Fan Appreciation Day...

...Was awesome! This is the third year in the row that I've gone to the last home game of the year and it seems to get better every year.

The deal was that players would be greeting fans at the gates from 11:30-12, so my friend and I left the 'burbs around 10:30 to get there on time. We left extra early because there was a Browns game downtown too and it was a good call on her part because we did hit traffic.

We got there with time to spare so we were able to mill around the Kids Fun Days area in the plaza. Not sure what this is all about as I don't have a kid (but my friend does so believe me we'll be back) but they were giving out all sorts of free stuff to kids and adults. We got nice canvas bags and an Indians scarf, plus we got to create a Christmas card to be sent to troops. We also could have gotten a foam visor and made a keychain but...meh.

There were extremely large snakes being shown off, just slithering down the alley. That was cool. My friend disagreed.

So around 11:40 they had the players come out and let the fans through the gate. Our gate featured Zach Putnam (actually it was "Who Was That?" until I just now looked it up), Justin Masterson and Jim Thome. This group did not include Perez, Shelley or Asdrubal so we ran through to another gate where we found Perez, Grady and Sipp. I wanted to take a picture of myself with Perez but I heard an usher tell someone no pictures with adults so, fair enough. They also said no autographs. The guys were handing out short packs of baseball cards. I got this picture:

I got another picture but my phone screwed it up. But anyway, Chris Perez did shake my hand. He's got some big paws! I've got big paws myself so it's nice to see that our closer dominates me in the hand area.

Then we ran over to the third gate where Ubaldo was having a great time having his photo taken with fans. If Asdrubal and Shelley had been there they were long gone and it was just Ubaldo and some coaches. And that was that.

Then we went to eat in the Terrace Club because our tickets allowed it. I'm pretty much done with the Terrace Club. Yeah, it's a nice place to sit down if you've got an hour to blow but the menu is very small, the food is not that good and it's expensive. And the service was super slow. Had they no idea that we had someplace to be?! Anyway...I think I am just going to stick with concessions anymore.


But not the hamburgers because they suck. After 11 games this season my pick for non-hotdog foods worth eating at the ballpark so far are the "Food Network" steak sandwiches (blue cheese - yum!) and the cotton candy.

I did try some stuff from the new "App Store" (they sell fried everything, except fried mozzarella!) and it was good but I am not a huge fan of fried food. I got the "trio" with  fried cookie dough, fried Twinkie and "funnel fries." One of those "good in the moment" food choices but by the drive home you question your decision. I wish I would have gone with their September "Fried Food of the Month" - fried mac & cheese. Oh well - next year!

Our seats were awesome, I got them off StubHub. Third row right behind the plate. The crowd there was sparse...I suspect season-ticket-holders or corporate clients must get bored by this time of the year. Plus there was a Browns game.

The seats behind the plate don't seem to get much sun...so it smells moldy back there! Really, $80/seat and it's moldy! Then again maybe that's just a September thing.

I trucked OMG around with me all morning (actually my friend did a lot of trucking for me!) but Asdrubal didn't play. First time that's happened! But since the 2 seats next to us were open, OMG sat there. I think it would have been EPIC to be able to put the sign to use being where we were situated (we actually were on TV quite a bit!) but alas...

Wouldn't you have loved to see OMG right there?

I did have my foam broom, my "Tribe Time Now" towel and some weird necklace consisting of beads and a plaster Chief Wahoo that I got at a garage sale early in the summer. None of these talismans seemed to work any sort of magic...

So there was a baseball game going on at this baseball game, which was also fun.

Good Fausto pitched 6 1/3, and after a shaky first he sailed through giving up just one run in the 5th and one in the 6th. The bullpen came in and did awesome (Raffy, Pestano, Smith) but our recently-hot bats couldn't overcome that deficit. We were tied and went into extra innings, and Sipp couldn't hold it in the 10th and then we couldn't heroic ourselves out of that, bat-wise.

The Twins had 2 more hits than us and that proved to make all the difference.

Fukudome was back to being awesome leadoff guy man, at least when he went 2 for 2 in his first 2 at-bats. Unfortunately this didn't lead to any run scoring. But he did do a lot of work out there in the outfield...that also came in the first 2 innings with 4 balls going out to him. Then he got his hits to right!

Santana and Hafner both went 1 for 4 and walked. Only Hafner managed to get any runs out of it - he came around to score twice.

Oh, do you know why? Because Shelley Duncan bats after Hafner and he rocks! Shelley went 3 for 2 today with a homer and 2 RBI. That makes, oh, TWENTY-TWO RBI in the month of September! And 7 homers in 72 at-bats. How about that?!

He tried in vain to make one of his patented "Did I do that?" catches in the outfield but it didn't work out so well this time. He put that paw up in the air and did not come down with a baseball this time. Instead the other guy came down with a triple. Oops!

My dad - who has not been paying attention this year - asked why he missed the catch if he was such a great outfielder. I said it was because he is not actually a great outfielder, just tall.

So in the 8th they took out Duncan (yep, Duncan, not Hafner) and put in Thome. Manny Acta apparently had been thinking about this bit of cleverness all night. Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan said how nice it was that Manny Acta "gets it." We all got to give Thome more ovation wheee!

Then Thome was walked and we got to boo. Then Chisenhall hit into a double play and that was that. That really killed me because we were tied and there was a man on base and who else but Shelley Duncan would you want up in this scenario? We got Thome instead. But oh well, the season's over I am not going to be bitchy about that move.

Then Thome came out of the dugout with a glove and stood at third. I guess this was Manny's master plan for TWO ovations! Because we all loved Thome as a fielder (?). But anyway, he stayed in for one pitch then they shoved a very confused Jerad Head out there and told him to go to left and called Lonnie back in to third. And then the crowd booed because, goddammit, if you're going to put Thome in to play third LET (MAKE) HIM PLAY THIRD! At least one whole batter, something! Standing there for one pitch is just stupid. Even if he plays and fucking sucks, we all at least get a good laugh out of it.Acta gave up on the game by taking Shelley out so why not stick with the theme and let Thome play an out? Ack.

That was the first time in my life that I've ever been slightly sickened by the whole idea of the designated hitter. A 41-year-old man with an $3mm contract who can't play one out in the field? Seriously?

Sorry for the un-positiveness. And Thome-hating! Argh what is my issue?!

Awwww, I'm tellin'!

Anyway, Lonnie did get a hit today and Jason Donald rocked it going 2 for 3. He's now hitting .320 and has a 5-game hitting streak with 9 hits in those 5 games!

Sweet Lou, he did not get a hit. But he seemed to look and smile at me between every play. He really appreciated my heckling encouragement now that I was sitting so close. He actually had 3 hits that, had they been an inch either way, would have actually ended up as hits but not outs. Poor Lou!

It started raining during the Tribe's last at-bat. It had actually sprinkled during the Twins' first at-bat. My friend and I tried to get in line to run the bases but...well so did 20,000 other people. Next time!

 All in all, I had a great afternoon at the ballpark. I had a great summer at the ballpark! Every time I sat in a different section and had a different experience. I saw a bunch of different types of games and, according to my calculations, saw 37 different players. Maybe even more! I tried a lot of food and a lot of Diet Dr Pepper and managed not to collect any more collectible cups because I have 10 already and that is a full set.

I took 11 different friends with me to these 11 games, one of them going to her first game ever and ended up going to 5 total this summer! I also got Baby Jack into a game who not only went to his first game but also got to hang with the Hargroves. I met Hammy, Hegan and Rosie and got my sign on the big board a few times. I got sunburnt and rained on and watched some milestones hit and records broken.

I hope next year I get to take my niece and some of my friends' kids to games. I already started devising a plan where they pick me up at the Rapid station and leave when they've had enough and I stay to the end and take the train home. I also think next year I will buy more StubHub tickets and try for autographs.

And I definitely, definitely will get Shelley to autograph my foul ball.

So we've got 3 more games in Detroit then we're done. Don't forget to tune in for the next 3 days to get as much Cleveland baseball out of this year as possible.

Remember this...even if we lose the next 3, you still got 6 whole months of Cleveland baseball. Don't be a sour puss - be positive!

So, see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Shelley Duncan knows he should have caught that ball."
"Everybody in the ballpark knows."
- Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton on Duncan's missed ball in the first

"You aren't going to tell me that Jim Thome is going to come in and pinch run for Travis Hafner are you?"
"That would surprise everyone. Jimmy would be surprised too!"
- Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton on Acta's "surprise"

"Lou Marson's gonna say 'What do I have to do to get a base hit?'"
- Mike Hegan says bloop hits and line drive outs do not even out

"Just another day in the office for Duncan in September. He's 2 for 2 with a home run and 2 RBI."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Oh for the love of Pete...ball two! Here comes Tim Belcher. I bet Belcher is hoping the home plate umpire comes out there. This is absurd..."
"And the home plate umpire isn't going."
"He knows better."
"He's telling Perez 'as soon as he gets to the dirt area, tell me and I'm going to turn around.'"
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan (and Tim Belcher) are not impressed with the young ump behind the plate

"Oh please don't let it end with me getting hit..."
"If it does, do you want those golf balls?"
- Mike Hegan and Tom Hamilton on a foul ball hit in to the booth

"This is a situation where the heart rules the head."
- Mike Hegan on the display of Thome in the 8th

Big Bashers

So you'll never guess how we won this game. It was all homers, all by the top of the order, and without the help of Shelley Duncan! Wow!

Oh AND we also won due to some stellar pitching by Fausto that didn't include any big innings or melt downs. Just 3 earned runs over 6 innings and 3 strikeouts. He got himself a WIN and is now 7-15.

That #bullpenmafia was back today, with Smith, Pestano and Chris Perez. Three innings, 3 batters each, 3 strikeouts total. It was capped off by a fancy twirl and save number 35 for Perez.

Sweet and simple:

Fukudome, 1 for 4 with a homer.

