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07 Sep 2011

RIP, 2011 Cleveland Indians

We know there are still 20+ games to go, but the Indians 2011 season came to an end Monday afternoon when Victor Martinez’ three-run homer cleared the right field fence.

There are plenty of reasons why the Indians came up short in their attempt to win the division – primarily the seemingly never-ending string of injuries which led to too many at-bats for bench players – but the main one is the Tribe doesn’t have Justin Verlander.

According to Bill Simmons’ column last Friday at Grantland, the Tigers are 21-8 when Verlander starts and 54-54 when he doesn’t (that was before the weekend series where the White Sox rolled over and played dead).

Fourteen times Verlander has followed a Tigers loss by winning the next game. He’s pitched at least six innings in each of his 29 starts. He’s thrown 104 pitches or more in every start. He’s first in wins (20), WHIP, strikeouts, innings pitched; second in ERA (trailing Jered Weaver by just 0.10) and WAR (trailing only Bautista).

That right there is the biggest reason why the Indians went from 7.5 games up to 7.5 games back in the standings – they just don’t have anyone who can put up numbers like Verlander.

Take Verlander off the Tigers and even with their big payroll they are right there with the Tribe, hovering around .500.

***

As if the end of the season wasn’t bad enough, the Tribe announced on Tuesday that Carlos Carrasco will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2012 season.

“Conservative management of the injury failed,’’ head trainer Lonnie Soloff said in published reports. “So after several medical opinions, Carlos will undergo a UCL reconstruction. Dr. David Aitchek will perform the operation in New York on Wednesday. Recovery time for the surgery is 12-18 months, and we are hopeful that Carlos can begin game activity in 12 months.’’

So, for Cliff Lee (16-7, 2.47 ERA this season), the Tribe has Carrasco (Tommy John surgery), Jason Knapp (shoulder surgery in July), Lou Marson and Jason Donald.

Just great.

At least the Indians still have pitching depth in the minors – oh wait, no they don’t.

***

Sounds like we may be seeing Artis Hicks on the field for the Browns on Sunday, either at left guard if the team believes fifth-round pick Justin Pinkston isn’t ready, or possibly at right tackle if Tony Pashos’ injured foot is more than just “sore” to use coach Pat Shurmur’s words.

Hicks sounds ready to do whatever the team needs.

“I’ve played everywhere except for center,” the 10-year veteran told The Beacon Journal. “I’ve always been a guy that’s just tried to come in and do what’s asked of me no matter what it is. I don’t expect this to be any different. I don’t have any expectations other than to go out there and just try to learn the system and try to fit in with these guys.”

***

Finally, Browns team president Mike Holmgren made what we think is his first mistake since arriving in town when he decided the Browns will wear all white at home this season.

We love the brown jerseys over the white pants and a look at the schedule leads us to believe we won’t be seeing that look much – if at all – this season.

The Steelers, Ravens and Bengals don’t wear white at home, so those games are out. Same with the Raiders, 49ers and the Cardinals. The Texans have it on their website that they will wear blue jerseys against the Browns and the Colts most likely will as well.

So it looks like we’ll be getting the monochrome look for the entire year. At least the brown pants won’t be making a comeback, which is some small consolation.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment
01 Sep 2011
1 Comment

We’ll have what Jack’s having

What in the world has gotten into Jack Hannahan?

And how can the Indians make sure the rest of the team catches it?

After homering in the second and again in the sixth inning Wednesday night against Oakland, and driving in the game-winning run in the 16th inning, Hannahan is hitting .444 (16-for-36) with three home runs and 11 RBI on the Tribe’s current homestand.

Whatever Hannahan is doing is working, we just wish he could pass it on the rest of the lineup.

***

Despite rumors that Arsenal was targeting American Clint Dempsey it looks like Dempsey is staying at Fulham as the transfer window has closed for now.

