Can't Spell Ubaldo Without "U Bad"

Happy Home Opener everyone! Isn't it just awesome to see 42,000 people crammed into the stadium? How about Tom Hamilton in a tuxedo? Was someone you know, who works for Progressive, helping to hold the giant flag? Everybody's dad showed up and they let them pitch! Coverage on WTAM started early and it's the only day of the year when I'll listen to Mike Trivisonno for more than 2 minutes ("Hiroki Huroda? Huh? Is that some kind of beer?" hur dur durrrr), but there was also 92.3 The Fan to listen to and people were also downtown partying with 87.7 FM, too. People posting all over Facebook "Go Tribe!" I left work early! Terry Francona can't find the ballpark! What a day!

The team couldn't keep up with the demand to win but hey, they gave it a go. They weren't shut out like they've been a few times already. They came back from behind, they hit more homers and got some extra bases. Not too bad, really. Just...Ubaldo.

It's hard to deal with Ubaldo Jiminez anymore. I guess you could say the only thing he's consistent at is letting us down. Is it on us to not expect anything out of him and then be pleasantly surprised when he doesn't suck? But how are we supposed to not expect anything out of him when everyone who makes decisions for the team has decided that he's second best only to Justin Masterson? Why do they do this to us?

I think in order to keep this Positive I need to just not say anything about Ubaldo when he pitches other than to report that he pitched. Yeah, that sounds like a good new rule. I'll revisit it in June.

Matt Albers was the long reliever - er, middle reliever? The next guy. He went 1.2 innings and he gave up a home run too. Seeing him on TV it occurred to me that his nickname might be Fat Albers and Google says I'm right. It actually would be funnier if he was Ubaldo-shaped but alas, he's more Wickman. He hasn't impressed me yet but I'm not writing him off completely. He gave up that homer but that was it for runs.

Rich Hill came in for the 7th. Still not familiar with this dude either (he was in during the Toronto series) but of course I picture him as Rich Hall so that's kind of funny.

Not Rich Hill

What's not funny is that he gave up 3 runs. On the plus side, Cody Allen had a great 8th and Chris Perez was about to have a bad 9th but of course he got out of it because he's a stud! I liked the move where Santana muffed a pitch and it bounced over to the Tribe's dugout, with a man on 3rd. Santana was in no shape to run after the ball and Perez had the wherewithal to go fetch it before the dude scored.

Santana seems to be hurt, though. Contusion on his left thumb after he got hit with aforementioned pitch. Marson is back after being hit by a Tampa Bay outfielder, so we'll see how that plays out. Quick - who's our third-string catcher?! Ryan Raburn.

Don't worry Raburn, I got this.

So, pitching was abysmal today. No heroes until we got to the 8th and 9th innings and by then it was too late.

Travis Hafner played today. I was sort of surprised - I kind of figured he'd be a bencher over there or something. But they had a place for him and he went 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Wut. Well whatever, good for him.

Michael Bourn is still on a roll...dude's got 11 hits in our first 7 games so far! He didn't steal any bases today for the hometown crowd but he had a nice play in the outfield and looked great running to first - he makes it close! Oh yeah and he got a triple off the wall!

I'm super stoked that Asdrubal, Kipnis and Swisher all got hits today at "the big game." Not so much because I see it as an indicator that they're about to break out (although...any day, boys!) but it's just nice to get the "test drivers" who showed up for the game today to see our stars doing stuff. Kipnis got a double! Everyone's batting over .100 now, hurrah!

I was really ready for Michael Brantley to kick some butt today, and he almost did but there was some good defense on the other end. Instead he went 1 for 5 with an RBI. He's still hitting over .300, though. Was hoping he'd rock it in front of his dad!

Harlem Shake Break!

Anyway, Santana did not get any extra bases before he left the game but he DID walk twice, going 1 for 2 on the afternoon. You know what that means right? Our scrappy little catcher is growing up! Now, let's just hope that his third ball-related injury in two days doesn't put him on the DL for very long...

Mark Reynolds was not disappointing today. He actually got a double, drove in a run and scored. He also hit two balls to the wall (heh) and made Tom Hamilton get extremely excited to call a home run. But, left field was where the wind was blowing in so they didn't get up and out. Only one strike out - a good day for Reynolds!

The Chiz Kid did not fare as well, going 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Drew Stubbs didn't fare too well either, also going 0 for 3.

Mike Aviles came in to bat for Stubbs in the 8th and hit a homer! Good on ya, Mike Aviles! I really, really want that guy to be good, because I can't even remember the last time we had a quality utility guy. Who was our utility guy before anyway? LaPorta? I'd just be so excited if we can give one infielder off every day and not lose anything in the way of team batting average.

Hitting was somewhat weak today, compared to yesterday, but they stuck it out and managed to score 6 runs. Unfortunately our pitchers were basically tossing the ball over the fence so the bad guys scored 11. I don't think any of us have this team pegged yet so every day is going to be a new experience for a while.

Tomorrow is the Yankees again - the return of Carlos Carrasco versus LHP (1.13). Carrasco wasn't stellar last we saw him in 2011 but he started off ok before he had his surgery so perhaps he's better post-surgery. Also, he tried to take Billy Butler's head off in a grand retaliation and you gotta admit that's pretty awesome. He's got chutzpah, that's for sure. I wonder if Chris Perez wrote him letters while he was in rehab?

Anyway, more Yankee action in the Prog tomorrow at 7:05 (weather permitting) - See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Asdrubal Cabrera has the baseball gods smiling on him."
- Tom Hamilton after Asdrubal's shot in the first

"If he [Santana] gets one in his wheelhouse it'll be 5-3 in a hurry."
- Tom Hamilton

"Is it April 8th or October 8th?"
- Tom Hamilton commenting on the atmosphere downtown

"Ubaldo Jiminez must be in that third base dugout thinking 'the governor just called, I got a reprieve."
- Tom Hamilton after the Tribe tied it up

"It's 4-1 Travis hafner over the Indians."
- Tom Hamilton

"Jay Z Doesn't have it that bad. If someone like Cano leaves him, he still gets to go home to Beyonce every night."
- Tom Hamilton on Robinson Cano's new agent

"The team in Boston is acting like they all just got released from prison now that Bobby Valentine is gone."
- Tom Hamilton

"We've had all 4 seasons here today at Progressive Field."
- Tom Hamilton

"Tune in this season to hear the best of Rosie, now that beers are only four dollars."
- Tom Hamilton

"There's some idiot on the field ... He'll spend the night in jail. Somewhere some mother and father are saying 'Where did we go wrong?'"
- Tom Hamilton

It's a Shame About the Rays

I was searching for something and came across a post from this blog from May 29, 2011 in which I write "Guess the Indians can't figure out the Rays, just like we can't figure out the White Sox. Or maybe it's that those teams have us figured out?" I'll admit - I often forget that the Rays even exist. They don't seem to have forgotten the Indians - even though we're a completely different team than 2011.

Friday I hung out with my aunt & uncle who were in town from Phoenix and we watched the game. Frankly, it was a boring game! The Rays' starter pitched a good one and our guys couldn't hit the ball. Well, Michael Bourn hit the ball and even Jason Kipnis did too. But Bourn had no one to drive him in and Kipnis hit the ball to where dudes were waiting for it.

Mike Aviles started at third on Friday. He missed a lot of spring training due to the World Baseball Classic. But he is a baseball player and he was playing baseball the whole time so it's not like he went from the couch to third base. Aviles looked bad at the plate and worse in the field. I don't have anything against the dude yet, but his job that he was hired for is to be a utility man and to not play every day, so he needs to hurry up and get used to not playing every day. If we're going to have a Sometimes Guy who can't hit we might as well get Shelley Duncan back! So, keep an eye out for Aviles and let's hope he improves as he gets more games under his belt.

