Fish Slapped

Oh man, Mike Trout is so good! And I love good baseball players, just love 'em! You can't really hate on Mike Trout, can you? I don't know if he's an all-around good man like Torii Hunter but he doesn't seem to be a brat or anything. He's just a damn good baseball player. Like Lonnie, but with a sillier name.

Tribe just didn't have it today, period. Bad pitching from all FOUR pitchers, bad defense (Asdrubal's 13th error), lack of hitting (7 hits but 10 strikeouts). Blergh. Like everyone had their minds focused on Puppypalooza instead of baseball!

I'm not going to go over the pitching. I'll just leave this right here:

More like "ouch, man"

Although, it didn't matter how many runs those relievers relieved themselves of, because the batting wasn't there to overcome Tomlin's 6 runs. Sad trombone.

Did you know that Michael Brantley, the day after being named the MLB player of the week, is on the concussion DL? Yes he is. He so is.

So, it was all up to Lonnie tonight to be the offensive stud and after a 4-game/13-at-bat slump for him he is BACK and ON IT today!

Ride! Ride like the wind! Lonnie went 2 for 4 today with another homer!! He's got 7 on the year (same as Asdrubal, who has played more games) and needs just 5 more to bust his HR total of last year. So he's batting .368. Kinda sad. He needs 18 plate appearances to qualify yet too. Argh! Why isn't Lonnie just the best at everything yet???

He's getting there though! There will soon be Lonnination in the MLB.

No one else had a multi-hit game today, duh. Kipnis and Gomes got doubles. Kipnis got his in the 9th, when the Tribe was down 9-2 and there had just been a short rain delay, and the Angels brought in their closer to stretch his legs, and Kipnis hits a goddamn double. And then Santana hit the bloopiest of inflield bloops, and made it to first while Kipnis literally snuck around behind everyone to score. Grind! (Did you notice Carlos got another hit?)

David Murphy went 0-4 but he did get his team-leading 5th sac fly and his team-second 38th RBI. What a guy!

Raburn and Asdrubal teamed up for a put-out at the plate, but Asdrubal had another error so everyone hates him again. He did go 1 for 4 today tho!

Tomorrow is the final game of the series with these Angles. It's also free GV Artwork t-shirt day! Going to be 10,000 lucky fans that's for sure.

Post by GVARTWORK.COM.

It'll be a 7:10 game, Masty facing a LHP 3.05. Hmm...don't know what to make of that. I'm sure the shirts will make the whole thing exciting, regardless.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He wasn't wishing him a very happy early Christmas."
- Tom Hamilton on David Freese arguing with the umpire

"The Indians may not have known Shoemaker before tonight's game, but they'll remember him now. He's pitching a good one."
- Tom Hamilton

"Complaining about Mike Trout striking out more is like saying Kate Upton has a slight wrinkle on her shoulder."
- Tom Hamilton

"Are there beaches in Iraq? There's a lot of sand, I know that."
- Jim Rosenhaus

"They have put the plastic tarp over the mound in the bullpen, and put a stake in the ground with a sign in it 'Gone Fishing.'"
- Tom Hamilton says the game is over

"Does anyone even realize that it's 9-2 in the 9th inning?"
- Tom Hamilton isn't into it like you are!

"Either he is near-sighted and can't read the fingers of Hank Conger, or he just doesn't want to go back to his hotel."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angles' closer

Everybody Have Fun Tonight!

Man, I have been so STOKED for this homestand. I suppose it has to do with how much better the Tribe does at home than on the road this year. But the weather has been nice and the Central is a tight race and football & basketball & hockey are over now for a minute (except there is always, always Manziel) and it's BASEBALL time now in Cleveland and I'm ready to watch the people watch the Tribe.

Every day I am finding myself totally excited for the upcoming game. And that's the way it should be!

Anyway, today it was Trevor Bauer time. I love that this kid comes off as so cocky. For some reason I think his sideburns and and his high socks make him look cocky hahaha I mean he's not killing it on the mound, but he does have some stuff to back up that cockiness. Part of being cocky is not being afraid and that means that you can tell Terry Francona "hey man, I'm going to go back out there for the 7th, all right?" and Terry Francona does it even though it means you throw 120 pitches.

Do these pants make my butt look self-assured?

It was the first time in 8 games that a Tribe starter made it that far into the game. Actually all he really ended up with was the far end of a quality start. Six and 2/3 innings, 6 strikeouts, 3 runs and 8 hits. Not one 1-2-3 inning but he kept going! And 3 runs is just fine, as long as your offense shows up. And today they did, bless 'em.

As if Bauer's performance wasn't cool enough, Carlos Carrasco came out to be the unlikely hero, pitching 2 1/3 innings to get the save! I really dig him out of the pen because he's just got length to spare in really weird situations. I mean, 7 outs - that could have been 3 relievers! But he came in to finish the 7th with a strikeout. In the 8th he walked a guy then had a strike-em-out-throw-em-out. He gave up a single but got the final strikeout to end the inning. And then a magical 1-2-3 9th! I mean, a Trout-Pujols-Hamilton 9th - woah!

Carrasco gave a post-game interview to Hammy and Rosie. Tonight was his first save in 11 years. No matter how much he ends up disappointing us as a starter, he always seems like a good, humble guy. Remember when he totally beaned that KC player in retaliation for something and got suspended for 5 games? Team player! He says he is just going to work real hard at any position he's in, and now he's in the bullpen so he'll work hard at being a great reliever. He's asking questions and learning every day. Much love, Cookie!

On the offensive side...The team only had 4 LOB today! They got 4 runs off of 6 hits. Low on hits and no 50% off at Papa John's, but at least dudes weren't being stranded!

Michael Bourn is glad to be back at home, yeesh! Dude went like 1-19 in Boston and came home and went 2-5, just like there was no slump at all.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! Home run #7 wahoo! And suddenly he's found the patience, because other than the homer he walked twice and I can't remember the last time he walked! (8 days ago) His homer was a 2-run job.

Michael Brantley (.323) is the MLB player of the week! Because while his team was busy figuring out ways to lose miserably and win barely, Brantley has raised his already-high average 25 points with 15 hits in the week, including 3 doubles and a homer.

Then, because Cleveland can't have nice things, Michael Brantley didn't show up in left field. Mike Aviles did. There was a mild panic, and finally we found out that Brantley got a knee to the head when sliding into second. Hopefully his head is as strong as his will. BE OK, BRANTLEY!!!

Kipnis was shut down tonight, which makes me shudder.

But Carlos Santana! Whoop whoop! Dude got a home run, which turned out to be the game-winner! Still hitting under .200 but they say he has "quieted down" since his stint on the DL. Cool stuff but uhm...do you really want a guy to come off of a concussion so relaxed?? Once again I heard him on the radio, and once again I was surprised that he has a Dominican accent and is not in fact a kid from Oakland. It gets me every time!

Anyway, Santana has almost as many hits as Brantley in the last 10 games (ok just 10 but still - how many you got??) and 9 RBI. On your way up, Like a boss!

Lonnie has been shut down for 4 games now, and I think it's giving me a rash on the back of my hand. But Jim Rosenhaus pointed out - while talking about Mike Trout, actually - that there's 162 games and even amazing players can't be amazing for all of them. So if Mike Trout is going to be slumpy, so can Lonnie. Just...not too much longer, ok?

Nick Swisher is still on our team. He hit a $15mm home run the other night. Whee.

David Murphy tried his hardest, but only got a walk tonight.

It was George Kottaras day! He went 1 for 3 with a bunt single, and threw a guy out at second, thus proving that he is a well-rounded player and a great Indian. For now. Opa!

Tomorrow is MORE BASEBALL!! It's Tomlin time! Has he straightened himself back out? It'll be Tomlin's mane versus RHP 4.19 and his beard. We love RHPs at home! And it's Puppypalooza, I believe.

The fun starts at 7:05, and I forsee a lot more runs in this game so start picking out your pizza. See you there!

Sorry, no Radio Chatter today. I don't even know what I was doing to miss any potential quips. I think it was just a lack of quips. Not me, man.

Bases Loaded!!

Aaaaaargh!!! Bases loaded!!! I'm starting to get turned off by bases loaded situations because it just means DISAPPOINTMENT.

On to other things, though.

Kluber, not so good.

Kipnis, hurt.

Santana!!! He went 2 for 4 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI! What what what???

All right!

Both Brantley and Cabrera snapped double-digit no-hit streaks tonight. Brantley went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI and Asdrubal went 3 for 4!! Wahoo!

But like...what's with the no-hit streaks, guys?

Giambi was in tonight and he is still batting .000. And he struck out twice. However, he did almost put one over the wall which made Tom Hamilton super excited. But you know...horseshoes and hand granades.

Mike Aviles stepped in when Kipnis got hurt, and ended up going 2 for 2. That's some Goon Squad shit right there. He's hitting .255....just like Brantley.

So the team actually got a lot of hits today but they left a lot of dudes on base. And then the starter AND the bullpen gave up too many runs - the Angels out-hit us 12-10. Everything is bad, man. Everything.