Not to bag on Fulham or Craven Cottage, but it would have been nice to see Dempsey have a chance on a bigger stage that, despite its early season woes, Arsenal can provide.

***

Ever wonder what footwear Katie Whitham keeps in her black shoulder bag? Then head over to Waiting for Next Year for an interview with the sideline reporter for SportsTime Ohio at Tribe games.

All kidding aside, it’s a really good read. Check it out.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Clint Dempsey, Katie Whitham
30 Aug 2011

Browns take a big hit

We all feared the news was coming, but Tuesday’s announcement that Browns guard Eric Steinbach will miss the season after undergoing back surgery still stung.

“He was a starter, so we’re gonna have to make some decisions to see who plays left guard for us,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur told The Beacon Journal. “So we’ll be going through that process.”

That process includes fifth-round draft pick Jason Pinkston, who has played in Steinbach’s absence during the preseason is in the running to take over the starting left guard spot between Alex Mack and Joe Thomas.

Pinkston has impressed the coaches so far.

“I tell you what, Jason Pinkston has made huge, huge strides in three-plus weeks,” Shurmur said. “It’s one thing to be on the perimeter running routes as a rookie and doing it, but when you’re in there in the thick of it, it’s very challenging for those big guys. It really takes development and seasoning and I think he’s making huge progress.”

However, is it realistic to expect a fifth-round draft choice to step in and play effectively? One thing working in his favor is that Pinkston, if he is the starter, will have Thomas to his left and Mack to his right.

“Sometimes I come up there and I freeze a little bit,” Pinkston told The Beacon Journal. “Joe will say, ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’ Then I have Alex to my right. Those guys have been great.”

If Pinkston doesn’t cut it, the Browns may be forced to turn to Oneil Counsins, who the team claimed off waivers from the Ravens this week.

Cousins was the Ravens staring right tackle when the preseason started, but was moved to right guard after a bad game and then demoted. The Ravens then signed Bryant McKinnie, who was cut by Minnesota after showing up after the lockout at almost 400 pounds.

We don’t like where this is headed.

With Steinbach in the lineup, the Browns had a great left side of the line, now you just don’t know. Plus, with Peyton Hillis (252 pounds), Owen Marecic (245) and Montario Hardesty (227) the Browns were building a beefy backfield that would have looked good running behind Thomas and Steinbach.

Now they’re left trying to fill a major hole less than two weeks before the season opener.

***

The Indians didn’t want to let the Browns have all the player transaction news on Tuesday, so they got in on the action by sending Matt LaPorta to AAA Columbus in a move that was, in some ways surprising while also being overdue.

Someone had to go to make room so Jeanmar Gomez could start Tuesday night and LaPorta, the centerpiece of the C.C. Sabathia trade of 2008, earned the short straw with his season-long poor play.

LaPorta is hitting .238 with 18 doubles, 11 homers and 44 RBI in 97 games. He has struck out 79 times, while drawing 20 walks. He heads down I-71 with a .289 on base percentage and a .404 slugging percentage.

The question is, what took so long?

LaPorta hasn’t been good all year; his monthly batting average and OBP are April (.247/.337), May (.240/.301), June (.239/.271), July (.217/.246) and August (.246/.266) all bear that out.

Plus he seems to not have a lot of baseball smarts, especially in the field.

So, to summarize, the Tribe traded Sabathia and wound up with:

  • LaPorta, now in Columbus
  • Michael Brantley, on the disabled list with his .266 average and .318 OBP
  • Rob Bryson, still in the minors
  • Zach Jackson, out of baseball

Boy, that sure worked out well.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Eric Steinbach, Matt LaPorta | Leave a comment
26 Aug 2011

Is there a doctor in the house?

Injuries are the word of the day in Cleveland sports.

For the Browns, starting left guard Eric Steinbach and third-down back Brandon Jackson reportedly will be out for a while – and Steinbach may be looking at season-ending back surgery.