Mark Reynolds came to us from Arizona and my uncle couldn't tell me enough about how disappointing he is as a player. I'll be honest, I was very disappointed in him through the middle of the second game (against the Blue Jays) but he hit that game-winning homer and I was all "YAY!" Then the next night he hit a homer too and that was cool! But Reynolds' MO is that he strikes out most of the time until he hits a home run or five. And who doesn't like a home run? I don't know if I have the patience to watch all of those strikeouts inbetween, especially with all of our other guys on base. I'm sort of hoping that he is getting a lot of playing time right now so that the front office can decide sooner than later if he fits on this team. He was our first pickup at the end of the 2012 season, I think (or one of the first) so if he doesn't shape up, he may be the first to go.

I think that's why he's been in instead of Ryan Raburn, who had quite an awesome spring. Raburn was in the game on Saturday in right field and he was not only one of the few guys to get a hit, he also had an outfield assist! I had mentioned to my uncle that we didn't really have a scary arm in our outfield this year now that Choo is gone, but that night (Friday) Brantley had an outfield assist and Saturday Raburn had his. Someone more educated in the field of physics might be able to do the calculations to prove that it is or is not due to their ground speed, but that's my story.

Since Raburn was in the field, Santana was the DH on Saturday with Sweet Lou Marson behind the plate. Lou got absolutely flattened on a play at the plate, with the Rays' center fielder coming down on him in a move that would have gotten 15 yards in football. But Lou hung on to the ball and actually played out the inning before everyone decided that it might be in his best interest to visit the team masseur instead of play the rest of the game.

So Carlos Santana moved from DH to catcher which left the #9 spot open in the lineup and that was filled by the pitcher. First Bauer then Albers and then Aviles at the end. Aviles came in to replace Chisenhall at third but not before reliever Cody Allen replaced him in the lineup. Beautiful-looking box score if you care to look!

If you didn't hear, Trevor Bauer became our fifth starter for one day only after Scott Kazmir went on the DL with a rib muscle strain. Bauer is only slated for this one game as Carlos Carrasco will be back in the rotation now that he's served his suspension. Bauer (also from Arizona) had a rough start, walking the first 4 batters he faced but the kid only gave up 1 run in the first and two more in the 4th before he was done. He walked 7 and only struck out 2, so I'd say he owes a bit to the defense behind him!

Matt Albers came in to relieve Bauer and he kind of sucked. Three hits and 1 run in one inning. There was almost another outfield assist in the series when Bourn caught Escobar trying to stretch a double into a single, but umpire CB Bucknor botched the call, missing the fact that Kipnis clearly tagged Escobar on the foot. Albers gave Bucknor the what-for at the end of the inning (actually he was pretty smart - the guy knew to wait until he was on his way out to get thrown out). I haven't been blown away by his pitching yet but now I know his name, that's for sure.

Cody Allen took the 7th and 8th and gave up two runs. Our bullpen has some holes, friends.

Although we managed 5 hits in the game, they were the definition of "few and far between" so nobody really even got past second base save for a short rally in the third inning where Raburn got to third base.

Even though we came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard both Friday and Saturday, at least Saturday's game had a little excitement. Do you think Nick Swisher will be able to rally the troops to perform better in today's game? Today's game features our #1 guy (1-7 against the Rays) against their #1 guy (2012 Cy Young winner).

I'll see you there - in 5 minutes!

Radio Chatter:
 "Wow. How in the world was that a one-run inning?"
 - Tom Hamilton after the first

 "Any more than 3000 here and it elicits a parade in Saint Pete."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "It's one of those games where you look at the line score and say 'That must be a snoozer' but we've had some action here in the first three innings."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "Trevor Bauer trying to make like David Copperfield. Can he elude danger one more time?"
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If Earl Weaver was managing the Indians right now he'd be on his third pack of cigarettes."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "If you would have said that Bauer would make it through five [innings] back in the first...no way."
 - Jim Rosenhaus

 "He is arguing with C.B. 'I got another one wrong' Bucknor. [...] He could go out there with a blindfold, flip a coin and have a good a chance at being right as he would be wrong."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Raburn, the ball and the wall all seemed to arrive at the same time."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "At some point in life, if you're not good at what you do, you should not have that job."
 - Tom Hamilton on umpire CB Bucknor

 "Tampa Bay must feel like they've had the Indians on the canvas all night, but the Indians keep getting up."
 - Tom Hamilton

 "Boy when did you think we'd ever say this? 'The good news is, the Yankees are coming to town.'"
 - Tom Hamilton

ERMAHGERD!

Woah baby! I bet you were wondering where I've been all day and whether or not I caught this game huh? I'm sure the whole time you were watching the game you were like "Oh man, JJ is gonna dig this!"

Well I missed it live because I had a ton of stuff to do this afternoon but when I finally got home and saw the box score in my inbox, I immediately cordoned off 4 hours for playback. Why four? Well sometimes I get distracted and I have to rewind and listen again. And sometimes it's just that great I gotta listen again!

Isn't this how you guys do it too?!

In case you missed it, we won the game 15 to 3 and had a 10-run inning that included a grand slam by Asdrubal. We got 19 hits and 5 walks and the BEST part... only 10 left on base! HOLLA!

Zach McAllister had a great last game! A quality start (that's 2 in a row and half of his last 10 starts) with 6 2/3 innings and only 3 runs. Only 5 hits, too! How he managed to do that with only 2 strikeouts, I don't know. We didn't even turn any double plays today or anything! I hope Zach makes it on to the roster next year. He wasn't lights-out this year by any means but he gave us a lot of length (only 2 appearances of 22 were fewer than 5 innings) - a good strong young guy. And wow, I didn't know this but he's huge! He's six foot six inches and 240 pounds. Wow!

Thanks to Zach going so long we didn't need much relief, and that's good considering everybody and the Ghost of Bob Wickman even pitched last night. Sipp finished off the 7th and did the 8th with no consequence, and Frank Herrmann did the 9th all safe and sound.

Would you believe that with 19 hits that not everybody hit today? Of course you would, because it happened yesterday too with TWO guys not hitting and 21 hits! But everyone did get on base. I don't think I could lower my standards and change my scoring system, though - I mean they are gold stars WITH EYES not like, just dots. Gotta keep it lofty.

Choo got his 43rd double today and Alex Gordon got none, so he's now tied for 4th (you're right - Alex Gordon not getting a double has no bearing on his spot in the standings as he already has 51. But still - Choo got 3 doubles this weekend and Gordon got ZERO so who's the leader of this weekend huh? Neener neener!

Oh yeah Choo also got both his hits in ONE inning and his second hit was a 2-RBI single, and both times he came around to score. And he stole a base. He's got a 10-game hitting streak with 17 hits in those games and 10 RBI. KIM NAE YO!

Thomas Neal came in for Choo in the 8th because of course, and he got himself a hit. More Neal!

You know Jason Kipnis was going to be a huge part of a huge game! He went 2 for 3 with 2 walks - giving him 9 walks over his last 4 games. He got an RBI [ground rule] double and came in to score 3 times!

Cord Phelps came in as his replacement in the 8th and he also went 1 for 1 with an RBI!

Asdrubal, man...do you think he got another pain shot today? Last time he hit a homer was after he got a pain shot in his wrist. Then today he was THE MAN!! He put down a nice bunt single and came around to score in the inning. Then everyone else got on base and scored more runs and OMG ASDRUBAL GRAND SLAM!!! GRAND SLAM!!! GRAND SLAM!! I don't know if we've had other grand slams this year. I think just one. Can't remember when or who. BUT THERE WAS ONE TODAY WOOHOO!!

Asdrubal was 3 for 5 on the day with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored!

Vinny Rottino came in for him in the 8th but he did not get a hit. Aww...

Can you believe that Lonnie Chisenhall didn't get a hit? He didn't! Yesterday he was batting cleanup and he told Sandy Alomar "It's about time!" and he did awesome but today, nothing. Well he did walk so there's that. He only left 2 on base.

LaPorta came in to pinch for Chiz in the 8th and got a 2-RBI double! As Tom Hamilton said, it's nice to see him in the game making a difference. Of course you know what's going to happen next - he's going to make some horrible error next game or strike out 5 times or something. Oh, Matt!

Hannahan had a super big day! He went 3 for 5 with an RBI  double and 2 runs scored. How that guy left 4 on base is anybody's guess!

