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Life as a Cleveland Sports Fan

Archive for the tag “Cleveland Indians”

17 Jun 2013

Corey Kluber, streak buster

cory kluber streakHe may not be a Ghostbuster, but Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona knows who he needs to call to help the Tribe when they are coming off a loss.

Corey Kluber.

Sunday’s start against Washington marked the sixth time that Kluber has taken the mound following a Tribe loss this season. In those six starts, Kluber has gone 4-1 with an ERA of 2.38 and 40 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work. In the other game, (May 26 against Boston), he earned a no-decision despite giving up just one run and striking out 10 as the Tribe bullpen fell apart in the ninth inning.

In his last two starts, Kluber has given up just one run in 16 innings of work, earning him American League co-Player of the Week honors for the week ending June 16. Kluber is sharing the honor with teammate Jason Kipnis, who batted .524 (11-for-21) with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs in six games.

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15 Jun 2013

How bad are things right now in Cleveland sports?

dejected-browns-youth-2012-apjpg-672b447b99a751acHow bad is it right now to be a Cleveland sports fan?

It’s bad, obviously, as to paraphrase one of Coughlin’s Laws, “everything in Cleveland sports ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t be Cleveland.”

But just how bad is it compared to other historically bad times in Cleveland sports? (And, yes, we get that comparing poor eras is a very Cleveland thing to do.)

In a town where we know a lot about losing, it’s hard to think that right now is as bad as it has ever been, especially when you consider that the late 1970s through early 1980s seemed to be just as bad, if not worse, than the current streak we are witnessing from the Big 3 teams in town.

So how do the two eras compare?

To find out, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland sports and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
09 Jun 2013

What to make of the news on Chris Perez and Josh Gordon?

2013_06_drugs_gordonWhen we first heard the news about Chris Perez and Josh Gordon and their “indiscretions,” our first reaction was, are you kidding?

Then, after we heard more of the details, our reaction started to change a bit.

And the more we thought about the two incidents, the more our opinion changed. While we’re more disappointed in Perez and Gordon than anything else, we definitely view the two players in a different light.

The next chapters in these little dramas have yet to be written, but one thing is clear.

This past week has been one of those “only in Cleveland” weeks that we seem to get around here all too often.

For the full story, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

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05 Jun 2013

This year it was supposed to be different

Tony Randazzo, Terry Francona, Mike AvilesThis season was supposed to be different for the Cleveland Indians.

Or so we were told.

Terry Francona is not Manny Acta. The manager and the front office are on the same page together.

Or so we were told when Francona was hired last fall.

Forget the left field platoon of Johnny Damon and Shelly Duncan. And the predominately left-handed hitting lineup. This year’s lineup is better.

Or so we were told.

Don’t worry about the 5-24 stretch from last August. That can’t happen again.

Or so we were told.

Don’t worry about the collapses of 2011 and 2012. This is a different team. Things will be different.

Or so we were told.

But after Wednesday’s loss to the New York Yankees, one thing has started to become crystal clear about this Indians team:

The names on the back of the jerseys and the faces in the dugout may have changed from last season, but this is still the same Tribe.

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30 May 2013

Are there any players Cleveland fans would not root for?

harrison cheap shotWhen the New York Yankees traded for Roger Clemens in 1999, Yankee fans were faced with a dilemma:

How do you root for a player that you despised when they played for a rival team?

Mike Lupica, writing in The New York Daily News, came up with the perfect phrase for Yankee fans to justify embracing Clemens through his steroid-aided years in the Bronx – Clemens was a player who was now “our guy, their jerk.”

We were reminded of that last week when the Cleveland Indians were in Boston playing the Red Sox. During Thursday night’s game, David Ortiz hit a no-doubt home run off of Zach McCallister and stood at home plate admiring his work (as batters are wont to do). That led friend of the program Brian McPeek to criticize Ortiz with this tweet.

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29 May 2013

Wheels are starting to fly off the Tribe’s party bus

tribe train wreckWhat a difference a week makes for the Cleveland Indians.

The Tribe headed into last week’s two-game series with Detroit riding high, winners of 18 of their past 22 games following a four-game sweep of Seattle that, while entertaining, sent up enough warning signs that the Tribe was living on borrowed time. The Indians were also in first place, 2.5 games in front of the Tigers.

Now, after seven losses in their past eight games, including five in a row, some of the shine has rubbed off Francona Ball. The Tribe comes home tonight for a two-game series with Cincinnati, 2.5 games behind the Tigers and once again nursing a Detroit hangover.

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25 May 2013
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Why is Jason Giambi on the Tribe’s roster exactly?

tribe jason giambiWe knew the numbers were bad.

We just didn’t know they were that bad.

We’re talking, of course, about Cleveland Indians designated hitter Jason Giambi.

After Friday night’s 0-for-4 performance against Boston, Giambi is now batting .150 on the season. But wait, there’s more! During the month of May, Giambi has three hits total in 32 at bats.  (h/t to Rick at WFNY for pointing out that fun little nugget during the game on Twitter.)

Despite it being pretty clear that Giambi is done as a player, Tribe manager Terry Francona keeps putting his name on the lineup card for reasons that remain a puzzle to fans.

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20 May 2013

Tribe keeps holding out for a hero

yan gomes indians homerI need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero

Another day, another improbable win from the Cleveland Indians, who apparently don’t remember what it’s like to lose a game.

On Monday it was Yan Gomes, who hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th (yeah, like everyone saw that one coming) to lift the Tribe over Seattle. It was the Indians 18th win in their last 22 games, their fifth consecutive victory, their first four-game sweep of Seattle since 1981 and the third time in the four-game series that they beat the Mariners in their final at-bat.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last time the Tribe had three walk-off wins in a four-day span was 1992 against Kansas City. In that series against the Royals, Carlos Baerga had a 14th-inning sacrifice fly, Junior Ortiz had a game-winning single and Baerga had a walk-off home run.

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15 May 2013

Would dropping Chief Wahoo hurt the Tribe in the wallet?

neon wahooAs the debate ebbs and flows over whether or not the Cleveland Indians should drop Chief Wahoo as their logo, a look at what has happened when other teams have made the decision reveals an interesting fact: teams that make the switch may not see a negative impact on their financial bottom line.

The Emory Sports Marketing Analytics project analyzed the impact on universities that changed their American Indian name or mascot and found that, for the most part, the switch away from an American Indian mascot results in positive financial returns over the long run. The switch also has no long-term impact on a team’s brand equity.

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13 May 2013

Masteron, Bauer distract from Tribe’s anemic offense

masterson double headerLost in the fan euphoria over the Cleveland Indians splitting a doubleheader with the New York Yankees on Monday is the fact that the Tribe offense was embarrassingly bad.

One run over 18 innings of play? That’s all they can get with New York starting David Phelps and Vidal Nuno? And fans are supposed to be happy that the Tribe earned a split against a Yankee team that is playing without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira?

Wow, talk about low expectations. (Or maybe we are just not being realistic in our expectations.)

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