Coach Pat Shurmur told The Plain Dealer that Jackson will be out “an extended period.”

As for Steinbach … well it doesn’t sound good.

“At this point, he’s going through some treatments that we’re hoping will get him back, and there’s no real final call yet on whether he’ll be back — or when actually,” Shurmur said of Steinbach.

Doctors are trying to determine whether he needs surgery, according to The PD and, if that’s true, he could be put on injured reserve and be out for the season.

If that turns out to be true then what was shaping up to the a true strength for the team – the offensive line – takes a big hit. Shurmur said rookie guard Jason Pinkston has made “tremendous progress” and Pinkston is expected to replace Steinbach if he can’t come back.

The only possible bright side to that scenario is Pinkston would line up between Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, two of the best offensive linemen in the NFL, who would be able to help him out.

In addition to Steinbach and Jackson, (take a deep breath) backup linebacker Titus Brown has a high-ankle sprain (apparently he didn’t get the memo that that was last year’s injury), while wide receiver Jordan Norwood (knee), defensive end Marcus Benard (sore shoulder), wide receivers Josh Cribbs (hamstring) and Mohamed Massaquoi (left foot), strong safety T.J. Ward (hamstring), free safety Usama Young (hamstring), weakside linebacker Chris Gocong (pinched nerve), cornerback Dimitri Patterson (ankle), wide receiver Carlton Mitchell (finger surgery) and linebacker Steven Octavien (unspecified) are also all injured and had limited to no participation in Thurday’s walk through.

Did we mention that the season-opening game against Cincinnati is just over two weeks away?

The news isn’t much better for the Indians, who just keep seeing players fall by the wayside.

Starting pitcher Josh Tomlin and outfielder Michael Brantley were placed on the 15-day disabled list on Friday.

“Michael was seen again by Dr. (Thomas) Graham at the Cleveland Clinic,” head trainer Lonnie Soloff told The Beacon Journal. ”It was unlikely that he would be able to play in three to five days, so he was placed on the disabled list.

As for Tomlin, ”Josh experienced discomfort in his right elbow during his last start,” Soloff said. “”After an examination and an MRI, it was determined that he has a sprain of the elbow. He will shut down all throwing for two weeks then be re-examined.”

Boy, we just can’t handle all the good news going around town today.

At least Jim Thome has come back to save us all from … something.

But unless Thome earned his medical degree in the nine years he was away from home, it may not matter much.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Eric Steinbach, injuries, Jim Thome, NFL | Leave a comment
25 Aug 2011

It was fun while it lasted

We hate to say the season is over for the Cleveland Indians when the team still has 35 games to play.

But after Wednesday’s loss to Seattle, the Tribe sits 6 games out of first place and it’s hard to see this team turning things around.

Because of injuries manager Manny Acta rolled out his AAAA lineup against the Mariners, with Ezequiel Carrera, Cord Phelps, Shelley Duncan and Jason Donald. No Shin Soo-Choo, Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera, etc.

Coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers in Detroit, the Tribe started their longest – and most important – home stand of the season needing to get things rolling.

Instead the Mariners, who came into the series with a record of 53-72, manhandled the Indians in taking three out of four games. Seattle, the worst-hitting team in the American League, scorched the Tribe for 29 runs and 51 hits in the four games.

In less than a week the Tribe has gone from being 1.5 games behind Detroit to losing 6-of-7 and being outscored 51-27 along the way.

Things have finally caught up with the Indians as a seemingly never-ending string of injuries has robbed the lineup of any potency. If it’s not Hafner succumbing to a foot injury, it’s Michael Brantley’s wrist or Choo’s “trunk soreness.”

The strain of having to be perfect every night has finally taken its toll on the pitching staff, which has struggled the past week – from Ubaldo Jimenez, to Josh Tomlin and Chris Perez. Against Detroit and Seattle, the starting pitchers were 0-5 with an ERA of 9.35. They couldn’t get through the fifth inning in four of the seven games, wearing out the bullpen.