Oh, Brent Lillibridge - you were so not bad yesterday! Today, nothing but a walk. Pray on it, brother!

Casey Kotchman was in on things today, and not in the "guy who left the winning run on base three times" way he was in on things yesterday. Today he was making a difference going 2 for 5 with a run and a RBI. And surely stopping every ball that came his way.

Lou Marson was in today. I think Santana is out with a sore knee. Do you think Sandy Alomar - 9-time knee surgery recipient - asks Santana every day how his knees feel on a scale of 1 to 10? (Well, uno a diez) If he answers anything lower than a 7 (siete) he's got to sit out. Hmm...

Anyway Lou Marson was the first Indian to get a RBI today with a single in the 2nd! He then went 3 for 4 with a walk and came in to score 2 runs! Nice to see him just pop in and be able to get stuff done.

Zeke was out today and he may have been the dude with the sore knee. I was listening to Sandy's post-game interview with only one ear. Someone has a sore knee and thus got the night off. Anyway Jason Donald, the greasemonkey, was in his place in center (Brantley still in and out with a pulled groun). I don't think he's every played much OF at all. But according to Hammy and Rosie he is quite the athlete and he was working his tail off out there. Maybe that's a better place for him than third - longer reaction times. Anyway, he did this. WAT! You go, greasemonkey! At the plate he went 1 for 4 and scored 2 runs and got an RBI. I tell you what that was pretty Carrera of him!

So we come back around to where we were in the beginning of the season - thoroughly embarassing the Royals. I must say, it's pretty fun! I would have loved to have been at today's game but there were 18k who made it so good on all you!

Tomorrow we start our final series of the season, against the White Sox. The series where we can CRUSH THE WHITE SOX HOPE FOR THE PLAYOFFS BWAHAHAHA! It's a 7:05 game, Kluber versus LHP (3.69). A dude who's a transitioned reliever. Hmm.

I'll be at the game. Before it starts I'm supposed to go to this Social Media Appreciation thing. I get a free ticket, a free t-shirt and a free DINNER! Just for having this fancy blog! And I get to meet a player and some dudes from STO and get to be all "Uh, I don't know who you are because I don't have cable." Gonna be awesome. Unfortunately I can't watch the game from my primo seat they gave me, as I am meeting some friends up in the nosebleeds (where I belong!) but the seat is in "nose broken by foul ball" territory down the right field line so really I'm not too sad.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"We ought to call down to Steve Smith, the third base coach - I wonder if he has his cell phone with him - to tell him to hold up Choo at third even if Cabrera hits it off the wall."
- Tom Hamilton wants to give away the Grand Slam Payoff Inning prize, dangit!

"Unless there's a major miracle at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, Hochevar will end the season 8 and 16, his worst record in the big leagues."
- Tom Hamilton

"The Angels can surf in the Pacific come Monday. They won't be going to the playoffs."
- Tom Hamilton

"Jeffres is the kind of guy who might throw it 100 miles per hour. He also might throw it against the backstop."
- Tom Hamilton

"Those ratings mean absolutely nothing because nobody has the time to go around and scout every high school player in the country. But, you can sell magazines pretending you do."
- Tom Hamilton on high school player rankings

"I don't know that Brent Lillibridge has ever had a strike called on him that he agrees with."
- Tom Hamilton

"And that's how you get some people to notice you. In a 15-3 rout you bust your tail and make that kind of a play!"
- Tom Hamilton on Donald's good catch in the outfield

Yeah, On Paper...

It's true the Tigers are a better team on paper. Fielder, Other Cabrera, Austin Jackson, Verlander-Scherzer-Fister. They're all a few numbers above their Cleveland counterparts.

But so far this year, our team is 6 times better than their team for the number that matters, and that is wins. After tonight we're 6 and 1 against Detroit this season. We've held them to very few runs and have gotten just enough of our own to be better than them not on paper but in real life.

Mark Shapiro said "Yeah, on paper..." to Trivisano today on the radio and I totally agree. Doesn't mean we're a shoo-in for the playoffs by any stretch but if we can keep beating the Tigers at least we've got that going for us this season.

I didn't get to go to the game today or hear it on the radio or even see it completely on TV. I was spending time with my nieces so you can just ZIP IT! I did see the last couple innings and the post-game TV and the post-game radio so I think I got a handle on the whole thing here.

What a start for Ubaldo! Solid stuff - just like Masterson. Hoo boy! When was the last time we had 2 days like this from these two guys? He went 6 and struck out 4, giving up NO EARNED RUNS! They interviewed him after the game and he was very very happy. Aren't we all?

Joe Smith came in for the 7th and it was all gravy until he gave up a walk and then a 2-run, 2-out homer to Cabrera. When it left he banged his hand in to his glove and said "DAMMIT!" Or something along those lines. Whatever you were saying/thinking at the time, he was too.

As a special treat for the fans, we got Vinnie and Pure Rage to finish it out for us. Not sure why we're using them 2 days in a row and basically making them unavailable for tomorrow and maybe versus Verlander but whatever. My brother says Acta knows this was our only chance. Touche!

Vinnie gave up a single and a walk but that was it. He finished it off with nothing else on a total of 12 pitches. Perez got his done in 13. BALLGAME!

Choo didn't get a hit but he's still cookin', getting on base with a walk.

OMG ASDRUBAL!!! There you go buddy, 3 for 4 tonight with a double. But no RBI and no runs? Not cool, rest-of-lineup! That's 5 hits in his last 8 at-bats. Ugh how long until that batting average gets back to over .300, though? Dude has too many at-bats for it to shoot up - it's going to crawl.

By the way, did you notice Asdrubal wears braces? I thought I noticed at the ASG and my bro said he noticed and today we saw them (I rarely ever see games on TV). Googling for a photo, I see that he already had them at least in September of 2011:

From a cleveland.com article, October 2011

I wonder if he's getting his jaw straightened out, like I did when I had braces as an adult. Twice. Because I'm awesome and don't need friends! Although I suppose if you grew up on a dirt farm in Venezuela (I have no idea how he grew up) and sign a big Major League contract then you can do whatever you want to your teeth for fun!

Kipnis was right there behind Asdrubal, makin' stuff happen. Well actually he left 4 guys on base but he did go 1 for 4 on a double and came around to score. And we only won by 1 run so it was very important that he did!

Brantley only went 1 for 4. I cringed.

Santana, on the other hand - WTF? Where have you been? Seriously did someone teach him the sign for "Hey stop moving your foot" and now he doesn't move his foot and he remembers that he's a fantastic hitter? Whatever has prompted him to hit .379 in his last 10 games, I am all for it! Tonight he went 2 for 3 with a run AND a RBI AND he didn't strike out or anything. He got his 17th double. I TOLD you when he multi-hits we win games!

Hafner with a TRIPLE! Check it out! He was as excited as we were that he was safe at third, I tell you what. It was his second triple of the year, of course. He's a runner!

Usually it's a sleepy move to pinch run for your hoss DH in the late innings, but today it seemed like an act of genius on Manny's part to bring in the less-slow Marson with one out. Next up was Aaron "Despicable Me" Cunningham from Anchorage, AK pinch hitting for Johnny "No You Got It" Damon. He laid down possibly this season's most important squeeze bunt and Marson charged down the line, scaring Avila out of catching the ball and that is how the game was won.

Cunningham doesn't get a hit for that, just an RBI. It was an error on Fister.

 Damon did get a hit and it was an RBI single. Slow clap.

Good ol' Casey Kotchman got his hit today to keep up that .230s average. He also made a freakin' fancy play to turn two and end the 5th, so he's still doing exactly what we're paying him for.

I loved today's game and I just can't wait to get to the next two. And they're both on TV! I might actually get to see what some of our bullpen looks like. Perhaps someone has a gold tooth or an 11th finger. I'll let you know.

Plugging away with another 7:05 game - I'll see you there!

When Nothing is Good

Hey y'all! I'm in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania. I wish I could tell you it's beautiful but it's been pitch black for like 4 hours now so I haven't seen anything since State College.

