Split the Road, Tribe

Tribe Times has been on hiatus for a week and not much really happened. The Indians have been playing better of late sans Aaron Laffey's last two starts. The team as a whole seems to be having more fun actually playing the game rather than "grinding." It will be a long last few months of the baseball season, so I am going to add another addition of Random Thoughts.

The Retro 1989 jerseys need to be sold in stores and uses next year. Paul Hoynes said that the Mariners gave the 25 man roster a chance to buy their respective jerseys for charity and a whopping 20 did so. Bring them BACK!!!

Casey Blake may not be traded, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If they can sign Casey to a one year contract with a club option for 2010, I would be all for bringing him back. He is a definite team leader and a good guy to have around. Blake may not take such a deal since this is his first opportunity at Free Agency and he may want the security of a multi-year deal. That would be risky since he is 35.

Aaron Laffey better straighten things out our the 2009 rotation is looking thinner by the day.

Tom Mastny introduces himself with an "I'm Tom Mastny," meatball everytime he pitches.

Edward Mujica may not be as bad as I thought he was.

Juan Rincon may be worth a 2009 look, but will probably end up like Jorge Julio/Roberto Hernandez.

David Dellucci should be duct tapped to the bench.

Andy Marte is playing better, but is not the long term solution at 3rd Base.

Ryan Garko should not be our starting firstbaseman in 2009.

Jhonny hit good, field bad.

Travis Hafner may be done for the year.

Would you sign K-Rod to a 5 year, 65 million dollar contract if it meant no offensive help next year? I would.

Matt LaPorta will be an Indian in May of 2009.

Shin Soo Choo and Ben Francisco will form a platoon next season. Book it!

Fausto will be one of the few players to watch left this season.

Jamey Carroll has a future being a jockey at Thistledown.

Sal Fasano is one of my favorite Indians of all time.

Two roster moves happened over the past week, as Asdrubal Cabrera was called up and Jorge Velandia was sent to Buffalo. Also Fausto Carmona is due to pitch on Saturday for the first time since the middle of May, so look for Matt Ginter to be sent down.

Browns training camp opened today so I imagine not many people but the diehards are reading this anymore. Thanks to those who do, whoever and wherever you are.

Defense Wins Championships (or games)

Most pundits believed going into the 2008 season that the Tribe's defense would be average at best. Those pundits should be slapped in the face, because the Indians are flashing the leather. Asdrubal Cabrera made an eye popping diving catch, Dellucci made a great grab against the wall, and Sizemore gunned down the fleet footed Frank Thomas while also making a great diving snag. All of these factors, including another gem of a start from Paul Byrd, and Ryan Garko finally delivering on a 3 run homerun led the Tribe to defeat the Oakland A's Tuesday, 4-0. The team has now won 6 of their last 8, and the starting pitching has hurled 34 consecutive shutout innings. If the bats ever decide to wake up, this team could become scary good.

Also while attending the game tonight, my wife and I sat in front of two dudes who's Tribe knowledge was deplorable. These were some of the 9 inning conversation highlights:

• The drummer bangs his percussion instrument every inning with two outs.


• The Indians last won the World Series in 1964


• The Indians have been to the ALCS 6 or 7 times in the past 44 years.


• The Indians made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1998.


• Jose Mesa retired in 1999.


• They missed the days of Mesa, Lofton, Baerga, and Thome. Wish they were still here.

Why do I mention this? Because it seems like every other game I tend to sit in front of these type of morons. They laugh loudly at their own jokes and have no idea what they are talking about. I am not saying that everyone should be a dork like me and have their own blog, but at least try and attempt to get your facts straight. I never hear anyone saying they wish we had Chad Ogea and Charles Nagy on the mound. The late 90's are over, let's move on.

Starting Staff Silences Jays

The Indians were able to win their second series in a row by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in three of their four games played. Toronto was only able to string together 4 runs over the four game stretch, and three of them were in the last game of the series in the 10th inning. To say that batting is down in baseball would be an understatement, but this will be discussed at in a later entry. With these wins, the Tribe has finally reached the .500 mark, a minor miracle by the way they have played inconsistently all year. The starting staff has been amazing, but the bats have been wildly inconsistent. As the weather warms, (which it has not yet), we should see increased offensive numbers, but you can never be sure. This next series versus Oakland should be an interesting one since the Tribe's best two starting pitchers so far this year will not be on the mound (Lee, Carmona). Being only 1 1/2 game out of first place is also an encouraging sign that they should be in this for the long haul.

Here were some of the Highlights:

Grady Sizemore: 6-18, 2 HR, 5RBI. Grady continues to rake. Too bad the team does not have a better leadoff alternative because he would look great in the 3 hole.

Casey Blake: 4-10, 3 RBI. Mr. Clutch 2008 continues to rake with runners on, and not hit with the bases empty. He is truly an enigma.

Asdrubal Cabrera: Unassisted Triple Play: He is not been so great with the bat, but his defense at short and second has been tremendous. Shows much more range and arm strength at shortstop than Peralta. Also, though it was cool to see an unassisted triple play, my friend Szoke made the correct point that it really wasn't that exciting. He kind of dove, caught the ball, stepped on second, and tagged out the runner. Interesting yes, but exciting, not so much.

Starting Staff: (CC, Laffey, Carmona, Lee) combined to pitch 32 innings, 24 hits, 9 walks, 19 K's, 1 Earned Run, for a 0.28 ERA. That stat is just ridiculous. If the staff continues to put lines up like this, you can add another division championship flag to Progressive field. They have collectively saved this team from a total meltdown.

Areas of Concern:

Ryan Garko: 2-10. Looks lost and awkward at the plate. I have no idea what his problem is.

Jhonny Peralta: 0-7, 3 K's. Looks lost and awkward at the plate. I have no idea what his problem is.

Rafael Betancourt: 1 IP, 3 earned runs. I cannot understand why Eric Wedge trots him out when the score is tied or they are losing. He has pitched well in CLOSING situations, so why not leave him to that. I know he hadn't pitched in awhile, but Wedge could have went lefty/lefty matchup baseball since his bullpen had not pitched since Saturday.

Matt Underwood: As the season goes on, the more I am annoyed by the Indians TV play by play guy. He laughs at all of his own jokes and I think Rick Manning really does hate him.

The Oakland A's roll into town to square off for a 3 game series. Paul Byrd faces Justin Duchscherer. Let's hope they forget about the offense meltdown from yesterday and keep up the momentum of winning each series.

Joe Borowski Update

Words cannot possibly describe how funny this ad is.