Tomorrow is a weird one, in that it's at 7:05 Eastern but being played in Anaheim. I guess 4:05 games aren't unheard of. It'll be our man McAllister versus a LHP with a similar ERA so that's cool. Another fair shot to win at least ONE game on this road trip.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"With these winds at Angel Park, a hot dog wrapper has a chance to end up in Honolulu by morning."
- Tom Hamilton

"You have to have a gameplan when you go to the plate. You also have the ability to not panic..."
- Tom Hamilton

"I know beer makes you brave, but that one is going to send that guy to the doctor."
- Tom Hamilton on a fan trying to catch a liner

"We saw him in Studio City...Keifer Sutherland. You'd be surprised how small he is. And he's saving the world!"
- Tom Hamilton

"Sometimes this replay review leaves you with more questions than answers."
- Tom Hamilton

"This club's not playing well in any facet, Rosie."
- Tom Hamilton

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana went 2 for 4, with a 3-run homer.

Thus ends today's Positive Tribe.

Sweep! Swoop!

The Tribe seemed to cruise through this game today, which is pretty awesome because that's exactly what you need after a 5.5 hour game, and then having to show up a little earlier the next day is brutal too.

Justin Masterson was the starter, which as I said last night was exactly who we needed starting today. He could go the distance! Francona told him this afternoon that he was on a pitch count - 190. haha! He actually did go 110, after 6 2/3 innings. Not an amazing start - he only gave up 1 run but walked 5 - but it was a quality start and probably longer than anyone else could go right now. He struck out 7 while he was out there - he's 4th in the league in both strikeouts and innings pitched. If he wasn't "so out of control" (using the term very very loosely) with all those walks he could have gone the distance.

But, you know, relievers can show up 2 days in a row. They're not porcelain unicorns. Rich Hill came out to finish the 7th and nobody scored. Hooray!

Next was Cody Allen, because of course. Dude puts the "bull" in bullpen! At least this year, for this team. He gave up one hit but then struck out the other 3.

Chris Perez came in for his third night in a row. Tom Hamilton reminded us what happened last time he came in for his third night in a row (3 hits, 4 runs). I listened through my fingers. He gave up 1 hit and got his 20th save! BALLGAME!!

You know who came back around today? Michael Bourn did!! He found his thang and went 3 for 5 after hitting like .180 for a spell there. He got a triple in the third inning because he was all "Damn, I'm turning this in to a triple!" and sped the heck around the bases. It kind of, sort of made me sad that the next batter hit a homer. A bit of a waste of a triple? But maybe having a fast guy dancing around on third was what distracted the pitcher into throwing one that could be hit over the fence? Yeah, that's it.

Swisher went 1 for but his 1 was the game-winning homer, in the 3rd. A two-run dealy that sort of made it easy for everyone to sit back and relax because no way was Justin Masterson going to give up 2 runs, you know?


Kipnis, who has been money while everyone else has been jake, has now been jake for 3 games while everyone else is money. Michael Brantley is also slipping in to jake-ness. Dag.

Santana got his 31st double!

Jason Giambi had another hustle double! I guess he's from the area so his dad and his brother were visiting today. Also explains why he's pushing hard. Two doubles in two games!!

Asdrubal was out today on a rest day, so we don't know how his comeback is doing until Friday!! Raburn is out with some sort of leg thing too, btw. Sad.

Aviles was in for Asdrubal and he was really feeling it - he went 2 for 4 and hustled down the line to score an insurance run in the 9th, on a wild pitch. Love that Aviles!

Did you know he's got a Twitter account that fans set up that just posts Aviles-related news? Apparently lots of people love Mike Aviles! 

Stubbs didn't hit any homers or score any runs today but he did get on base twice with walks. They must be scared of him! Also looks like he's safely up and out of his normal .240 zone, hanging tight at .253!

Off day tomorrow, then they're back at home for the weekend against the Twins. This Twins series might be the biggest series of the year, seriously. Gotta win!

It'll be Ubaldo versus RHP 3.82. Let's hope for good things from Ubaldo, to keep this streak going. The game's at 7:05, at home.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Josh Hamilton has just done everything wrong this series."
- Tom Hamilton

"No matter what there are always at least 30,000 fans here at the Big A. I'm glad the guy who counts the tickets isn't my tax accountant ... I'd be in jail by now."
- Tom Hamilton doesn't believe the numbers

"So far, Mike Soicia is 0 for about 12 in arguments in this series."
- Tom Hamilton

The Game That Doesn't End

The Tribe wasn't really that hot today in the first 9-inning portion of tonight's game. Really what was happening was that the Angels were not playing very well and they managed to lose the game.

Now, later on - as in like, the next day - the Tribe ramped it up and showed that they were the better team and did some awesome stuff in order to win, as opposed to the Angels just losing.

It wasn't even until the 7th inning that the Tribe managed to tie it up...at 1. But they kept it there and then kept at it and all of a sudden, after 5.5 hours of baseball, it was ours to win!

Everybody pitched tonight. EVERYBODY. Ok, not the starters (although I bet they were next...) but Salazar was followed by the entire bullpen after his 5 1/3 innings of work. What an unfortunate time to have a pitch-restricted starter!

He threw exactly 75 pitches (his limit) and he was done. He had just given up 3 hits and the one run. He also struck out 7, which gives him 29 strikeouts in his first 4 games as an Indian - second only to Herb Score with 40. Man, I wish we coulda seen more of him but we'll have to be patient and wait 5 days.

Next was Cody Allen, who you know totally nailed it. Zep was called in to face a lefty and took care of that, then nearly took care of the next inning but there was a throwing error so instead he left with one man on.

Joe Smith came in with 1 on and 1 out in the 8th. He gave up a single but Hamilton had to stop at second. Then Hamilton tried to lead off second and Joe Smith was all like...

BOOP!

So there was no stealing of the base for Josh Hamilton. There was ANOTHER single but nothing of it, since stupid Hamilton got himself thrown out. HA HA! Then strikeout to end the inning.

Smith gave up 2 more singles in the next inning but lucky for everyone, the Angels are terrible and nothing came of it.

Then came the crazy all-hands-on-deck 10th inning that started out with Albers getting the bases full. I know - Albers isn't that guy! But tonight he was. Usually he's helping the rest of the guys out of a jam but this time he needed to call on...Oh no! Not Rich Hill!

The next batter was a lefty, and Zep was done so it was Hill time. It seemed like it took forever, but on just 4 pitches he got the batter to smack one down to Aviles who was Johnny-on-the-spot at third. He almost got the big double play but Mark Trumbo was on top of his game as well.

Not wanting to risk everything, they took Hill out (whew) for Shaw. He struck out the last guy. Party time!!!

Shaw threw the 12th too, and didn't give up anything. Next was Perez and I'll admit I was nervous as heck. He did his thing - got some baserunners on, struck one out...and nearly gave up 3 runs, or at least 1 run. But Michael Bourn turned it on and took care of it and the entire city breathed a sigh of relief.

Last but not least was...Carlos Carrasco! Perfect fit, actually, because he was going to have to pitch indefinitely and who else is better for that than a guy who's supposed to be able to pitch 9 as a starter? He had a 1-2-3 13th inning just to show everyone he was still relevant. Two strikeouts, even. In the 14th we we up by 2 so he could relax a bit - and relax he did. He gave up a walk and a single. But he totally took care of it and the last play of the game was a comebacker to the mound. A sweet, sweet comebacker. Ballgame!

The offense was definitely out of it today. I guess CJ Wilson is pretty tight but they've seen far better and hit far better! There was just 1 hit for the Tribe until the 7th, and 3 hits through the 9th.

The biggest hit in the first part of the game (the original 9) was Santana's homer in the 7th to tie it up! The ball went over the wall, and the outfielder who was chasing it lost his glove too!

Glove...no glove!

Poor guy walked away like Charlie Brown. According to my source at the game, a fan yelled at the outfielder that he sucked, and the stadium was so empty that everyone heard. Ouch! The guy ended up climbing up over the wall to retrieve his glove. What, no help?? Poor little fella...

Asdrubal got a hit today and in the grand scheme of things it meant nothing, except that ASDRUBAL GOT ANOTHER HIT TODAY!! That's a 4-game hitting streak, y'all!

The offense fired it up a bit after the 9th, and ended up getting 5 more hits in the next 5 innings.

The other big hit...I suppose the biggest hit...was Stubbs golfing one out of the park with 1 on and 1 out in the 14th! Once again, anyone on this ball club can be the difference maker any night! Even guy number nine!

After that they kept going, with another hit (Bourn), a stolen base (Bourn) and then reaching on an error (Kipnis) that scored the final run (Bourn). Very cool to see them keep it up after they've clearly won the game.

Chisenhall was the man on base when Stubbs hit his homer, by the way. He was splitting time with Aviles who started the game at 3rd (and made that sweet play). Nice touch to put him in - after a drought to end all drought, he's got a 2-game hitting streak going!

Props also to Cabrera and Swisher for turning it up a notch and making some sweet plays themselves. Seems like almost everyone played an important role in bringing the team back from the brink several times. Tom Hamilton called Cabrera's play his "play of the season," it seemed so crucial.

So that's it - 2 for 2 in LA. I'm not too impressed with the fact that they had to play so friggin' hard to beat such a bad team but the bad teams are sort of ramping it up right now! The White Sox took care of the Yankees a bit ago. The Twins just beat the Tigers. Everyone is out there playing spoiler. Kind of neat, I guess.