They don't have the Indians out here. If you were wondering, you can go about 100 miles east on 80 into Pennsylvania until you no longer get Indians radio (570 AM Youngstown). It was great fun driving around listening to the Tribe game but I only got to hear to the 6th inning. I was looking forward to catching the end here at the hotel but for some reason the radio archive is not available, even though the game's been over for 3 hours.

But, according to the box score...nothing happened. But that's good!

Masterson had a classic game where he dominated the opposition allowing only 5 hits in 7 innings, and striking out as many. And it was a shut-out! He made short work of the Jays too, getting it done in 2:40. He only had to face 25 batters in his 7 innings, with 2 double plays behind him.

Vinnie and Perez came in to finish it off. How fucking nervous do you think Masterson was? I mean, not nervous about Vinnie - he's a hold machine. But Perez....well, I'm a big jerk for thinking maybe it might happen twice in a row. Masterson is NOT a jerk so he probably had the utmost confidence in CP. And he wasn't let down - he got a pop out, a strike out and a ground out. When he wasn't tossing 86 MPH sliders he was firing 96 MPH fastballs down the hole. All fixed!

Not sure how we managed to only get one run off a guy who gave up 17 in his last 2 games, but we did. That run came off the end of Hafner's bat!! It was so unexpected, poor Tom Hamilton barely mentioned it. He didn't have a chance to get revved up or excited or anything. Maybe he didn't think it was going to make it - it was quite high up - but it did and that was the solo shot that won the game!!! I gave it a couple extra exclamation points there, to make up for Hammy's lack of enthusiasm.

Santana actually had a decent game, playing first. He went 1 for 2 with a single an 2 walks. So that's pretty cool.

Get this tho - Michael Brantley got THREE hits! He went 3 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 11. And he got his 25th double. He's hitting .294!!!

On his heels is Sweet Lou who ALSO has a hitting streak of 8 games. He went 1 for 4 and has been hitting something like .400 over this streak. Today we got Lou, Santana and even Kotchman in the game. THAT I like to see! Kotch came in for the 8th. Didn't do anything, though...but, I like to see him keeping limber!

Damon did good. He went 2 for 3 and a stolen base (!). But you know, he still left 2 guys on base so...well, ok...good job, Damon.

Yeah so other than Masterson dominating and Hafner having his swerve back, and Brantley continuing his swerve, that's about it. Glad I didn't stop on the side of the road as the radio was fading out so I could finish the game. Ha! That'd suck...

I don't have any Radio Chatter for ya tonight, sorry. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'll still be in PA and I have a thing to do so we'll see if they give me my radio archive or what.

Tomorrow is Ubaldo - think he'll rival Masterson's mastery? He sure could! We're going to need to get our bats back to work, though. He very well could give up 4. Hey! The other guy is Aaron Laffey - neat!

Oh, it's a 1:07 PM game so don't miss it. See you there!

Everyone's At The Rally Alley!

I was there at the game today, boffins! I was there with my OMG ASDRUBAL!!! sign! Even though it was over 90 degrees at gametime, it was actually quite pleasant up in the upper box where there was both shade and breeze.

We went early to check out the Rally Alley. The Rally Alley isn't as exciting as I'd imagined but it does give you something to do an hour before the game. Mostly we stood in line to get our faces painted. Only not our faces because we were all sweaty. It took forever to get through the line but the painting was free and they did a GREAT job, in my opinion:

There were other designs to choose from and stuff. Chief Wahoo, a baseball, any player's name, block "C", script Indians, etc. Well worth the wait! Some dude got the block "C" painted on his face (as in from his forehead to his chin) and he ended up being the University Hospitals fan of the game. Check him out here.

Joe Charboneau was there signing autographs. I didn't get one cuz I think I've already got one. Doesn't everyone have one by now? Also at the Rally Alley were a roving magician and juggler, a dude on stilts, three old guys playing old-timey music, a caricature artist, a cheap hot dog and beer stand, some guys from the Cleveland Blues Base Ball Club and an RTA bus at which they were giving away t-shirts and bobbleheads. The t-shirts were actually pretty cool - a RTA bus with a Wahoo feather. Sadly I did not get one as they were only size L and I instead got a XL white t-shirt with the block "C". Oh well - my friend got one. I'll ask if I can have it later when she remembers that she doesn't wear t-shirts.

I'd probably go to the Rally Alley again - just to get a RTA t-shirt and a cool arm painting. Otherwise it's sort of a bust.

Hey how about that baseball game?! Here's my seats:

Like I said, cool and breezy. Got a nice view of where the ball was crossing the plate too - except every 5 minutes when someone walked up those steps, or stood at the bottom of the steps looking confused. Frustrating! But...cool and breezy...

Ubaldo looked fantastico tonight! It was sort of scary since Justin had such a bad game yesterday, but Ubaldo didn't follow suit. He went 6 innings with only 2 earned runs (off a homer) and EIGHT strikeouts! He only walked 1 and was pitching pretty consistently in the 90s. The pitching staff ended up striking out 12, which is only the 6th time this year they've struck out more than 10 in a game.

Sipp came on in the 7th and he was back to his old self! Well he was helped out by a BIT of wind blowing in from center. I think that kept one or two balls in. But no hits, no walks, no runs and he struck out one. VinnieP52 came in for the 8th, just to work I guess, and he had his 2nd quickest sprint in of the year (they time it now!) He had 1 walk and 1 strikeout, no hits or runs.

Rogers came in  for the 9th, which was weird - no Perez! But we didn't need him. I predicted Perez would come in and give up 1 run, because he had a run to give up. Rogers gave it up instead - a homer on the first pitch. But he got the next guy to ground out and then the next 2 struck out so he looked fine. Pitching in the high 90s even!

Kipnis was out today, as were Hafner, Damon (good, I didn't have to complain about him) and Kotchman. Weird to sit guys this close to the All Star break but I suppose when it's a million degrees out and your bench is playing pretty decent, it doesn't matter. It didn't work so well yesterday (but it didn't matter, thanks to Masterson) but today it worked just fine. The guys showed a lot of patience at the plate, getting rid of their starter after 95 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.

Choo didn't have the best day, even though I got my "arm ink" in his honor. Did you notice I got extra O's and everything? He went 1 for 4, no doubles or anything. He even got caught stealing!

Even worse was Asdrubal, who was the only guy on the team who didn't get a hit. And me with my sign! Oh well, I got to put it up a few times from plays on the field. And he didn't make any errors, so there's that. Oh yeah - he did walk, so it was only 0 for 3. And he came around to score after.

Lopez was in at 2nd and didn't goof anything up out there. He went 1 for 4 on the night and had a really nice double that dropped on the left field foul line, bursting forth with chalk. He came around to score, too.

Lopez was the guy in this play, where, for the first time in my life I saw umpires overturn a call.  What was cool was that Lopez stayed on base while EVERYONE else left the field. I guess he saw the first baseman bobble the ball, or someone told him to stay put, cuz he did. Pretty neat - make sure you watch the vid!

Brantley was the man who brought them in...well, at least Asdrubal, on a ground out. Earlier he got a double then came around to score :) Six-game streak!

Might I say that Santana looked GOOD tonight? And he was in at first so there was no loss of Lou! He went 1 for 2 with a double, two walks, a run and a RBI. All of a sudden he's in the middle of things again! Not sure what that means. Tomorrow he might lay down and take a nap on home plate. Or get 3 hits.

SHELLEY DUNCAN has the power! I made sure to remind Manny Acta on Twitter (@Mac_Triber11) that we should have Shelley Every Day! He's got the new dad juice going (see: Choo, Damon, Hannahan) times two and got himself a 2-run blast to left in the 8th! He went 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 runs. He was the DH today.

Sweet Lou! Laser Lou! He's unstoppable at the moment with a 7-game hitting streak. He's licking the bottom of .300, too. Tonight he went 1 for 3 with an RBI, run and walk. His hit was an RBI double which set off a string of RBIs in the 2nd.

