Tribe Thoughts....

First off, let me start by saying the Cleveland Indians drive me absolutely nuts.

One of these days, I'm just going to stop torturing myself. I mean, why am I still watching these games? The Tribe are done for the year.

Yet I still find myself sitting in front of the TV, watching Ryan Garko suck every night. It must be a disease or something. I don't know how else to explain it.

• Who's next? CC, then Casey Blake. I'm sure Shapiro isn't done yet.
• Ben Francisco is terrible. Every game, you are guaranteed that at least one of his at bats will result in a pop-up in the infield.
  
• Ryan Garko is a joke. Seriously? Every single game....0-4, 2 Strikeouts. Time to go, meatball.
• Paul Byrd needs to get the hell out of Cleveland. I don't know who would want him, but he needs to go. Anywhere.
• Fausto Carmona is starting to look like the pitcher who went 1-10 two seasons ago. Which one is the real Fausto?
• David Dellucci shouldn't get another at bat the rest of the season. If you want to find out what you have in these young guys, why keep playing Dellucci?
• Andy Marte doesn't look that bad. He's bad, but not terribly bad.
• Kelly Shoppach has proven, with V-Mart out for so long, that he deserves to play more than once a week. It wouldn't be a bad idea to put Victor at first more and more when he comes back, and keep Shop in the lineup more often. Besides, Garko sucks. So get him out of the lineup by putting Victor at first.
• Jhonny Peralta is thriving in the cleanup spot. He's been hitting the ball real well ever since he was moved there. I say keep him there--for good. Put Victor 3rd, and let Hafner hit 5th--if he ever comes back.
• We still need a second baseman. Jamey Carroll is bad. Asdrubal Cabrera is bad. Josh Barfield is bad.
  
• When is Matt LaPorta going to be sent up? Since the season is already over, you might as well bring him up in September to get some at bats. Even if he hits .090, it doesn't matter. The season is already over.
• K-Rod anyone? Hey Shapiro...PAY HIM WHATEVER HE WANTS. We haven't had a closer in over 10 years. Kobayashi isn't the answer. Neither of the Rafael's are the answer. Joe Borowski sure as hell wasn't the answer. Francisco Rodriguez is the answer.
  
• Who in the hell is going to be in the rotation next year? The only sure things are Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona. Byrd will (hopefully) be gone, and Sowers and Laffey are pitching terrible. What does that leave?
• I've been saying this for two years now--Trevor Crowe needs to be in Cleveland. Playing in Akron isn't doing the kid any good. He rakes in Akron. He's the leadoff hitter the Indians need. Then, Sizemore can move down in the batting order, and produce more runs for this team. Crowe is a base burner.

Well, that's about it for the evening. Preseason football officially kicks off a week from Thursday. I can't wait. Maybe, just maybe, the Browns can finally do something special.

Hey Carson Palmer, shut the hell up.

Hey Carson...guess what? You're a complete and total moron. Let's think about something. You play in Cincinnati, Ohio. Which is, what, 30 miles from Columbus, Ohio? Let's think about that. Almost every person that goes to a Bengals game is an OHIO STATE BUCKEYES FAN. And you have enough balls to say something like this?

I cannot stand the Buckeyes. It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there.

I just can't wait for two years from now when SC comes to the 'Shoe and hopefully we'll have a home game that weekend, and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf.

I'm really getting sick of it, and I just can't wait for this game to get here so they can come out to the Coliseum and experience LA and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whoopin' and go back to the Big Ten.

You think Bengals fans hate Chad Johnson? Think again. You're probably public enemy number one. I think it's funny, because last time I checked, USC hasn't made a title game the last two years--but the BUCKEYES have.

Oh, and another thing, Carson...get over yourself. You have to talk out like this, because no one gives two damns about you. The Browns are better than your Bengals, and the Buckeyes are better than your USC Trojans.

Man, it must suck to be Carson Palmer right now.

Thanks for the Memories, C.C.

The news just broke on ESPNews about 5 minutes ago. It's official--C.C. Sabathia is a Milwaukee Brewer. You know, I find myself watching the movie Major League all the time, and it's one of those movies that really is true--when the Indians are struggling, they really are in trouble. But when they're winning, it's almost magical. The vibe around the ballpark, the "magic" that surrounds the late inning comebacks--it's one of the best things in the world. Last year, it seemed as if the Indians were finally going to do it, finally win a World Series. They were one win away from making it, and there's no doubt in most people's minds that they would have won it if they were in it.


I remember sitting in Pronkville at The Jake last September for a game against the Detroit Tigers. We were close to clinching the division, and the vibe in the ballpark was incredible. Packed house, signs hanging from the rafters, crazy fans, everything. It was one of the best games I've ever been to, because I had never been so excited for a baseball game. C.C. was pitching, and he was dominant, like usual. He owned the Tigers, and that game really knocked the Tigers out of contention and pushed the Tribe into the Playoffs for the first time in 7 years.

It just seemed--at the time--that the Indians could do no wrong. Even if they were down by 4 in the bottom of the 9th, there was that "Jacobs Field Magic" that was always there in the late '90's. It was almost as if they were invincible, and that was only 10 months ago. I never thought I'd have to be saying the things I am about the Indians this year, but that's how baseball works. 10 months ago, the Indians looked like a team that would contend for not only the division, but championships for quite a few years. Everyone was hitting good, our pitching was amazing, our bullpen was incredible. This year, nothing's gone right. No one can hit (besides Sizemore), our bullpen is terrible, and our starters are hurt. Now, one of the best Cleveland Indians of all time has been shipped out. Sure, we got Matt LaPorta, who's supposed to be the next Ryan Braun, Jay Bruce, etc. I hope he is. I hope he hits a walk-off in Game 7 of the World Series in a few years and becomes a hero. Either way, it still sucks that C.C. is gone. He loved Cleveland, and Cleveland loved him. Now, he's off to Milwaukee. I just hope the Brewers fans respect him the way we did.

Thank you Carsten Charles Sabathia. Cleveland appreciates everything you've done for us for the past 8 years. You're always welcome back.