Sep 20th 2008 11:16PM by B (author feed)

Consult the film Major League or just ask … sometimes it rules being a fan of the Cleveland Indians. Last night’s game and bare knuckles brawl with the Tigers was a great example of that. If you didn’t see what went down, please visit our good friends at WaitingForNextYear for a video recap.

The minute it happened I signed onto AIM and told fellow Dugoutist Jon Bois about what was going down. His comments sum it up as well as I could hope to: “Gary Sheffield is like Barry Bonds Jr., and if I can’t see somebody beating up Barry Bonds at least I can see this.”

Tonight’s Dugout is after the jump. /pumps fist
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Sep 10th 2008 3:06PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
Literally as I type this, CC Sabathia is on the mound with the hopes of Brewer fans everywhere resting on his broad shoulders, hoping he can stem their losing streak and the team can start to preserve their ever evaporating lead in the NL Central. They won’t be the only ones rooting for the Brewers today. They’ll be joined by the Indians’ front office, who has an interesting stake in how well CC pitches from here on out. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

If the Brewers make the playoffs, the Indians get to choose the “player to be named” to complete the Sabathia deal. If the Brewers don’t make the postseason, they get to choose the player they’ll send the Indians.
[…]
On July 7, the Indians sent Sabathia to Milwaukee for outfielder Matt LaPorta, left-hander Zach Jackson, right-hander Rob Bryson and the player to be named. The Indians made a point of saying the unnamed player had the talent to reach the big leagues.
The player to be named could come from a list of four players. Outfielder Michael Brantley and third baseman Taylor Green are the most talented players on the list.

That’s not an unusual caveat to be put into a deal, but both Green and Brantley are very good prospects that the Brewers would likely to be slow to part with, if given the choice. So there you go, Brewer fans. Your team may be on the verge of an epic collapse, but it’ll let you keep Taylor Green!

Sep 7th 2008 8:30AM by Mullet (author feed)

Travis Hafner hasn’t played a major league game since May 25th. You would think that if he was healthy enough to play in the majors he’d be up … either that or the Indians would think it pointless to bring him back to a lost season.

Apparently the Indians went with option C: let him play in the AA playoffs with the Akron Aeros, and help eliminate the Bowie Baysox. Wait, what?Hafner, who has been on the disabled list since May 31 with a right shoulder strain, hit a two-run shot in his first at-bat Saturday that sent Akron on the way to a 5-1 victory over Bowie. In Game (3) on Friday, he smashed a grand slam in the Aeros’ 6-2 triumph.

Hafner spent a half-hour in the trainer’s room before joining his new teammates in celebration in the home clubhouse that was plastered in clear plastic as players sprayed champagne and beer at anything that moved.

“Hafner! Hafner! Hafner!” went the chant while the giddy Aeros shook the remaining bottles of bubbly over his head. When they ran out of the good stuff, they went to beer. And when that ran dry, someone brought chocolate milk out of the nearby refrigerator to ensure the party continued.But, predictably, not everyone was giddy.

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Sep 3rd 2008 3:05PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
The world was a lot different back on September 25th of 2007. The Cleveland Indians had already clinched the AL Central division, and teams like the White Sox and Rays were sitting at the bottom of their divisions. Outside of baseball, kids across the country were discovering the latest craze that was the Soulja Boy.

All in all, the world was a magical place where anything could happen. September 25th was also the day that Indians catcher Victor Martinez hit his 25th homer of the season. Little did he know at the time that it would be nearly a year before he hit his next one.Victor Martinez hugged teammates and danced in the dugout as if he had just won the World Series.

It was a special moment for Cleveland’s switch-hitter, who hit his first home run in nearly a year to help the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 last night.

“It felt great to see one finally go out,” Martinez said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about (the drought).”The return of Martinez’s power was also a good sign for the Indians as they start to turn their eyes to the 2009 season. It’s pretty safe to say that the cause of Martinez’s power drought was the elbow injury that caused him to miss most of this season. Now that he’s had surgery on the elbow to correct the problem, it appears as though he’s getting his power back.

Sep 2nd 2008 7:00AM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

One of the reasons I, and several other pundits, think the Diamondbacks will be a very dangerous team in October is because of the Brandon Webb-Dan Haren-Randy Johnson trio at the top of their rotation. It has the potential to be devastating in the postseason, but if they don’t get their collective acts together, it might be a moot point.