Tomorrow  is a 7:05 game which means it's a 4:05 game there. In LA rush hour traffic! Fun times ahead for Angel fans. It'll be Masterson versus RHP 4.90 and ... dang, aren't we lucky?! The game where we most need a guy to go 9 innings is being pitched by the guy who has given us the most innings this year! I hope we see that guy tomorrow...it'll be a great game.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He's like the Dalai Llama and Bill Murray in that movie Caddyshack. At least he's got that going for him."
- Tom Hamilton on Ianetta, who has twice as many walks as hits

"He's a guy who seems to enjoy pitching backwards."
- Tom Hamilton on CJ Wilson (who pitches from behind...not backwards)

"Everybody kind of rolled their eyes when the Indians acquired Rzepcyznski, but he's been good for them so far."
- Tom Hamilton

"I'm amazed that he didn't get booed off the field. If this were New York, Josh Hamilton would need some sort of security to leave the ballpark."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Angels lead the league in throws to first."
- Tom Hamilton is frustrated with throws to first

"JC Gutierrez is having a moment of silence on the mound, looking into his cap. And the cap says back 'Get out there and do your job!'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Before he went to do his thing he went into the Angels dugout and slapped all the relievers and said 'Snap out of it! Do your job!'"
- Tom Hamilton on the Rally Monkey

"I can't believe this is the same guy that terrorized the American League when he was with Texas."
- Tom Hamilton on Josh Hamilton

"You get a feeling, the way this game has gone, it's going to end when somebody hits a home run."
- Tom Hamilton

"You usually don't win a game when you fail that many times."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angels' late-inning play

"The way this game is going, we've got a chance to see what a sunrise looks like here at Angel Park."
- Tom Hamilton

"If the Indians were a cat, they'd be down to their last 3 lives!"
- Tom Hamilton has run out of exclamations

"If he'd have gotten thrown out there, he might have walked back to the hotel."
- Tom Hamilton on Carlos Santana's baserunning in the 13th

"He looks like Ringo Starr, from the 1964 Beatles."
- Tom Hamilton on the most unflattering picture ever (of JB Shuck)

"Joe Blanton must wonder what else can go wrong."
- Tom Hamilton after the high throw and run scored in the 14th

Doing Like They Do

Finally, a normal game.

And I mean a game where our starter is gonzo good, the lineup is all hitting, including home runs and Chris Perez gives up a run because he can. Ballgame!

The Tribe was still out on the left coast which was nice because it minimizes opportunity for jet lag. Don't you think? Plus it gives me the ability to get myself into a late-night groove for a few days. I did a ton of stuff between 5 and 10 today, it was nuts!

Anyway, speaking of grooves, Zack McAllister's got his groove back after getting his finger owied by whatever evil machine in the clubhouse is catching our pitchers unawares. He went 6 1/3 innings giving up just 1 run on 5 hits, and just 2 walks. He wasn't even supposed to BE here today, but he did damn good (it was Salazar, but the Tribe got my memo about 2 short-inning pitchers in a row being not good). I guess he blew through his rehab and didn't even miss a beat.

He struck out 5 and they pulled him after 103 pitches.

Shaw came in to finish the 7th and nothing went on but a strikeout. Yeehaw!

Joe Smith was in for the 8th and they said he didn't look to good but he only walked one and no one got hit by a pitch or anything. He struck out one, even. But then uh...well, I guess the Angels are really bad. The guy who struck out struck out swinging at a pitch that almost hit him.

Chris Perez came in just to get some work and he had a 4-run lead so he did what he does in those situations - gave up a run! He did get 2 strikeouts which is surprisingly a lot for him - usually it's just 1! He in fact got 2 strikeouts in his last appearance on the 14th - but it was also the first time he pitched 2 innings in one game. All told he's just had 2 strikeouts in one inning in 4 other games out of 40 total appearances. He's actually given up more home runs (6) than he's had dual strikeouts!

The boys got themselves 10 hits today and walked 5 times. That translated into 5 runs, although just in 2 innings - one big 4-run thing and then a solo homer later on.

Bourn was back up top today, going 1 for 5 again. Not bad - that was his M.O. for a while before he went on his slump-about. Unfortunately no runs or RBI to show for it.

Swish had a big night, going 2 for 5 with a solo home run that was so big that Hammy described it as not just "way back" but "way, WAY back." He also threw a putout at the plate, which I love. Still don't love Swish but...yay.

Kipnis ended his hitting streak today, but being that he's a team player to the fullest he still managed to get on base (walk), steal and come around to score. Oh, if only we were all Kipnises!!

Santana had a lovely patient night tonight. He ended up going 1 for 2 because he walked twice. He got an RBI single (RBI courtesy of Kipnis' stolen base!) and then came around to score himself in that 4-run inning. They took a risk taking him out later in the game in favor for Stubbs as a pinch runner. When you've got both catchers in the game and one goes out you better believe your other catcher isn't going anywhere!

I bet Ryan Raburn can catch, yo.

Michael Brantley didn't get a hit! BUT!!!! He did break the franchise record for consecutive games without an error, by an outfielder (213) surpassing Rocky Colavito. The AL record is 250 (Damon) which is much more reachable than the NL record, 369 (Darren Lewis). The Rock holds the league record for most consecutive games w/o an error for an outfielder in a season which is...162. Brett Butler is at 161 on the NL side. Clearly, that was from a time when men were men, and men played every game of baseball, and were named Rocky.

Oh, Asdrubal - you are melting away the ice from my cold, cold heart. A three-game hitting streak! He got another double today, going 1 for 3 - because he also got hit by a pitch. He came around to score after that double, too. Wahooooooooo!

Jason Giambi had himself a hustle double, which is not what anyone expects from Giambi (which is probably how he got a hustle double). Unfortunately he was wiped out by the time he had to run more bases, and was subsequently thrown out at the plate. Oh well - I was going to say I hope I can hustle anything at 42 but I can't hustle a thing at 34!

The Chiz Kid came out of nowhere (well, he came off his spot on the bench) and had an awesome game - his first time in a long time! He went 2 for 3 with a biiiiig 2-run homer! Whaddya know?! Not sure why but they put Aviles in later and even he got himself a hit. Hot time in the 8-spot today I guess. Great if Chiz can be out of a slump now too, since Asdrubal and Swisher seem to be heating up. If he can produce runs for the bottom half of the lineup, we'll be all set!

Gomes was back in form and went 1 for 3 today with a single and a walk. Oddly, no runs or RBI for him even though his compadres were doing some hitting. However, his average is a sexy, sexy .299!!

So they took care of Weaver today and that was cool. Usually he's a bit of a problem for the Tribe. They've got to roll over these Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim right now because next week is the Braves and Tigers and...oh my, I'm about to faint!

Tomorrow is the last late night game of the season!! Did you get some good snacks? I made cookies (since I had so much time before the game today!) It'll be Danny Salazar versus LHP 3.40. Gotta clobber this guy - his ERA is even better than Weaver's. All these dudes who are breaking out of slumps need to report FRESH and READY to go.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Josh Hamilton is a bit of a disappointment. It's like waking up on Christmas morning with no presents under the tree."
- Tom Hamilton

"When you've got a 42-year old guy who has done everything there is to do in baseball, then you've got a bunch of guys going 'I've got to play as hard as Jason Giambi.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Michael Brantley...he's been at home plate for a half an hour and he's seen two pitches."
- Tom Hamilton on Kohn's slowness on the mound

"If the singing cowboy [previous owner Gene Autrey] were still with us, by now he would have lassoed Mike Kohn and brought in someone else."
- Tom Hamilton

"Unless that Rally Monkey is buying everyone a beer, they are going to be leaving."
- Tom Hamilton

"Quite frankly the Yankees and A-Rod deserve each other, and they deserve everything that is happening to both sides."
- Tom Hamilton

Surprise - We Win!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey what's up? Tribe wins! And not just any win - a win where our man Justin fell and the rest of the team came around to pick up the pieces, coming from behind and all that good stuff!

I guess Masterson cites something like "just not having it" as the reason for his performance today. Four earned runs off 7 hits and 4 walks in 4 1/3 innings. Yeah man, that's having nothing. Yeesh.

So they had to roll out the dead-horse bullpen for another go-round. And by some miracle today they totally nailed it! They went 4 2/3 innings all total and gave up ONE HIT between them. Not one run, man - one HIT!

Now, of course Rich Hill made it interesting by walking 3 guys over 2 innings and throwing a wild pitch but, hey - in the end, no hits and no runs.

Good ol' faithful Matt Albers came in for 1 2/3 innings after someone realized that Rich Hill was still in there. He got us all the way through the 7th with nary a hit or a walk.

Joe Smith, back to true form, did give up a hit but he took care of 2 guys via strikeout and another via line-out.

Chris Perez is fine, you jerks. He had another 1-2-3 inning while Masterson had his second bad game in a row so everyone can just shut it!!

In case you didn't know, the score was 5-0 after 4 innings, and stayed that way until the bottom of the 6th.

Also, Asdrubal finally cracked and they threw him out. He was arguing too hard after a strikeout. I was just talking with my brother today about how Asdrubal hasn't had a good game since that game where we were losing 10-2. He appears to absolutely suck under pressure. Ugh...what a shame. I will still be his #1 fan, though! I will just be frustrated about it.

Anyway, Mike Aviles replaced Asdrubal in the 2nd. And he ended the night with 2 RBI. And the team won the game by 1 run. So uhm...thank you, Asdrubal?

The team only had one hit up through the 6th - a single by Lonnie in the 3rd. No walks, even.

Then, in the 6th, it was git down time!!! (With 2 outs, of course. OF COURSE!)

