered 9-1 at the hands of the Texas Rangers. The way the team looked hitting-wise out of the game gave me a feeling of "here we go again." When Victor Martinez grounded into an inning ending double play in the first after putting together a very impressive at bat (10 or 12 pitches), the team just looked flat with the bats and sluggish in the field. Peralta and V-Mart both seemed just a step late in the disastrous second, barely missing sharply hit balls in the holes. As for Lee, he didn't seem to use his curveball enough as he fell behind early and often in counts due his fastball being left up. After Hank Blaalock hit a comebacker off of his left elbow, it was an unfortunate omen of bad things to come. One game does not make a season, but it really could not have been any worse. To put it simply, Cliff Lee stunk, the offense was worse, and I have already second guessed my Central Division Prediction. Here are a couple more notes and observations from Monday's meltdown.

• Lee said he was fine after getting hit on his throwing elbow. That is a big sigh of relief.


• I think I have seen Ben Francisco get at least 8 swinging bunts in his short career.


• Pronk looked ok, thankfully didn't pull out any of those embarrassing half swings from spring training to the park today.


• I hope and pray that this team does not start slow offensively, because there isn't anything worse than seeing a ballclub that can't hit. If you don't believe me, remember the sickness?

The Tribe gets a much needed day off tomorrow and resumes action Wednesday in Arlington as Fausto Carmona takes on Vincente Padilla. Let's hope for an extra base hit.

Carroll Placed on DL, Graffanino called up.

In a bit of a surprise move, the Tribe placed infielder Jamey Carroll on the 15 day disabled list and recalled veteran infielder Tony Graffanino. Carroll was hit on the left hand with a pitch over the weekend in Houston. The veteran Graffanino (.267 career batting average) has played in the majors in parts of 12 seasons, displaying great position flexibility being able to play anywhere on the diamond. The Indians will be his 7th major league team. Look for the 36 year old to be pretty much stapled to the bench. Trevor Crowe and Josh Barfield may see some more time due to the Carroll injury, as they have probably been moved up the ladder.

Opening Day is Here!

With the snow falling in Cleveland, thankfully the Tribe is out in Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers. Now we all have read about a million predictions about our beloved Indians, so make mine number one million and one. The Cleveland Indians will go 90-72 and win the American League Central. Here are the rest of how the A.L will shake out.

East

Red Sox 97-55

Rays 92-70

Yankees 86-66

Orioles 78-84

Blue Jays 71-91

Central

Indians 90-72

Twins 87-75

White Sox 86-66

Royals 80-82

Tigers 70-92

West

Angels 84-78

A's 82-80

Rangers 80-82

Mariners 75-87

ALDS Red Sox vs Angels

Indians vs Rays

ALCS Rays vs Red Sox

World Series Red Sox vs Dodgers

Winner Red Sox

If the Red Sox do win again for the third time in six seasons, I may vomit. The Tribe loses a close five game series to the Rays and looks to retool their starting five in 2010. Matt LaPorta takes over in left field full time in July, David Huff becomes the de facto third starter, and Tony Sipp becomes a big time contributor out of the pen. Team MVP goes to Grady, as he hits .278, 37 HR, 98 RBI. David Dellucci, Ryan Garko, and Carl Pavano are not on the active roster at seasons' end. I personally would be pretty happy with a playoff appearance, so let's let the 162 game marathon begin and see how it shakes out.

Tales From the Teepee: Scott Bailes

Special to the TTO

He was the Tribe’s premier lefty in the mid to late ‘80s, a man who set the Indians’ record for wins for a rookie reliever (8 in 1986) and who threw 5 complete games and 2 shutouts as a starter in 1988. At the same time, he never had an E.R.A below 4.28 and, in that aforementioned 1988 season, he finished with a losing record and was demoted to the bullpen before the end of the season.

“Almost Never Fails” Scotty Bailes dumbfounded Indians management and the fans alike, at times showing flashes of averageness and, at other times, looking absolutely god-awful. Bailes had a whopping 13-year Major League career, and if that doesn’t say anything about the lack of quality left-handed pitching at the Major League level, I don’t know what does.
Bailes pitched at Southwest Missouri State and was drafted in the 7th round of the 1982 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He came to the Indians in 1985 as the “player to be named,” and made his Major League debut the next season.

In 1986, Bailes had a perfectly average season. In 62 appearances, most out of the bullpen, he finished 10-10 with 7 saves and an ERA just under 5.00. As I mentioned, all but 2 of those wins came in relief – maybe it’s just me, but that seems like an awful lot of decisions for a guy who made most of his appearances in relief. The 1986 Indians weren’t even that bad—sure they finished in 5th place in the AL East, but they won 84 games and all signs pointed to a team on the rise.

Bailes split his time between the rotation and the bullpen in 1987, making 17 starts and 15 relief appearances, compiling a record of 7-8 with a 4.64 ERA – the definition of an “Even Steven.” Due to the Tribe’s financial struggles, and the fact the Bailes made only $80,000—just above the league minimum, he was forced to take an off-season job as a nanny for a New Jersey family under the pseudonym “Charles,” disclosing his secret only to his best friend, Buddy.
In his breakout year in 1988, he had 2 shutouts and 5 complete games, but his record slid to 9-14 and he was demoted to the bullpen before the end of the season. The 1989 season brought more of the same, despite his career-low ERA of 4.28 he finished with a losing record, and the Tribe, facing yet another rebuilding process, dealt him to the Angels in the off-season for future International League Hall of Famer Jeff Manto.

Scotty 2 Hotty threw a few years with the Halos, remarkable to me only because he was only the second Tribe player I remember from my youth playing for another team after being dealt/discarded by the Indians, the first being Pat Tabler who was traded to the Royals the previous year. He was released in 1992, and kicked around the minors for a few years before retiring in 1995.

Shockingly, he made his comeback to the Majors in 1997 with Texas, where he pitched for 2 years before finally hanging it up for good after the 1998 season. He currently is a color analyst for the St. Louis Cardinals AA affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals.

by J-Neg