After him was Hannahan who grounded out, but Shelley scored. And after that was Cunningham who got a really nice hustle double that scored Lou. Jack ended up going 1 for 4 with a single to left, and Cunningham walked to end up going 1 for 3. He did get caught stealing - seems as though his hustle double gave him some false courage.

Really swell game, and it puts my 3-game total at 29 runs. YOU'RE WELCOME!!

I don't have time to listen to the game to get some Radio Chatter tonight, but you're in luck - since the game wasn't on TV, all of the audio for the MLB.com video is courtesy of Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus! So while we may have all missed some jokes about New Jersey or comments on how much Rosie may have eaten tonight, at least you get to hear the awesome calls.

I'm going to miss the game tomorrow but hopefully will listen later in the evening and get you everything you need, boffins. I'm also hopefully going to take a tour of Wrigley Field! Cool!

The game is at 1:05 and it's McAllister versus RHP. I won't predict the outcome but you know what I'm thinking. I also bet Manny Acta throws everyone out there to play, since it's the last game until next Friday. I think it's going to be a fun time!

See you there!

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

Bouncin' Back

Hey! Bet you thought I forgot, huh? Naw, I just had promised some folks I'd go out and they were kind enough to wait for the end of the game. So I had to rush out after the game.

I did find myself at a place called Lopez in Cleveland Heights, so we were sure to drink a toast to The Legend That Is Lopez tonight.

Here's a song for you to play during this post:

So where really do we begin? Today's game was the most awesome in a long time, even more awesome than the 10-9 one in Cleveland versus Cincy. It was cool because we broke away and there wasn't much nail biting. Also cool because our pitchers "only" gave up 5 runs instead of 9. Was it the best game of the season? Nah that was probably one of the Detroit games - the O's just aren't that good. But still the game was AWESOME!!

Tomlin started and Tom Hamilton was making noises about this being Tomlin's final deciding game as to whether he'd remain a starter, get put in the bullpen or go down to CBus. He gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. Not too fantastic but better than a few of his recent outings. Plus he's a "fly ball pitcher" pitching in a "crackerbox park" so the fact that he only gave up one homer surprised some. I'm no pitching expert so I honestly don't know what Tomlin's fate is. I'm thinking he gets yet another chance in a different park, probably home.

Excitingly enough, the 3 guys after Tomlin - Rogers, Pestano and Sipp - gave up no hits and no runs. Yeah you heard me - even Sipp! Praise be!

If you were wondering: defense was a ton better today. No errors (for the good guys) and two double plays. It helps!

Now on to the featured entertainment! The hitting! And boy, was there hitting!

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO (who I think was getting roundly Choo'd by some Bawlmer fans, or Cleveland fans in Baltimore, whatever) had a MONSTER game with 4 hits, 1 walk, 4 runs and 4 RBI and a homer! That means 8 hits, 2 homers, 6 RBI and 7 runs in his last 3 games (against the Orioles). His average is up at .291 now and he's hitting .417 over his last 10 games. *gurgle*

Not to be left out, Asdrubal had a monster game too! He went 3 for 5 with a double, 2 RBI and 2 runs. He did strike out twice, though. Is that what you have to put up with when your guy becomes the team's Home Run Guy?

Speaking of Home Run Guy, Jason Kipnis was shut down today! Well he did get intentionally walked and hit by a pitch. He also stole a base but oddly enough it didn't turn in to a run. And he hit into a run-scoring fielder's choice so I guess we can say he was out there getting stuff done regardless of whether or not he had the stats. But still, in a game with so many hits, quite odd that our team leader in most things batting got shut down!

LOPEZ!!! This is the dude I remember from Spring Training! He played 3rd today and batted cleanup and it was quite a fantastic decision by Manny Acta. Duncan could have been in that spot. Kipnis or Brantley could have been in that spot. But he stuck with Lopez in that spot and he went 5 for 6 with 3 RBI and a run. Yes, 5 for 6!

Brantley went 2 for 5 with a walk. Somehow that didn't turn in to any runs or RBI either (ok, I know how. I know. Left on base.) We're back to a 3-game hitting streak for Cousin Michael! I'm just going to keep counting and re-counting from here on out.

SHELLEY EVERY DAY! He had his homer today. He only went 1 for 6 though - eep! But hey HE'S got  FOUR-game hitting streak, with 3 RBI in those 4 games. Johnny who?

Kotchman and Cunningham were both shut down today. Eh. Still, hard to believe that in a 19-hit game that THREE guys went hitless, right? They did.

Encompassing 4 of those hits was Sweet Lou himself! And he ALMOST went for the cycle, woohoo! He got them all but a homer, got two singles and walked. He only got 1 RBI out of all that but he came around to score 3 times! Did you know he's hitting .284 now? Hate to say it but Santana is already seeming like a distant memory right now...

I don't know what to make of all this. I think I'll stay cautiously optimistic for now because Baltimore sucks right now and their park is a hitter's park. Plus, we saw a ton of runs a couple times against the Reds just last week then went on to score hardly anything against the Astros and Yankees.

However, I will go to bed smiling from ear to ear and I will stash the nugget that Manny had "a talk" with the team the other day and maybe, just maybe, that turned something around. I'll also cling to my fantasy that the Yankee series was rock-bottom and from now on we're rocketing to the top.

Bouncin' back, as it were.

Tomorrow I'll be visiting my kinfolk in Pittsburgh (yeah and hopefully my cousin's 10-year-old and I can talk baseball!) so I won't hear the exciting conclusion to this series until late. But you bet I'll be there as soon as I can!

It's 1:35 in case you didn't know. See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Looks good maybe on October 31st if you're a jack-o-lantern."
- Tom Hamilton on Oriole orange

"...at some point, an Orioles hitter has to hit the deck. [...] An Orioles player has to feel the same discomfort"
- Tom Hamilton puts out the call after Kipnis gets hit

"So, they milk cows then go to the beach at night?"
- Tom Hamilton wondering how the Jersey Shore works

"Rosie, when you're born and raised on a dairy farm and you're milking cows, the view never changes.'
- Tom Hamilton tells Jim Rosenhaus why they never discuss Wisconsin

"These are situations, where if a guy like Cunningham wants to stay on this ballclub, he's got to do better than that."
- Tom Hamilton on Cunningham's strikeout in the 5th with a runner on 3rd

"It's not just errors, it's the plays that should have been made but aren't."
- Tom Hamilton on the Baltimore defense

"The Orioles might start feeding him Fudgecicles."
- Tom Hamilton on Matt Wieters losing weight and losing power

Choo, Cabrera, Santana, Brantley ... Marson!

So let's see...what went wrong here?

Josh Tomlin wasn't all that right today. He gave up 6 runs in 4 innings with 4 of those runs coming on homers. Yes to Votto and Phillips but he coulda just thrown them junk. Even I saw that coming a mile away.Tomlin did get a hit, and now he's batting .400.

The untouchable Scott Barnes was touched so much today they almost called the Special Victims Unit. He gave up 5 runs on 5 hits in 1/3 of an inning. His ERA went from 0 to 10.38. Ha!

Young Esmil Rogers finished off the 5th for him, and took the 6th (long relief!) and "only" gave up 1 run while striking out 2. Jeremy Accardo ended up being our sweetheart of the day going 2 innings and giving up no runs. Well at least they didn't need to burn our "good bullpen" today.

Batting didn't fare much better, except for the cats mentioned at the top. They all actually had a very very nice game. Too bad the other 4 weren't on board.

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, who has had 3 homers so far this year, got TWO homers today. TWO TODAY!!! He got a lead-off solo homer - which falsely got everyone's hopes up for the rest of the game - and then another solo blast in the 5th. He ended up going 2 for 5 with just the 2 RBI.

Asdrubal, after having 2 not-so-good games (ending his 12-game streak and then just getting 1 hit yesterday) went 3 for 4 today with a walk, showing once again that he gets pumped by great lead-off hitting (Choo!) One of those hits was his 17th double. Sad, sad, sad then that he got neither a run nor an RBI.

Santana did go 1 for 3 with 2 walks, so that's good for him. He also a run and an RBI. I'm just ready to see "usual for him" and not "good for him."