Haren, Webb and Johnson have started the last three games for the Snakes, putting up this cumulative line: 13 IP, 24 H, 16 ER. All three are seasoned pros, and if this were June or July, this streak would barely be worth batting an eyelash over.

It’s September, though. Time is short and the Diamondbacks’ edge in the NL West is slim. Arizona can’t afford another stretch like this from the top three pitchers on its staff.Continue Reading

Sep 2nd 2008 11:41AM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
On Monday night Cliff Lee became the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to win 20 games in a season since Gaylord Perry did it back in 1974. Lee accomplished the feat the exact way a pitcher would want to do it, too. Pitching a complete game shutout against the Chicago White Sox, and at one point retiring 20 straight hitters.

Now obviously Cliff has been fantastic all season, you kind of have to be to win 20 games, but last night he seemed to have a bit of extra motivation. It was as though his intensity level had risen, and after the game Lee admitted it was a bit higher. The reason for this? Well, A.J. Pierzynski of course.”He slammed his bat down and stared me down[ after popping out],” Lee said. “I stared back. He was chirping in the dugout. It gave me a little extra energy. Actually, I appreciate him doing that.”Of course, Pierzynski had a different story to tell afterwards.”I rounded first, and he said something else and I looked at him like, ‘What?’” Pierzynski said. “I didn’t say anything. I was mad because I missed a 3-2 pitch and popped up. It wasn’t meant anything toward him. You miss a pitch, you pop up against a guy that good, you can’t miss pitches to hit. Oh well.”Now it’s hard to believe Pierzynski when it comes to this kind of stuff, as it follows him around constantly, but I’m kind of leaning more towards his side of the story here. Why on earth would A.J. be talking crap to Lee after popping up? “You see how high I hit that? You suck!” That makes no sense.

Aug 30th 2008 8:20PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

If you’re a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it’s easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their strugles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.Continue Reading

Aug 26th 2008 9:38AM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
For a lot of fans out there whose teams don’t have any chance of making the playoffs this season, the final weeks of the schedule can be tough to deal with. On the one hand you don’t want to get labeled some kind of fair weather fan if you just give up on caring about the team. On the other hand you wonder what the point of wasting three hours of your day on a team going nowhere is.

Which is why you have to take solace in the small things your team can still accomplish. If you’re a Cleveland Indians fan, you can spend the rest of the season hoping the Tribe catches the Detroit Tigers in the standings, and if that doesn’t happen, you can enjoy the individual performances. Like the fact that Cliff Lee is probably going to win 20 games and the AL Cy Young on a bad team, or the fact Grady Sizemore made some history last night.

Grady became the second player in Indians history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season last night. Joe Carter was the first player to do it in a Cleveland uniform back in 1987.

Sizemore actually homered twice on Monday night, so he now has 31 homers and 34 stolen bases on the season. Which means that Indians fans still have something to strive for over the final five weeks. And that would be Sizemore becoming the first Indian to reach the 40-40 club.

Aug 26th 2008 4:05PM by Jon Bois (author feed)
Grady Sizemore, this is your year. You have hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases in a single season, joining an exclusive club that boasts Hall of Fame five-tool legends such as Dante Bichette and Raul Mondesi. You have achieved a statistical milestone celebrated not in the spirit of objective productivity, but of numerical romance. Oh, baseball, what frivolity you worship?

Today’s Dugout is after the jump.Continue Reading

Jul 14th 2008 9:30AM by Pat Lackey (author feed)

The Home Run Derby has, in recent years, become a massive parody of itself. What used to be a short, fun diversion the night before the All-Star Game has devolved into a three-hour orgy of excess. There’s three rounds now, which ensures that by the end of the night the finalists will be too tired to lift their arms over their heads, let alone hit home runs. There’s a million commercial breaks and the thing never seems to end at a reasonable hour.

Still, the Derby is the only baseball on tomorrow night. The only Derby I haven’t watched all of in recent memory was the one in Pittsburgh, during which I attempted to sneak a giant banner with an internet-based phrase poking fun at a certain overblown ESPN personality that loves the Derby onto the cameras. My friends and I failed, went to the bar, and yep, watched the Derby. So instead of saying that the Derby is played out and boring, let’s embrace the fact that we’re going to watch it anyways. A full preview of what I’m expecting from each participant and what you might see during the broadcast is after the jump.Continue Reading