Damon Designated for Assignment

I knew that would make you smile! And we all sure could use a smile right now. Forgetting the miserable loss today, the news of today is that we are free FREEEEEEEEEEEE of Johnny Damon!

What sort of sucks about the situation is that in the "Ask The Manager" show on WTAM today, Manny Acta indicated that not only was Damon bad but since he was bad he was absolutely no help in the clubhouse. So he was even more of a waste of money than I thought he was. What a dingleberry.

So Damon's gone and our old pal Zeke is back. Ezequiel Carrera was in playing left today - why it wasn't Shelley I DON'T KNOW. I don't think I'll ever understand the Indians' left field. I guess it's not for me to know.

In case you were wondering, Chris Seddon (who has some Major League games under his belt) is coming up to replace Lowe on Sunday. He's 4-0 in July. Ace!

Ok so speaking of our ace...Justin Masterson did not do it today. He gave up 7 over 4 innings. He actually struck out 4 over those innings but that was inbetween 10 hits and 4 walks. I dunno what to say about that. What can you say?

Accardo did his thing, and by that I mean he gave up 3 runs in middle relief. Shoulda been Rogers but he was used yesterday. Accardo pitched the 6th and 7th and gave up 6 hits and struck out none.

Cody Allen! Now there's a pitcher! He's throwing 0.00 over 5 appearances. Tonight he took the 8th and 9th with no hits, no runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Secret weapon?!

Bad pitching but also our old friend Useless Hitting is back as well. Yesterday's stellar 4 LOB was obliterated by today's 8 LOB and 10 strikeouts. Pants!

Acta mixed it up today and put Kipnis in the leadoff spot. Not a bad move, since he wasn't getting Choo in while at 2 or 3, and Choo wasn't hitting the non-existant 8 and 9 guys in. It also took some pressure off Kipnis (they say that Pestano is his best friend on the team and he was all "Kipnis sucks hitting 3rd and is very sad" or something) and if he got on someone was behind him to hit him in. This worked in theory as he went 2 for 5 with a double, and it's the first time he's had a multi-hit game since July 23. He even happened to get an RBI because the #9 guy happened to go 2 for 4 as well.

But that was it. Choo left 4 on base and Cabrera 3. Oh, both got hits of course (yay!) but just...no one was synched up to score runs.

Santana was nearly shut down but he did manage to get his walk on. He did strike out twice which is actually unusual for him.

Brantley went 1 for 3 and his average stays locked in at .288.

Lopez and Hannahan both went 1 for 4, but both also struck out once. And neither got a run or a RBI. Hannahan did have a fancy play, worthy of Jack Hannahan!

Zeke, Zeke, Zeke...he did go 2 for 4 and scored a run. He didn't leave anyone on base or anything. He didn't even technically score an error. But boy did he look like shit out in left. He delayed the first inning getting sunglasses and then lost a ball in the sun in the 2nd. He did a "No you got it!" in the 6th. But then he threw a guy out at the plate! Seems like hitting-wise he's a step up from Damon (for now) but defense-wise it was a lateral move.

I don't know what to tell you boffins. Just keep on going, because it's still summer and we've still got baseball. Things have been shaken up with FIVE new faces in the clubhouse (Zeke, New Vinnie (Rottino), Lillibridge, Kluber and the upcoming Seddon) and Johnny Damon is gone. Don't forget your curiosity about what Roberto Hernandez will do.

I met a British guy today who says he likes baseball, he recognizes Chief Wahoo, and is going to try to hit up the team shop tomorrow. He also says that cricket is shit. I suggested he take home some Stadium Mustard. If you're curious, check out Richard Walters. Maybe he'll have some special contingency of fans in Cleveland.

Tomorrow is Ubaldo versus RHP. Hopefully everyone is all settled down and ready to play some ball. Like really, for real this time guys.

I know I'll be tuning in at 7:05. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This guy, with men in scoring position, is like a mountain lion when he sees an antelope."
- Tom Hamilton on Miguel Cabrera

"This is a losing streak that's not going to end until the Indians get a starting pitcher that steps up and says 'Enough.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"At some point you would think a Tribe pitcher would get tired of getting their brains beaten in and move a hitter's feet."
- Tom Hamilton thinks guys are getting too comfortable in the box

"If everybody has his attitude and how he plays the game, the Indians would be in first place. We need about 12 more Kipnises."
- Tom Hamilton

"I tell you what - Ezequiel Carrera supposed to help the Indians? He is having an awful night in left field..."
- Tom Hamilton is not amused

"The Indians LOOK like a team that got to bed at 4 o'clock in the morning."
- Tom Hamilton said the team got in at 4 AM

"Not much you can say right now except 'You're going to be out here for a while,' not going to blow up our bullpen because this game is over."
- Tom Hamilton on Scott Radinsky visiting Accardo on the mound

"This is like a softball game. Austin Jackson has hit in 5 of the 6 innings."
- Tom Hamilton

"Fans here are just waiting around for the fireworks now. They know the outcome of this game."
- Tom Hamilton

"At some point an Indian's pitcher is going to say 'You're up 8 runs and you're trying to hit a ball to Toledo? Hit this!'"
- Tom Hamilton really wants someone to get beaned (Rick Sutcliffe wouldn't put up with this)

"That's now the new signal for a foul ball. We don't point fair or foul we just raise our hands up and go 'howdy!'"
- Tom Hamilton doesn't like the way the ump calls foul balls

"Can you imagine Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saying 'Let's become teammates - we're not good enough on our own.'?"
- Tom Hamilton thinks the NBA has changed

Double Trouble

First post! Do you think I was first in with this clever, clever title today? Started writing before the end of the game because when they take out Choo and Cabrera for Cunningham and Lopez, you know the game's over.

Derek Lowe did not have the stuff today. No more "wow that old man is good!" nope just "please don't suck today!" He gave up 9 runs in 3 innings, including 5 doubles and 2 homers. He didn't strike out any today but today it wasn't cute and funny like it usually is with him. "Hee hee he didn't need to strike any out he had 27 ground ball outs!" No. He just plain sucked.