Michael Brantley! Continuing the streak at 21!!! And not just any old hit, a double that eventually turned in to a run. :) :) :)

Everyone else was all blah, including pitchers (Tomlin and Barnes both got hits, whee), Kipnis, Cunningham, Damon...Jesus, I think we cleared the entire bench!

Everyone, that is, except for LOU MARSON!! Dude went 3 for 4 today. Yeah, better than Asdrubal and Choo and everyone else! But no one ahead of him was hitting and the pitchers were behind him so he got no walks and no runs. Bother.

Sad series in Cincy, so I'm ready to get out of there and back here for the baseball team from Pittsburgh. I'm serious guys - they have a baseball team. They'll be here for 3 games. Friday is a right-handed pitcher and the matchup looks pretty even (Masterson). Let's hope Justin's back in form and the batters can get their shit together. I know they've been missing John Adams - how could you not miss that beat? How does he only have > 4000 followers, too? What is wrong with you, Twitterverse?!

Everyone dust themselves off and I'll see you Friday night for some Cleveland-style baseball!

Radio Chatter:
"Mike Leake might be looking for that IV sooner than later."
- Tom Hamilton on Choo hitting a homer off a sick Leake

"We could be looking at a donnybrook today."
- Tom Hamilton thinks it's perfect weather for a lot of homers

"If his career is as promising as they hope it'll be, he'll be the first guy from Punxsutawney to overshadow that goofy groundhog."
- Tom Hamilton on Devin Mesoraco

"Could you imagine the Indians teams of the 90s playing in this ballpark? That'd be a 5 hour game!"
- Tom Hamilton

"I've seen The Godfather 23 times. I know what your dad's capable of."
- Tom Hamilton on Rosie's story about a New Jersey Little League team

"Any time it gets to be 11-3 that's what happens. You say things you shouldn't."
- Tom Hamilton is now going after the French

"You are just leaving a path of destruction in your wake today."
"Hey I'm out of town Saturday..."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton

"Slider and Gapper have been like two kindergartners on recess during this series."
- Tom Hamilton on the Indians and Reds mascots

I Like Those Tigers!

So, how did you think this game was going to go when Detroit's rookie pitcher struck out our first three batters, and Ubaldo hit their first batter? Did you think he would go 6 2/3 innings? Did you think we'd get 3 RBI triples?

Me neither!

There's something about the Tigers this year that brings out the best in our team. Our pitchers haven't looked outstanding since we played them at home at the end of May. Prince Fielder has gone 3 for 16 against us this year. Miggy has gone 5 for 15.

How did you think Ubaldo would do today? Who knows anymore, right? He did as expected - and I don't mean as expected by you and me, but as expected by the people who hired him. Hooray! He only walked 1 in his 6 2/3 innings which is the fewest he's walked this year. He only gave up 2 runs which is the fewest he's given up on the road since April. And he got his first win in Comerica Park!

I don't know what this means for the future of Ubaldo but I've come to learn that you can't speculate on that guy, only do a happy dance when he does good. He done good!

Hagadone finished the 7th inning with aplomb, then the Tigers fans got treated to our 1-2 punch of Pestano and Perez. You know Pestano rocked it, striking out 2. Perez gave up 2 hits and a run and I was all "WHAT?" but I shoulda known better...he came down from the drama to finish it off and get save number 18. Rage!

CHOOOOOOOO! Rockin' a 5-game hit streak. Did you vote for him in the All Star Game? Cuz you know he's not only a first-rate hitter but also a first-rate fielder (see also: final play of the game). He is trying to learn how to be a first-rate baserunner too but that is coming slowly.

Asdrubal was back at #2, so they can flippy-flop the lefties. He got an RBI triple!! As soon as anyone gets a triple I'm all looking for the cycle. Of course that was all the hits he got but he did have another bomb to center but unfortunately someone was waiting underneath it that time. He did save Perez's ass in the 9th with an a-mazing play in the 9th but MLB has not seen fit to post it online so you're going to have to imagine it, just like I did. In the meantime you can vote for Asdrubal to go to the All Star Game.

Not sure what's up with Kipnis. Not like he's in a slump or anything, or that he's all of a sudden bad. Just two games without any Kipnising is surprising!! While we're waiting you should for him to be in the All Star Game.

Santana is back! He didn't do anything, tho. Not even a walk.

Duncan was our man in left today. I guess Damon is hurt. No comment. Shelley went 0 for 3 with a walk, and turned that walk in to a run!

COUSIN MICHAEL BRANTLEY HAS A 13 GAME HITTING STREAK! :) He got himself a triple today, too! An RBI triple, and then two walks. Fact: Michael Brantley has only walked a total of 12 times this season - twice tonight. Are they starting to put him on??

Hey Matt LaPorta! What's up? He went 1 for 3 today then was pulled in favor of Kotchman. I don't know why, I guess for a pitcher flippy-flop. Kotchman then went 1 for 1! Old man likes his rest!

Lonnie Chisenhall didn't get a hit but that's ok, he got on base then came around to score.

Who DID get a hit - two hits! - was Lou Marson! Guy's got a 5-game hitting streak now and Hamilton was pontificating about him staying behind the plate while Santana is DH or first. I like that plan, if Lou's going to hit. Oh did you know one of his hits was a RBI triple? His batting average went up by 30 points!

So what do you think? Easy peasy sweep of the Kitties? Perhaps all our pitchers got the nasties out of their system and they're pumped enough to really stick it to these guys. The White Sox are losing at the moment so that's good. One down and 8 to go on this road trip - let's keep it going!

Another one at 7:05 tomorrow in Detroit. So excited. See you there!

Oh and check out the goodies from Hamilton today! So much Radio Chatter, glad he is back! AND the Golden Flashes won so yay Flashes! Boo missing Hammy next weekend but whatever, we'll manage...

Radio Chatter:
"For Jiminez, Comerica park is like Nightmare on Elm Street."
- Tom Hamilton on Jiminez's 0-4 record in Detroit

"Young had too much happy juice at 2 in the morning."
- Tom Hamilton on Delmon Young's suspension

"Drew Smyly is only a rookie but he's already heard. 'Don't throw Santana a fastball, he'll chase a changeup.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Santana's debut strikeout

"Some of the Tiger people were saying tonight that Prince Fielder is the worst first baseman they've ever seen."
- Tom Hamilton

"Just enough time to do the laundry and pack 'em up again."
"I bet you'll make Carol do that too..."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on the Indians' road trips in June

"Wow. Outside of Yellowstone, this is the only park that's not a home run in."
- Tom Hamilton on Asdrubal's caught bomb in the 5th

"It was a great story, except it wasn't factual. But it's radio so that means we can get away with a few things."
- Tom Hamilton on his long story about draft picks signing deadlines and Smyly being signed late

"Well you give Cabrera four strikes and he'll come through."
- Tom Hamilton thought that was strike 3

"You can put the house on a fourth strikeout right here. [...] Evidently Manny Gonzalez not a betting man."
- Tom Hamilton on a ball during Matt Young's fourth at-bat

"Let me tell you, there were no Pilgrims here at that game..."
- Tom Hamilton on angry Lions fans at the Thanksgiving football game

"Do you think Prince thinks the umpire will say 'You know what? Let's call him out.'"
- Tom Hamilton on Fielder tagging Brantley repeatedly while he's safe at first

"For a guy batting .198, he always seems to be a thorn in the Indians side, for whatever reason..."
- Tom Hamilton on Ramon Santiago

What Ended Up Being A Fun Evening

Ooooh that was a tough one! We had our "B" team in, as it were. The score stayed close, then there was a rain delay, then it was tied up. Would there be extra innings? Would we have to delve in to our bullpen? WOULD TONY SIPP SUCK?!

No, yes, no. Yay!

Tomlin was great! He went 7 1/3 innings. Not a complete game bu even better than McAllister did this afternoon, and 7 1/3 was great! He bested his personal strikeout record with 8 and only walked 2 and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. He was ready to leave in the 8th, and who wouldn't have been? Cuz it was pouring rain and he'd given us 104 pitches. Oddly enough, he didn't get the win.