Kipnis, 2 for 4 with a double and stolen base.

Asdrubal, 1 for 4 with a homer.

Hafner, 2 for 4 with a homer and 2 RBI.

Gavin Floyd shut everyone else down except for Trevor Crowe who got 1 hit (and a stolen base!) Considering so few guys got hits and nobody walked, you will all be happy to know that there were only 7 strikeouts! Yesterday we struck out 11 times in just 7 innings. Progress!

So Asdrubal...he has fallen in to the "get hot in Cleveland, get hurt" trap and strained his back while swinging the bat in the 8th. Tom Hamilton went all scorched-earth on me and said "maybe done for the season" right away which is just NOT FAIR because I have tickets to 2 more games yet! Maybe I need to paste "Shelley Duncan" over the "Asdrubal" part of the sign?

Did you see Jack Hannahan was in today? They say he's all better! So, one up, one down...

Just checked out the lineup for tonight's game. Zeke is in, and so is Thome and so is....Valbuena?! Aye aye aye! I guess we just have no choice with this schedule.

Zach McAllister with his 12.27 ERA will be facing another young guy with 0 wins. Maybe it'll be an awesome slug-fest again. For both teams equally of course.

See you tonight!

Radio Chatter:
"If you're gonna miss, miss off the plate not on the plate."
- Mike Hegan gives sage advice

"The guy's as big as Paul Bunyan."
- Tom Hamilton on Adam Dunn

"You ask the man on the street who Juan Pierre is, they might say he's a French chef. Our owns an ice cream company."
- Mike Hegan remembering the sponsors

"This isn't like the NBA where all you have to do is be a mediocre ball club and get into the playoffs."
- Tom Hamilton

"Joe Smith showed some hops!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Well, since we believe in Santa Claus...couldn't he deliver Michael Cuddyer?"
- Tom Hamilton's Christmas list

Getting Better

No, seriously! Shut up! This game was so much better than the last 2 Texas games. Weren't you paying attention?

Ok our pitcher still had one big messy inning, just like last night. And we lost like the last 2 nights.

BUT...we only lost by 3, which is pretty awesome. Comparatively.

Fausto wasn't all that hot. He gave up 5 earned runs, 6 in all. I guess it could have been worse, him being Fausto Carmona and all.

We didn't get to see Chris Perez tonight boo! But we saw Raffy Perez (who gave up a run, wtf?) and then Zach Putnam. Putnam did better tonight than he did on the 13th, just like Hagadone did better last night than he did on the 13th (see?? Better!)

We got 10 hits tonight and "only" 6 strikeouts. Four of our hits were doubles, which is cool. Oddly enough no homers for us (Texas got 2 tonight but we had 3 in the last 2 games).

I like Neftali Feliz's name. It rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? I also like that he gave up 2 runs to us. Holla!

You know what's not getting better? Choo's oblique. He came in for one at-bat then Zeke replaced him He's done for the season. DONE. Sucks but...at least we get more Shelley Duncan time? And Choo gets more time with his new baby.

I'm just gonna give one last CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ...

Fukudome and Asdrubal had the night off so Donald was the leadoff, then Kipnis. Donald got one of those doubles tonight and scored a run. Kipnis went 1 for 5 as well and extended his 6-game, multi-month hitting streak!

Zeke was back and we haven't seen him but for one at-bat since 9/9. He went 1 for 3 in Choo's spot.

With Grady back and Fukudome on the team, plus Zeke and Donald...it looks like we have FOUR potential leadoff guys now! That's not too bad to have speedy guys who consistently get on base to pepper throughout your lineup, huh?

Carlos Santana was impressive tonight, going 1 for 2 (a double!) and then walking 2 times. Unfortunately he was stranded 2 out of 3 times on base and only scored once.

Grady Sizemore didn't get just ONE hit tonight, he had TWO! Hallelujah! Please please please just keep hitting, son, and stay well to the end of the season so we can all go through our long winters' naps thinking how great it is to have Grady Sizemore back.

Please?

Hey Shelley Duncan, you rock!

Yeah, I'm talkin' about you!

Tonight, 2 for 3 with a single, a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Sadly, no amazing plays in the field but he's no Asdrubal, yaknow?

Lonnie Chisenhall did not have a hit tonight, stopping his hitting streak at 7. He didn't get a home run or anything!

Lou Marson, however, continues to not be too bad.

You're not too bad yourself, fan!

Tonight he got 2 more RBI on a double, giving him 4 in the last 4 games.

So thank God we're out of Texas, amirite? On to Minnesota to face the Twins who have lost 5 games in a row. HEADS WILL ROLL if we can't at least win this series!

Or not, whatever. Just as long as we're always getting better.

See you there - 8:10 PM!

Radio Chatter:
"Herb [Score] always said 'come to the ball park, you might see something you have never seen before' but I don't think he meant seeing a 23-pound cat owned by his engineer."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Carmona is complaining about the heat, you know it's hot."
- Tom Hamilton

"I know the ball travels well here and whatnot, Rosie...but Indians pitchers have made too many mistakes."
- Tom Hamilton

"Choo's season is done. [...] The Indians haven't said that, I have. I'm the new head of the medical staff here. You can address me as 'Dr. Hamilton' from now on."
- Tom Hamilton

"Indians not going quietly here tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

WTF SHELLEY DUNCAN?!

I'm wondering if now that Asdrubal has seemingly hung it up for the season (hitting first and second pitches now, dude) that I need to retire "OMG ASDRUBAL!!" for now and debut a "WTF SHELLEY DUNCAN?!" sign.

Of course, that probably won't get on the big board because it's somewhat naughty. And Shelley being awesome is seemingly an every-day thing right now (like Asdrubal being awesome) but what makes it special is that it's unexpected. So you don't want to spoil the unexpected with a "professional" sign.

Carmona wasn't that bad today, for Carmona. He went 5 innings and struck out 4, only giving up 3 runs. That's do-able for a good team to overcome, especially when you're playing the White Sox who aren't the Tigers.

The #bullpenmafia had a hell of a time this afternoon. The White Sox loaded up the bases three times. Maybe four. They had 9 walks over 4 innings and 5 guys had their chance out there. They brought Chris Perez in for the 10th inning and he loaded up the bases and let a grand slam go. Oops!

Sizemore was back in today, but not leading off. Good call because he struck out 3 times. Unfortunately ol' Fukudome who DID lead off did not fare any better. Well better in that he only struck out twice but worse in that he didn't get on base in 5 tries compared to Grady's 4.

Jason Kipnis, on the other hand, is a stud and got himself a hit today. He's got 3 hits in the 3 games he's been back. No home runs yet but...give him time! He did look decent in the field today too.

Thome was in today, playing again against his old team. Standing ovation and all that. Blah Blah. But HEY! He got 2 hits!

As I alluded to, Shelley Duncan had another AWESOME game today. That is why he is playing alongside Jim Thome instead of in lieu of Jim Thome. Dude got another homer and a double today, meaning his 5th homer in the past 7 days and 10th RBI. He has more than DOUBLED his home run total for this year in just one week. Yes he has!

Lonnie is still in and he is still there making us not miss Jack Hannahan THAT much. At least not so much that we're in tears. He went 1 for 4 today and scored a run.

So Duncan got 2 of our 3 RBI and guess who showed up to get the 3rd? Matt LaPorta! He had to come up because Santana was a bit beat up so we needed a first baseman, and Shelley was already in the outfield so there you have it. He went 1 for 4 today but that one was a 1-run double! You're a sneaky one, Matt LaPorta! Not sneaky enough to score from third on a pop to shallow center, though. Remember that for next time.

Sweet Lou also went 1 for 4, and was caught stealing. He stole a base the other night and now I think he thinks he can do stuff like that.

Speaking of stolen bases, Zeke was missing today. Hmmm I hope he's not hurt...

In case you were wondering, they kept the LOB down again today. But strikeouts? 15. Gah!

Tomorrow is baseball and football, at 2 PM and 1 PM respectively. Both are on TV even, can you IMAGINE?!

My strategy will be to watch the Browns, and flip over to the Indians during breaks, then after the game listen to the radio archive. That is the plan.

I think somebody in my house is making cupcakes.

So, if you can tear yourself away from football for a few minutes we'll see you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"Alex Rios and Adam Dunn are the reasons the White Sox aren't doing better than they are right now."
- Tom Hamilton

"Here's Adam Dunn. He gets booed from the moment he sticks his head out of the dugout."
- Tom Hamilton

"I tell you one thing. If a strikeout was a vrirus the Indians team would be flat on it's back. It's not just one guy, everybody has it."
- Tom Hamilton

"If Adam Dunn strikes out here he might get into his car and never come back."
- Tom Hamilton, before Adam Dunn struck out

Lou Marson Said 'Hi' To Me!

That was pretty sweet! He was warming up before the game and I had seats out by him and I'm like "HI LOU MARSON!" and he smiled and waved! Then Chris Perez came by a little while later, with some other guys, and I'm like "HI CHRIS PEREZ!" and he didn't say nothin!

I think Grady was enjoying people yapping at him from the bleachers during the game. He sorta waved at them or something.

Some older dude in a Carmona jersey came down to where I was sitting, before the game while Carmona was stretching and was all "HEY CARMONA! CARMONA! CAN YOU GET ME A BALL?!" like the starter was going to interrupt his damn stretches 5 minutes before the game to get you a ball, dude.

I think it was that guy's fault that Carmona was distracted. Boo!

But Nick Hagadone looked pretty great, striking out 3 over 2 innings and only giving up one hit. 

Oh so my "OMG ASDRUBAL!!!" sign was on the big board FOUR times tonight. I think just me, the "We are all Kipnisses" and the "BOO TIGERS!" signs, both right next to me, were the only signs in the joint. But hey, that's a good strategy. Just like last time - go on a Tuesday night and be visible. Perhaps I will finally become "a thing"!