While it is certainly possible the Indians can get back in the pennant race, they have to hope Detroit fades in the final month, and they also have to worry about White Sox, who sit just a half-game back in third place.

The big fear is all the injuries and inexperienced players will lead the Indians to stumble through the last month of the season, spoiling what has been an entertaining and, ultimately, a successful season.

For the first time since 2007, it’s almost September and fans still care about the Tribe.

Young starting pitchers Justin Masterson, Tomlin and (for the most part) Carlos Carrasco grew up this season.

The bullpen (most nights) has been lights out, with Perez, Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano and Rafael Perez.

Youngsters Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis have had an extended taste of life in the big leagues and lived to tell about it.

Sadly, if the team stumbles down the stretch that is what some fans will remember about this season, undoing all the goodwill the team built up during its 30-15 start and battle for a division title through most of the season.

Even if a playoff spot is no longer a realistic option, the Tribe needs to finish relatively strong so that they can walk away from this season knowing they have started building a foundation toward contention for the next few years.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Indians, disappointment | Leave a comment
23 Aug 2011

Can You Go Home Again?

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood … back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame …” – Thomas Wolfe

Now that Travis Hafner is on the disabled list with an injury to his right foot – “Travis is going to be out for a little while,” general manager Chris Antonetti said – the Indians find themselves in the market for a designated hitter.

As luck would have it, the Twins reportedly put Jim Thome on waivers on Monday.

“Today, I know nothing really about that, so it’s hard for me to answer your questions right now when I don’t know any of that stuff. I think that’s safe,” Thome said. “Out of respect to the organization and all that, the best thing is not to comment, really, to be honest.”

Could Thome come home to Cleveland and, like Kenny Lofton in 2007, help the Indians as they try to get back into the playoff race?

At first we thought, no way. Thome is a 41-year-old part-timer; surely he wouldn’t be an improvement over Hafner?

But then we looked at the numbers. Since the All Star break:

Hafner is batting .220, with a .642 OPS, 3 homers, 14 RBI and 31 strikeouts in 118 at bats.

Thome is batting .300(!), with a .971 OPS, 6 homers, 21 RBI and 27 strikeouts in 90 at bats.

Looks like an upgrade to us, at least on paper.

The good news is, if the Indians do bring Thome back, it would be because they think he can help for the rest of the season, and not just as a PR move. As Terry Pluto pointed out in his column in the Sunday PD, ticket sales are up 45 percent on the season and TV ratings are up nearly 100 percent.

Seems like the Tribe should at least kick the tires on Thome.

***

Switching to the NFL, Pro Football Talk reports that there is more bad news for members of the 2009 NFL Draft class.

Last week, of course, the Bills cut linebacker Aaron Maybin, the team’s selection at No. 11 in that draft. And the Bengals decided not to pick up the option on tackle Andre Smith (selected No. 6), reducing his rookie contract from six years to four.

Now the Seahawks have done the same with linebacker Aaron Curry, the fourth overall pick.

Throw in Jason Smith, taken No. 2 by the Rams, Tyson Jackson (No. 3 to KC), Darrius Heyward-Bey (No. 7 to Oakland) and Michael Crabtree (No. 10 to San Francisco) and that draft starts to look pretty ugly.

The Browns of course selected Alex Mack in that draft. When you play in a division where you have to go against Casey Hampton and Haloti Ngata twice a year, it was a solid pick.

And looking at what the Browns could have ended up with, the pick just looks that much better.

***

Finally, Peter King shows the Browns some love in this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback column.

King writes that:

I think if you look at Cleveland’s schedule — the Browns play the NFC West this year — you can see them winning eight games. At least I can. I mean, you look at the schedule in the first 11 games and you think: Somebody at 280 Park Avenue is very fond of Randy Lerner.