Then Manny Acta just started throwing everyone out there. First was Cody Allen, fresh up from AAA. Very fresh. He walked the first two he faced, loading the bases (Lowe had left a guy on base) then Lowe's guy scored on a ground ball out. Then Allen struck a guy out yay! And a ground ball out. I wonder if he went back and puked in the clubhouse.

Next was Rogers for 2 innings, who has pitched 8 innings in his last 4 games, and is still coming out to pitch 96 MPH so he's looking good. Except he did give up a double and an earned run, but whatever - that's tons better than Lowe in his 3 innings.

Still with 3 innings to go, we saw Smith, Sipp and Perez. Smith was awesome, as usual. Sipp was awesome, surprisingly (one walk, one hit but no runs) and Perez struck out 3. Holla!

You sort of thought this game was going to go differently when it first came on, didn't you? I did. Yeah there was an Oriole run in the first due to a walk and a wild pitch but then Asdrubal comes in and reminds us THE SLUMP IS OVER and you think "All right! Gonna be hot!"

Not so.

Choo went 2 for 4 with his 30th double (2nd place behind Alex Gordon with 31). When it was 1-10, they sat him down for Cunningham.

Asdrubal, as you may have heard, got his team-leading 12th home run in the first inning! OMG ASDRUBAL!!! He went 1 for 3 until they put Hannahan at short and plugged the left side with Lopez. He went 0 for 2.

Kipnis is back to doing stuff, getting his 11th double (once again - only 11?) and going 1 for 4. Michael Brantley, on the other hand, didn't do stuff. Amazing!

Carlos Santana, still with the patience! He went 0 for 1 because he walked twice and was hit by a pitch. He's got 13 walks and 7 hits in his last 10 games. Only 5 RBI (4 of them Wednesday) but I'm hopeful. This is indeed better than nothing.

Also better than nothing was Hafner going 1 for 3.  He got a single and also got hit by a pitch. Lean in there, hoss!

Today's hot hitter was Johnny Damon. Of course, not in the second inning when the bases were loaded, but ever other time he was up he got a hit, going 3 for 4. Why does he get the willies when there's guys on base? Jeez!

Of course, he did this act of magic. Dammit.


I hate when I have to tip my hat to that money pit.

Casey Kotchman...he left 6 on base and didn't do anything tonight. Tsk tsk...

Supermanahan was out tonight, getting his 4th homer of the year! Woohoo! He only went 1 for 4, though. I think we're done waiting for him to come back now - we'll consider him back, and start prodding him to do better.

Nothing was coming together for us today against the O's starter. That didn't do us much good considering we had a 9-run deficit to work with. The lineup gets off the hook due to Lowe's utter failure, but we still need these guys to hit consistently no matter what.

Tomorrow is our new favorite guy, Zach McAllister, versus an even newer guy, Chris Tillman who's got an ERA of 1 since he had one great start then one start in which 5 of the 7 runs given up in the first inning were un-earned.

Anyway he's a right-handed kid. LET US CRUSH HIM!!

It's a 7:05 game. I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Why are all the uniforms pink?"
- Tom Hamilton musing on the thought of Rosie helping with the team laundry

"This isn't New York - he really caught the ball, it's not in some fan's back pocket."
- Tom Hamilton on Damon catching a foul ball in the stands

"Well you can't teach stuff. And he has stuff."
- Tom Hamilton on Cody Allen

"Get out of here! ... and no, it won't."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo's almost homer

"Jim Thome has surpassed Sammy 'I didn't cork the bat. What do you mean it broke open and cork flew everywhere?' Sosa on the all-time home run list."
- Tom Hamilton

"Well it's 10-2 so Rosie and I have got to talk about something."
- Tom Hamilton after a long diatribe about performance enhancing drugs

Homers? Homers!

Woo woo!! What the heck is up with this?! The Tribe winning the game on homers? Against a lefty? WITH HELP FROM JOHNNY DAMON??

Seriously, that is what happened today.

Zach "E-Z Mac" McAllister came up today in a nice trade with ourselves for Jeanmar Gomez. Thank you, ourselves! He pitched 5 2/3 innings and only gave up 2 earned runs, striking out SIX. Goddamn! I had thought Lowe was pitching today (oops, that's tomorrow) but Zach was just as good. Like vintage May Lowe.

After McAllister was done we got Joe Smith and Esmil Rogers who faced 10 and sent down 10. Rogers struck out 3 in 2 innings. Like that guy yet? I do!

So it looks like our pitching staff had it together, all at once. Cool!

We had a couple guys with a mutlti-hit game tonight, and we also got back to getting WALKS. Seven on the night. Still had 8 LOB but...well, that'll have to come down later.

CHOOOOO! Had himself a homer today, going 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs. Stills struck out twice, tho. What's up with that?

Not to be outdone, OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Must have read about my disappointment in him yesterday. He ended up going 2 for 5 with a 3-run dinger. NO strikeouts.

Kipnis wasn't shut out - he got 2 walks. Didn't turn in to anything, tho.

Lopez was in at first, and went 1 for 3 in the 6 innings he was in. Not sure why he came out for Kotchman, because the switch happened before a pitching change. Perhaps there were a bunch of lefties coming up and they needed the vacuum on the right? Who knows. Kotch didn't do anything with the bat.

Michael Brantley got TWO hits and TWO walks and didn't strike out once! :) :) He went 2 for 3 on the night with 1 run. Of course he got his 23rd double - it's actually been a while since he got one!

In a bold move they had Duncan in at the SAME TIME as Damon. It paid off - he went 1 for 4 with a walk.

And speaking of Damon, ok, he got a 3-run homer in the 2nd. Yay for Damon. I'll be a jerk and point out that we had 4 other runs besides his and only needed 3.

Wow, what a jerk I am.