Michael Bourn gets a single then Swish belts one out for two! (Did you know his average is 35 points higher at home than away? Fact!)

Then right after that, still with 2 outs, Kipnis walks (kid went 1 for 2 today with 2 walks!) and then BOOM! Lowly Aviles off the bench with a two-run blaaaaaaast.

Ok so now it's only 5-4 in the 7th. The bullpen is somehow, some way getting it done. No more runs for the Angels tonight.

Santana remembers that he can hit homers too so he opens the 7th with one! His first since July 31st, and only his 3rd since July 1.

Then it's time for a little small ball with a walk by Chisenhall, a single by Stubbs and probably some extra sweating on the pitcher's part, looking for a double steal, and thus a single by Bourn to score the go-ahead run in Chisenhall. Yaaaaaaay!

We didn't get any runs after that, but Brantley did get a double so he could extend his hitting streak to 7. I also learned after the game that the bench refers to themselves as "the goon squad" and they're excited one of their own (Aviles) was a big factor in the game today. Goon Squad! Ha!

So now a losing streak is closed and we can get back to winning streaks, or at least winning serieses.

Tomorrow is Salazar versus some guy named Albers with 1 win and a 0.00 ERA. Ooh! Kids facing kids, that should be interesting as heck!

It's a 8:05 game because of time zones, ok? I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"This is what Tito talked about - you cannot let frustration overwhelm you."
- Tom Hamilton after a frustrating bounce

"The good news is you have plenty of time recovering [from a bad week in August.] You have a bad week in September and you start planning tee times for October."
- Tom Hamilton

"How can you compare A-Rod to Willie Mays? There isn't anything that Alex Rodriguez has done that should count."
- Tom Hamilton

"They can't just sit back and wait for bombs."
- Tom Hamilton, between Swisher and Aviles' homers

"If the Indians could come back and win this game, being down 5-0 and having lost six in a row, you might be able to point to this game as one of the critical points of the season."
- Tom Hamilton

"Mariano Rivera is human, Miguel Cabrera is not."
- Tom Hamilton on Miggy's homer off Rivera

C-a-r-r-a-s-c-o Spells Relief

Oh, starters! Why have you forsaken us? The only way this team can beat good pitching is if we have good great pitching ourselves. Because it stands to reason that the offense isn't going to help you that much when the opposing pitcher is throwing under 3.00.

As is common lately, our starter only had one bad inning. The first inning, even. But that was enough to keep the other team on top and the right team from winning. Kazmir started the game off loading the bases, then gave up a 2-run single. He managed to get one out, but then came a 3-run homer.

Ooooh...

So once he got out of the first with no more runs (past the 5 original runs...) he stuck around for 2 more 1-2-3 innings. As soon as he gave up a single in the 4th it was like "Ok! No more!" and they sat him down.

Out came Albers, who - as Tom Hamilton pointed out - is pretty good at being our any-time guy and pitching whenever and wherever needed. He came in to have a 1-2-3 4th.

Next up was ... Carlos Carrasco! He just, appeared today. I can't even follow the ball anymore as to who goes up and who goes down. Heck I knew that Adam Dunn was DFA before I knew Carrasco was here!

But, who better to have in your bullpen when you need super-long relief than a former starter? Those guys can go forever! (Allegedly) He had a 1-2-3 5th, then in the 6th gave up a walk but a double play. The 7th was similar, and he was still there in the 8th AND the 9th! He ended up going 5 innings (2 more than Kazmir, the starter) and only gave up 1 hit. He did give up 3 walks but with those double plays he only ended up facing 17 batters.

That's great! Nice to see we have a long reliever while our starters get their stuff together. Basically like having a backup starter every night. And boy did we need it today because the bullpen is hella spent, and there's no off day til next Thursday.

The team hit a lot better than the score would suggest today. Lots of guys got on base - 7 hits and and 1 walk. But all around them guys were hitting big long flies that were caught, or lasers that got caught. Nothing was dropping!

The only balls that didn't get caught were Brantley's homer (6-game hitting streak!) and Asdrubal's homer (OMG!!! $144 off tires, tomorrow only!) Well and Kipnis's double dropped and so did 4 other singles but still ... it seemed like there were a ton that ALMOST made it but didn't!

Ok 7 made it, 4 outs were strikeouts, one GIDP so that leaves 22 potential almost-made-its.Yuck - remind me never to conjure up that statistic again!

I bought some hot dogs at the store today (actually, I bought some hot dogs while the Angels were scoring 5 runs!!) and am all ready for tomorrow's game. I don't know if you knew this but I was sad about the lack of hot dogs in my house. All Beef Hebrew National, buddy.

Hey also good news is that tonight and tomorrow night is Rock-N-Blast fireworks! Good times!

I don't know why but I am strangely energized by the games of late. We're losing but stuff is going good, or interesting stuff is happening. I don't know if the feeling in my gut is "Relax, we're totally out of the race now, let's just have fun!" or "Relax, this team is totally good enough to stay in the race, let's just have fun!" Perhaps it's remembering that there's less than 2 months to go so I'd better enjoy it while I can.

Or maybe it's just that the weather has been so nice and that just makes everything nice. And, hot dogs.

Anyway, we get another chance to listen to grown men play baseball tomorrow! It'll be Ubaldo versus LHP 3.49. It's time for wins again - let's do this!

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"...I thought it was the 6th inning. Bye! I'll go get more food."
- Tom Hamilton comes in an inning too early

"He will be going to sit in the opposite end of the dugout from manager Mike Sciocia."
- Tom Hamilton on JB Schuck's horrible bunt attempt then GIDP

"Welp, there are nights like this when the baseball gods work against you."
- Tom Hamilton on the Angels always catching the ball

I Swear I Recognize Your Breath...

The return-slash-debut of Roberto Hernandez! Man tonight's game was like having your wedding interrupted by grandma falling and breaking her hip. Falling on the cake and breaking her hip.

Things were going smooth for Hernandez until the team went all McAllister Meltdown Flashback and stopped catching the ball behind him (just like they did on the 6th against the Twins). Is this some sort of trial by fire?

In the end, Hernandez only gave up 5 earned runs out of 8. He did end up going 6 full innings total after the 5-run 2nd. The two homers he gave up were solo shots...although I wonder what would have happened if Pujols was in tonight? Yeah they got 8 runs without him. Hernandez didn't strike out any but he didn't walk any. He did hit Torii Hunter.

Oh and Torii hunter hit the home plate umpire in the face with his spike. Ouch ouch ouch!

I think the jury's still out on Hernandez. Hopefully next time he'll be more relaxed and we can see what he's really got and oh yeah, no more errors.

Coming in for the 7th was Rogers, who had a blank line. Then Cody Allen came in and had his worst inning ever - giving up a single then two walks. But I'll be darned if that Cody Allen didn't manage to get out of it without giving up a run, giving him 11 1/3 scoreless innings in his Major League career!

So today it wasn't the top or the bottom of the order doing poorly - rather, the middle was shut down. Santana, Brantley, Kotchman, Lillibridge all with goose-eggs. And Lillibridge with the two errors, holy shit! I like his hitting and it looks like he can play second and third and hang out in the outfield, but no more practice at short. All Star shortstops or go home!

Kipnis started off the game with a single but then got thrown out. Trying too hard? He did get a walk and then came in to score a run.

Asdrubal was hot at the plate, going 2 for 4 with an RBI double. I tell you what, though - Tom Hamilton was already so dismayed by then that I had to switch over to Gameday to make sure we actually just scored and to see how. I've never heard him so flat! Asdrubal's got 12 hits in his last 10 games. He was DHing tonight to get some rest, for what it's worth. I am hoping he decides to rest no more after what went down on the field tonight.

Here's a stat for you - Choo hasn't had any home runs against the Angels in his career. I couldn't tell why that was even a stat but from the looks of it, that was the only AL team off which he's never homered. And tonight it was a 3-run blast! When was the last time we had a big-run homer like that? July? It was his only hit for the night but it was his first RBI in almost 10 days!

Trip, skip and jump down to the bottom of the order where Jack Hannahan still resides when not holding down the bench. Hey Supermanahan! He went 1 for 3 tonight and he was on base for Choo's homer. Kipnis was actually the other guy, not Carrera.

Carrera was on base in the 6th when Asdrubal got his double. Zeke was about to test the arm of Torii [blush] but everyone's a little more cautious about him now that they know he'll cut a bitch (if a bitch happens to put their face where his spikes are. And then he'll ask if a bitch is ok.) So Zeke was wisely safe at first and was able to fly home when Asdrubal sent one out to Torii too.

And that was it, man. Asdrubal's RBI double and Choo's homer and the top and bottom of the order being on base made it a SOMEWHAT respectable loss. We can blame some of the numbers on the new old guy pitcher and then some on Santana and Lillibridge's errors, and those guys didn't even HIT. Psssh.

Oh if you're wondering, we've still got 8 in the pen. Accardo is gone, Seddon is full-time relief and Tomlin is on the DL because it turns out his elbow has been hurt for a long time. Yargh. Although....although, our pen is looking pretty nice right now. I'd like to see more of Herrmann to see what he's got in him. I don't see why we can't stay with 8. Who do you think should go if we do trim back?

 Tomorrow is an OFF DAY!! WOOHOO! Gonna catch up on some TV, some sleep, some house work. Gonna be ready to face those A's on Friday at 10:05. It'll be McAllister versus LHP (3.91) whose unbiased scouting report basically says he's shitty right now. Yay!

