Can We All Agree Now That Asdrubal is the Best Player On the Team?

I mean seriously, folks - 5 for 5 today with two home runs and 5 RBI? Leads the team with 9 homers and 32 RBI, and leads the league's shortstops in both categories as well. And of course you have this defensive play and this one and this one  and those are just from May.

Here's a lovely article about Asdrubal and his son Meyer, in the form of tonight's wrap-up on Indians.com.

Speaking of Meyer, Asdrubal and his tattoo are responsible for about 75% of the traffic on this blog. Is there anything this dude can't do?!?!

I was at the game today. SO angry that I still haven't made my "OMG ASDRUBAL!" sign yet. Would today have been perfect or what? I wonder how many of you were wondering just that...."did JJ remember to make the 'OMG ASDRUBAL!' sign and bring it along?" No. I didn't. My excuse today was that I was sitting in the middle of a really crowded section and didn't want to piss anyone off. And, I haven't made it yet.

I didn't bring my stupid broom head either, but I did invest in a foam broom from the souvenir shop. Man, I wish it wasn't so TINY. You can't see this thing on television or anything. Sigh. Here's a picture of the broom alongside a long envelope for size perspective.

Despite my lack of sign and stupid tiny foam broom, I did get a chance to explain some baseball to my friend Jess. I tried to explain how there are 2 leagues in the MLB "just like every other sport, you know?" but apparently baseball is the sport she knows the "most" about so she didn't quite get the comparison.

My friend T was also there and it was her first baseball game ever. She lives in Cleveland at the moment but is from Dayton, and had been visiting Dayton this weekend and drove all morning just to join us at the game! And then she cheered for the Tribe! So proud!!! She's about the quietest person I know too, and she was hollerin' right along with me. We agreed that a baseball game is a great outlet for a normally-quiet person. Nobody there knows you and as long as you don't swear, no one's going to complain about your yelling (please don't swear at baseball games, folks. It doesn't become you.)

The heat today was brutal. Just relentless sun. Yes, I am a weather wuss when it comes to going to Tribe games. I prefer not to go when it's freezing or sweltering. Afternoon games are not my favorite. You should SEE my arms...I seem to have missed a few spots with the sunscreen. I did manage to keep my face and ears pretty burn-free, and those are really important areas to keep safe. The hot sun did help clear out our section a bit and allowed us to spread out some. Half of the crowd had a long drive home to Columbus or Cincy and an air-conditioned car was a much better environment than a sweltering 7-2 ballgame.

I got the silliest sunburn. I rolled up my shirt sleeves so the burn ends at my shoulders. I look like I got burnt while getting an x-ray at the dentist's office, wearing that lead smock.

Today there were a bunch of military families at the game, with video greetings from their active-duty soldiers/Marines/sailors on the board. My friends and  I pretty much gave up complaining about the heat after seeing the first greeting. Ugh.

Ok so, game recap. Carrasco pitched 6 innings and was not that impressive. BUT he did only ultimately give up 4 runs and against a normal-caliber pitcher that is small change for the Indians. He also took it like a man and gave us 6 innings, which is how our starters roll now. They also roll by giving up 2 solo homers when they give up homers (like Carrasco did today). In fact, our staff has not given up any 3-run homers or grand slams this year. For his bravery and compliance, Carrasco got the W.

Durbin came in for the 7th and looked fantastic with two strikeouts and a flyout. After the offense gathered up 4 more runs in the bottom of the 7th, Raffi Perez got 3 ground-ball outs in the 8th. Newcomer Josh Judy was rolled out for the 9th (great way to make an easy first appearance!) We were instructed by someone on Twitter that he is to be called "Judge" (as in Judge Judy) so I managed to get a couple of judge jokes out to my emptying section. He looked swell, striking out the first guy he faced. Then he gave up two hits and then was saved by Ezequiel Carrera (a single-inning replacement in center for Brantley) on a super-star catch and got the final guy to fly out.

How are you liking the top of our order? I pointed out their top-of-the-order-ness a few days back but it was a highlight again today. Brantley, Cabrerra and Choo aligned for TEN hits today, two doubles, two homers, two stolen bases and 9 RBI.

Also hitting today were Orlando, Kearns and Hannahan. I knew Kearns couldn't stay under .200 forever! He raised his numbers with a TRIPLE!