Asdrubal was all right this game. He did about 3 sign-worthy feats! Before the game the usher told me I couldn't put my sign up during the innings, only inbetween. He was nice enough so I minded him. Well sorta. One time Asdrubal had a nice play to end the inning so I just shot right up with the sign and left it up for a bit. Another time he got a hit so I just flashed it. Same with the third time. No one in my section seemed to care so that was good.

Fukudome! What about that guy, huh? He doesn't seem to care how good or bad we're doing, he's just going to get on base, get a hit, get a home, get an RBI, whatever. Tonight he hit his third homer as an Indian compared to three as a Cub in twice as many games. Plus, he was running all over the place out there in right. Nice stuff!

Kipnis was back today! I didn't know I'd get that treat. And since he's awesome he just came right back and got a hit! He also looked mighty fine out there at 2nd.

You know what tho? They took him out - for Valbuena! No shit! The guy behind me noted that his average isn't even as much as he weighs (I suspect maybe he was a skinny guy). And then, if wonders never cease - he had both a great play AND a clutch hit! He must have felt everyone steaming at him.

So that's about it for tonight's game. Much funner being there than watching or listening, I guess. The weather was awesome. The sky was Tiger orange and blue, I swear to God!

It was sort of ominous...but no rain in sight. And I got to wear my new swanky Indians sweatshirt I bought at the last Tigers game I went to.

Unfortunately the radio archive is not available online right now and I'm not going to stick around to wait for it, so we'll have to go without radio chatter tonight.

Tomorrow is Masterson versus Verlander at noon. Just be glad there is baseball tomorrow, ok?

No Heroes Today

For however tired our team might have been today, Oakland is technically more tired due to rain delays and previous schedule. So we can't really blame our performance today on too many innings last night.

They did roll out the same lineup as last night - aside from Thome who can't play a day game after a night game due to back issues - and that is pretty ballsy. But, now is not the time to decide you're tired. There is a lot of baseball to be played!

We were shut out today, which is thankfully unusual. Only 5 hits and no extra base hits. Jeepers!

Fausto started and he was all meh. Three earned runs (with a 4th un-earned run) over 6 innings. Not what we really want. Although in the end it was a wash.

Nick Hagadone and Corey Kluber were brought up today due to the bullpen being wrecked from last night. Hagadone gave up 3 in 1 1/3 innings and now his ERA is over 16. OOPS! No idea if we'll see those kids more or what.

Shelley Duncan was in today for Thome and he got a hit! I forgot to mention that the foul ball I got on Monday was hit by Shelley Duncan. Kind of disappointed in myself for not being more excited about that! See how awesome Shelley Duncan is??

Fukudome is still hot, getting another of our 5 hits today. He is basically the veteran on days like this, along with Hannahan, when Thome isn't around and Asdrubal isn't performing.

Speaking of Asdrubal they did give him the 8th and 9th innings off. Good call.

Oh so Sweet Lou specifically asked to catch today, after catching all 16 yesterday. Such a stud! And he was rewarded for his awesomeness - or rather, we were awarded for his awesomeness - by him going 2 for 3. He TRIED to be the hero but...no go.

That's about it for today's game. Everyone keep an eye on the DET/KC game going on right now which is 10-8 KC in the 7th. But it's "only" the 7th...

We face the Royals next, and they are hitting some. Having very little issue with the Tigers, really. What's really going to suck is that the Tigers and White Sox play each other next. One of them has to lose every night. We have to win, of course. There is no choice!

So, Central Time tomorrow, 8:05 PM for Big Nasty versus Bruce Chen (ugh).

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"I'll tell you what, Coco Crisp, the calendar says he's 31 but he runs like he's 21."
- Tom Hamilton

"Gio Gonzalez is the sort of guy you look at and say 'How in the world did he get traded so much?' But they were always big trades."
- Tom Hamilton

"The fan says she's ok...she gets an early start on some firewood for the fireplace this winter."
- Tom Hamilton describing a fan being hit by a bat

"Right now for Carmona, he can't buy a break."
- Tom Hamilton in the 7th after bases are loaded

"Well why should today be any different? The Indians have not done anything easily this year. [...] If the Indians were a little league team they'd be well under .500 this year. But because we play 7-8-9, they are in the hunt."
- Tom Hamilton

"While you would like to have Victor Martinez in the middle of your order, from an importance standpoint, would you rather have him right now or Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone?"
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians were voting today, Gio Gonzalez would be on his way to Cooperstown."
- Tom Hamilton

Just Like Before

Yeah Jim Thome got his 5-millionth HR for the Tribe and that was just like the 90s. And wow was it awesome because we need Thome to do shit like that right now, for real.

But what I meant was that tonight's game was just like the Indians of April and May.

Fausto started and he actually wasn't post-break Fausto he was earlier-season Fausto, albeit his meltdown came slowly without huge innings, but 5 earned is a bit much for an "ace." He didn't strike out many but he did get two double plays.

The bullpen was pretty effective, save for Sipp's one run. Although early in the season they were giving up a lot more runs than they are now (none runs) so it was a bit of a "throwback" for them too.

Following Sipp were Raffy, Smith and Chris Perez who combined for two innings, with Rage striking out two in the ninth as well as making a sweet play to get the runner at 3rd on a bunt. Dontcha just love it?

Another thing that made tonight's game a "throwback" is that everyone was contributing, even guys you wouldn't expect or guys who are obviously not our main guys. Because those guys are all on the DL.

And the biggest excitement is that the charge was led by OMG ASDRUBAL!!!! Apparently pre-All-Star-Game Asdrubal yay!

Ok so, Fukudome was hitting lead-off tonight because Brantley is hurt and he actually was the leadoff guy for the Cubs before coming here. Zeke has been ok but Fukudome really has heated up lately. He seems to really be settling in finally and lord knows it was right on time. He went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a double, scoring 2 runs.

Asdrubal was back in the 2-spot and he must have gotten over missing Brantley and Kipnis because he was ALIVE tonight. He has been abysmal lately and it looks like when Asdrubal isn't hitting, we aren't winning. But tonight....it was all back, baby! He went 3 for 5 tonight with a single, double and homer. Oh and FOUR RBI. And he scored a run. And painted a house. And baked a cake.

Choo made an appearance tonight but it wasn't meant to be. While he was able to magically heal his thumb many weeks early he has not been able to heal his oblique overnight. He got 2 at-bats in before he was sat for Carrera. Carrera got a hit so Choo, you rest up, buddy. Oblique massages for the whole family.

Carlos Santana did nothing. Nothing. How weird is that lately?

Hey did you hear it was Jim Thome's 41st birthday today? Wow, 41. That's way older than me and I am way old. But he totally hit a homer, yes he did. And then Tom Hamilton got so excited that he called him "James Howard Thome" like he was his son. Precious.

Don't forget to check out Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball. on Facebook, who should have both Asdrubal's and Thome's homers soon. In the meantime check out a Thome call from 1995 and a replay of Thome's first at-bat yesterday.

Hi Shelley Duncan, playing left field and going 1 for 3! Throwing out a guy at home! We love you! Play more baseball in Cleveland!

Jason Donald - what's up with that kid? He's totally trying to kick Cord Phelps to the curb. Little brother was 3 for 4 tonight with a run scored. Hittin' .280 and all. And no errors at second. Holla!

Supermanahan, too, hitting something over .400 since little Johnny has come along. I asked my friend what he has done since his little boy Jack has come along (shortly after Johnny). He said he ate some cookies. Jack (the adult) went 2 for 4 tonight with a TRIPLE!! and got himself 3 more RBI to add to his collection. That is 6 over his last 4 games.

Oh Sweet Lou, still not stellar at the plate but gosh darnit you loumared (caught stealing) another Royal today. In a surprise move, Chisenhall came in to pinch hit for Lou in the 8th with 2 outs. And he got a HIT. Then Fukudome walked. Then Asdrubal won the game. Or did Chisenhall win the game? YOU GO LONNIE!!

Actually Joe Smith won the game, pitching to one guy and striking him out. He got the W. Ha!

Oh man, tomorrow's gonna be awesome. It'd better be awesome. Because you recall what has happened every Sunday for the past 2 months, right? I am READY for some SUNDAY MAGIC and I don't want to fall asleep!

Man, Masterson's ERA is 2.83? That's pretty wow. And 5th in the AL, too. Facing a guy tomorrow, Chen, who's been pretty hot so we really need to get dude some run support. Maybe Jim Thome will sit everyone down before the game and say "guys"... no, "fellas, we really need to give Justin some run support." And then it will happen and we'll win on a Sunday and then I'll go mow my lawn happy as a clam, then ONE DAY TIL GROVER!!!

See you soon - 1:05 and don't forget you can watch it for free on WKYC!

Radio Chatter:
"Justin Verlander was human today, he gave up 4 runs."
- Tom Hamilton

"As always, Fausto working hard out there on the mound and it shows. As always, the perspiration dripping off that cap."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Boy if the Indians didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any at all."
- Tom Hamilton's take on the string of injuries

"You can't throw the ball better than Lou Marson."
- Tom Hamilton, amen

"They could hear the cheers in Toledo when Jim Thome cleared the 19 foot wall in left."
- Tom Hamilton

"They're not looking forward to tee times in October. They want to play."
- Tom Hamilton

"...he took the [LSU] Tigers to the College World Series. He worked the final two innings of relief against Texas when LSU won the championship. You do that, this isn't that big a deal."
- Tom Hamilton on KC pitcher Louis Coleman

"If this guy doesn't like veal parmesan then he's a Communist."
- Tom Hamilton on Johnny Giavotella

"I tell you what - Eric Hosmer has learned to cheat. He took that back foot and stepped...I don't think he was on that bag when he caught the ball."
- Mike Hegan

"Coleman hung a breaking ball and Asdrubal was ready."
- Mike Hegan

*headdesk*

Carmona was pretty good, only giving up 2 runs.

