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Archive for the category “Cleveland Indians”

04 May 2012

May a big month for the Tribe

May is going to turn into a key month for the Cleveland Indians, both in the standings and at the box office.

Now that the NFL Draft is over, and with the NBA lottery not being held until May 30, the rest of this month the Indians are not competing (for the most part) for the attention of Cleveland fans.

If they can get through the month in decent shape, the Indians could be set up for another fun summer.

Hit up The Cleveland Fan for the rest of the story.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

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29 Apr 2012

So what else is happening in Cleveland?

Woke up this morning from a three-day NFL Draft stupor and realized there are other things going on in Cleveland sports.

Like the first place Cleveland Indians, who took two-out-three from the Angels this weekend.

Sunday it was Derek Lowe, who threw 7.2 shutout innings to run his record to 4-1 on the season. His sinker was sharp – he retired 12 Angles on ground balls – and Lowe has pitched at least six innings in all four of his wins.

“Lowe was outstanding,” manager Manny Acta said after the game. “He had command of that sinker and also a good slider. Any time you can take two of three from that pitching staff is great. Our pitchers matched up great against them.”

The starting pitching was dynamite all weekend, as Justin Masterson went 8.1 innings on Friday night, giving up four hits and two runs, while Jeanmar Gomez scattered five hits and just two runs over six innings of work Saturday night.

25 Apr 2012

Here & There; This & That

It was nice to wake up this morning and see the Cleveland Indians sitting atop the standings in the American League Central after beating Kansas City in the opening game of a six-game home stand.

OK, the Tribe is tied with Chicago and Detroit, but first place is first place.

Much like last year, the Indians have overcome a slow start and built a solid winning streak to move to the top of the division. After starting the season at 1-4, the Tribe has won eight-of-10 with a combination of solid pitching and clutch hitting.

The biggest surprise has been third baseman Jack Hannahan, who is hitting .364 so far this season. He also leads the team in RBI with 13, is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and is seven-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, NFL draft | Leave a comment

23 Apr 2012

Road warriors return to Cleveland

What a road trip for the Cleveland Indians, as the Tribe went 7-2 on a nine-game swing through Kansas City, Seattle and Oakland.

It was the first time since 1988 that the Tribe won three consecutive series to start a season. And the last time they won seven games on a road trip was in September 2007 – and we all know how that season ended up.

The Tribe comes back home trailing the “unbeatable” Detroit Tigers by just one game in the standings. The Indians have actually outscored the supposedly dominant Tiger lineup so far, 74-70.

The Indians are giving up more runs, however, (72-65) which puts the teams almost even in run differential – +2 for the Indians, +5 for the Tigers.

And that is what has us wondering if the Tribe can keep pace with the Tigers.

As much as we like to poke fun at Detroit, barring injury the Tigers shouldn’t have any trouble scoring runs this year. But can the Indians continue scoring 5.3 runs a game?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Doug Martin, NFL draft | Leave a comment

21 Apr 2012

1 Comment

Can the sports section stay relevant?

It is a rare day where we don’t run into someone, either in person or online, who isn’t complaining about the state of sports media in Cleveland.

It has gotten so bad at times that we have heard people ask why anyone would even read a newspaper.

Which makes us wonder if traditional media – daily newspapers in particular – can meet the needs of today’s sports fans.

To find out the answer, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

***

Uni Watch came out with the first batch of reader submissions to rename and rebrand the Cleveland Indians today.

Let’s just say we are less than impressed with what the readers came up with.

***

Finally, Grantland tries to figure out just what it is the University of Akron is trying to accomplish with its football program. Very good read.

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Cleveland media

19 Apr 2012

It probably won’t happen, but …

Now that the five players who made up the starting lineup for the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA championship game have all declared for the NBA draft, the speculation starts over where presumed No. 1 pick Anthony Davis will be playing next year.

The Charlotte Bobcats, currently at 7-54, will end up having the greatest chance (25 percent) of landing the No. 1 overall selection in the lottery.

But if you are Davis, or any top player, why would you want to play for the Bobcats?

The team is a mess, playing in a city that already saw one team, the Hornets, move out of town. The fans clearly care more about the college game than the pro version.