Sweet Lou was behind the plate today - because 1) he's a great catcher for a rookie 2) because he's 4th on the team versus lefties and 3) because Santana's back hurts. And he's bad at the plate right now. Lou went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run. His hit was a double!

So good starting, good relief and good batting. Good batting against a very good lefty starter, even. Weird!

Did we hit rock bottom the other day like I said? And now it's all up from here? Maybe so, maybe so...I'm especially excited about the guys hitting a lefty.

Tomorrow is more of the same, and THIS time it's really Lowe against some other guy. This other guy is a RHP. Let's get 14 runs!

I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You're not in Japan anymore, not when you're facing Derek Jeter."
- Tom Hamilton on Chen's start in the Majors

"I can tell you he's the most excited 39th round draft pick for the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton on his son Nick

"Pitchers love throwing to Lou Marson. He's a pitcher's catcher."
- Tom Hamilton

"So basically it's been a triple crown for the Orioles tonight as far as categories of play in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton says the O's didn't bat, pitch or defend well

Is This Rock Bottom?

Or perhaps, more accurately, we hit rock bottom sometime during this game. By the 9th inning, we'd already began our ascent skyward.

Perhaps rock bottom was when Jack Hannahan was called out on a fantastic into-the-seats foul ball out that wasn't. Jack got thrown out later after he saw a replay and challenged the ump on it. Perhaps he was saying to the ump "hey fuck you, we do enough on our own to lose games we don't need you pushing us down! Erin go Bragh!" Then once the team realized that hey yeah they were losing games all by themselves and now the umps were against them too, perhaps it was time to step up.

We were about to be shut out for only the second time this year, with 2 outs in the 9th, when that Damon guy clearly sent some sort of Bat Signal to his former teammate/replacement Curtis Granderson in order to get a ball to drop in the 9th with Kipnis on 3rd. Then good 'ol Casey Kotchman kept it alive with a single, and in an interesting twist of fate, the guy who was brought in for the tossed Hannahan (LOPEZ!) jacked a 3-run dinger bringing us within 2.

Of course, it ended in a loss - the first time this year we've lost 4 in a row - but at least it wasn't a shutout. And this is totally weird but almost everybody hit today. Santana was the lone guy out. GAH if only he'd had a multi-hit game instead of a no-hit (and no on-base) game. It coulda been a winner.

Hafner is playing in Columbus. He'll be back soon. Perhaps by the end of the week! Although I don't know what happens to a Dakota boy when you put him in Baltimore in late June. I'm guessing something like this:

Gosh, it's hot.

Not expecting to get any run support, Justin Masterson let 4 runs get by him in his 6 innings. If our batters are done fucking around and hitting rock bottom, maybe it's ok if he's going to pitch like that. Four was an overcome-able amount earlier in the season.

Two guys who don't seem to be rising with this phoenix are Sipp and Hagadone. Sipp's last outing was fine but once again he gave up a run in the late innings. And Hagadone...he's toast. He gave up a run too.

It's all speculation right now - and most likely blind hope - but after scoring 8 runs in a game then going on to score 5 runs in 4 games, getting 4 last-minute runs today was pretty spectacular. It's something I'm going to be hanging my hat on until tomorrow around 4 PM.

It's a 1:05 game tomorrow. Hopefully everyone still has glitter in their hair from tonight and it'll be awesome. Ubaldo is presently showing up as Good Ubaldo so that gives us a shot. Of course, the opposing pitcher is Andy Pettitte but let me swing it this way for you - we've sucked against CHILDREN as of late. Little boy pitchers. Perhaps they confuse and alarm us. Maybe we need a nice veteran with a big book that is "the devil we know."

You think, maybe? I'm gonna keep dreaming. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Our wives will be surprised how much we've changed on this road trip."
"How have we changed?"
"Oh I think we've matured a lot."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"If it's going to be 100 degrees in Baltimore, that means 95 percent humidity."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's actually cheaper to land a helicopter than it is to park a car here at Yankee Stadium."
- Tom Hamilton

"Our wonderful engineer back at command central has already dubbed the tape and is emailing it to me..."
- Tom Hamilton's ears were burning while he was away in the 4th

"Big crowd, entertaining itself. Throwing peanuts and hot dogs at each other."
- Tom Hamilton is sort of bored and maybe a little jealous

"It's almost as if the umpire is saying 'great effort, you're out!'"
- Tom Hamilton on an obviously missed foul ball catch

"They feel like they can ever be challenged, they can never be wrong. That's why you will see more instant replay in the future because of people like Mike DiMuro. [...] Mike DiMuro will be having to
watch that replay on ESPN for the rest of the week and it'll make him the laughing stock of the profession."
- Tom Hamilton

"Derek Jeter plays the game the way you'd want your kids to play."
- Tom Hamilton

Pwned!!1!

Justin Masteron pitched today. He pitched today. Justin Masterson pitched the fuck out of the baseball today!!!

Remember how Tomlin pitched yesterday and held the Reds to just one run? Masterson pitched even BETTER than that today. He went a full 9 innings and struck out 9 and gave up just 3 hits (only one of those hits to Votto/Phillips) and ONE RUN. ONE UNEARNED RUN, MOTHERFUCKERS. He was pitching in the high 80s/low 90s all night. His 106th pitch, the last pitch of the game, was a 95 MPH sinker that finished striking out the side!!

And of course, as is Justin's lot, he didn't need to hold the other team to 1 today, because our team decided to give him run support when he least needed it. Irony! (Right?)

We ALMOST had an "Everybody Hits" game but Marson didn't get his. He's back to backup catcher now so he gets a break. What's key is that some guys had a multi-hit game, the bottom of the lineup was looking good, and we're hitting homers again.

Choo went 2 for 4 tonight and of course they were doubles. Since he had a slow start, his slugging % isn't too wild (.430) but he is tied for 1st in the league for doubles! He's getting more awesome in the field, too.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! #8 tonight, a 3-run bomb. Holy smokes was I not expecting that! I had all but forgotten that Asdrubal was our home run hero last year and had put it on the "fluke" shelf. I have a feeling he's going to be ramping up his homer production now, so keep an eye out. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll know every time. Don't forget there's still time to vote for him for the All Star Game!

