Murph: Cleveland Rocks

"This is my kinda team Charlie, my kinda team."

By Nolan Murphy


In a season in which the Cleveland Cavaliers had to try to move on without their savior Lebron James, they failed terrible. The Cavaliers embarrassing and dismal season ended with posting the 2nd worst record in the NBA at 19-63. While the Miami Heat and Lebron were not crowned NBA Champion’s after their first game this season, they did finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference and look to be a major playoff contender.

With the city of Cleveland rocked back to the Stone Age by “The Decision” and James’s departure to South Beach, there was only hope for the Buckeyes and Browns in the Fall.  With a beat of drum and the rebirth of Chief Wahoo suddenly Cleveland is rocking. The surprising start by the Cleveland Indians has injected excitement seemed to be missing amongst Cleveland natives. The Indians who were thought to be in a rebuilding year, at the night’s end on April 18 were in a tie with the Colorado Rockies for the best record in the MLB.

 The Indians offense has been powered by young guns such has catcher Carlos Santana and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. With rebirth of designated hitter Travis “Pronk” Hafner, and the hope that star center-fielder Grady Sizemore can stay healthy, the Tribe could be feared offense again in AL Central. In a long shot possibly former Milwaukee Brewers prospect Matt Laporta may even pan out.

Their bullpen seems to be a little shaky, and with only two proven starters in  the rotation in Justin Masterson and Fausto Carmona their record should level out over the season. 1964, is a year that will never be forgotten in Cleveland.  That year was the last time the city won a professional title won by the Browns, and 1948 was the last title for the Indians. Now I don’t think the Indians will win the World Series or even make the playoffs, but for a city that last summer was stripped of everything they loved in James, the excitement coming from Progressive Field is something to wake up for. 

Closing Time: Somebody Break Up The Indians!

The Indians Win It
Major League at MOVIECLIPS.com

The Cleveland Indians won their eight straight game tonight. Most people picked them fourth or fifth in the American League Central. One of my favorite things about baseball is usually some team comes out firing who isn't expected to, and then will fade off as the year goes on. For their success, I put up a Major League clip, one of my all time favorite movies.

-Charlie.

The Abrupt End of 'Manny Being Manny'

As all of you Eau Claire folk enjoy your beautiful 65 degree weather today, some big baseball news has come about. Tampa Bay Rays' DH Manny Ramirez has officially left the game after 19 seasons in Major League Baseball after again testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

The good ol' days.

Manny is the first person ever to test positive twice for PEDs and rather than face the 100 game suspension for two offenses, he decided to retire. He never really was the same player after coming back from that first suspension.

He was somewhat known for his quirky antics, like cutting off a throw from Johnny Damon in the middle of left field out of nowhere or taking a piss in the Green Monster during the middle of an inning, or for his care-free attitude. But mainly, the 12 time All-Star was known as one of the most feared hitters in the MLB. He was a lifetime .312 hitter and hit 555 homers in his career, mostly with the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox.

Will that be enough for Manny to get into the Hall? Some would argue that it is but I think with him testing positive twice, it will be a long shot. Mark McGwire won't get in. Roger Clemens won't get in. Why would Manny?

It's a shame that such a great career has fizzled out the way it has and especially with it ending this way. We're gonna miss you Manny.

Half Assed Preview: AL Central

I know that I put a certain number of wins on each team. I personally feel that's the lowest win total they will get by the end of September. For example, I predicted the Boston Red Sox would win 90 games, I think it could be 90-95 because if you add all the teams up it might not equal correct amounts. I might be doing my best Ted Mosby by over-thinking this, but like a lot of things I do on here, I don't care what you think. So let's get to the AL Central.

1.) Chicago White Sox:
Player I Love: Alex Rios (OF)- He hasn't put together a full season yet, but I think this is his year. Rios sprayed the ball throughout Comiskey in the beginning of the year, then fell off in the second half. I don't see that happening this year. Player I Hate: Jake Peavy (SP)- A softball response, but Peavy has to be considered a bust for the Sox. He has had injury trouble during his time on the Southside, and the White Sox gave up four players plus I believe they signed him to a big contract. Prediction: 92 wins, the Sox have a great middle of the order and even without Peavy, they have a strong pitching staff.

2.) Minnesota Twins: Player I Love: Brian Duensing (SP)- The young Twins' pitcher came on strong at the end of the year getting 11 wins. I know by advanced stats terms he got a bit lucky, but he does a great job keeping the ball inside the park. Player I Hate: Justin Morneau (1B)- I am starting to worry about him, it's hard to put your chips in severe concussed basket. He could have a good year, but I don't think he will ever be the player he once was in years past.  Prediction: 88 wins, this is your Wild Card team. They need the Two Joes (Mauer/Nathan) to stay healthy because if Mauer does, everything works offense. If Nathan does, they have a great bullpen.

3.) Detroit Tigers: Player I Love: Rick Porcello (SP)- He struggled a bit last season, but do people realize he is only 22 years old?  I think he can have a huge year for 8 Mile this summer.  Look for a bounce back year as he started to figure things out in August/September. Player I Hate: Miguel Cabrera (1B)- My fantasy baseball team is named Drunk at Miggy's but I worry he might have more personal issues that you or I know about. I said when he got the DUI, if he is the star of my team I would be worried sick.  Prediction: 84 wins, they have a stacked lineup and a pretty good pitching staff if a couple things work out. One, Brad Penny plays at a high level and Jose Valverde stays healthy.