Wheeler came in and the umps were like "Uh...him? How about a rain delay?" and there was a rain delay for like an hour and a half, in which time Joe Smith got his shit together and said "Put me in, coach!" and then came in and gave up Tomlin's second run. But then he got Dunn to ground out and if you recall, Adam Dunn Does Not Suck Anymore so that wasn't too shabby.

Sipp was the only guy left, I think, so he had to come in for the 9th. He got the first 2 outs then walked Konerko (not a bad idea) and then gave up an omg-that-was-almost-a-home-run to Tyler Flowers before striking him out. WHEW! Sipp's ERA is now down to 8, woohoo!

So Brantley was back up top tonight and he went 1 for 4, so he had a pretty good day, comparatively. Kipnis, who had gotten shut down this afternoon for the first time in 10 games, got his hit and also went 1 for 4. Both guys had RBIs which isn't bad considering we only had 3 total.

Speaking of 3 - Asdrubal went 3 for 3 with a walk. YES HE DID!!! So he's got 14 hits and 7 walks in the last 10 games. Know what his average is? It's .356 is what it is!!! He's 7th in the league and it's LEGIT!! WOOOHOO!

Santana was at first tonight and he wasn't too bad in the field, to be honest. He went 1 for 3 with a walk and is up to .250.

Lou Marson was behind the plate and his average is lower than Kotchman. Lower than dirt. Seriously bad. But he walked and then stole second, allowing him to score the tying run in the 5th!

Also showing up this evening from the "B" bench was former "B"-bencher-cum-"A"-bencher Shelley Duncan who was at the plate with two on in the 8th. If I had the game on TV I may have looked away. I believe in Shelley in April, I'm afraid of what he might do in May.

Fear no more!!! He got an RBI double is what he did and as it turns out he won the game! There was much rejoicing and a loud clap from me which freaked out my dog who was just coming down from being freaked out by thunder.

So our "B" team - Marson and Duncan - contributed mightily tonight. Our bullpen didn't let us down tonight. Everyone was tight again tonight and basically we did what it took to get the job done. Oh and Asdrubal is the best ever!

We've got 2 more against these White Sox at 7:05 on the next two days. Tomorrow is Masterson and I have a feeling he's going to have one of those games where we're all "That is why he's our first starter!" I just know it.

I love this roll we're on. See you tomorrow!

Radio Chatter:
"This is a guy with 3 walks in 16 at-bats, and that walk became a mortal sin for Eric Stults."
- Tom Hamilton on Lou Marson

"I'm sure the umpires wish one team had an 8-run lead right now. Then it'd be easier to pull the tarp out, wait a bit, and say 'Goodnight, everybody.'"
- Tom Hamilton

"We need Betsy Kling to call the clubhouse and tell them they're lining up the dogs and cats 2-by-2."
- Tom Hamilton

"Look, you don't need to say nice stuff about Jerry Crab just because he's the coach of your son's little league team. You want Nathan to hit third..."
"I'm just saying... [...] But if he hits third that's good too."
- Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus

"Well this isn't baseball now this is just survival."
- Tom Hamilton on the rain

How I Spent My Winter Vacation

Welcome back, boffins! I am totally stoked! Are you totally stoked? It's 2012, there are 162 games to go. One hundred sixty-two nights (and afternoons) of excitement. One hundred sixty-two more blog entries (er, give or take an entry or three).

How have you been holding up? Did you watch October baseball? The last day of the regular season was pretty amazeable. Then there was the World Series which included neither a Yankee, Red Sox OR an AL Central team. The Midwest represented and took it all. Then there was winter.

But it wasn't really a winter, at least not here in Cleveland. A few times I got a little crabby because the weather was better during "winter time" than it has been in most recent Aprils yet there was no baseball.

However, in January I made it to the Tribe On Tour event at Summit Mall in Fairlawn. I really wanted to go last year but couldn't make it. I'm really glad I made it this year and I highly recommend it for any fan. In theory there's some speaking and a Q&A by a panel but - at least in Fairlawn - unless you got there super early you couldn't hear any of the speaking. We got there a half hour before the event was to start and I think we stood in line for 2 hours. Not unbearable for a couple of adults but my friends' kids didn't make it.

Pro tip: If you don't mind missing the Q&A (that you can't hear anyway unless you show up hours early) and/or if you have little kids, show up about a half hour before the scheduled ending time. Take a few minutes to join the raffle, spin the wheel for leftover promotional junk, take a photo with Slider, meet John Adams and bang the drum, get a couple stickers and pop in the end of the autograph line just before it closes. Actually there are 3 lines, and it's near impossible to know which one you're in when you're at the end of one of them, so you don't know who you'll get to sign. But if you show up at the end you can scoot through all of the lines and end up with one bitchin' signed souvenir.

Super insider pro tip: Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus are at this event but not stuck behind a signing table. I think they might do a little broadcasting from the event but otherwise they're totally just STANDING AROUND. Right there in front of Macy's or whatever. I was hoping I'd meet them, as I'd brought my photo I'd taken with them last summer when I was in the Hargrove Suite so they could sign it. Imagine my surprise when I spotted them just hanging around. I got to talk to them and asked Rosie if he was nervous about the upcoming year since there'd be no Mike Hegan buffer. He said there was nothing to be nervous about. I totally should have rolled out a "Oh yeah you're a hall-of-famer" joke but I totally missed it (it was a "jerk store" moment for real). We did laugh about me going to North Carolina to find Hegan to complete the autograph. Har har. Tom Hamilton, by the way, does not sound half as loud in the mall as he does in a radio booth.

I had brought a ball - the foul ball I got from the Hargrove suite - for Shelley Duncan to sign (since he'd hit it). I lucked out and was in his line. He was seated with Jasons Donald and Kipnis, so I had them sign the ball too. I thought it'd be super jerkish to be all "no, not you clowns." I felt stupid enough admitting it was just a foul ball not a homer. I wish I had printed out a picture for Shelley to sign too but...well maybe next year.

I did ask Shelley if he's playing all season this year and he pointed at Manny Acta and said "Tell that guy." And I did. And look who's on the Opening Day lineup...

Anyway, I didn't get Jack, Vinnie and Tomlin's autographs nor Manny Acta's. Next time I'll be ready (see Pro Tips above). However, I DID meet John Adams and not only did I bang the drum I also had a "moment" with him. I said "I write a blog about positive things about the Indians, and I call you our patron saint." He smiled and sort of hugged me and said "I've been called a lot of things but never a saint." I said thanks and he said thanks too. Moment had.

I also got a "remember the Great Comeback Against Seattle" beer stein which uhm...all right. I wanted to trade someone for a Indians skateboard deck (really) but didn't bother.

On our way out of the mall, my friend and I stopped by the Indians Team Shop and I bought myself one of these Authentic Collection Titanium Bracelets for $25. From what I can tell it's like those rubber "Livestrong" bracelets but has the official MLB logo ($5), a raised Chief Wahoo ($5) and Micro Titanium Sphere Zones ($15). Not titanium like a golf club, mind you. Titanium Sphere Zones. Whatever - I've been wearing it 24/7 for 2 months and there's no sign of wear and no sign of allergic reaction so I'd say it was worth the bucks.

Manny Acta

Jack Hannahan, Vinnie Pestano & Josh Tomlin

Jason Donald, Jason Kipnis & Shelley Duncan

Shelley's autograph on the (foul) ball he hit!

Free junk!

So that was January and February was a bore. I just sat around and stared at my rubber titanium bracelet. But March was a good time with spring training games. I usually don't listen to ST games but I was chomping at the bit this year so I tried to catch them between 4 and 5 PM, then read highlights. Of course ST stats suck and that's why I didn't follow too closely. But you know who rocked?

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Dude is back from Army and is going to knock your socks off this summer, I guarantee it. Also lookin' good is Hafner. Man, would it be awesome or what to see him have a great year? Brantley is back to his old self. Duncan is not hitting but when he IS hitting he's hitting the home runs. They keep faltering on trusting Shelley as our every day LF but...I dunno, send him to the batting cages? Santana is homering. This new fella at second base, Lopez, he is exciting with the bat. Oh yeah and even LOUUUUUU is looking good, making a case for more Santana at first. Fine by me.