Kipnis was out today. Did you think we could manage without him? Are you a little surprised we managed 8 runs without our JK Kid? Yeah me too! He was just restin', so we'll see him Friday.

Acta moved Brantley up to the 3rd spot, which is interesting because we need him to help some of those dudes down at the bottom but we also needed someone that could replicate Kipnis. Brantley being Brantley, he got a hit! A 4-game streak now! He ended the night 1 for 5.

Santana went 1 for 5, and had a lucky break on a "throwing error" at 2nd which wasn't actually an error but Bank Error In Your Favor, yaknow? Lopez was batting in the 5-spot for Brantley and playing 2nd for Kipnis. He did ok in his roles and ended up going 1 for 5 as well, with a double.


You know who's got a 6-game hitting streak? With 6 RBI and 4 runs in that time? Casey Kotchman, is who. And he continues to be amazing at the corner as well. Today he went 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

I started petitioning Manny Acta for "SHELLEY EVERY DAY" yesterday and today. No luck. Today we had Damon and he went 2 for 2 with 2 RBI and 2 walks and 2 runs. And a homer. Great, I hope Johnny Damon feels good about himself. Somebody proved something. He should go home now.

Lonnie, eh? You like? He was in at 8th tonight and he BROUGHT IT to the bottom of the lineup. Finally! A bases-clearing double with the bases loaded is what he done brought. He ended the night with 3 RBI, giving him 6 RBI in this series.

How awesome is this team going to be with Travis back and Jack every day? We'll be spilling over with hitting!!

I guess tonight's win means that The Battle of Ohio is tied. Gah, now I am looking forward to interleague AGAIN! (I am excited to see the Pirates with my cousin's kids.) I tell you what tho, I am not looking forward to our boys having to play in Houston this weekend. In the middle of the day and shit. It's gonna be awful. I wonder if Hafner were in if they'd even let him play. I bet his contract doesn't allow it.

Speaking of weather - the KSU vs. South Carolina College World Series game is delayed until tomorrow at noon. I wonder if I can find it on the radio anywhere?

So there's 3 more days of interleague for us, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The White Sox are taking care of the Cubs right now, so if that holds we'll be in first still on Friday, but just by 1/2 game. Houston's not that good - not even .500. But they're over .500 at home so we'll see. Our starters are really picking it up right now and our guys are getting in to the multi-hit groove so it's definitely a series we could win. Sweep? Sounds like fun!

Next game is 8:05 on Friday, Ubaldo versus a guy who's got almost the exact same stats (RHP, 6-5, 5ish ERA). Gotta check out those 'Stros before they join our league. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He may be sprinting to the mound after the third out, ready to work."
- Tim Belcher after the Tribe was up 5-0

"You can't hit that. Well, of course you can't hit that. I mean Willie Harris."
- Tim Belcher doesn't think Rosie can hit a breaking ball

We Won Over Pittsburgh

I went to the game today with my cousin from the Pittsburgh area and his family. He's got 3 kids, a girl and 2 boys. The oldest boy is 10 and he's a pretty good Pirates fan and "good at baseball" in general. I just love going to games with other fans - and baseball fans are so rare around here it's even a fun time when the other fan roots for the other team!

There were a lot of Pirates fans there, especially in our section behind the visitor's dugout. I'm guessing a lot of Pennsylvanians hooked up with StubHub and got the best seats they could, considering they were coming all this way. We got our seats courtesy of a local food vendor that had passed them along to our oldest cousin who works in the Cleveland restaurant industry. We got 4 seats from them and bought 2 more in the next row from StubHub. The seats we had were 7-10 and the ones in front of us 5-6. When we got there I asked the folks in 7-10 in front of us if they wouldn't mind moving down in to 5-6 so my family could have 9-10. They generously obliged us. Score!


At first my cousin's kid thought he might get some flak for wearing Pirate gear in Cleveland. I said no, people here generally do not care about Pirate baseball or NL baseball for that matter. He was a little perplexed as to what he might do with his giveaway Santana jersey but "lucky" for us we didn't arrive in time to have to deal with it.

Once he settled in and realized that his family wasn't alone in their Pirate love, he tried a little trash talk. But mom shut him down. We had to explain that it's totally ok to cheer for your team in the opponent's park but it's kind of rude to bash the opponent in their park. This is baseball - let's all just get along!

The Pirates noticed the family sitting there, all decked out in their black and gold, as they came in from warm-up. One of the guys took off his "Prostate cancer awareness" blue wrist band (for Father's Day) and threw it to my buddy. He said "I'll never take this off, ever!" I saw him lift it up and scratch his wrist at one point...I wonder if he'll tell his mom if weird fungus starts growing underneath?

Also, the Pirates noticed my cousin's wife, who is a very good looking mother of three. Better than most of us know women from Pittsburgh to look. We are pretty sure she could have gotten some phone numbers and room keys along with the wrist band.

Jeanmar Gomez wasn't the most impressive today. He actually was really tight for the first 3 innings, not giving any runs up. Then in the 4th he gave up a 3-run homer to Alvarez (who had 2 the night before). I missed the kids' reaction because I was off getting my lunch. But the guy in front of me in the line said "Shit!" a lot. Those 3 runs were un-earned, however, because there was an error which should have been the 3rd out. In the 5th inning, Jeanmar gave up a homer, a walk, a double and an intentional walk. Then more shenanigans, and Gomez was replaced with Rogers.

Backwards from Gomez, Rogers started off bad then tightened up. He gave up a 3-run homer - 1 of those runs belonging to Gomez, the other un-earned and the other belonging to Rogers himself. After that, he only gave up one more hit and hit a guy in the foot. He ended up going 2 2/3 and throwing some smoke, which is what they want him for.