You'd think 2 runs would be an easy obstacle against Seattle, who I think are possibly the worst team in the AL. They are bad in a lot of areas.

You'd think 2 runs would be an easy obstacle when your 8 and 9 guys go 4-for-4 and 2-for-3. But not when your top 6 get 2 hits between them.

You'd think we'd capitalize on 2 unearned runs on 2 errors. But instead we committed 2 errors and gave up one unearned run ourselves.

Lou Marson had a fucking good game tonight. He threw out a guy at 2nd and went 3-for-3 (the aforementioned 4-for-4 counted Marson's replacement going 1-for-1).

Hey guess who's going to go party in the Hargrove Suite on Monday, with Mr. and Mrs. Grover themselves? Why, it's me!

I bid a bunch of money for the charity Coats for Kids and won the big prize of a night out with the Grovers for me and 3 of my friends. So that's pretty awesome news. I wonder if we'll be on TV? That would be weird. You could see me on TV only you wouldn't know which one was me! I'll be the one smiling!

I've got to keep it cool until then. So far I've been smiling a lot, and looking off into the distance. Today when I mowed my lawn I was just all smiles. My neighbors probably thought I was having too much fun on that tractor seat.

Tomorrow we've got 2, at 1:05 and 7:05, but I'll be late on the night game because it's fondue night at the Melting Pot, yo!

I felt pretty bad at the start of this post, due to the game. But remembering that I get to meet a baseball player next week and there's going to be 3 games in the next 24 hours, well now I feel pretty awesome.

See you tomorrow at 1:05 - keep smilin'!

Radio Chatter:
"Vargas either pitches extremely well or is very easy to hit."
- Tom Hamilton

"That's the beauty of baseball. Carerra is just .118 versus left handed pitchers. Was missing the curveball, made an adjustment and got the game-tying RBI."
- Tom Hamilton

"I can't tell you the plot of 'The Avengers' that they're filming in Cleveland, but there are some bomb scenes based on what we've heard."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"When you have a young team, you have the opportunity to have more guys miss games because of babies."
- Tom Hamilton

"...that's a high-school play."
- Tom Hamilton is disappointed in Zeke's baserunning error

"David Copperfield would have trouble getting out of this jam."
- Tom Hamilton on Perez's 9th inning jam

Scoreboard Watching

Today was a great day for scoreboard watching because we were playing one of the teams we want to watch, and we're only interested in one other team.

The Tigers lost and the White Sox lost so we gained a game on both of them (1.5 over the Sox, 2.5 under the Tigers). Needless to say, it was a BIG WIN!!!

Fausto Carmona was MONEY tonight. Do the kids still say that? It seems appropriate here. He's been pretty solid since he got back to work in the second half of July but tonight was definitely his best start of the season. Against the team responsible for his worst starts of the season - 18 runs over 8 innings in 2 games. He was totally cool. Carrasco cool (when Carrasco was still cool).

Fausto gave up just one run over 8 1/3. He struck out 6 and had 15 ground ball outs!

The only help he needed was from Chris Perez to finish them off in the 9th. He got the save (Carmona left a guy on base) and also got some more work, which is great. He has said that he does better when he gets work, and hiding him from view isn't going to help anyone.

Speaking of Fausto pitching completely differently than usual against the White Sox - how about Buehrle? Sucked! He is usually very awesome against us, every year. We totally gave Mark Buehrle a loss, y'all!

Once again we ALMOST got an Everybody Hits, but Sweet Lou was too busy catching/calling an awesome game to get his hit on. He did walk and then score so he's got that going on.

Apparently Brantley is having real and continuing pain in that wrist, but so far it looks like he's going to stick it out for the rest of the season. That must really suck for him. They were saying on the radio that it hurts most to swing and miss. Yeowch!

Choo was all FIGHTING! tonight with his 3 hits in 5 at-bats! He must have been pounding the Red Bull all day because he was working his ass off in the outfield last night. I swear he was involved in almost every play. Today he just had WINGS!

Asdrubal - 7-game hitting streak! I put my OMG ASDRUBAL!!! sign in my garage and now it makes me all fired up for baseball every time I get in the car.

Both Santana and Fukudome went 2 for 4 tonight and neither struck out! Santana smashed yet another double. Once again it seems like he's got more than he really does - but he's still short of Asdrubal.

Want to see a cool picture that will make you go "Awww..." and then feel a little racist?

MLB.com

I wonder if those guys sort of hate each other because they might end up fighting for a job, or if they have camaraderie because they're sort of similar ducks in an unfamiliar pond? I wonder how many times so far people have asked Choo to translate for Fukudome and they both had to be polite about it?

Jason Donald is still doing pretty well at the plate. He seems about even with Kipnis in the field and while he's not hitting Kipnisly (out of the park) he is hitting fairly reliably. It feels like he's doing well enough for Manny to keep him in longer to let Kipnis heal whatever muscle strain he's got as long as possible.

I forget what they said about Kipnis' return...Friday maybe?

Tomorrow's game looks awesome. Masterson, who rocks, versus some dude who's given up 4 in each of his last 4 starts. I am hoping maybe for another Everybody Hits tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"I wish they still had the scoreboards that showed the other scores from around the league all the time. Who cares about this game? Who cares about strikes and outs?"
- Tom Hamilton wants to know who's winning the Tigers/Twins game, dangit!

"Thank goodness for that, the Odor X. [...] Rosie is in the upper level up there and sometimes on warm summer days it gets a little gamey in here."
- Mike Hegan helping with the ad-libbing on the Dr. Scholl's commercials

"Twenty three thousand are stunned right now."
- Tom Hamilton after the Indians take a 4-1 lead in the 7th

"Adam Dunn runs like your grandmother. He's at second."
- Tom Hamilton

"Some guys at third base, look like everything's a fight. But not Hannahan!"
- Tom Hamilton

"This must be the most satisfying start of the season for Fausto Carmona."
- Tom Hamilton

"You get an 0-2 with Konerko and you might roll it up there and he will take a swing at it. He's not very discerning."
- Tom Hamilton

Fighting It Out

Man, was it a long day. I spent half the day waiting for my friend to post info about his new baby on Facebook so I could finally share in the revelry (you can't scoop a guy's story about his son being born, especially if you have all the same friends). Then when that got done, I spent the rest of the day counting down the minutes to tonight's game. I had to leave work a few minutes early because I was so useless by then. Took the dog for a walk and hung out with my niece for a bit.

We went over the Tribe lineup a few times...she hasn't watched a game since Choo was still in. So I had to teach her how to say "Fukudome" (a reasonable "foo-koo") and we worked on Asdrubal some more ("doobal"). He favorite was "Zeke."

I also made a point to seek out the game on television, much like I would with a playoff game. It felt like a playoff game to me. This game made a 2-game difference in the standings. This was the AL's best pitcher versus our nominal ace. This was game could break or extend a 14-game winning streak over the Tigers at home. This game was important.

The title of tonight's post is pretty spot-on. Our team was fighting it out the entire game - literally and figuratively! More in a minute...

First off - Good Fausto showed up. You may think that he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) that that's not "good." Well we scored 10 runs off the Kitties last night. If you think Good Fausto didn't show up you also didn't see him pitch innings 3-7 because he was fucking awesome. His 4th and 5th innings he matched Verlander with 3 up, 3 down. His slider was right down in there, it was great stuff.

He only struck out 6 to Verlander's 10, and gave up 7 hits to Verlander's 3...but he gave up the same amount of earned runs and you know who gave up a homer? Verlander - not Carmona. Just a great start for him and his 3rd great start in a row.

Sipp! and Smith were awesome, each with a strikeout and no runs. They really held tight!

Ok as for the "literal" fighting, Santana missed another play at first, on the first play of the game. Granted, it was Chisenhall who got the throwing error but it was Santana who subsequently got reamed in the dugout by Asdrubal. I wonder if he screamed at him in Spanish. Angry, rude Spanish. That'd be even cooler. Manny Acta and Fausto Carmona had to break them up! Everyone on the TV and on the radio and on Twitter was giving props to Asdrubal for being the "veteran" and slapping some sense into Santana.

Then in the 2nd, Santana got a solo homer so....yeah!

And in the 3rd, both Sweet Lou and Kipnis walked and Asdrubal doubled them BOTH in with 2 outs and 2 strikes. So - YEAH!

That was all the scoring we did (the only other hitting was Lonnie with a single in the 5th) but it was pretty sweet the way it worked out. I am really excited we put together 3 runs against a guy who's ERA is under 3 and is considered the best pitcher in the AL. He's always awesome against us. In fact, I do believe they switched up his schedule to have him pitch us. Then after he left, their 32-save closer came in. So...3 runs? I'll take it.

Winning the series I'll take also. Going against the Twins next while the Tigers take on the O's....well, uh...hey maybe their bullpen is still tired?

We had some nice defense tonight too, in case you think all we had to do was bat well. Fukudome showed some leather to make up for the error in the 1st. This Kipnis-Asdrubal DP really saved Fausto's ass. Zeke was throwing himself around the outfield tonight too.

Speaking of Kipnis - hopefully someone gives him a "you can't be a hero every night" speech tonight, as he was pretty miserable compared to last night. He went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Granted, nobody else other than the feisty Latinos to either side of him was hitting tonight, but it's a pretty far fall from 5 hits to 2 strikeouts. Let's not see that again, ok?

No Radio Chatter tonight. I'm glad I didn't listen on the radio, to be honest. I heard some of Hammy's calls in a recap and I think I would have busted my spleen or something when he called Santana's almost-homer in the 6th. Then I may have popped an eyeball with the anticipation he laid on in the 9th, trying to be prophetic about a come-from-behind win. My overall health was greatly improved by laying off the radio dramatics for a day.

I am kinda sad that I forgot my broom at home, tho. I'm sorry if that in any way cost us a win.