Everyone get a little rest and do your vacuuming, and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"The Angels either have the Indians' signs, or they guessed right."
- Tom Hamilton on the CS of Kipnis in the first

"At this stage, with Hernandez, the Indians aren't looking for a talk show host..."
- Tom Hamilton on the quietness of Hernandez

"Albert Pujols is getting the night off, and Roberto Hernandez should send a thank-you gift to manager Mike Socia."
- Tom Hamilton

"For you Tony we'll put a little spaghetti sauce on them."
- Tom Hamilton has weird feelings about Italian people (and what they like on hot dogs)

"The Indians have been a bad baseball team since the All Star break, and they're playing like it tonight."
- Tom Hamilton in the second

"His chances of getting Mike Trout were about the same as me sprouting wings and flying to San Francisco."
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's bad pickoff attempt in the second

"Some guys are just not middle-of-the-order RBI guys."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo

"If you gave that shopping list to Santa, he'd send you a note back from the North Pole saying 'hey kid, lower your expectations, that's a lot of toys!'"
- Tom Hamilton on Acta's wish list for 2013

"When Darth Vader is your agent, then you're going to test the market."
- Tom Hamilton on Scott Boras

"This is going to be six weeks of some torturous baseball if the Indians can't turn around their rotation."
- Tom Hamilton

Stop Me If You've Heard This One...

So Ubaldo came in to start and blows the heck up and gives up a bunch of runs.

Yeah, you heard it before. On August 4, and July 14, and May 27 and May 11.

Makes me just wanna...aaaarrrgghhh!

So whatever.

Chris Seddon came in for the 5th and 6th and 1 out in the 7th, and he only gave up 1 run off 5 hits. Interesting - he's started twice and has had 3 full innings of relief in just 10 days. He's a work horse!

Our man Herrmann was back, as we just can't seem to shake that 8th man. We can't make it through the rotation well enough to feel like we can have a normal-sized bullpen. The Professor took us through the 7th and 8th and didn't give up any runs or hits. Solid!

I'm pretty pleased with our hitting today. Really. It wasn't one of those games where our pitcher spazzed out and our bats went silent, and fielders dropped balls. This was all on the starter and the batters did well to get within 3 runs!

Kipnis was back today, as DH and in the leadoff spot. He ended up going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts. I'm pretty convinced that the kid is stressin' himself out right now and that's why it took so long to get his neck better. The good news is that today he had a chance to be a real hero (at bat with 1 out, bases loaded) and he at least didn't strike out. Didn't get that game-winning grand slam but at least he contributed!

I can't really pick on Kipnis, though. Asdrubal went 0 for 5 today. Santana was 0 for 3 and got hit by a pitch. Choo finally got a hit after being 0 for his last 16 - it was his 35th double. Woo!

For the second night in a row, the second half of the order was rampin' it up. They got 10 of the team's 11 hits and thus 5 of the 6 RBI.

Michael Brantley had a night worthy of Michael Brantley, going 3 for 4 with a 2-RUN HOME RUN, coming around to score all 3 times. HE was also in a slump, albeit not as long as Choo (0 for his last 10) but sort of monumental for a dude who's hitting .293 in August. Now if only Choo would ramp back up and Santana would stay up, we'd be GOLDEN!

Kotchman was also a little slumpy there, doing just about nothing against Boston, but he's gone 4 for 8 in the two games against the Angels. Tonight he went 2 for 4 again and this time he got himself a 2-run homer! That's his 11th homer and his career high is 14. Last year's total was 10. Think he'll beat it? He's got a month and a half for 4 more - why not? Here we go Kotchman!

Jason Donald was giving it one more shot before Kipnis came back to second. Although seeing how he's gotten 8 hits in his 6 games back, we might be seeing him at 3rd for a bit here. Heck, even short! Tonight he went 2 for 4 and scored a run. His average went up 15 points!

Jack Hannahan is still on the team. Good ol' Jack - not messin' with anyone. Just playing when asked, sitting when not needed...or hurt. Tonight he went 1 for 3 with a walk. Man...he's got half the at-bats of Choo and Cabrera. Where has the time gone with him? Sometimes I wonder if the post-baby energy surge turns in to the 1-year-old teething energy suck of doom. DOOM!

Zeke was batting 9th today (no Lillibridge! Boo!) and went 1 for 4. He got an RBI, and his average is still at .394. They were commenting on the radio that he strikes out way too much for what he's here to do. I kind of agree. Not like he strikes out all the damn time, but I think he's a little touched by the home run bug, having had a whole TWO in his short time here. But he did hustle on a ground ball to the pitcher today and made it to first. Granted, nobody was at first to catch the ball from the pitcher but Zeke was faster than the pitcher and THAT'S what he's here for.

I contest our hitting was pretty decent tonight, even without much help from the top. Some guys are still powering through. As soon as everyone else gets on board, heck, we might be able to overcome some shitty pitching!

Tomorrow is the return of Roberto Hernandez!!!!! IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME!! Or it's gonna suck. It will no doubt be interesting. He's facing RHP (5.82) who used to be good but is not so good this year (lulz no you guys not Ubaldo Jiminez!)

The game is at 10:05 again. No rest. Just one more day then we get an off day, ok? So drink yourself a Pepsi Max and I'll see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Welp, this game could be over in a matter of minutes if Jiminez doesn't get Trout out."
- Tom Hamilton on Trout's second at-bat in the first with bases loaded

"How lucky are we that he's on our side?"
- Tom Hamilton with regards to the Wounded Warrior who visited the booth

"The Angels are on the verge of breaking this one wide open..."
- Jim Rosenhaus just before Pujols' 3-run homer

"Right now Seddon having a hard time fooling Pujols with anything."
- Tom Hamilton

Fun For Everyone!

There we go, boffins! Back on top again! And by "on top" I mean "on top of our game" for the Tribe! Pitching, hitting, defense - we had it all going on again today.

Justin Masterson started and he had his second quality start in a row! In fact it was a 6-inning shutout! He gave up just 6 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 4. He's only had 3 other shutouts this year - oh man let's hope this is a permanent state for him!

Masterson couldn't reproduce his 9-inning shutout from June, but he tried. In the 7th he got a little shaky and gave up 2 singles then they pulled him. Joe Smith came in and got the next guy to pop out then struck out the next two. BAM!

Vinnie Pestano had a bad outing! And by bad outing I mean he didn't get the hold (he's about to break the team record of 31) but he still didn't give up the game. What he did was give up a 2-run homer to Pujols. Well, someone had to do it, right?

The Tribe got back some runs int he 9th, making it a non-save situation, so they brought in Rogers instead of Perez. Then Rogers sort of sucked for some reason and gave up 2 singles before they pulled him for The Man Himself. He only struck out the next 3 on 14 pitches, including wunderkind Mike Trout, and got his 100th career win. BALLGAME!

Kipnis was still out today and Jason Donald still was doing well! Kipnis did take BP and tweeted something about Wally Pipp so he seems to be slightly scared of the grease monkey. Pretty sure he's safe - although Donald went 2 for 4 today with an RBI! He's gotten 5 hits in his 5 games here filling in for Kipnis. But Kipnis climbed in in the 9th with bases loaded and no outs. Not sure how that came about...surely a nice pressure-free way to make a comeback I suppose, but I also get the feeling that everything Kipnis does is intense. And this was intense as he hit one pretty good that made Trout flounder out there in center (YES I DID!) and almost got himself a multi-RBI double. But it was merely a RBI sac fly. Sounds good, Kip.

Asdrubal was having fun tonight, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. He also was his old self in the field, making the barehanded play to end the first. Holy Omar!

The boys in the middle were surprisingly silent, with just 1 hit between Choo, Santana, Brantley and Duncan, and no walks. The one hit was Santana getting a single then testing the arm of Torii Hunter [blush] who, of course, put him out.

Carrera came in for Duncan in the 7th and got himself a hit, which he's done 3 days in a row now. Making me nervous, no doubt. Because Shelley's not doing shit! And Zeke is doing lots of shit! Today he even came around to score. Perhaps this part-time arrangement is too hard on old Shel's brain.

The rest of the bottom of the order was on it tonight, though! Five hits, 2 walks, 2 RBI and 5 runs for the lot of them!

Brent Lillibridge had another great night, going 2 for 4 with a solo homer! He also came around to score twice more. Something's up - he's totally happy here. He said on the post-game that he really liked the guys and they were all "real," compared to other guys he's worked with. That means the Red and White Sox. Go good quality guys!! I think also it's got to do with the huge Christian faction here but whatever. Seriously, if Jesus is going to bring good things to the team WE WILL PRAY EVERY DAY!!

Kotchman had another good night, also going 2 for 4 and scoring a run. Marson was back to his sweet self and went 1 for 2 with 2 walks, a RBI and a run. It was Zeke, Lillibridge and Kotchman who got on in the 9th to load 'em up for Lou who walked in a run. Then Kipnis sac'd in Lillibridge moving Kotchman to third, and Kotchman strolled in on a wild pitch, giving us a 3-run 9th inning to put the team up by 4!

It was really nice facing a crummy bullpen, though. Seems like our old method of breaking down the starter and jumping all over the relievers doesn't work for too many teams this year. That's why we were toast so many times when we didn't score early. Tonight we got the lead, kept it, and then ADDED to it! Fun!

Tomorrow is more in Anaheim and again at 10:05. It's Jiminez versus RHP (5.68). I think we've got this one covered.