4.) Kansas City Royals: Player I Love: Alex Gordon (LF)- Everyone rode this guys jock a couple years ago, and now he has moved positions. This could be a breakout year for him, or just another bust for the Royals. Gordon had an encouraging Spring Training though.  Player I Hate: Kyle Davies (SP)- There some funny names on the Royals roster like Jason Kendall and Melky Cabrera that I could make fun of, and I know Davies is a young pitcher but I see no upside. Prediction: 71 wins, the Royals are a year away from being the Tampa Bay Rays. Ned Yost is good for the job with all their farm talent coming up in the near future.

5.) Cleveland Indians: Player I Love: Carlos Santana (C)- No, not the one that plays guitar .When Santana came up last year, he lived up to the high expectations and then got his knee wrecked in Fenway. He will be the AL Rookie of the Year, no question about it. He is the next great catcher. Player I Hate: Chad Durbin (SP)- I don't know many guys on Cleveland so that might be a bad sign in the first place. But this joker is listed as a starter, and barely has any experience in this role, not good. Prediction: 67 wins, I believe this team will have a fire sale to try to get more young talent. Trade Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore if they are healthy by July.

-Charlie.

We're Watching You...

A strange thing happened on Tuesday night in Detroit during a game between the Indians and Tigers. During the 8th and 9th innings Indians reliever Rafael Betancourt fell victim to one of baseball's oddest rules:

That this series carries some extra juice was evident in the bottom of the eighth inning when Wedge charged out onto the field and argued with the umpiring crew after a ball was called on Tribe reliever Rafael Betancourt for not delivering a pitch within 12 seconds (after he receives the ball and with the batter in the batter's box) when nobody is on base. It's a rarely enforced rule, and Wedge's tirade stopped just short of getting him ejected. In the bottom of the ninth, the umpires again called a ball on Betancourt for taking too much time.

After the game Indians manager Eric Wedge accused the Tigers of alerting the umpires to Betancourt's slow delivery, an allegation that Tigers manager Jim leyland flatly denied. So how did the umps know about Betancourt's tendency to have a slow motion? According to the chief umpire from Tuesday night, it is because MLB keeps a naughty list of slow players:

DeMuth said Wednesday that Betancourt is on a list, supplied by Major League Baseball to its umpires, that shows which pitchers and hitters take too much time...

"The players (who take a lot of time) are reported by other crews and evaluators in the stands," DeMuth said. "There are names on this list of batters who constantly take a long time getting into the box. There are names of pitchers who don't immediately go out to the mound for the start of the inning. There are names of pitchers who throw a few pitches in the bullpen after they are signaled into the game. There are all sorts of reasons to get on a list of delaying the pace of the game."

What really gets me about this is that MLB is paying people to essentially spy on players during games to see if they are being too slow. Nevermind the abuse of steroids and HGH in baseball, we need to get those dirty rotten SLOW PITCHERS!!! They are ruining the sanctity of the game!!!

On a more serious note, this particular rule was changed just this year. The rule used to be that a pitcher had twenty seconds to throw a pitch once the batter had stepped into the box, which has now been reduced to twelve. The reason of course behind this rule change, as well as the spies and the slow-mo list, is that MLB is trying to speed up games to satisfy its TV partners who were getting fed up with three hour marathons in recent years. This is yet another example of how MLB only cares about the bottom line.

What Gives, Mike?

Take a look at these four stats for the Seattle Mariners:
1. Record: 44-33
2. Four games out of first in the AL West.
3. One game behind the Tigers (46-33) in the wild card.
4. A seven game winning streak...the longest in the majors.

All in all, not the stats one would expect of a team who's manager just resigned. Nonetheless, that is exactly what happened to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, when Mike Hargrove resigned. Conventional wisdom says you simply do not resign when your team is on a hot streak, especially one that has them in the thick of a playoff hunt. Even stranger are the reasons that Hargrove cited for his resignation: "a fading passion for the game." Now, I could understand if this was the end of the season, and Hargrove resigned due to a "fading passion." But so close to the All-Star break? The middle of the season? The whole situation just doesn't add up. This was his first winning season since he managed the Indians back in 1999 (who he also led to two World Series in '95 and '97). If the Mariners tank again from here, they can probably thank Hargrove. Old Grover has left the Mariners high and dry, with John McLaren, a bench coach, replacing him. I understand a guy wanting to go out on top, but isn't this a bit early, Mike?

Getting to Know....Fausto Carmona

Does anyone remember Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona from last year? He completely dominated the stat sheet…well, at least the losing column. After winning his first game, Carmona lost his next ten decisions. Out of the 7 games he started, Carmona was 1-4 with a 6.08 ERA. While being shuffled from starter to reliever and back to starter again may have affected his performance, Carmona was nevertheless terrible. Overall in 2006, Carmona looked like this:

W-L: 1-10
ERA: 5.42
WHIP: 1.59

After last season, Cleveland declared the “Carmona reliever/closer” experiment a failure, and has used him this season exclusively as a starter. The turnaround has been completely shocking and…well, the stats speak for themselves:

W-L: 5-1
ERA: 2.77
WHIP: 1.19
QS%: .88

What’s more unbelievable is that Carmona has been so successful while being shuffled back and forth between Cleveland and AAA Buffalo, as various pitchers have come back from the DL. Carmona’s recent success ought to secure him a place in the rotation, especially with Jeremy Sowers struggling (0-4, 7.13 ERA).