Tomorrow Justin Masterson goes for his 10th win against Carl Pavano of the Twins, who may or may not have a creepy mustache. I guess I won't know until some videos are posted.

See you then!

We Are All Kipnisses

What do you think about that little slogan? Perhaps too soon, but interesting to think about. Someone drew up a poster already. I didn't come up with the slogan or anything - just seeing it on Twitter.

Missed posting last night because I was having an awesome time with my friend M, listening to the game on the radio. That's the ultimate right there, I say. I love listening on the radio but usually the television is the preferred mode for catching the game as a pair or a group. If you can find a friend who enjoys listening as much as you do, well - hang on to that friend.

Anyway, listening with a friend does not lend itself to taking notes so I got to re-listen to the game this morning. That also turned out to be pretty awesome because there's no afternoon game today (I'm guessing they don't play afternoon games in Texas in August because it's probably 125 degrees). So I get to sleep in then get up and listen to some baseball and still have time for a nap before the game tonight. What? It's Sunday - we nap!

Ok so I bet you're just about tired of reading about me wax poetic about how and when I catch Indians games and would rather read me waxing poetic about JUST HOW FUCKING AWESOME WAS THAT GAME?!

Very little went on during the first 6 innings of the game. We got 3 hits and a walk, and nobody scored. Oh yeah - nobody scored for Texas, either!

Carmona was rock solid in this game - OMG! He was like the Carmona we imagine him to be.  Only 2 strikeouts but 13 ground outs! He eventually did give up 2 earned runs in the 7th (2 un-earned as well) but IMHO it was past his time, due to the heat.

Wanna see a funny exchange from Twitter?

hoynsie (Paul Hoynes): It's 106 degrees and Fausto Carmona hardly looks like he's sweating. What gives? #Indians.
MarkSchwab (Mark Schwab): @hoynsie There's an "ice water in his veins" line somewhere in there
positivetribe (The Positive Tribe): @MarkSchwab Is that why he's prone to melting?
MarkSchwab: @positivetribe Ba-doom, CHING! (Canned laughter)

Ha ha! Look at me being clever on the Internet!

After Carmona was Sipp, Hermann and Chris Perez. Luckilly, also after Carmona was 4 runs scored by the Indians. Because for some reason, even though Sipp and Pestano were lights-out, Chris Perez saw fit to give up a run in the 9th.

I think I officially hate the All Star Game now. Asdrubal and Perez have only been percentages of themselves since they got back from Arizona. Asdrubal went to the break with 7 errors and has made 6 errors (one tonight, which resulted in 2 un-earned runs) since the break. Perez had given up 9 earned runs before the break, and already 7 since.

So yeah, while I was excited to see my two favorite Indians representing...I am now thoroughly disgusted. Being alongside the greatest players in the game is no place for a Cleveland Indian!

All right so what of the exciting offense that ensued tonight? I shall explain!

In the 7th, Fukudome and SHELLEVY DUNCAN teamed up to score the night's first run. Not a homer for Duncan but a double! Then Shelley was pulled for Carrera as a runner.

Chisenhall didn't get a hit but he moved Carrera over to third. Sweet Lou walks and then there's a pitching change. And...the pitcher just dropped the ball for a balk! So Zeke walks in from 3rd. I do believe this is the FIFTH run we've scored this year off balks.

Then with a guy in scoring position, Evildoer Michael Young helps us all out with a bad throw and Lou scores. That's how we got our 3 runs in the third - messy, but in the books.

Then yadda yadda we're down 3-4 in the 9th.

Once again, Fukudome got on base and scored, thanks to the genius of Zeke being there to bunt him over and then Chisenhall getting his second hit of the night to finish the deal (recall in the 7th Shelley was there to double Fukudome in and Zeke came in to run for him). A little veteran-on-sprout team action, there and the game is tied!

Brantley, who we love and miss dearly, showed us his wrist was just fine and gets his first hit of the night to get Chisenhall in with the go-ahead run. He hit the ball so hard that it just popped out of Nelson Cruz's glove!

Pitching change.

Jason Kipnis goes DEEP for his 5th homer in 7 games (now in 3 different parks) to score 2 runs and put us up 7-4!!!! I am just amazed at this kid, really. He's got a 7-game hitting streak with 10 hits and 5 homers in those 7 games. Exciting to see him - and of course his fellow sprouts - play every day ESPECIALLY this late in the season where that sort of stuff is EXACTLY what we need!

Asdrubal was up after Kipnis and he had been having a shitty night, including an error. But he did get a single and extend his own hitting streak to 9.

Then Perez, one run, BALLGAME!

Spectacular team effort tonight, even if we did commit 2 errors. Young guys and old guys alike did their jobs and made runs happen. Everyone said it would be awesome if we left this road trip 3-4 and we've got our 3...I seriously can't wait til tonight when we try to make it out of there 4 and 3!!

Tomlin versus Colby Lewis, which on paper is quite an even matchup. Except Tomlin has become our weak spot but maybe he'll be inspired by Masterson and Carmona's last starts and Take Care of Business in a big way.

Tonight at 8:05 - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"If Brantley hits one down the right field line, he could walk to third."
- Tom Hamilton on the shift for Brantley

"Carmona throwing one of his best games of the year, when you consider where it's at and who it's against."
- Tom Hamilton

"This house of horrors continues to haunt the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton

"Kinsler can crawl home."
- Tom Hamilton on the length of Hamilton's sac fly in the 7th

"Wow what an inning!"
- Tom Hamilton in the top of 9th inning

"Every time you say 'That's the biggest win of the Indians' season' about a week later you're looking at one thinking 'uh-oh, THAT might be the biggest win' and that is what we might be looking at here tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"This would be the understatement of the year, but I'll say it anyway. You can't lose this game tonight after you come back with a 4-run 9th to take the lead against Neftali Feliz. [...] If you don't, you really wonder what is going to happen to this ball club the rest of the way."
- Tom Hamilton in the 9th as Perez struggles

"Indians fans, you can breathe! The Indians have survived 7 to 5."
- Tom Hamilton after the last out

The Pain pf Contending

OH, boffins, the pain! Yet another Sunday where I sulk for hours until I can muster up the will to post something positive about this afternoon's game.

It's not hard to come up with positive stuff, but the pain is much worse now that we're a "contender." It's like the difference in pain of walking on crutches with a bum knee, and walking without crutches and carrying your cousin on your shoulders too. Your cousin - he represents the extra weight of being a contender. The crutches - that is the cushiony prop of saying "we're building for next year."

Things did go right today. Just fine, in fact. Good Fausto showed up. Well "Good" as in "Not Bad" Fausto, but not any sort of ace. He never really melted down or anything, just slowly gave up 4 runs over 7 innings. Lots of ground-ball outs but only 2 strikeouts.

Tony Sipp came in (he worked last night too) and gave up a run. What's going on, Tony Sipp? Joe Smith came in after that to give up none runs but seems like the #bullpenmafia is teetering a bit. One thing's for sure we're not seeing Chris Perez and his beard enough. But there aren't many save situations comin' around the bend either.

The top of our order was hot shit today. Brantley got his hit. Kipnis - first MLB home run! w00t!

Asdrubal was on fire, going 3 for 4 and a walk. Another double! Also got some air playing defense behind Smith, with a nice grab in the 9th.


Santana also keeping in his groove with 2 more hits, one of them a TRIPLE. He got his first just a couple weeks ago on July 18, a game in which he played FIRST BASE just like tonight. He's gotten 8 hits in his last 6 starts.

Matt LaPorta...he's so wishy-washy. One night he's the hero and the next night he can't see the ball worth shit. I actually want LaPorta to do well...so we can use him in a trade to get someone who is a little more solid. I'm not haytin' on the dude...I am just tired of being teased by him!

Fukudome got his first hit JUST LIKE I SAID HE WOULD in last night's post. I said so! It was a double, even. He walked. And struck out. But he also made an excellent play in the outfield, which is something I'm sure we were all wondering about.

Man, we struck out a TON today. Twelve times! Against a guy with a 5+ ERA and a bunch of relievers.

Ten guys LOB too. Back up in to the double-digits.

Hey did you see Zeke today? Came in to pinch for Kearns (I know, right?) and got a double! His average is the same as Fukudome right now hahaha

Today's lineup also included Jason Donald, who was here for a bit last year. He played some nice-nice at 3rd and went 0 for 2 with a walk. Then they hit Hafner for him, heh.

Neither Lonnie nor Lou did anything in the 9-hole, except Lou did catch a guy stealing. While Santana lost a stealer in the 8th.

Our guys are not doing so hot with stealing lately. Brantley and Asdrubal both got caught today. I can see why we're trying to get runners in scoring position (cuz we need to SCORE) but they keep getting caught and then we've wasted the talent of the top of our order. Brantley has been caught 5 times this season so far! Yowza!

Anyway, I am exhausted from all the trade talk and the contender talk. Exhausted from these close games. We need to get our win on, get ourselves a little padding and welcome August with open arms. When we've got Ubaldo Jiminez and Shin-Soo Choo hangin' out. We could use a little more Pronk and maybe a little Grady if he can be bothered. And there's always more room for as much Asdrubal as we can muster.

Tomorrow we play against the Red Sox (ooOoOooh!) for 4 games. I fuckin' hate the Red Sox, possibly more than the Yankees, and we need to win. Forget contending, forget anything else for now. Let's just beat those stinky Sox. Seriously.

See you tomorrow at 7:10 PM!

Radio Chatter:
"Ichiro Suzuki treats the base-on-balls like a virus."
- Tom Hamilton on the difference between Suzuki and Fukudome and their OBP

"Santana and Lou Marson have missed a double and a home run by a combined total of about 3 feet."
- Mike Hegan

"Fukudome made that play look easy, and it was anything but."
- Tom Hamilton on Fukudome's play in the 8th

Columbus Clutch

Ah, missed another compelling game but I didn't miss it as much as I loved seeing "Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen" at the Beachland! Besides, if I didn't have a Tribe game to listen to in the morning, I probably would have had a much harder time getting out of bed.