Not sure why I had so little Radio Chatter tonight. I sat here and listened to the whole thing. I am thinking Hammy and Rosie were jetlagged. They were probably also cautiously optimistic - sort of sounding the whole game like we could just implode at any moment. Hopefully tomorrow they'll be a little more perked up and we can get some good quotes.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"You know it's a legitimate base hit if Mike Trout doesn't make the catch."
- Tom Hamilton on Asdrubal's hit in the first

Inside the Fire[works]

So I got woken up early today on my day off so my friend could invite me to today's game. A mutual friend had 4 awesome season tickets for us to use if we were into it. Normally I'd be an "Angry Elf" to be woken at such an hour (10:30!!) on my day off but I sprung up and accepted the invite!

If you're not a fan of heat and sun, I'm not sure that there are any "awesome seats" at Progressive Field at 4 PM on a 92-degree day. Well, by like 6 PM the left field seats are good but for the most part everyone was there to bake. And bake we did.

BUT...these were "All You Can Eat Seats." But not the regular one, where you can get hot dogs, drinks, popcorn and nachos. This was the CLUB seats, which are now all "All You Can Eat" and in addition to that stuff you could get ice cream, pizza, sausages, hamburgers, fries and sno-cones. And buffalo mac & cheese which my friend said was not worth $5 when he tried it, and my other friend said it was ok for free but he agrees he'd be disappointed paying $5 for it.

My oven

 Since I don't eat carbs, I was pretty much screwed as far as variety goes. I did end up chowing 4 delicious sausages, 3 Diet Dr. Peppers and 3 cold waters. My friends tried the dogs, nachos, ice cream, pretzels and mac & cheese.

Here's a secret - there are upper deck All-You-Can-Eat Seats for $32. If you plan on going to a game on a hot day, you cannot beat these seats. Why? Because it's all the cold water you can drink, for free. You will drink $32 in cold water and pop. You will MAKE money on these seats on a hot day! I have no idea how people stayed both hydrated and financially solvent in the other seats today.

Another tip...if you find yourself with Club tickets and they are LOADED club tickets (most likely it is because you know some swanky and generous folks with season tickets), don't waste your loaded on over-priced drinks in the bar. Instead pool your ticket values and use them in the souvenir shop! I paid $4 for two Slider dolls after redeeming my friends loaded tickets and my 10% Indians Fan Club discount. Score!

So here's another interesting thing (I swear, I'll get to the game soon. I know you know it was quite a game!) - the folks sitting across the aisle from me were selected to play a game between innings. Some dude with a headset on came down and asked if they'd be in to it, described the game ("Wheel of Fortune") and the prize (4 Nickelback tickets) and had them fill out a couple forms. They asked the couple to wear some sponsor t-shirts during the bit, and when it was time the headset guy gave a cue and the nice little fella who does the scoreboard games did his thing. They ended up winning (hopefully with my help!) and they got to keep the First Energy t-shirts.

Since my entire section was empty - even my 3 friends had bailed for cooler quarters - I was sitting alone with my We Are All Kipnises t-shirt when the camera guy came up to film the "Wheel of Fortune" game. While he was waiting, he tool a bunch of shots of me looking absolutely stupid putting my fingers in the air and showing off my t-shirt. So if you saw the fat person with the Kipnis t-shirt on TV today with the matching red hat and face, that was me.

Ok one more thing - I enlisted the help of my mother to apply my SPF 50 before I left for the game today. She must have done an awesome job because I was sitting out there in the sun for 3 hours straight and I don't have a smidge of burn. Moms rule! I also had my secret weapon - an SPF 50 stick for re-applying face protection. Protected!

All of that heat (there was a lot of heat) was totally worth it because today's game rocked! I had told my friends that the Tribe had a good chance today, considering our performance in Baltimore and our performance versus Haren the day before. NOBODY was disappointed!

Derek Lowe took the mound, and you've got to imagine he pitched on a few hot and sticky days while in Atlanta. He made it 6 innings and only gave up 3 earned runs. He gave up 11 hits and usually when he gives up a ton of hits the opposition gets like 8 runs. I don't know if it was part of his game plan or what but he let guys get on base but not past 3rd. He also only struck out 1, of course. He looked GREAT until he very obviously hit a wall (no doubt a heat wall) in the 6th. That's about when I felt it too. He gave up his 2nd and 3rd runs and finished the inning out. Lowe ended up with the Win - his first since June 1! He also leads the majors with 19 ground ball double plays.

Hagadone, Sipp and Accardo came in and only gave up 1 run between them with 2 strikeouts between them. YES, THOSE GUYS!!! Sipp looked good, even!

Hey did you notice - Everybody Hits today! A couple of guys had a multi-hit game. I really liked our lineup. Sorry, Santana. I was disappointed to see Damon and not Duncan but....well he got 3 hits so hrmph.

The team was SO patient today at the plate. Their patience is absolutely magnified when it's a million degrees out. But they had Santana up to 58 pitches in 1 1/3 innings. They only got 4 walks out of it but they got pitches to hit!

Choo's back up in 2nd place in the division with 26 doubles, thanks to his RBI double in the 2nd. He went 1 for 4 with a run and that 1 RBI.

I didn't bring OMG ASDRUBAL!!! with me, once again being that I was in someone else's season ticket seats. I don't think it would have been seen by too many folks, although I was surprised at the number of signs around us in the fancy seats! 'Droobs went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. Finally! He didn't hit in the last 2 games. I wonder what's up with that? I still don't think he's being patient enough. I had pointed out to my friend about him hitting at junk lately and she noticed it too. So there you have it.

Kipnis was on it today, going 1 for 3 with a walk, a RBI and 2 runs. He didn't steal any bases today - weird!

In a courteous move, Acta sat Choo, Cabrera and Kipnis in the 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. Because by then we were up by 11 and it was a million degrees, so why not use our use-able bench? No Shelley today, though - he's officially on the paternity list. Cunningham actually looked good in right field and went 1 for 1 at the plate!

Hafner's back! Hafner's back! And I saw him! And boy does he look good! Can you imagine...it was just like 5 weeks ago that he had knee surgery and he's been playing a bit in the minors and today he was just fine hitting and running at a major league level. Woah! He went 1 for 3 today with 2 walks and was, in my opinion, the driving force behind today's patience at the plate. I am SUPER stoked to see him back!

Brantley only went 1 for 5 today but his 1 hit was the clincher - a 3-run homer in the 1st! Only his second home run of the season and I saw it!  He did end up hitting in to a couple of fielder's choices and got a second run out of it.

You know who else got a home run today? Say it! Casey Kotchman! His was down in the right field short wall, just like Brantley's. Casey had an awesome night going 2 for 3 with a walk, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Plus he was part of 3 double plays! WE LOVE YOU KOTCH!

Hannahan was 1 for 4 today with a run. He looked GREAT at third!

Johnny Damon was making a fool out of me again today. When I last saw him it was that awful, ugly Cincinnati game where he fell over and shit in the outfield. But before that it was a Pittsburgh game where he went 2 for 4 and tried to smash my cousin with a foul ball. Today I told my friends what the deal is with him and here he went 3 for 4 and scored 2 runs. He also had an outfield assist, throwing out stupid Pujols. Hooray for Johnny Damon.

Sweet Lou had another awesome game! He went 2 for 4 today with an RBI and a run. He's got 15 hits in his last 10 games and a 6-game hitting streak with 11 hits in those 6 games. DAMN!! Makes it so hard to want Santana back...

Going to today's game was a nice surprise, and I was handsomely rewarded for enduring the heat. And you know, it honestly wasn't that bad. Well, 12-3 makes you forget a lot of stuff. But also there was a breeze and the more you sweat the more breeze cools you. I think I was thinking about how it could be worse - it could be like when i was at band camp, it could be like when I worked summers in an outdoor restaurant, it could be a pitcher's duel. It was none of those things - it was awesome!

Tomorrow is the Rays at 7:05. Their record's about the same as ours. They're starting a rightie - yeah rightie! Our man on the hill is Tomlin.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"He's still got the respect level that most batters don't have."
- Tom Hamilton on Travis Hafner

"Sometimes you gotta lose a battle to win the war. You just can't burn out a bullpen if a ballgame is getting out of hand early."
- Tom Hamilton

"Santana might be better off just jumping off the rubber than throwing to first."
- Tom Hamiltin thinks Ervin Santana has a bad move

"Derek Lowe had a chance to sit back and watch the early fireworks show."
- Tom Hamilton

"Shows that even the best players sometimes get a brain cramp."
- Tom Hamilton on Pujols trying to stretch a single and getting thrown out

"Strange things happen on the 4th of July, Rosie [...] The Indians summer league in Arizona was rained out today. [...] If it weren't the 4th of July it would have been declared a holiday anyway - rain in July in Phoenix."
- Tom Hamilton

"High school kids in Northeast Ohio throw their curveballs faster than Takahashi."
- Tom Hamilton on Takahashi's 68 MPH curveball

"I guess this is what it was like watching Mickey Mantle play."
- Tom Hamilton on Manny Acta on Mike Trout

"His former teammates, many years from now, are going to go on and on about 'You know, Torii Hunter is the best teammate I ever had.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"Would it hurt the Rangers to win once?"
- Tom Hamilton on the White Sox winning

This Is The Real Deal!