The slate includes one team, Indy, with a winning record in 2010: 1. Cincinnati, 2. at Indianapolis, 3. Miami, 4. Tennessee, 5. at Oakland, 6. Seattle, 7. at San Francisco, 8. at Houston, 9. St. Louis, 10. Jacksonville, 11. at Cincinnati.

Not saying they’ll go 10-1, and you gotta think the other teams are looking at Cleveland on the schedule and thinking it’s an eminently winnable game. But the point is, no other team in the league has the kind of chance to start strong and stay strong as Cleveland has. The problem with the first 11 weeks for the Browns is the season isn’t 11 games. It’s 16. And the last five games include two with Baltimore and two with Pittsburgh. But when you face one strong returning playoff team in the first 11 games (Seattle, at 7-9, will forever be asterisked, even with the decisive win over New Orleans), you think it might just be your year.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Jim Thome, NFL | Leave a comment
22 Aug 2011

Indians feeling the Motown blues

Well, that was a waste of a weekend.

The Cleveland Indians limp home after being swept by the first-place Detroit Tigers, and how sit 4.5 games behind in the AL Central.

It’s nice that the Tribe battled back on Sunday after falling into a 7-0 thanks to “ace” Ubaldo Jimenez (more on that in a bit), especially since they couldn’t do that Saturday night after No. 5 starter David Huff finally pitched like a No. 5 starter in putting the Indians into a 5-0 hole in just 2.1 innings of work.

But feistyness alone isn’t going to win the division; and going 2-4 on road trips through the division doesn’t help either.

Travis Hafner, who left Sunday’s game with an injury, killed the Tribe on the swing through Chicago and Detroit. Hafner hit .160 (4-for-25) from the No. 4 spot with 11 strikeouts.

Asdrubal Cabrera didn’t help much either in the No. 3 hole, hitting .208 (5-for-24) on the trip.

Hafner and Cabrera picked a bad week to hit a slump, as Shin Soo-Choo and Carlos Santana, who hit No. 2 and No. 5 most of the trip, had a solid swing through Chicago and Detroit. Choo hit .393 on the trip while Santana was at a .321 clip.

None of it really matter, though, as the starting pitching let the Tribe down over the weekend.

Josh Tomlin, Huff and Jimenez combined to go 0-3 with an ERA of 12.41 in the three games against Detroit.

As bad as Huff was Saturday night, Jimenez was even worse on Sunday, primarily because he was sold to the fan base as being an ace when the Indians acquired him at the trading deadline.

In four starts for the Tribe so far, Jimenez is 1-1 with two no decisions. He’s worked just 21 innings, has an ERA of 7.29 and a WHIP of 1.47.

“The difference between this year and last year is my command,” Jimenez said after the game. “Last year I was ahead of almost every hitter. This year I’ve been pitching from behind.”

We tuned into the game in the midst of the Tigers’ seven-run third inning to hear announcer Tom Hamilton talking about how, before the game, Indians manager Manny Acta was stressing how Jimenez needs to control his pitches better.

We are beyond tired of hearing that about Jimenez. You’re not an ace if you can’t control your pitches; it’s the control that makes you an ace. Or something like that, we’re still upset about the weekend and are starting to ramble.

In any event, so far the evidence seems pretty strong that the Tribe severely overpaid in this deal.

Luckily the Indians still reside in the AL Central, so no matter how bad it seems they are never out of it. The Tribe now has an 11-game homestead against Seattle, Kansas City and Oakland, who are collectively 57 games under .500.

The Tigers, meanwhile, hit the road for seven games (Tampa and Minnesota) before coming home for four games against Kansas City. Those three are collectively 27 games under .500.

So the opportunity is there over the next week and a half for the Indians to make up for this weekend.

The question, as always, is are they up to the challenge?

***

Luckily the weekend wasn’t a total loss as Liverpool finally beat Arsenal at the Emirates, the first time that has happened in 11 years.