Nice work from Good Fausto here, I mean real nice, especially since that's two games in a row in which he didn't suck. Not only did he not suck but he beat out Dan Haren by not giving up any runs. Yes, he had 7 fewer strikeouts than Haren (3) and went an inning-and-a-third less but dammit - he made it through both the 2nd and 5th innings un-scathed and that is LEGEND...ARY for Fausto!

Joe Smith - lights fucking out. Still with that ERA above 1, but slowly chipping away!

Not sure how it is that Vinnie Pestano gave up a 2-run homer but things happen. I do want you to see his MLB.com homepage picture. Derrr....

Our man Tony Sipp, tho, was lights-fucking-out just like his pal there. So that works.

Not much going on hit-wise today for the boys, as suspected when facing Dan Haren. I was visibly stoked (yeah, visibly - I was hopping up and down in the drivers' seat of my car) when Brantley managed to get a hit and then Asdrubal knocked him in in the first inning. GREAT to get up a run on these guys so early!

Absolutely nothing happened offense-wise for the next 7 innings, which is why that first run was so big.

Defensively, though, there was a big turnaround from last week! Brantley with an outfield assist, Zeke with a beautiful diving catch. Even Pestano with a nice backhanded flip to get an out at first, kind of redeeming himself from that 2-run dinger.

So everyone was playing the game right all the way through, with the defense backing up good pitching and the offense getting in a run early, and wearing out Haren enough to get to the bullpen with a few innings to go.

When I say "everyone" I mean "everyone" because Manny brought all 4 of our benchers out in the 8th and 9th. So he knew we were going to have to scrap to make this work. I was amazed that he pulled Marson for a second until I remembered that you can pull Marson for LaPorta while Santana is in the game and still have first and C covered.

Brantley, in the 2-hole, got his second hit of the night to lead off the 9th. Not bad to have a backup leadoff guy while your real leadoff guy (Carrera) is still finding his way. I'd like to thank Michael Brantley's Mom for stepping up and getting Brantley back healthy with the team! Not only was he healthy enough to get two hits, he also stole second to get in scoring position with no outs. Holla!

Sadly, Asdrubal could not make the magic to win the game as the next batter (it was pretty awesome that at least the radio guys totally were trying to call it that he WOULD end the game right there). But don't forget the magic powers of Travis Hafner and the fact that we love the fuck out of that guy again! His massive double to center brings Brantley in easily and ties the game!

Then we get a walk and a HBP which loads the bases. I was ready for a walk or even a balk to win the game. That shit has happened to us this year!

Of course the guy responsible for all that gets taken out and they bring in a new pitcher. Travis Buck tried to be a hero but failed when We Heart Torii Hunter throws out Orlando at the plate. TENSION!

Then "the Kid" Jason Kipnis (note that by this time, both Lonnie Chisenhall and Ezequiel Carrera are veterans and no longer "kids") is up. Sounds like some movie plot where the manager is all "We'll keep the kid in," even though the kid has had no hits since he's been up in the majors. But the truth of the matter is that there was absolutely no one left on the bench to come in for him so, dude, you're going to have to do something here with 2 out in the 9th, tied and 2 men on. Ok?

No problem! (That's a nice clip because they show the hit twice, once with Hamilton's call)

So that's that. The Tribe seems to have gotten their shit together at least for now, with good pitching, good fielding and hold-on-until-the-bullpen batting. Don't forget it takes good, patient batting to get a starter out of the game with time enough to wear down a bullpen. We had that today.

And maybe a little growing up by some of our boys, too.

Next game is 7:05 tonight against Jared. Weaver. Grrrroooaaan...Perhaps we'll have a little momentum to carry us through a game against a dude with a 1.81 ERA. That's a STARTER with numbers like that. Let's just hope we show tons of patience at the plate and get rid of that guy after 6 or so. It's our only hope.

See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"Tell you what - if you're a good student at Pepperdine, your concentration is off the charts."
"A few distractions out there?"
"The ocean is one...you can figure out the rest! [...] There are a lot of kids who have gone to Pepperdine. They did very well in the 10 years at that school."
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Dan Haren's alma mater

"If you're going to beat the Angles, you're going to have to beat them 4-1, 2-1, 3-2. In otherwords, Carmona, Tomlin and Huff are going to have to be sharp."
- Tom Hamilton

"Everyone who's interested is interested in all of the people available."
- Tom Hamilton on pretty much everything we know about the trade deadline

"Well it was over the inside corner, but the coin came up tails so it was called a ball."
- Tom Hamilton is not amused by the home plate umpire

"These kids have probably never seen anybody who can throw this slow and still get you out."
- Mike Hegan on the 3 minor-league players facing Dan Haren

Taming the Twins

I totally was going to give you two posts today, as there were two games, but work caught up with me and then there was a storm and I had to eat dinner and all that stuff.

But really what does it matter how many times I post, as long as the Tribe keeps winnin'?! That's right!

Two wins on one day - enough to wash away the two losses prior. What's even better was that there was potential to have two spectacular losses from our starters but instead the just-up-from-Columbus guy gave up no runs and Good Fausto only gave up two. HALLELUJAH!

We'll begin at the beginning with the afternoon game and starter David Huff. He was going to pitch then hike back to Columbus. But since he gave up NO RUNS and struck out 5 over 7 innings, dude is a shoo-in over uhm...uh...that forgettable starter from Sunday.

Tony Sipp and Vinnie Pestano rock and rolled over the 8th and 9th, but for some reason Chad Durbin is back to his crap from April. Oh well, at least he was only around long enough to give up 2.

OMG ASDRUBAL! Another homer! Finally I was home for this one and could announce to everyone on Facebook (I forgot about Twitter. Yes, you can forget Twitter.) that it was OMG ASDRUBAL time and he had had 3 homers in the last 5 games. I don't know if my friends were humoring me or what but I got 6 people to "Like" it. Maybe people are desperate for any sort of good news during the work day?

It wasn't just a homer, either. It was a 3-run homer and since we won 5-2, it won the game. WINNING!

Ok so Michael Brantley? Nineteen hits in his last 10 games. Sweet Jeebus! This will blow your mind too - in 2 of those games he got no hits! So that's 19 hits over 8 games in which he got a hit in the last 10 games. Hahahaha! Anyway, .356 over the last 10 games with 6 RBI and 7 runs.

Man I hate long paragraphs with lots of numbers. My eyeballs just skip over.

Michael Brantley is on fire at the plate, y'all.

Guess who else got a home run? I almost forgot, really. It was Austin Kearns! Of "Austin Kearns?" fame. He was pinch hitting for Travis Buck, who had been shut down anyway.

Our little Ezequiel got his 4th hit and 3rd RBI in his tiny career. Rumor has it that he might be moved up to to batting first. I'm not completely against it - it's sort of working out with him batting "ahead" of Brantley right now anyway. And everyone says Brantley can hit anywhere!

There actually wasn't much hitting in the first game there. Just 12 hits across the board.But HEY ----- Only 4 LOB for the Tribe this time. Eh? EH?!

Ok the second game, lots mote hits. Weird fucking hits too.

Like Carlos Santana...with a triple!

And Sweet Lou with his first homer of the season! And a double too! Kind of sucks that LaPorta is back because he gets to play 1st and Carlos catches and Lou gets benched. Don't bench the Louuuuuuuu! His homer was huge, like a million feet out there right to center. Check out the video, it's cute.

Little Zeke got on twice even with no hits (walk, error) and then stole a base and then scored twice. Rawk.


Hafner got back into the groove and punched 2 through with 2 RBI.

Hannahan was in for the second game since Lonnie was in for the first (and didn't do much) and he was like "Don't bench the Supermanahan!"

Austin Kearns or Travis Buck? What do we think? It was almost like today was the ultimate platooning test for everyone. Lonnie got yanked from the first game and so did Buck, as neither were producing. Nice options for Manny but does it mean more?

I am actually looking forward to trading this season. So far. Because all the guys we want to keep we have locked up. A lot of the other guys are interchangeable. Fausto maybe might go but would I miss him? I dunno, not as much as I miss Lee. Although CC was all wobbly like Fausto when he was here and we all know what he's doing now.

Anyway, trade away, I say. As long as it's not Asdrubal, Chris Perez, Hafner, Choo, Sizemore or Santana I am not tied to you yet. I'm a sucker for anyone under a big blue C. Except Valbuena...still don't trust that guy.

Tomorrow is just ONE game (aaawww!) and it's at 8:05 PM. But Wednesday is another afternoon thingy. Cool!

See you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"If you come to a game here folks, you ought to wear one of those hockey goalie masks if you're going to sit down below. You are so close, it's scary."
- Tom Hamilton on Target Field

"This is so typical in Minnesota. They do this all the time. The same play that Chisenhall got no hit and an error on, they give Nishioka a hit and an error. What a joke. It happens every year here."
- Tom Hamilton

"Where's Betsy Kling to explain all this to us? Besty would probably say 'Listen you two goofballs, it means it's hot.'"
- Tom Hamilton upon learning the heat index in Minneapolis is 107 degrees

"He could have gone to Columbus and been a pain in the you-know-where..."
- Tom Hamilton on David Huff being a good guy

"You can say one thing at 10:30 in the morning, and if you lose game 1 you might have a totally different mindset at 10:30 at night."
- Tom Hamilton on Ron Gardenhire

======================
"On June 1 they were dead and buried. Or so everybody thought."
- Tom Hamilton on the Twins' record this year

"They have had to use their AAA Club liberally this season."
- Jim Rosenhaus on our players going between the minors and majors

"I believe Carmona is on his third uniform of the night. He has sweated through two!"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"The one thing the Indians have over the Twins is the bullpen."
- Tom Hamilton

"The worst bullpen in baseball lives up to its billing."
- Tom Hamilton after the first reliever loaded the bases in the 7th

"Indians gave Marson the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout after his first home run of the year. They sat silent and stone-faced. Then they pummeled him."
- Tom Hamilton

Golden Gate Two-fer

Man you know it was a rough weekend when I skipped blogging for the first time this season. I kept putting off Saturday's game recap all day Saturday then Sunday rolled around and I continued to put it off until Sunday's game came up, and I was still not inspired to write enough words to constitute a read-worthy post. Since Sunday's game was more of the same of Friday and Saturday...eh, combining the games into one post just made the most sense.