Jeremy Accardo took care of the 8th and 9th and struck out 3, not giving up any runs. But by then...well, the Tribe's not scoring 9 runs any time soon it seems.

But the kids were super impressed. They loved seeing the slumping Alvarez hit two homers. They loved seeing their Pirates - who I guess are pretty much on par with the Tribe this year - score 9. The kids really, really loved Progressive Field. I think they also really, really liked the idea of the DH.


When it came to our team...I tried to get the kid to try a little "Choo!" himself but he just wouldn't do it. His younger brother came up with the idea to yell for their reliever, "Huuuuuuuuughes." Not bad! They were not really big Choo fans, especially after he got a 2-run double in the 4th, putting the Tribe back on top 4-3.

I wore my "We Are All Kipneses" t-shirt for the first time, and the family was pretty impressed by the man. My shirtness didn't disappoint and he ended up going 3 for 5 with a homer in the 1st and a stolen base in the 3rd. He also looked sweet in the field. My new buddy said - and I am not making this up - that maybe we'll see him in the All Star Game. YES, MAYBE!!

I told them that Asdrubal was my favorite player, not actually Kipnis (tomorrow I wear Asdrubal's shirt. It's only right on Asdrubal Bobblehead Day). They weren't as impressed by Asdrubal, who made 3 errors today which resulted in 4 un-earned runs. WTF? He did, however, go 2 for 5 at the plate and now he's hitting .303.

Little guy was also impressed by Brantley. I guess he hadn't seen Saturday's game when the streak ended, but he told me that Friday he was excited and "thought he could have a go at DiMaggio's record." He also thinks it's amazing that we have an ex-player named Lemon. Brantley started back at 1 today, by the way. Let's see how far he goes!

Supermanahan was back getting it done today, his second game back after coming off the DL. He looked nice in the field (well, of course!) and went 1 for 4 at the plate. They liked his nickname, especially because their closer is Hanrahan. But I guess they call that guy Hammerhan. Good, no confusion!

I tried to trash talk Damon in a sort of dignified way. In a way that would not upset children. I pointed out that he is as old as their DAD! (my cousin) Then Damon went ahead and went 2 for 4 with a stolen base! He also hit a foul ball that grazed the top of my cousin's head and smacked the seat where a fellow child Pirate fan had been sitting before he went for snacks. Some guy a couple row up got it. When the toddler who'd been sitting nearby returned to his seat (Cleveland toddler, not the Pirate snacker), the guy who got the ball gave it to the toddler. This greatly impressed my kid and he told the other Pirate fans as soon as they got back.

Anyway Damon ended up scoring two. Meh.

We were sitting right next to 1st base, and I guess the kid plays 1st base because his mom told him to watch how Kotchman does it. I said "that guy is one of the best first basemen in the league so if you're going to watch a first baseman you're lucky!" Kotch also went 1 for 4 with an RBI.

Lou Marson went 1 for 2 with 2 walks. The kids sort of took to him, maybe because they spent so much time building up ire for their non-existent Santana jerseys. Santana didn't even play, by the way. I think they dug that the 9th batter could hit and wasn't just the pitcher or a pinch hitter. Hear that, National League?

Between each inning, my cousin's boys and the two Pittsburgh boys sitting behind us went up to the dugout to beg for balls. One of the boys finally got one - a Cleveland kid from the first row had gotten TWO thrown to him from the Pirates (??) and the Pittsburgh dad asked the Cleveland dad if his kid could have the second one. Once again, the Pittsburgh fan was obliged by the Cleveland fan.

My cousin's younger son was sort of sad because his brother got the wrist band and those other kids got a ball. The other Pittsburgh kids told him he'd get the next one, and sure enough they were able to snag another ball and gave it to my cousin's kid.

But now there was one Pittsburgh kid left out! So my cousin's oldest kid went up to the dugout after the game and got them to throw him a ball. He was absolutely stoked to run over to the other, younger Pittsburgh fan and give him the last ball. Love all around! Turns out Pittsburgh fans aren't really that bad. In the summer.

While we were leaving, my cousin's older kid told me "I'll remember this my whole life!" and "This was the best game I've ever been to!" Even my cousin's pre-teen, non-baseball-fan daughter told me she liked our stadium a lot, more than Pittsburgh. The littlest guy was just all smiles. They said I totally need to come see a game with them in Pittsburgh next year. Great - now I don't want interleague to end!

So despite our loss, there was a lot of winning going on today in Cleveland. You really can't go wrong with kids at a baseball game. The kids definitely were won over by Cleveland and how nice everyone is, how nice our stadium is and for the most part how good our baseball team is.

Oh yeah - the kid was also impressed that I went to 11 games last year, and it was my third (!!) game this year. He suggested I might be their MVP fan. I said no that's probably [Patron Saint of this blog] John Adams (who impressed the kids with his drum, of course!) I also told them about the guy who's bringing his baby daughter to every game this year.  He said I was still probably a runner-up. Yeah, buddy!

No Radio Chatter today, sorry. I need to go shower up (lordy was it STICKY out today!) and get rested for tomorrow's game, where I'll be watching batting practice from on the field, having my photo taken with a player, and viewing the game from behind the plate. With my Asdrubal bobblehead, of course.

I'll see you there!

Tribe 1, Champs 0

What a fun game tonight! I don't know why but that was the best game I've seen on TV in a while. Maybe because most of the TV games are crappy Sunday games which we lose. Or because Busch Stadium is a really nice stadium and I totally fell in love with the arch in the outfield last October. And then the real Arch in the distance. Maybe it's because I finally got to see the Perez Progressive commercial (which, I am told, gets a lot of air time on cable.) Perhaps too it was that I got to see the new Chisen-mustache that I'd only heard about. Here's a picture of it:

Lonnie Chisenhall as The Beatles. George is sporting a Tomlin Plus.

I'm pretty sure the main reason I enjoyed today's game so much was that the team hit well, scored runs and Tomlin pitched like a sonofagun!