Luis Suárez and Raul Meireles found the back of the net after coming on in the second half to give Liverpool a 2-0 win in a game that wasn’t pretty.

“We just about deserved to win,” Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said. “We have a stronger squad than last season and, when you have two substitutes of that quality to bring on, they deserve the chance to make a difference. It wasn’t easy, but at least our season is up and running now. It was a better performance than last week and we didn’t concede a goal. The new players have had a week to settle in and we are beginning to see what they are capable of.”

While it’s nice that Liverpool finally walked out of the Emirates with three points, they need to come up with an offense that includes more than just lobbing the ball into Andy Carroll and hoping that Carroll will head the ball in. Being predictable ain’t gonna get it done.

For now, we’ll just be happy to take the three points and get out of town.

(Photo by The Detroit Free Press)

Posted in bad pitching, Cleveland Indians, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, Ubaldo Jimenez | Leave a comment
20 Aug 2011

The glass is empty this morning

Cleveland had a rare sports double header with Detroit on Friday night and woke up this morning to an empty glass.

In the game that mattered, the Indians fell to the Tigers to drop 2.5 games out of first place.

Josh Tomlin needed to be perfect for the Indians because the offense decided it was a good time to take the night off.

Tomlin tried his best, shutting out the Tigers through five-and-a-third innings, but the long ball did him in, with Austin Jackson hitting a two-run shot in the sixth, and Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta adding solo shots in the seventh with two outs.

Tomlin has now given up 23 home runs on the year, or one every seven innings.

“I thought Josh pitched well and gave us a chance for six innings,’’ manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “We just couldn’t get anything going against (Max) Scherzer. He got better as the game went on.’’

The Tribe offense was inept, scoring its sole run in the seventh inning courtesy of a wild pitch by Max Scherzer.

The Indians have apparently decided that putting the ball in play is not important, as batters have struck out 47 times in the first four games of this road trip. Travis Hafner has contributed 21 percent of that total as he continues his second-half transformation into Adam Dunn.

The Tribe continues to ride the K Train, striking out at a staggering rate of 7.8 times per game. At that pace they will finish with a franchise record 1,265 strike outs on the year.

Having said that, there is still a lot of baseball to be played. If the Indians can take care of business today and tomorrow, they come home just a half-game back of Detroit.

“The way they are playing, the way we are playing and even the way Chicago is playing, I don’t think this is going to be decided in the next couple days,” Tomlin said.

***

In the game that didn’t matter as much, the Browns lost to the Lions in Cleveland’s second – and final – home game of the exhibition season.

Colt McCoy continued to give us confidence that the West Coast offense is the right fit for him. McCoy completed 10-of-18 passes for 96 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

“He did a good job,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said of McCoy. “He executed like you’d expect. They came after us with some pressure and he stood in there and executed. I think he would tell you he missed some throws out there.”

Evan Moore caught two touchdown passes and rookie wide receiver Greg Little had one as the first-team offense put up 21 points despite missing Peyton Hillis, Ben Watson and Eric Steinbach, none of whom played because of injuries.

“He can really run and catch the football,” Shurmur said of Moore. “That’s how we’ll try to use him throughout this deal. I think he’s improved as a blocker, but I think his real value is a pass catcher.”

If Moore can stay healthy – he left Friday night’s game with what may be a concussion – and Ben Watson can have another solid season, that will take a lot of the pressure off of a group of unproven and unproductive wide receivers.

“Evan is definitely a weapon,” McCoy said. “He’s a big target and he creates mismatches. I thought he played excellent. He got some good balls and then we got him out of there.”

The best part of the night was that the cool, refreshing breeze of Shurmur’s offense continued to blow through Cleveland Browns Stadium. After two exhibition games, it’s clear that Shurmur thinks touchdowns, not field goals.*

“Tonight we faced a good front and we had our ups and downs, for sure,” McCoy said. “We capitalized on some short fields. We didn’t settle for field goals.”