I knew it! I knew that the game against Weaver wouldn't be a good test of whether or not we were hot. Just like beating the Orioles wasn't a good test. But 6 runs and a win off Dan Haren? That's the stuff!

Zach E-Z Mac McAllister was our starter and he looked fantastic! He only gave up 3 earned runs and had there not been an error, perhaps none earned runs (weird situation where you can't assume a double play so what woulda been a double play was an error but only 1 runner was un-earned blah blah...) He gave us 6 solid innings and struck out 5. Right now he's looking better than Derek Lowe!

Smith, Pestano and Esmil Rogers had a near-perfect 3 innings of relief, with only Pestano giving up 1 hit. No walks, no runs, no hits otherwise. Vinnie did good sitting in a 45-minute rain delay and they didn't make him sit after warming up. Rogers pitched one out in the 9th then came back after the second delay. Very courageous of both of them!

Our hitters were on fire tonight, with several guys having a multi-hit game! We ended up with 9 runs, 14 hits and 2 walks. A relatively low (for us) 6 LOB! We got some 2-out RBI, doubles, a triple, a homer and a stolen base. The guys were getting it done!

Pretty excited my little buddy SMac was at his first game tonight - it was a great game for a little fan! He ended up missing the fireworks because of the rain delays but I hear tell he was clapping and cheering along with everyone, and said that Progressive Field was his baseball field. Indeed!

CHOOOOOOOOOO delivered some excitement right off the bat, getting a lead-off triple then coming down to score.He went 2 for 5 on the night with 2 runs and a double as well.

Asdrubal was shut out. I guess he has an awful record versus Dan Haren - 2 for 20. Also bad against Weaver, 6 for 30 and Ervin Santana 3 for 23. He did face their relievers too but he never got through to them. Oh well. His average dropped a whole 10 points from .300 to .290, and now he's behind Choo who has .292.

However, the top 5 guys are batting .281 and that's not skipping ANYONE (Santana is 6th). Cool!

Kipnis had it figured out, going 2 for 4 with 2 runs, an RBI and a walk. Not an All-Star...but you know what? Look for him next year!

LOPEZ! He wasn't in yesterday and look what he did today - 3 for 4 with an RBI, a run and a doule. Think he should play every day when Hafner's not available? Yeah me too. He's got 10 hits in his last 4 games!

Brantley went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI. He got the RBI on his non-hits, and then another run came via an error on Pujols. Yes! Anyway, he was in the thick of a bunch of our runs today. And he got his 10th stolen base!

Santana went 0 for 3 with a walk. Huh.

Kotchman was also out there in the thick of it, going 2 for 4 with a double and scoring 2 runs. His average has pretty much stabilized around .225, which isn't bad for a dude we just need for his fielding. He legged it around from first in the 2nd inning when Hannahan hit a double to center. Kotchman was clearly going to be out except the catcher completely botched the catch and Kotchman came out the hero!

SHELLEY EVERY DAY! Don't worry, I tweeted Manny Acta to remind him that Shelley Duncan rocks hard. He's got Baby Fever (see: Choo, Damon) expecting twins any minute. So before he goes on paternity leave he's going to get red hot. Today he went 1 for 2 with a homer and a RBI on a sac fly. He's got 3 homers in his last 4 games, 9 hits in his last 10 games and 7 RBI.

Aaron Cunningham came in for him, and I'm not sure why. He actually went 1 for 1 with an RBI single!

Supermanahan is back to getting stuff done, thanks to Kotchman getting on base and Choo being red-hot behind him. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI (the aforementioned Kotchman run), both of those hits being doubles. Will be amazing if this means he's back!

Our bats were "Oriole-level Hot" today, putting up 9 runs against the second-best pitching staff in the league. Winning against the guy who is 3 and 0 against us. Tomorrow is Santana who previously had our number but I feel good about our chances against him, as he's looking a little weak right now. And we're looking a little powerful!

Will there be Pronk tomorrow? Will Duncan's twins let him play one more game? Will anyone set my neighborhood on fire with fireworks? IT WILL BE AN INTERESTING DAY!

It's a 4:05 game. Tom Hamilton says you have time to get in a round of golf before going to the game and then going to see your local fireworks afterwards. The Indians have it all planned out for you - See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"People want the Indians to trade him but it's just not possible."
- Tom Hamilton on Zach McAllister

"He makes every play at first base close."
- Tom Hamilton on the hustle of Kipnis

"What a week he's having. Twins on the way and bombs away."
- Tom Hamilton on Shelley Duncan

"You have a chance now that if you hit a ball to deep right field, the third baseman might catch it."
- Tom Hamilton on the wind picking up

"There isn't any aspect of the game that Kipnis isn't doing well right now."
- Tom Hamilton

"Tony LaRussa should pick Kipnis for the National League team and really tick Dusty Baker off."
- Tom Hamilton

"Texas starter Roy Oswalt may wish he's back on the farm..."
- Tom Hamilton on the White Sox crushing the Rangers

"I tell you what, these folks love their fireworks."
- Tom Hamilton on the fans who stayed through 2 rain delays

What To Say?

I really didn't have high hopes for this game. It wasn't too scary facing Weaver earlier this year when we could run him out of the game early and face a ho-hum bullpen, but we didn't have the patience to do that tonight and it didn't matter anyway - their bullpen is tight now too.

What I was most hoping to see tonight was Ubaldo not imploding and us getting a few hits. We got all that!

Ubaldo went 7 2/3, which is the furthest he's gone this year. Usually 6, sometimes 7. He would have given up 1 fewer run this time if they pulled him after he got the bases loaded but they left him in and he walked one home. But I saw the plan there - it wasn't likely we were coming back from 2 down in the 8th so why not 3?

Joe Smith came in after that and held tight for 1 1/3. That's all the pitching we needed today. So not bad - it could have been much worse. But the pitching is finally locked in and...it wasn't!

Choo had his hittin' hat on today - he went 2 for 4! Two hits against Jared Weaver? That's hella success! He's slowly creeping up to .300, right now at .290.

Brantley got a hit :) But more importantly, Santana went 1 for 3 with a hit and a walk! I guess if he's gonna start somewhere maybe it should be versus Weaver. It's not like he did anything spectacular but 1) he didn't strike out 2) he stood still enough long enough to walk 3) he made a connection and got a hit. Progress?

Progress in the face of losing Sweet Lou, tho. Dammit...

I think Lou and Lopez were pretty essential in the wins this past series. Why were they not around today? Johnny Damon was in today. I almost blew a fuse when he came up to bat with bases loaded and no outs. Cuz I knew what was going to happen. And it did. Why-oh-why did we have him in? Why not Shelly in LF and Lopez at DH? Why not Shelley in LF and LOU at DH? Fuck.

Does nobody see this but me?!

Supermanahan got a hit. Of course he did, because HE is a guy you can count on.

Johnny Damon is making all of this "Positive" stuff very hard to stick by!

Anyway, today wasn't a waste. We had Good Ubaldo and we're one day closer to Pronk. Maybe tomorrow we'll tee off on Dan Haren (RHP) and McAllister will prove himself again. Glad that there's always another day!!

Sorry there's only minimal Radio Chatter. I missed the first bit of the game because I was getting a massage. Very little can keep me from getting anxious from missing a game, but apparently a good massage does the job. I may have busted a blood vessel when Damon was up in the 8th had I not been pre-mellowed.

Tomorrow is 7:05 again - see you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Twin boys? Hammy and Rosie, right?"
- Tom Hamilton on the naming of Shelley Duncan's upcoming twins

"If you want to know something about Vanderbilt University, talk to Carter Hawkins. On the 8th day, God created Vanderbilt University."
- Tom Hamilton on the Assistant Director of Player Development

"I suppose he figured if he signs a 10 year contract, he'll learn to like it."
- Tom Hamilton on Pujols moving to Anaheim sight-unseen

Help from Torii

Hey there! I totally missed yesterday's game. I was all ready to sit down and watch/listen before my birthday party but it was delayed an hour and a half. Then my niece came over early to play. She gave me some finger paintings and a signed Bob Feller Starting Lineup figure (NIB, natch) so I think I made the right choice there. Then my friends came over and we partied until 1 AM and some of them said "Too bad the Tribe lost on your birthday!" and told me how boring the game was so I just decided to ditch it. Looking at the box score this morning with our 4 hits and 2 walks, I decided just to skip it. I think I made the right choice there, too.

Today's game was a different story! Derek Lowe pitched great and even though not all of our guys hit, everyone ended up on base (except Duncan, who got the game's only RBI on record).

Lowe was super comfortable up there today. There's no reason for him to be rattled, I suppose - the Angels aren't doing anything notable this year, other than losing. He didn't have many strikeouts but he did get 14 ground outs in his 7 2/3 innings, ending up with a 3-hitter and his 4th win!

Lowe faltered a bit in the 8th, then Pestano came in and walked the bases loaded but he did good and got himself out of it. Chris Perez came in in a non-save situation and struck out 2 to end the game!

Ervin Santana, who pitched a no-hitter against us last season, is 0-5 this season and has given up 10 homers in 23 games.Unfortunately we did not see any of those home run balls today. Or if we did, we didn't recognize them. The Tribe was leading the AL in home runs (I think with Texas) earlier this month but we haven't hit a homer since April 17. Argh!

Still, we've found ways to win. You do hear people complain about "relying on the long ball too much" when a team wins only by homers, so I guess getting in some small ball is helpful too.