Did you notice how most of the hits today went to right field? That's because I was sitting out there I think.

Nice looking defense today. Orlando was really on top of his game after he became a citizen on Thursday and followed that up with American-style lazy-assed errors Friday and Saturday. You saw Carrera's play and Kearns was all "rly!" in the outfield too. I love when guys have to play hard to vie for a job!

As for Reds defense, check this nonsense out. Herb Score always used to say that you'll see something interesting in every game. I would have actually felt a little bad for the Reds if we had won by two. Lucky for all of those goobers involved in that play that we won by 8 instead!

Hey, good news! This game was so delicious that I had to experience it twice. After a lovely dinner with my ladies at Flannagan's and some custard at East Coast in Lyndhurst, I just could not resist hearing what Hammy and Hegan had to say. So, I tended to my sun burn then sat back and listened to the audio archive. So you get a heapin' helpin' of Radio Chatter today, even though I said I wasn't going to have anything.

Did anyone take my advice and eschew television for the radio broadcast today? I hope someone did - it's worth it!

Ok so the next 3 games are against Boston. You remember Boston, right? Last time we saw them we swept them and left them at 0-6. Now all of a sudden they are dancing around 2nd in the AL East. Hmm. Well how about this? When we first saw the White Sox they kicked our ass, and then dropped to 10 games behind us in the standings and still kicked our ass. So standings are apparently meaningless. We just need to kick the Red Sox asses like we did before.

I'm thinking of trying to get someone to go out to the game with me Monday or Tuesday, since I know how awful Boston-fan-heavy these games can be. I think the Indians can benefit from my hollerin'. I think I shall cast that net on Facebook and see if I catch any more fishfans. Or maybe I'll just go by myself. I do have a free ticket voucher that expires at the end of May.

Radio Chatter:
"It looked like a drill that went bad."
- Mike Hegan on the weird double steal/errors in the bottom of the 1st.

"The last time I saw a play like that was at Bleser Park in Avon Lake when [my son] Nick was 8. Little league."
- Tom Hamilton on the weird double steal/errors in the bottom of the 1st.

"Volquez looks like he's wearing a hat that is two sizes too small for his head. Like those kids wore in the Little Rascals. He has to keep tugging and pulling to keep it on. [...] Who the heck is the equipment manager for the Reds? Give the guy a bigger hat!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Michael Brantley has had two hits today that haven't gone 60 feet."
- Tom Hamilton

"Volquez says 'let's go through the signs again' and [Reds catcher] Hernandez says 'you only have 3 pitches.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"The Indians lead it 6-1 and [Reds manager] Dusty Baker is going to the mound to choke Volquez."
- Tom Hamilton

"Another broken belt. I'll have to ask [equipment manager] Tony Amato what the budget for belts is. Asdrubal has exceeded it."
- Tom Hamilton on Asdrubal's second busted belt this weekend

"Oh by the way, on our daily update of oblique injuries, on which we have someone to add every day..."
- Tom Hamilton on the latest injury for the Twins

"When you're getting over 2 baserunners an inning, you're going to score some runs."
- Tom Hamilton's great insight

"First base is open and that didn't look accidental."
- Tom Hamilton on Asdrubal nearly getting hit by a pitch in the 8th

"Brandon has not tortured the Indians this weekend like he normally does."
- Tom Hamilton

"What's really amazing about the Indians on the home portion of this schedule...they've lost four games, they've only lost to two teams [Chicago and Tampa]."
- Tom Hamilton

"Good attempt by Edgar Renteria who five years ago would have made that play."
- Tom Hamilton

"Brandon Phillips...[laughing] he went to tag Orlando Cabrera who had stopped [running to second] and instead they high-fived each other and that completed the tag!"
- Tom Hamilton

"You knew this club was better, but nobody - nobody - foresaw a 29 and 15 record. As Herb used to say, that's why you play the game. Everybody and their brother can make a prediction and 99.9% of the people who make predictions don't have anything at stake so it's easy to predict."
- Tom Hamilton

"Hernandez just kind of lumbering into third [...] Is Ramon Hernandez hurt?"
"I just think Ramon doesn't run too good. He wasn't going to score, Tom. He wasn't going to try down 8 runs."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan in the 9th