The Bobcats are on the verge of becoming the worst team in the history of the NBA. If Charlotte loses its last six games – and they currently have lost 18 in a row so it’s not out of the realm – they will finish with the worst winning percentage in league history at .106.

After Sunday’s loss to Boston, 68-year-old coach Paul Silas had an “altercation” in the locker room with forward Tyrus Thomas that resulted in Silas trying to stuff Thomas into his locker (even at 68 our money is on Silas).

As an owner, Michael Jordan makes Randy Lerner look hands-on.

And Davis should want to play for these guys, why exactly?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, NBA draft, NFL draft | Leave a comment

16 Apr 2012

Tribe sweeps behind hot bats, cool arms

Is there some way we can get Major League baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to let the Cleveland Indians play Kansas City every day?

The Tribe rolled through the Royals in three games at Kauffman Stadium, scoring 32 runs in the process. The Indians have now won three-of-four to move within 1.5 games of the allegedly unbeatable Detroit Tigers.

“It was great for us confidence-wise,” designated hitter Travis Hafner said of the sweep. “We feel like we have a good offense, with a bunch of guys capable of hitting 15 to 20 homers. We feel like we can keep it going from here.”

After scoring eight runs in the series opener on Friday night, the Tribe added 11 runs on Saturday and 13 more on Sunday, the first time in the team’s 111-year history that it has scored eight or more runs in the first three road games of a season, according to ESPN.

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12 Apr 2012

1 Comment

A Case for Morris Claiborne

Forget Trent Richardson, Justin Blackmon, Ryan Tannehill or Brandon Weeden.

If the Cleveland Browns want to win, they need to draft LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne.

How do we know this? Because while big-time offenses may sell tickets, they don’t win championships.

Cold Hard Football Facts found that 53 teams in pro football history scored more than 30 points a game in a single season (46 from the NFL, three from the AAFC and four from the AFL). Of those 53 teams, 39 did not win a championship.

Of those 53 teams, 31 of them have played in the past 50 years and only five won championships – the 1991 Redskins; 1994 49ers; 1998 Broncos; 1999 Rams and 2009 Saints.

So while the Browns definitely need to do something to help the offense, they don’t need to do it with the fourth pick in the draft – the offense can wait its turn.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Morris Claiborne, NFL draft, Ryan Tannehill

10 Apr 2012

1 Comment

Tribe Contracts & Knowing Your Audience

The Cleveland Indians bought an extra year with Carlos Santana on Tuesday, reaching a deal with the catcher on a five-year contract worth $21 million.

The deal avoids any salary arbitration issues in the coming years and guarantees the Tribe will have at least one extra year of Santana’s services, if they choose, as the contract includes a club option for 2017, which would have been the first year that Santana would have been eligible for free agency.

If he plays all the way through the deal, Santana will be approaching 32 years of age when he hits free agency and the Indians will have a better understanding of his value and maybe they will have the money to resign him if they so choose (hey, stranger things have happened).

Posted in Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians

09 Apr 2012

It’s your turn now, Josh

Josh Tomlin takes the mound for the Indians tonight against Chicago looking to follow the lead of his fellow starting pitchers.

Despite losing two-of-three to Toronto over the weekend, Tribe starters Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Derek Lowe combined to give up just three earned runs in 22 innings of work (a tidy 1.23 ERA).

All three starters have gone at least seven innings, with Lowe hitting that mark Sunday on the way to giving up five hits and zero earned runs.

“When Lowe is on, it’s pretty hard for guys to lift the ball,” manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “And he did a fantastic job of getting ahead of hitters.”

Now it’s Tomlin’s turn to play “anything you can do I can do better.” The pitchers’ performance during the opening weekend is reminiscent of last year as the Indians rode solid starting pitching in building an early division lead.

After a rough opener last season, the Indians went 12-2 including an 11-game stretch where the starters threw 74 innings and gave up just 15 earned runs – a 1.82 ERA. They’ve also went an average of 6.2 innings in their starts.

If they can repeat that over the next couple of weeks it will help the team buy time until the offense (hopefully) decides to join the rest of the team in the regular season.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Fulham | Leave a comment

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