Would you believe if I told you Tomlin (and his facial hair) only struck out 1 tonight? In the 7 innings he pitched he did only strike out one. He actually gave up 8 hits too! But you'll have that against the best-hitting team (average and hits) in the NL. They only got 1 extra base off him, and one walk. He was in the groove tonight. With how fast him and Westbrook were pitching I was expecting the game to be over by 9 PM. And you know what? He only threw 76 pitches. I'm guessing they were all quality.

The bullpen was a treat again tonight! Smith gave up two hits to Molina and Craig but those dudes are hitting waaaaaay over .300. Remember that guy Freese who hit all of those homers in last year's post-season? Struck him out. Struck out Matt Holiday, too. Hagadone didn't give up any hits and struck out one, while Perez warmed up in the 'pen for no real reason than to let people know that he's returned, suckers.

Choo wasn't hitting tonight but he was leggin' it out there in the field. There's a lot of ground to cover out there!

Asdrubal and Kipnis picked up the slack by both going 2 for 5 tonight and both coming around to score. Kipnis got an RBI, too. That's two multi-hit games in a row for Kipnis and a 10-game hitting streak for Asdrubal! Once again, dazzling in the field too. Don't forget to vote for them to be in the All Star Game!

Kipnis hit himself in the knee/shin area with a foul ball early in the game. Made me sick - that's just about what happened to the 4-6-week Hafner. Hafner also finished his game like Kipnis did tonight. Kipnis is the LAST guy we need to lose, holy smokes...

Santana didn't disappoint today, going 1 for 4 with a RBI double. He also hit one that was a hit except for the awesome play on the other end. And he walked which they say "is a good sign" that he is on his way back. And he didn't strike out once!

Michael Brantley stretched his streak to 16 today :) :) Not only that but he got his first hit early and then got ANOTHER hit to go 2 for 4! WITH an RBI and a run. Here's a weird thing, tho - he struck out twice. And he struck out twice yesterday. Trying too hard? Maybe. Someone send him a memo to chill out. You know - be smooth.

Johnny Damon was a useful member of the team today and got a 2-run homer.

Kotchman was crazy good in the field today, as usual. And he proved himself reliable at the plate going 1 for 4, which is near what his .222 average lead you to expect. So, above-average hitting by Kotchman today - with a bonus RBI!

Lonnie Chisenhall was not Chisenhall-esque exciting today - no homers, no stolen bases - but he was Kotchmen-esque exciting also going 1 for 4, just like Casey. Unlike Casey, that is slightly under average for him.

Josh Tomlin! Yeah, not only did he pitch 7 but he also got himself a RBI single, stinging one to right field just like the "professional hitters" before him! What's not to like about Tomlin's performance tonight?!

Guess what - the game is on FOX tomorrow so I get to watch AGAIN! Happy days! Normally I love the radio and in fact I listen to the radio during TV broadcasts anyway. But the arches....and Tom Hamilton is away for the weekend so I'm happy having the TV for the missing color.

Tom's away because he's in Eugene, Oregon watching the Golden Flashes play in the NCAA baseball semi-finals. His son, Nick, is the team's DH. If you haven't already, read these articles about Nick Hamilton from The Plain Dealer and The Akron Beacon Journal. Amazing kid with an amazing family. If you are a fan of Hammy's - and if you read this blog I'm pretty sure you are - then you're going to be one huge fan of Nick's. I can't wait to see that kid in a Tribe uniform! What a great attitude!

Anyway, I'll stop gushing. Tomorrow night is another one against the 2011 World Champions of Baseball, in their beautiful arch-y stadium. And bonus for all of us without cable - it's on FOX! Two nights in a row! Nobody better call me to tell me they ripped out their bathroom and need a hand (that's what happened last time I meant to chill and watch a game on a Saturday night.)

I will see you there - and that's a promise!

Radio Chatter:

"I'd assumed the Indians retired my number when I left, but Tomlin's out there wearing it."

- Scott Bailes

"There's a league rule that there has to be 2 minutes 30 seconds between innings. Westbrook hates that rule. He is ready at a minute and a half and has to wait around"

- Jim Rosenhaus

"He's got a shutout going... I bet he's more proud of that [RBI single]."

- Jim Rosenhaus on Josh Tomlin's hit

"The Cardinals, maybe they used up all their runs last night."

- Jim Rosenhaus on the Cardinals' 14-run game

Too Much Baseball. Too Many Hot Dogs.

Ok so here's the deal. I went to a Memorial Day party and it didn't go too long, so I had time to come home and listen to the game. The game had a lot of baseball going on - just like yesterday's game. Twenty-seven hits, 19 runs. Stolen bases, errors, hit-by-pitch, outfield assists and even deeper in to our b-squad.

But it's late and I just don't feel good and I have to be up and at 'em tomorrow so you're just going to get a short rundown of highlights from me.

The good news is 1) Tom Hamilton is back and 2) We don't see the White Sox again until September. The mixed news is that Kent State won the MAC championship and will be going to the NCAA baseball regionals ...but that means Tom Hamilton will probably miss some more games. But hey, as a KSU alum and a huge fan of Hammy's, I say go Flashes!

On to today's game:

Ubaldo. Ugh. He was acting hurt or sick or something, according to Rosenhaus. Hamilton didn't think it could be the 96 degree weather because "He is from the Dominican."

Asencio and Sipp DOUBLE UGH.

Choo was the only guy who didn't get a hit. Weird.

Brantley, 2 hits :) :) Two more for 2 RBI :) :)

Kipnis still on a tear in Chi Town. He went 6 for 12 on the weekend with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Two of those hits today.

LOPEZ! Back at 3rd. Where is Supermanahan? 1 for 5 with RBI and double, not bad Lopez!

Kotchman 1 for 3, 2 HBP. Rudi Steined his way on base.

Shelley Duncan being weird in the outfield. Damon possibly rubbing off or vice-versa. Duncan making weird plays, Damon got a home run. Halp.

