The thing about players-only meetings in Baseball is they don't often have much of a shelf life. Another is that it's usually better if it's the players who call it.
The Indians held one Saturday night at manager Eric Wedge's, uh, let's call it, his direction. Wedge's face after a second consecutive shutout loss was said to be the approximate color of a California wildfire. He didn't lock the clubhouse doors behind him after he had his say . . . not technically anyway.
Can something orchestrated from the outside work? An unwilling partner at a marriage counseling session comes to mind.
But no matter how the meeting took place, the theory that it probably beat the alternative - another night of dead men walking to the players' parking lot - was an understandable call.
"We really needed [a meeting]," Victor Martinez insisted after Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Tigers capped a Detroit sweep at Progressive Field that left the Indians 11-21. "Obviously, you want to get results right away, but that's not going to happen sometimes."
Kerry Wood was seen moving around the clubhouse late Saturday reminding players to keep their business in-house if the media asked for details of the meeting. Among this listless group, even such a small gesture immediately nominates Wood for Norma Rae status.
Look around the clubhouse and you understand why Wedge made a public call for leadership to stand tall not long ago. It's one thing for strong personalities to show themselves when a team is winning. The worst times separate those who love the fun times from those who are willing to take teammates to task.
Martinez, the closest thing to a ringleader, made it clear nobody should be blaming the manager. Not players. Not fans. Maybe that's a start.
"It's not Wedge's fault," Martinez said. "I take all the blame. We take all the blame. We're the ones who play. I don't see any reason he should have to pay for us."
Asked what's missing, Martinez didn't hesitate.
"Energy and the fire," he said.
Oh, that's all?
"Sometimes we get down on ourselves," said the Indians catcher.
Nothing demoralizes a team quite as completely as a bad bullpen. Now, even on those occasions when a five-alarm doesn't break out there - Sunday was the latest example - the sabotage happens somewhere else.
Whatever the players talked about Saturday, Ben Francisco had to be the first repeat offender Sunday. His throw to home on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly was, in Wedge's accurate assessment, "air-mailed." Two runners moved into scoring position because Francisco missed the cutoff. They came home on Anthony Reyes' grooved 1-2 fastball to Curtis Granderson.
"That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about," Wedge said. "You can't do that."
It's hard to pin the donkey tail on the manager for Rafael Perez's backslide or the Masa Kobayashi signing or Jhonny Peralta's slow start or even Grady Sizemore's strikeouts and .313 on-base percentage.
But this kind of underachievement? Teams that play so badly eventually cost their manager his job - even one so connected to the GM they speak of each other as "partners."
It's a long season. But it's getting late early. And somebody better shine a bright light soon and lead the way out.
To reach Bud Shaw: bshaw@plaind.com, 216-999-5639
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