I've actually been feeling pretty awful since Choo got hurt. I feel sad. So does Choo:

"I just feel bad that I can't help the team anymore," Choo said. "We might make the playoffs. We had a good start and are still in first place, and I can't help the team. I feel sad." 

Oh. My. God.

Ok so let's get the tweezers and see if we can pluck any strands of Good from these last two games.

Actually there's a big chunk of Good right here: Starting pitching was amazing. As good as any team could ask for, ever. Masterson and Carmona gave up 3 earned runs over 2 games. Masterson only gave up 4 hits and struck out 5 in more than 6 innings. Carmona gave struck out 4 and gave up 7 hits, but he went a full 6 innings and did not implode.

Our bullpen (Sipp, Pestano, R. Perez and Smith over 2 days) went back to giving up 0 runs and in fact gave up 0 hits.

Sipp balked with the bases loaded on Saturday, but that was an un-earned run.

In case you are trying to be up-in-arms about how you (the expert?) don't think it was a balk, Sipp says it was:

"I didn't move much, but I felt it," Sipp said. "I guess they're all good at their job. I felt it. I knew I balked." 

Oddly enough, I  was looking up balk stats the other night because we recently benefited from a balk again, scoring a run when someone balked with bases loaded. I asked Nick Camino on Twitter how many balks we've had against us this year and he said 4. I think 2 of them scored runs. When I looked, we were one of the few teams in the majors without a balk. Well now we have one.

Sorry for the jinx.

Someone on a message board I frequent asked about the number of balks committed this year and if it's particularly high and if so, why. I piggy-backed and asked if anyone had a source for the opposite of the balk stat, "balks committed against." No one has answered yet but if I find anything out I'll let you know, because I'm sure you noticed all the balks too. It's especially noticeable when it loses us the game!

Hey it was Pride weekend in Cleveland. Maybe you're not supposed to beat San Francisco over Pride weekend? Yeah, that's the ticket.

So the only good thing that MLB saw fit to share video-wise for the Indians in the past 2 games is a little highlight reel of Masterson's performance. Tonight's game? Nothing. Not even anything for the Giants.

It only makes sense then that I couldn't muster two whole posts, either.

Personally I thought the kid who pitched for the Giants was pretty impressive. Madison Bumgarner is 21 and came right out of high school to pitch for the Giants in 2009. He struck out a career-high 11 today, and the earned run he gave up was actually questionable as being earned (Orlando hit a ball down the left-field line that was foul on review but called fair by the 1st base ump, as the 3rd base ump was missing since the home plate ump left due to injury. You got that?)

I'm about over San Francisco, though. The Indians are over being in first place. But fuck it, it's ok. It's only June. We've got some work to do and it's best to find our limits and reach our lows now instead of September, right?

So, on to Arizona where the temp is slated to be in the one-teens. By that I mean 111. How do people even live? Yeesh.

Now, Arizona is on Mountain Time at the moment so all three of the games are at 9:40 PM Eastern. How the :40 relates to Mountain Time I do not know. I don't think it does. It just has to do with the wackiness that is Arizona, I guess.

We really need to look alive in Arizona because I have relatives out there who are huge DB fans and I don't need them picking my Tribe apart while we're down. But I just looked at the "Probables" Web page for tomorrow and I see:

"Ian Kennedy, RHP
8-2, 2.90 ERA

Kennedy has won seven of his last eight decisions to jump into All-Star consideration. Last time out, he allowed one run on eight hits over six innings. In his last two starts he has given up just one earned run in 14 innings."

So yeah, I'll see you Monday night. Hopefully with something truly awesome to say. Like "Fluffernutter." That's an awesome word.

Radio Chatter:
"You play the world champions in their park, you can't beat yourself. And that's what the Indians are doing here."
- Tom Hamilton

"No matter what happens this inning, it just has not been a very good weekend. [...] They're just not doing the little things and the little things are what got them to 30 and 15."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's supposed to be a high of 111 degrees [in Arizona]. But, the natives will tell you 'It's a dry heat.' Satan will tell you Hell is a dry heat!"
"An oven is dry heat but you don't put your head in there!"
"Good thing we're indoors, which the entire state of Arizona is indoors."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus on the weather in Arizona

"If one of those sail boats goes over, since we're high up here is it our job to call the Coast Guard?"
- Jim Rosenhaus

That Is That

Oh Fausto...You're sort of failing us here buddy. The guys gave you defense, run support. The bullpen did their jobs even though they'd been stretched lately.

You looked good too, for real. Then whatever switch is in your head flipped and that was the end of the ballgame.

Well, not actually the end of the ballgame because it did end up being close. And I guess it'd be tied if Raffy hadn't given up a run, but this is all on you Fausto.

Ok, admonishment over. On to the Positive!

EVERYBODY HITS! Did you see, added a new icon over on the right there! It's been over a month. The guys have been slowly creeping towards being able to have a high-hitting game and Cord Phelps clinched it in the 8th with 2 outs. Welcome to the club, Cord Phelps!

So, how about that Carlos Santana? HOT. STUFF! We thought he was coming out of a slump some time ago, around Memorial Day, but he never busted out. More like rolled out. But over the last 7 games he's had 10 hits, 5 RBI and 3 home runs. That's 3 home runs over the last 4 games.Three hits tonight including a solo home run.

Hard to tell if it's Hafner's influence or playing more at 1st. Whatever works though, huh?

Hey, Hafner...he got his 6th home run tonight! I can't believe how good that guy looks after coming off the DL twice. Both he and Grady looked good off their initial stints on the DL but Grady didn't have a second roll in him. Hafner, however, has barely missed a step! Look for the homer some time soon on Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball but you know you also want to see it on the TV. BAM!

CHOOOOOOOOO! got a 2-run single!

Really happy with all the hitting tonight. Did you imagine this time last week that we'd be coming up on a 12-hit, 7-run game where everyone gets a hit? And Carlos Santana gets 3 hits? Well maybe if you are a follower of The Positive Tribe you of course think that we can play like this every game (rah! rah!) but there was a big question mark as to WHEN this time would come.

Tomorrow's going to be interesting. We're facing a guy who has a 2.81 ERA and 8 wins. And his name is impossible to pronounce. "Jhoulys Chacin" - I put it in quotes in case it's the name of a fictional character. He'll be facing Talbot who...well, let's hope we get some more hits and runs tomorrow yaaaaaay!

Radio Chatter:
"The most confused guy in the ballpark right now is Juan Nicasio."
- Mike Hegan on Santana's homer in the 4th

"He was cruising along and ran into a little bit of trouble, then BANG the roof caved in on him."
- Mike Hegan on Fausto's departure

"Florida has a new manager, who's an old manager. [...] Jack McKeon, the first year he managed in the big leagues, President Nixon was going through the Watergate scandal."
- Tom Hamilton on the hiring of interim manager Jack McKeon in Florida

"Manny Acta just loves the way Michael Brantley goes about his business."
- Tom Hamilton

"I have no idea what was wrong with it...wait, I do know. There was nothing wrong with it. [...] So if it's down the middle of the plate, it's a ball to Todd Helton."
- Tom Hamilton hating on umpire Gerry Davis

Excited For Baseball!

Man, what a good baseball game. I mean REALLY good baseball game!

I could totally feel this coming, after our performance in New York, a tiny win and then a loss to Verlander. That was all different and tonight was it.

The KEY to tonight's game was Fausto not freaking the fuck out. Three runs in the first...and no freakout. Only one of those was an earned run, perhaps that was it. He outlasted their starter, but only going 5. I like the move by Acta to take him out "early." Before there was a chance to melt down. Early enough for a nap.

Then, Raffy - Vinnie - Tony - Perez. Lights out. Zero hits, three walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Chris Perez was SPECTACULAR, striking out two and then getting Brennan Boesch to pop out. Got his 17th save, putting him second in the league by one.

The record is 62, if you were wondering.

Our bats tonight...oh, what bats!!! Everybody hit except for one guy. I'll let you guess which guy.

Did you guess Brantley? I bet you didn't! Brantley didn't hit an in fact struck out twice. But we won - ha ha!!

Speaking of Brantley, I guess he rolled his ankle on his 4th at-bat. I found myself yelling at the radio "No! No Michael Brantley! Bad!" and doing the ASL sign for "no". I think I hang out with toddlers too much. But, he came back for a 5th at-bat so I guess he's ok. Whew!

We won with only ONE double and no homers. Thirteen hits! We even only got 3 walks!

I love it. Just love it!

Ok, so who was on fire tonight? The goddamn BOTTOM of the lineup! Especially Orlando, who got THREE hits and 2 RBI!

LaPorta got 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Sweet Lou got 2 hits and 1 RBI.

Tonight's lineup had Marson catching, Santana at first and LaPorta at DH. I am really liking Santana over LaPorta at first and Marson behind the plate. Marson's only allowed 9 steals in 176 innings, over Santana's 32 over 406. Santana, IMHO, has been better than LaPorta over at first.

And, nothing against Lou, but I don't want Santana run over at the plate anymore. I also don't want him concentrating on calling balls and strikes. There is some article out there about how players who are good catchers get worse at hitting as their catching gets better. I think it's true.