Juan Diaz is fucking your shit up today! He went 2 for 3 and also got HBP and scored 2 runs! Welcome to the bigs! Bring Asdrubal (hamstring) back soon!

Lou Marson, 1 for 1. Officially on a "tear" when it comes to 2012 Lou Marson. Hit in face with ball. Welcome, Luke Carlin! Old man from minors! Went 1 for 2, his average is triple what Lou's is.

I cannot WAIT to play those Royals tomorrow, with Tomlin at home. There'd better be a ton of crazy fans there! We'd better score a ton of runs! Heck if we can score 16 this weekend with, according to Rosie, "67 of the RBIs missing from the lineup" then we can beat the Royals with our hands tied behind our backs. And they are. Choo, Brantley, Kipnis, [Players to be named later]

A 4:05 game for Memorial Day. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Lou Marson is looking in to the dugout as if to say 'I don't know, but it doesn't look good from here either.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez's first inning

"Well if he didn't get hit by the pitch, we have a thespian and a pretty good one."
- Tom Hamilton on Diaz's convincing "hit by pitch"

"That was a fastball at 88 miles per hour. I think it was a fastball, it looked like it."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez's fastball

"You got a non-roster catcher, a minor league shortstop and a guy hitting cleanup that you released."
- Tom Hamilton on the state of the Cleveland lineup

"This is a weekend the Indians would like to forget."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"Tell you how tough a day it is here. Our engineer Nick sabotaged our cooler here and I got a can of Diet Pepsi and it exploded."
- Tom Hamilton jokes with Nick, the Chicagoan (Cubs fan)

"It's as if the White Sox know what pitch is coming."
- Tom Hamilton

"Jiminez's earned run average on the road is 9. At home, just over 3. That's Jeckyl-and-Hyde numbers."
- Tom Hamilton

"If you had told Manny Acta before this weekend 'Manny, the Indians are going to score 16 runs this weekend,' Acta would have said 'You know, that gives us a good chance to win this series.'"
- Tom Hamilton

Best #1 A+ Win

What an amazing win. We didn't just win by one. Our pitchers didn't give up a ton of runs that we had to overcome. We didn't merely have a big inning. There was some great defense. Guys had multi-hits. We beat one of the best teams in baseball. It was hands down our best win of the season.

Starting off with starter Jeanmar Gomez. He's our little secret, for sure. He doesn't quite have Lowe's ERA (his 2.80 versus 2.27) but he's got the second lowest WHIP (walks + hits / innings pitched) on the team with .99, trailing only Vinnie Pestano. Dude is cool as a cucumber out there, too. He walked one tonight. ONE! Only 90 pitches in 7 innings. Only 3 runs given up to a team averaging over 5 runs per game.

Acta pulled him out right on time, no reason to stretch him out when we've got the Bullpen Mafia heating up behind him. Pestano cruised through the 8th and Chris Perez made his 3rd appearance in 3 days to get his 10th save. Does he lead the league in saves?

You know it!

Ok so Johnny Damon. You know I'm not a fan. I'm not gonna roll over and Damon-worship right now but uhm...Ol' Beardy sure did have a hell of an impact on this game. In the third he botched a catch in the outfield, yielding a double. But he had a chat about it with old pal Shelley Duncan - the dude he's sort of here to replace - and they were cool. Not only is Damon learning from Duncan but apparently Choo is getting some pointers from the man as well. He credits his homer (more on that in a bit) to some hints from Johnny. I'll take that, for sure...but then Damon also had a 2-run triple in the 7th, sealing our fate.

I am happy. That Johnny Damon. Is here. So far.

Anyway, Kipnis is still red fucking hot. He's on an 8-game hitting streak and today went 2 for 4 with his third double of the season. His average is now .301! He also stole a base and leads the team with 6!

Not to be left out, Asdrubal went 1 for 3 today and got hit by a pitch. HIS average is .303! He tried to steal a base too but uh...it didn't go so good for him.

Hafner, surprisingly, did not get a hit today. Not surprisingly, he got an RBI on a sac fly.

Carlos Santana had a multi-hit game, just like I told him he should do. Or maybe Johnny Damon told him? He went 2 for 4, bringing his average up over .250. He did well behind the plate and had his 3rd strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play this week!

The BIG story of the night was CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! He had two great plays in the field - one to end the first and one to end the game. Oh yeah and he got his FIRST home run of the season! FINALLY!!! Is he seeing the light? Turning a corner? Peeking out of his shell? Taking the gauze from his eyes? Whatever happened tonight I hope it's the start of something big. Cuz we can't wiiiiiiin if winning is without Chooooooooo.... (did you like that?)

Michael Brantley was there at the baseball game and he got a hit. Casey Kotchman was also there but he did not get a hit. He did get a walk.

Jack Hannahan is still tearing shit up. He'd only had one home run so far this year, and he was up with nobody on base, so you don't expect much from that situation because everybody knows Jack Hannahan is the guy who gets RBIs and nothing more. Well he hit a really long ball to right and the ball bounced around for a bit and he stopped on third. Then Johnny Damon (of course) said from the on-deck circle "Hey we should ask for a review of that" and Manny Acta said "Si" and the umps said "ok" and after a minute the umps said "home run" and Jack Hannahan said

Sweet, another way to get RBIs!

So yeah, according to how Tom Hamilton described it, Johnny Damon's heads-up job of not just sauntering in to the batter's box, thus rendering the hit un-reviewable got us a run there.

We'll welcome you back tomorrow, Mr. Damon.

Just an amazing win tonight and I couldn't be more stoked. We did EVERYTHING right and EVERYONE pitched in.

Can we do it tomorrow? I hope so. I'll be there helping out by screaming my bananas off in some lawyer's fancy diamond box seats. It's also Chris Perez jersey day, which I didn't even know when I accepted the invite to the game. I hope my friend and I get there in plenty of time to snag ours, as there are only 15k. There were 16k fans there tonight for fireworks. I think with the promotion and it being a Saturday and the weather being nice the place is gonna be PACKED!