You got it!

Who is not blowing us away just yet is Asdrubal. But I mean he's still the best infielder in baseball (ok the AL. I am a Brandon Phillips liker) and I think he'll come around. They just today announced he's signed on for 2 more years, even though they whittled his 2012 salary down pretty low. So he's happy and the team is happy and I think as it stands Asdrubal is going to be the only guy we recognize in 2014. At least I'll get more mileage out of my sign!

Also in March it seems that The Indians hired a new Social Media Manager because they came out with a Tumblr page, a Wordpress blog and a page on Pinterest. My suggestions for those are bookmark it, subscribe to it and "what the hell is Pinterest for anyway?" it, respectively. I subscribed to the blog and it's pretty cool. I have the posts come to my inbox. They're a little over-excited thus far with the posting but oh well. I don't have to read if I don't want. I did ask a question in a comment and got an answer and that's the kind of stuff I like. So I'm a big fan now and you should all be fans too.

Jason Donald sat in on Twitter (on the Indians' account) one day and I asked him a question and he answered it 3 times because I rock.

@positivetribe @Indians Hi Jason. What is your intro music this year? (when you come to bat)

@Indians You locked me up @positivetribe, i need some music suggestions. Previous years i went 1980s metal/classic rock type stuff #tweetyourtribe

@Indians A follow up to the last one I really like Van Halen, havent got the new album yet

@Indians The intro music question was a great one, got me thinking and would love some suggestions. #TweetYourTribe #Indians

Right after that I got 5 new Twitter followers (who I am hoping will be blog readers because I don't say much of anything else on Twitter. Hi!) That means now I have to be more active on Twitter because people see me and want to know more. Sometimes I try to follow Twitter during a game but it's not all that fun. It's like watching six sports channels at once.

So what else? Oh yeah I bid in a charity auction for a Belle/Baerga signed ball and LOST (it went for surprisingly more than even the event organizers thought) but I did win 4 behind-the-plate tickets in June as well as a Bob Feller autographed photo so that was well fun. The day I chose to go to the game is Asdrubal Bobblehead day. I've already got one (duh) but this one features him fielding so of course I need the whole package!

I bought my 2012 Tribe Fan Club membership which isn't too bad of a deal. It's $20 and you get Gameday Audio included, and some other goodies. Being that I listen to probably 50 games a year on Gameday Audio and it costs $20 a year on its own, I'm already making money. Because I get some free tickets and some discounts at the Team Shops. This year maybe I'll check out the tailgate parties and Progressive Field tour and stuff.

I re-watched Ken Burns' Baseball over the winter, for about the 10th time. It's very New-York-centric but it is nice to get a reminder that the Red Sox were horrible and miserable for 100 years. Hooray!

That's enough babbling about what goes on when there's no baseball and how I tried to fill the void as best I could. My void will be voided tomorrow and I can't WAIT. Baseball is here and I'm ready.

Remember - whatever happens we're just happy to have BASEBALL and STAY POSITIVE! See you tomorrow!

Sloppy Sweep

Aaah...sweet, sweet day today. Got to hang out at my niece's 2nd birthday party and eat delicious Elmo cake, then watch the Browns win then watch the Tribe win and come home and listen to the excitement on the radio.

Then I come home to see an awesome comment from reader Allie who totally gets what I'm trying to do with the blog here. Another Tribe fan who understands the importance of Cleveland baseball first, winning baseball second. Holla, Allie!

The Tribe had a surprisingly hard time winning this one, considering the ease of our last two wins. But we also won on big innings the last 2...I assured my dad when we were losing 3-0 not to worry, there will be a big inning. I was right.

Poor Masterson. He actually got some run support today but not until the 7th inning. To add insult to injury, the team behind him committed 4 errors for 2 unearned runs. Masterson did go 6 and while he only struck out 3, he did induce 3 double plays.

Smith had a flawless 7th (with 3 assists!), and then Sipp came in for the 8th and struggled mightily. In a weird twist of fate, the guy who usually lets other guys' runners score (Sipp) had two of his runners score courtesy of Vinne Pestano. That scenario was pretty unbelieveable...I guess just everyone was looking sloppy today in this sloppy weather. Pestano walked in two runs, just like the Twins did. Unreal.

Chris Perez came in and didn't give up any runs but a hit. He got the Save (34) and Masterson got the Win (12).

Fukudome got back on the hitting horse today going 1 for 4 with a walk. Sad because his average is slipping below .270. Oh no!

Asdrubal was out today, which is ok because Kipnis didn't do anything exciting (remember, I think he gets inspired by the guy who bats ahead of him). Well, Kipnis did have a super fantastic at-bat in the 7th and walked in a run. Then there was a pitching change and Santana walked in a run! Woah, nelly!

Then Thome was up with the bases loaded and everyone chewing their fingernails. Then he did the weirdest thing you'll ever see modern Jim Thome do - he got a broken bat single that never left the infield grass. It was seriously in slow motion because nobody (NOBODY!) expects Jim Thome to not hit the ball out of the infield when not striking out. Wowee!

So 3 of our first 4 runs that brought us into the lead came on an error, a single, three walks and an extremely short single. Messy as all get out!

Who's got two thumbs and drove in our first, 5th and 6th (winning) runs today?

This guy!

Yeah that joke didn't quite work with that picture but I love that picture! You're probably going to start to hate it because it's coming out probably every time Shelley plays for the rest of the season.

Shelley Duncan, by the way, got 2 hits (homer and double), 3 RBI and scored a run today. Because he's awesome.

LouMar did not have a good day at all in the field today. One error and one passed ball. What up, Sweet Lou?

Next time, champ.

He DID go 2 for 4 today but he didn't even steal a base, which as it turns out, is a thing he likes to try to do these days.

Anyway, after all that weirdness and nonsense and rain, we won. Not only won but SWEPT!!! When was the last time that happened?? (June 19, Pirates)

As promised, while I didn't have my sad little foam broom with me today...

It's very small.

...I did talk about it to several people. I was with my family so they had to listen.

Tomorrow is a one-off weird 4:05 start makeup game versus Seattle. It's supposed to rain so I sent my aunt & uncle to Wal Mart to get us some Emergency Rain Ponchos for the game, because we'll be there. I'm kind of nervous because the seats I ended up getting are right down there behind the 3rd base tarp. Which is where foul balls go to break faces. Eep! I can't for the life of me find my glove. Have any of you seen it? It's a Wilson softball glove and it has "JB" written on the side in black Sharpie, and the thumb adjustment string is really great to suck on when you're bored out of your mind playing right field.

Oh well...my uncle's friend Rick is going with us. I'll put him in charge of putting his face in front of foul balls.

So yeah, tomorrow at 4:05 for a WIN because we're obviously very good against last-place teams.

See you there!

Radio Chatter:
"Manny Acta loves the fact that Kipnis swings the bat with power, the other way."
- Tom Hamilton

"Good lord, it's ugly out here. Can't believe these folks are sitting through this."
- Tom Hamilton on the cold, rainy day

"This is going to be a 5-out inning, the way the Indians have kicked the ball around."
- Tom Hamilton at the end of the 6th inning

"The play today has matched the weather - sloppy."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy is he unhappy with himself. Kipnis had a pitch that he knew he could hit to Bloomington."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' at-bat in the 7th

"A hearty group of fans has stuck it out. They wanted an open-air stadium, now they have it."
- Tom Hamilton

"Here the Indians are trying to give up an out to advance a runner and the Twins pitcher isn't able to throw a strike."
- Tom Hamilton on Marson trying to bunt in the 8th

"What you hope is that nobody is at today's game seeing a major league game for the first time in their life - and they never come back."
- Tom Hamilton

"It's almost as if Mike Everett has said 'We're going to make this strike zone juuuust a bit bigger.'"
- Tom Hamilton thinks the umpire is tired of this game