Ok anyway so, Grady struck out a whole lot less today. As in, none. He got himself an RBI. Santana walked again, good good. Also got a hit.

CHOOOOO collected two hits and a walk. Jim Rosenhaus says that even though his numbers may not show a comeback, the way he is hitting the ball looks comeback-y. He hit another hard one tonight. So nice to see that dude cross the plate! It woulda been fun to see that at home, huh? Let's hope he's feeling it for the rest of the week!

So 6 runs and 13 hits is exactly how we played in April and May. The pitching has pretty much been there the whole time, save for a few fumbles here and there. It was particularly harmonious for us to bat like that behind a winning Carmona. If you can't get into that, you crazy!


I just learned that Carrasco's nickname in the clubhouse is "Cookie." Love it!

Oh hey we weren't in first place anymore coming into this game. Now we're tied for first again. Tomorrow is THE game for first place. Weird, right?

Tomorrow's game is at 1:05 PM, against Max Scherzer. He's got an ERA over 4. FINISH HIM!!!

Radio Chatter:
"Catcher Alex Avila goes to the mound and says to Penny 'Look you've got three pitches, which one are you going to throw?'"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"You get the feeling the Indians are going to get to Brad Penny tonight."
- Tom Hamilton

"He realized it wasn't the beard, it was him."
"Shaved it off and hit a home run!"
- Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan on Brennan Boesch's ex-beard

"If Fausto Carmona can throw strikes, Ordonez cannot hit them."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'll tell you what, he takes after mama's side of the family. Because his dad was a big strapping lineman."
- Tom Hamilton on Tiger relief pitcher Daniel Schlerech

"He'd have to be Carlton Fisk to get that one. Or maybe Dirk Nowitzki."
- Mike Hegan on a high wild pitch

"This guy you just hold your breath every time he comes to the plate."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera (no relation)

"He coulda used a relay man there. Hand him a baton...somebody else to go the other 35 feet."
- Mike Hegan on Miguel Cabrera's slowness out of the box

"I said to Tony [Sipp] the other day, how did Clemson do in the post season? 'Don't know, don't care.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Tony Sipp's Clemson coach telling him he'll never make it in the pros

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And Charlie's got the blues."
"[...] By the way, I didn't ignore that. I had something deep to say and now I've lost it..."
- Tom Hamilton cracking up Mike Hegan

Oh, That Fausto...

Well tonight was different. Different than the last few (or dozen?) games in that we ended up doing some batting and did not hang the pitcher out to dry.

It was the same in that Fausto hung himself out to dry. But then something different did happen in that our bullpen came in and gave up a ton of runs and actually ended up losing the game for us more than Fausto had lost the game. I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Perhaps they were stupefied by their trip to the MLB Fan Cave today. You gotta read that article and watch that video. It's all sorts of goofy.

Almost everybody hit today. And when I say almost I mean everybody but two guys. But that is soooo much better than our other games of late, you know? For a while it's been ONLY two guys have hit!

Orlando is one of those guys who did not get a hit. He wasn't supposed to be in the game today - Travis Buck was, but he was in a taxi accident yesterday. NOT COOL, NEW YORK!

Orlando played 2nd and Cord Phelps was DH (what?) Phelps got his first major league hit tonight! His folks were there to see it, too. Bravo!

In my no-way-professional opinion, today's team that showed up was the team that we saw on April 1, who then went on to win like a million games. Fausto sucked and we got a bunch of hits and had a bunch of good at-bats and scored a bunch of runs.

Carlos Santana had himself a good night offensively, with two hits, one of them a two-run-dinger. He did however give up a run on an error. Whoops...

Ok, better yet, Matt LaPorta! Pretty stinky lately but tonight had 2 hits and 2 RBI!

Ooh, and there was Hannahan who not only got a double and two walks (I've learned that with Hannahan we "love the glove" and put up with his offense or lack thereof) but he also had a sweet stop that reminded me of my dog versus a moth.

Brantley and Asdrubal got hits today. Brantley even got an RBI. I am really glad about that because I had a really bad day at work. I told my co-worker that if Brantley and Asdrubal get shut out tonight, I just might cry.

Turns out I didn't have to cry. In fact, I quite enjoyed the game really. Of course it could have been better in many respects but it gives me hope.

Oh yeah, and there was an awesome fight. So awesome that the bullpen (see above) came trotting out AND MLB.com put a two clips up. That's pretty rare - they don't always like to highlight fighting.

Tomorrow's gonna be sweet...1PM game and it's on TV! One good thing about playing the Yankees, I guess. We are THIS close to beating those pinstriped jerkfaces. I hope tomorrow is it and I see it on TV.

Radio Chatter:
"The way Carmona is pitching right now he is helping all of the Yankees out of their slumps."
- Tom Hamilton

"Carmona just served one up and said 'see how hard you can hit it.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Granderson's homer

"I don't blame Teixiera for being angry. That is bush league to throw that high after a home run."
- Tom Hamilton on Carmona hitting Mark Teixiera after giving up a home run

"That may be the most useless news story ever."
- Tom Hamilton on a story Rosenhaus read about the official scorer wanting to make sure he scored Jeter's 3000th hit correctly

"I don't even know if I can read some of these other headlines in this paper."
"Well you can, but I'll have another partner tomorrow afternoon."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenaus on The Daily Post

"Rosie's wife Carol is pregnant with their second child, which is great news. [...] I thought it was pregnant women who liked ice cream and pickles, but Rosie is going through ice cream here nobody's business. [...] You went through that ice cream like Sherman went through Georgia."
- Tom Hamilton

"If people could see what you destroyed before we went on the air tonight..."
- Jim Rosenhaus to Tom Hamilton in defense of his ice cream

"Those customs people at the air port are like 'Look, I don't want this job, I don't want to be here, so you are going to be miserable too.' You say 'hi' and they look at you like 'what did you mean by that?'"
- Tom Hamilton on going through customs

"We just heard that the grounds crew has been spotted on Long Island. I guess they are heading to the Hamptons for the weekend."
- Tom Hamilton on the rainy 7th inning

"There's a guy in the stands here who looks exactly like President Obama. Since they put him up on the big board, that guy hasn't bought his own beer all night."
- Tom Hamilton

"That just shows how your bullpen is in disarray, when you have to go to Mariano Rivera when down by 6 in the 9th."
- Tom Hamilton

Magical Mystery Outfield

I think our happy little team of merrymakers has been beat to hell. Choo had a "mental day" off today. Supermanahan was still out with his sore butt. Hafner still out. Pestano was about to pitch but was stopped short by soreness. Grady being benched tomorrow, LaPorta benched today (neither for injury but the former due to proper rehab).

It's rough to watch the team work on a skeleton crew like that. Our bench is deep, I still insist, but they are deep when propped up on all sides.

Tonight the bottom of the order seemed very bottom-ish. Especially with Orlando batting second (wha?) Duncan, Kearns, Marson and Everett just couldn't finish what Brantley, Dos Cabreras and Grady could start. And Santana is still Santana. It's all much smoother if the lineup is peppered with solid hitters as opposed to toppled with them.

I still say DON'T PANIC. Because for one, this isn't our everyday team. Two, with trade stuff coming up we do need to know what every guy on our team is worth to us or to other teams. Three, now is the time to figure all this out as opposed to late in August.

Manny Acta is still not worried. I can see his plan, I think. I almost feel like he didn't think we had a chance right now against Texas so he took the opportunity to mix stuff up and give guys breaks. We're still 4 ahead of Detroit and we meet them in a week and a half, at which time we'll quickly recoup losses. Also no one wants to see us giving mental health breaks during the Yankee series. It was now or never.

But forget all that. I went to the game tonight! And....AND....I brought my sign! Holla! Once I got over the initial fear of putting marker on $3 worth of foam board and using math to figure it all out, my sign looked pretty good. So good, in fact, that I decided the people behind me also needed to see my awesome sign and I put the same message ("OMG ASDRUBAL!!") on the back as well. That way, no one would miss the excitement!

And as predicted (by me), Asdrubal did not disappoint! I was slightly scared as he did not start hitting until the 6th, and then he reached on an error. But I thought "what if this is my only chance?" and let the flag fly. Then in the 7th he's all like "LET'S SEE THAT SIGN AGAIN!" Then, as if inspired to do better, he doubles in the 8th! And gets another all-star caliber out in the 9th!

Of course, it's not me creating this greatness. But my double-sided OMG ASDRUBAL!! sign hopefully at least makes some people think "Hmm, our shortstop - he is predictably good enough to have his own fan sign. Hooray!"

Hey you know who wasn't all that bad today? Fausto Carmona. Yes he got the L and yes he gave up 4 including 2 home runs but since when is 4 insurmountable by this team? Ok not this particular lineup but this team in general? You should be able to give up 4 and have your team come back and take care of it. But they didn't and that's that.

Raffi, Smith and Durbin did well too. Two-point-two shutout innings for them.

Part of the problem with our lineup today was lack of patience, so we never got rid of Holland. He bent a little by the 8th but he never broke.

But did you know he's from Newark, OH? And this was his first time pitching against the Tribe? I actually saw a dude sitting below me with a Holland jersey and wondered what that was all about. Didn't put it together until the post-game when I heard Holland was from here. Hmm, I know a Holland family from up hereaways. I wonder if he's related?

Anyway, good job Derek Holland pitching a complete game shutout against your hometown team, probably in front of a ton of people who know you. That is truly exciting!

Now, don't do it again!

Ok so no Radio Chatter tonight (unless anyone fills in), don't expect it tomorrow (unless I go over the archive which I might) and someone consider helping me out on Tuesday as well.

Game 4 against these Rangers tomorrow. This is actually the first time we've been swept in a 3-game series (previous sweeps this year were 2-game series). But it's going to be a FOUR game series! If we were to lose Sunday, we could still claim never to have been swept in a 3-game series this year. Ha!

Ok time for bed.