Or not. It doesn't matter as long as Johnny Damon is there. Woo-wooo!

See you LATE (again) tomorrow night!

Radio Chatter:
"That's like the most beautiful person in the world being worried about one small freckle on their little toe."
- Tom Hamilton on the idea of Texas looking for more hitting

"It's worth it because the Indians only have to go to that furnace in Arlington, Texas just once not twice."
- Tom Hamilton is not a fan of Arlington, Texas

"So you don't think Shelley greeted him on the top step and said 'I would have caught that!'?"
- Tom Hamilton on Duncan giving fielding pointers to Damon after he muffed a ball

"He won't turn and say anything, he'll just do a little gardening with his feet."
- Tom Hamilton on Hafner getting a questionable call

"The Indians can't play a team like Texas, make a bunch of mistakes and expect to win. They've got to bring their A-game every night."
- Tom Hamilton

"Here comes Ron Washington, a day late and a dollar short."
- Tom Hamilton on Washington's trip to the mound after Damon's 2-RBI triple

"If you hold the Texas lineup to 3 runs in 7 innings of work, you have done your job."
- Tom Hamilton on Jeanmar Gomez

"The Rangers hitters are good enough, they don't need 4 strikes. Or 5."
- Tom Hamilton on a questionable call

Don't Need Damon

I was about to be on the fence about the possible signing of Johnny Damon (was still on the "NO!" side but considering being ok with it) but then today's first inning happened and I found myself having dug under the fence and riding a motorbike towards Sweden.

The problem with acquiring Damon is that he can either DH or play left. Well, our DH Travis Hafner is doing just fine. And so is our left fielder, Shelley Duncan. The only thing that made sense was to move the not-so-limber Duncan over to center  to replace the not-so-hitting Michael Brantley, or bench Duncan and make him a permanent pinch hitter.

The former is just silly. Shelley's not a center fielder and while Brantley is no Grady he's miles ahead of an absent Grady. The latter - benching Duncan - may have seemed like a decent proposal in March when he was hitting .170 but so far he has proven he can be an every day guy for real. He's not hitting any worse than any of the other guys (.300) and in fact is second on the team. And you know what? He can field so far, too.

But according to everyone, Damon is an Indian (pending physical). Having an ex-Red Sox/Yankee/Tiger rubs me the wrong way. Especially since he's going to be taking time away from our DUNC TANK.

It sucks, I know.

All of this movement is FUTILE!! Why? Well did you SEE the first inning today?! I am putting on my Blinders of Positivity and saying that it was AWESOME and all of our hitting woes are over and we'll go on to win many more games and get many more hits!

NO DAMON NEEDED THANKS!

Not convinced? Well whatever. It was still fun as hell! We almost got to post a "Everybody Hits" star on the blog and everything!

Here's a nice video re-cap of the first inning, in which we got 7 runs off 8 hits and sent 11 guys to the plate.

Michael Brantley was clearly stoked to be hitting. He broke an 0/15 skid. His average was down to .059...it was tragic. Because he was a real solid hitter for us last year in the first half of the season. Him and Asdrubal were the one-two punch. then he got hurt and then he wasn't so good and he ended the season with a mediocre .266. He did decent this spring (.286) and even had a hit in the opener. So I'm not sure what was holding him back but he was lovin' life today and more than doubled that average (.136) so let's hope this is the start of an upward trend!

OMG ASDRUBAL had his second homer of the year today! As well as his second double! More RBI! MORE ASDRUBAL! I've always asserted that when Brantley is hitting he is hitting, so Brantley's upcoming streak (calling it!) is surely going to drive Asdrubal's ongoing streak!

Also getting two hits today was our man Choo. He's hit fairly regularly so far this season but this was his first multi-hit game and also his first 2 RBI of the season. He also successfully stole a base!

Also stealing a base was Kipnis who'd reached on an error in the 8th. But before that, in the fan-freaking-tastic first, he scored himself 2 RBI on a TRIPLE!

Kipnis and Kotchman share the A-team's lowest average right now, but Kotchman got his hit today and they collaborated on a few double plays so it's all good.

Everyone else, save for Hafner, got hits today - Santana, Duncan and Hannahan.

How do you like this? Derek Lowe got his second W today. No one else has any W's but him. And he even gave up 3 runs - which in any other game we played this year would have been a death knell. This shit always happens to Justin Masterson doesn't it? He coulda been the guy on the mound today when the offense decided to explode. But he wasn't. D'oh! Nice job by Lowe tho, keepin' it real. He went 6 2/3 and had (only) 8 ground outs. Let them boys do the heavy lifting.

Sipp came in for just a wee third of an inning and didn't let anything go, thus chipping down his ERA from 21.6 to 18. Atta boy!

Smith and Pestano came in for the last two and shut that shit down, as they are wont to do. VinneP with the two strikeouts, yeah buddy!

Really fun game today. So fun I listened twice! Tomorrow I have a lot of work to do so I can be able to plop myself down by 7:10 to get my WKYC on (huh, why is a Central Time game at 7:10?) There had better not be a rain out, that's all I'm sayin!

Speaking of rain-outs, mark your calendars for May 7 when we double up with the White Sox to play that "snowed out" game. What a month May will be - 21 games in the first 20 days! That is going to make us or break us I think...

But we can't look that far ahead. First we must replicate today on tomorrow's score card. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This is a New Year's Eve celebration in Kansas City, but it's 10 o'clock at night, there are no more party favors, and the champagne is gone!"
- Tom Hamilton on the Tribe demolishing the Royals in the first inning of their home opener

"It has to be perfectly timed with that combo running, and the Indians got it done."
- Jim Rosenhaus on getting Escobar and Dyson out on a double play

"This ought to be a good matchup. A guy who throws over 100 miles per hour and a guy who loves to hit fastballs."
- Tom Hamilton on Herrera versus Santana