My plea for multi-hit games has paid off! Brantley and Santana had 2 and 3 hits, respectively and in turn they both scored runs. And their averages are over .250!

Asdrubal didn't get a hit but he did get to 2nd base on an error from Torii Hunter who dropped a high pop fly in the outfield. While this was going on, Cunningham and Brantley scored. These runs were actually sort of made possible by Kotchman and Kipnis who represented outs 1 and 2 in the inning. Had there not been 2 outs, no one would have been running and no one would have been able to score on the error. Instead, Brantley and Cunningham were free-wheelin' it around the bases and it turned out their runs counted. How's that for serendipity?!

Later on in the 8th inning, Hafner got his single (pinch run by Donald) and Santana followed with one of his own. They had Hannahan - who is currently on a break from being magical - sacrifice bunt to get them over but we got a nice present instead. The bunt was picked up and thrown wildly to first in which case Hannahan was safe, Donald scored and Santana went to third. Then up came Duncan who could USE some magic, and he didn't get a hit he did get a sacrifice fly and an RBI!

I'll also note that Casey Kotchman got himself a hit today (he's batting .149) and had some nice plays at 1st including an unassisted double play!

Also here's a coupla Web Gems for ya - Asdrubal stops and spins and Cunningham (!) recovers from a fall and makes a catch!

So everyone really pitched in today to not let Ervin Santana make a repeat of last year. This includes help from Torii Hunter who does not play for our team but I wish he did. Today's win also means we won the series and leaves us atop the AL Central for another day. Nice job for a SUNDAY, guys!

Off day tomorrow and then off to Chicago for three 8:10 PM games against the White Sox. We've really got to win those because the Sox are chasing behind us in the standings and also after that we play Texas and Texas is really freaking good. Like 16-5 good. So we need to have some padding in case we lose. IN CASE...you know?

Tuesday is Ubaldo versus Chris Sale at 8:10 PM. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Oh he's a magician out there at short stop!"
- Jim Rosenhaus on Asdrubal Cabrera

"This sinker right now is just eating up the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. That's their official name but nobody calls them that."
- Tom Hamilton gives us extra info

"Torii Hunter was getting the Bronx Cheer, but instead of getting mad about it he just turned around and flipped the fans the baseball."
- Tom Hamilton loves Torii Hunter too

"We'll see the Angels again in July. If there still only scoring 2 runs per game by then, we've got a story."
- Tom Hamilton

Multi-Hit Mania!

Once again Torii Hunter tried to run our night! His first homerun and he also threw Asdrubal out at the plate. They even brought him in as a fifth infielder in the 9th. But, I can't be mad at Torii Hunter. In fact I think he's the only guy I'd welcome with open arms when he becomes old and washed up and the Indians go hunting for old blood to hire. Well, him and Omar because seriously how could you not like those guys?

But Torii did not spoil our night! Because we have the power of Masterson and even though they have the power of Weaver (who is, in fact, most powerful) we also have the power to beat up on your sorry-ass bullpen and that we did!

Masterson rocked the f'n house pitching 8 1/3. He totally did! He was back in to the groove of a guy who is our #1 starter. Yes he gave up 2 runs and walked 5 but he also pitched almost a complete game with those stats. Ubaldo can't even do that well in 5!

Pestano came on in relief in the 9th with one out and struck out his 2 guys! AWESOME! Not sure why Perez didn't come in, because he was warming up. Perhaps he didn't want to tarnish his record with a Win instead of a Save.

Poor Masterson didn't get the W for his effort, Vinnie did. Masterson has no wins yet. I bet Vinnie feels bad about it.

Hey, Everybody Hits today! Even Casey Kotchman who snapped a 0-23 streak!

Michael Brantley - THE SPARK - went 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run. He got a double and a steal! According to Jim Rosenhaus he "looked good," better than he's been looking. If he is "back" then we are in for a lot of wins.

Kipnis was batting second instead of Asdrubal. I think they had to shuffle a bit because of Choo's absence. Like most 2-hole hitters, he must have been inspired by Brantley's 3 hits because he himself got 2 hits giving him 12 hits in his last 10 games.

Heeeeey Asdrubal! It was a good night for him to go multi-hit. He went 3 for 5 and since he missed 6 games his batting average shot up from .294 to .321. O YEA AND HE WON THE GAME! He hit the ball where Torii Hunter wasn't tee hee. (Watch the video - Santana tries to pull Asdrubal's pants off!) Finally, after what seems like forever, someone came through in the clutch who wasn't Jack Hannahan and gave us a walk-off run. Of course the fellas on base before him (Cunningham and Kipnis) didn't hurt. But it'll be super great if walking off sparks Asdrubal into another fantastic season.

Hafner was his usual awesome self today, walking twice and going 1 for 2. Him and Asdrubal are 14th and 13th in the league in batting average at .321. Wish he was pronkin' them over the fence but fuck it. He is on base LIKE A BOSS.

LIKE A BOSS

Still not multi-hitting but also on base like a boss (leading the league in walks) is Carlos Santana. He had the patience today for 2 walks and a single. When-o-when will he get back in to hitting homers? I hope to heck that time comes when it gets warmer maybe.

Jack Hannahan didn't have to be the hero tonight, which is good because he didn't seem to have it in him. Don't get me wrong - he got his hit. So did Shelley and so did Kotchman. But the three of them had 5 strikeouts between them courtesy of Jared Weaver. But Weaver's a beast, really. He's always scary for us. We were very lucky to get him out of there after 6 innings that's for sure.

Aaron Cunningham had a BIG night tonight. He went 2 for 4 with a double and came in as the winning run. He's actually got a 4-game hitting streak. I guess everyday play is good for him? What's really cool is that he had an outfield assist. He threw out none other than Torii Hunter! *swoon*

So beating Weaver was pretty awesome and I hate to mention it but we got 15 hits and 11 LOB. They did what I've been begging for and had several dudes with multiple hits but for some reason they couldn't follow through as well. I guess really that was Weaver - all of our scoring came after he was gone. But we also had four double plays including two strikeout/throwouts. And a out at the plate. So our aggressiveness isn't paying off just yet.

Pretty excited about tomorrow's game. It's my birthday! Brantley and Asdrubal are all warmed up so I expect good things from them. Do you think there will be any homers? I hope so. I also hope there's no rain delay because I'm throwing myself a party at 5 so I'm on a tight schedule, dangit.

Hope my birthday is as good as Santana's was. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Masterson is like a hockey goalie tonight. He's had a couple of body saves."
- Tom Hamilton

"Didn't your mom always tell you that nothing good ever happens adter 11 o'clock?"
- Tom Hamilton on Delmon Young's arrest

"By golly, Torii Hunter finally doesn't kill the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton after Hafner dropped a single in front of Hunter

"Very rarely do you get opportunities to score off Jared Weaver. The Indians so far have not capitalized, but they are giving it another shot."
- Tom Hamilton in the bottom of the 6th with 2 on and Duncan up

"This is why the Angels went the extra mile to get him."
"I don't think they just went a mile, Rosie."
"The extra hundred million miles?"
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on Albert Pujols

"This is a game you've gotta find a way to win. You can't lose when you've out-hit the Angels 13-4."
- Tom Hamilton

Who's These Wahoos?

Not my Wahoos, that's for sure.

No-hit today. For the first time since Jim Abbot in 1993. Dude no-hit Michael Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis Hafner. Unreal!

Also unreal is that there were 5 errors. By 5 different guys! INCLUDING ASDRUBAL!!

I guess that is good for David Huff, who ended up only giving up 1 earned run, keeping his ERA at .71 (for 2 games). That's exactly what we wanted from him, too.

Joe Smith came in and did his stuff, and then Pestano came in and struck out the side! That was pretty awesome to hear, in this otherwise-blah-of-a-game.

Even Chris Perez, who by last night I was totally jonesin' for, sucked a little bit and gave up a run. That's not what we need you to do, dude.

Overall, great pitching in this series, especially from starters. We were outscored only 7-5 over 3 games.

All that nice stuff I said about the defense last night was out the window today. Not sure how the guys are going from bad to good to bad again. We have outfielders in the outfield and everything!

Zeke looked pretty cool today, scurrying around the bases and scoring our only run. Yeah, we scored a run in a no-hitter! So...it's nice to know we can do stuff like that.

Here's a little trivia for you, that Tom Hamilton keeps trotting out: Ervin Santana (the guy who pitched a no-hitter today) had his major-league debut in Progressive Field 6 years ago. The first 4 batters hit for the cycle (a triple, double, single and homer between them).

No baseball tonight, natch, and then we're totally off tomorrow. There's no baseball until Friday and I have a thing to do Friday night so I will be late with my post, if I manage to live that long without baseball!

In the meantime keep an eye out for trade news. We passed up on Beltran today, which I was relieved to hear when I heard that we offered money and "a substantial player." I do not want to lose any substantial players (ok MAYBE...Santana?)

If anyone asks you how to pronounce our shortstop's name between now and Sunday at 4, run the other way! They can't take him if they don't know his name...

See you Friday night!

Radio Chatter:
"Basically the Indians have now bought Verizon Wireless, to save on the cell phone bill."
- Tom Hamilton on all of the phone work for trading

"The Indians still don't have a hit, folks. We're in the 6th inning."
- Tom Hamilton

"Welp, why should today be any different? The first two games have gone right down to the ninth inning. Looks like we're going that way again."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's getting harder and harder not to have Lou Marson catching."
- Tom Hamilton