The first-team defense didn’t play all that bad, either, holding Detroit’s first-team offense to just 10 points. And they did it while playing without starters Usama Young, T.J. Ward, Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita.

Ahtya Rubin and Jabaal Sheard were active on the defensive line, with Rubin notching a sack and Sheard forcing and recovering a fumble.

“I thought they battled,” Shurmur said of the Browns starters on defense. “(Detroit) is a pretty explosive group on offense. I thought they did a good job battling.”

The Browns travel to Philadelphia on Thursday to take on the Eagles in what is normally the last true test for the starters in the preseason. It should be a good test for the Browns new offensive weapons.

*Sarcasm font is activated at 35 percent.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Colt McCoy, Josh Tomlin, K Train, Pat Shurmur | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2011

Gaylord the Great

“I’d always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to be caught out there with anything though, it wouldn’t be professional.” – Gaylord Perry

Gaylord Perry spent some time in the Indians TV booth over the weekend, talking baseball with announcers Rick Manning and Matt Underwood.

We’re old enough to remember – barely – when Perry pitched for the Indians in the early ’70s and we knew he was good – he’s in the Hall of Fame after all – but we’d forgotten just how good he was.

Thirty-six years after Perry last wore an Indians uniform, his name is still all over the team’s record list.

Perry pitched three full seasons in Cleveland (1972 to 1974) and part of the 1975 season. He went 70-57 from ’72 to ’74 for a team that was 40 games under .500 during that time, and won 39 percent of the Tribe’s games while he was in Cleveland.

He won the Cy Young Award in 1972, with a 24-16 record and an ERA of 1.92 (his 10.5 WAR was also tops in the league).

His 24 wins in 1972 are the eighth most in team history and are still the highest for an Indian pitcher since 1946. He was also the last 20-game winner for the Tribe until Cliff Lee in 2008.

He is eighth in career ERA while an Indian at 2.71.

Perry pitched an incredible 344 innings in 1974 (third most in team history) and 342.2 in 1972 (fifth most). Those innings are the most for a Tribe pitcher since 1946 and no one has come within 60 innings of that total since Wayne Garland in 1977.

Perry’s 238 strikeouts in 1973 are 13th in franchise history.

We still remember staying up late in the summer of 1974 to watch Perry go for his 16th consecutive win. The Tribe was in Oakland and it was a rare TV game that Ch. 43 (if we remember correctly) televised because of the streak. Perry and the Indians lost the game, 4-3, on a 10th-inning single by Claudell Washington.

As with most things involving the Indians in the 1970s, Perry’s tenure with the team ended on a sour note. He was traded to Texas midway through the 1975 season after feuding for more than a year with manager Frank Robinson.

But while Perry was gone, his legacy lived on with the Tribe. His Cy Young in 1972 was the last for a Cleveland pitcher until C.C. Sabathia in 2007 and then Cliff Lee in 2008. Coincidentally, the Indians traded all three within three years of winning the award.

But that’s a story for another day.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Gaylord Perry | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2011

Reds, Browns & Wahoos – oh my!

Huge sports day today around these parts.

The day kicks off with the opening of the 2011-12 Premier League season. Despite the ongoing violence in London and other parts of the country, six matches are still on tap for Opening Day, starting with Liverpool taking on Sunderland.

The Reds and manager Kenny Dalglish open their first full season under the ownership of John Henry and Tom Werner, who have taken on a data-driven approach to rebuilding the former kings of English football.

Liverpool have been active in the transfer market, spending $30 million each for Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson; $13 million on midfielder Charlie Adam; nearly $40 million for forward Luís Suárez; and a record $57 million for striker Andy Carroll, now the most expensive English player ever.

The club’s moves have all been an attempt to create more scoring opportunities – the baseball equivalent of getting more men on base – which, in theory, will result in more goals.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool | Leave a comment

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