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18 Jun 2011

Where is our soccer superstar?

In anticipation of Sunday’s Gold Cup game vs. Jamaica, The Wall Street Journal asks an interesting question: Why can’t the U.S. build a soccer star?

The article notes that the U.S. has won more than 1,000 Olympic gold medals. It has produced 26 British Open champions, 14 No. 1 tennis players and two winners of the Tour de France. It’s the birthplace of swimmer Michael Phelps, volleyball legend Karch Kiraly and chess master Bobby Fischer.

But no soccer players that have been superstars on the international level.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Tommy Smyth, the television analyst, in the article. “I go to my local park and there’s 10 games going on all day on a Saturday, and you mean to tell me you can’t find one jewel in there?”

Smyth noted that his native country, Ireland, has produced plenty of top players (Shay Given and Roy Keane among them) even though it has a population of just six million.

Then there are countries like Trinidad (home of Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke), Togo, (Real Madrid’s Emmanuel Adebayor), Cameroon (Samuel Eto’o) and Ivory Coast (Didier Drogba).

With an estimated 15 million kids playing soccer in this country, you’d think someone would have broken through by now.

It’s not that the opportunities aren’t there. Of the 23 players on the roster for the U.S. team at the Gold Cup, 16 play at the club level internationally, at places like Everton, West Ham, Aston Villa, Rangers, Fulham, Blackburn and Wolverhampton.

Sunil Gulati, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said he would have expected a U.S. player to become a stalwart for one of the world’s top clubs by now, but that he’s not “shocked” it hasn’t happened. “There are so few players at that level,” he said. “I believe it’s something that will happen over time.”

In some respects, Gulati is probably correct. When you think that soccer has only been a viable American sport for what, 30 years or so, while it is firmly in the DNA of almost every other country, it’s pretty impressive that the Americans have had the kind of success they’ve enjoyed.

***

Only 57 more days until the start of the Premier League season and what we hope will not be the only football we will be watching this fall.

Liverpool opens at home against Sunderland as the Reds look to continue the momentum they had from last season under manager Kenny Dalglish.

Posted in Gold Cup, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, United States | Leave a comment
16 Jun 2011

Taking care of business

It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but the U.S. Men’s National Team took care of business against Guadeloupe on Tuesday night and earned a place in the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.

“With group play, you’ve got to deal with each game and find a way to advance,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said in published reports. “We’re pretty hard on ourselves because we weren’t satisfied with our performance against Panama, but there are things that bring a team together.”

Jozy Altidore put the U.S. up 1-0 in the 9th minute with the kind of goal that makes him such a frustrating player. Altidore’s 25-yard blast showed just how talented he can be and makes one wonder why he can’t bring that same intensity every game.

The Americans had plenty of scoring chances, peppering the Guadeloupe goal, but goalkeeper Franck Grandel denied them repeatedly. Clint Dempsey had an off night, missing two headers, hitting the post and somehow not getting a shot off when he was all alone with the ball two yards in front of the goal.

Throw in uncharacteristic misses from Landon Donovan and Chris Wondolowski and the final score could have been much more impressive.

“We want to be better,” Donovan said in published reports. “This is a game we should have won probably 3- or 4-0, but the reality is that we won. That’s all that matters at this point.”

Donovan’s right – we would have like to have seen the U.S. convert more of those scoring chances, but in tournament play the objective is to advance, and that’s what the team did.

Now we’re left to wonder which team will show up on Sunday to face Jamaica – the Group B winner that has yet to give up a goal.

“Be careful what you wish for, but I actually think that’s the kind of game we need now,” U.S. goalie Tim Howard said in published reports. “We need a game where the tempo is high and teams aren’t sitting in. They’re coming out feeling like we’re a wounded animal and they’re gonna get us, and that’s when we catch them.”

The Americans have yet to play a complete game in the tournament, but they have been able to do just enough to get by. That was OK in group play, but they are going to need to bring a full 90-minute effort from here on out – especially with a date with Mexico looming somewhere on the horizon.

The slate has now been wiped clean. What the U.S. team does now is up to them.

Photo courtesy of si.com

***

Randy Lerner’s Aston Villa have gotten themselves into a twist in their attempts to hire Alex McLeish as their new manager.

According to The Guardian, McLeish held talks with Villa officials at a secret location in London on Wednesday ahead of a proposed defection across the city on a three-year, £2m-a-year contract. At the same time a crowd of Villa supporters gathered in protest outside Villa Park while lawyers acting for Birmingham, McLeish’s former club, drew up plans to pursue their rivals for compensation and to defend the club against an anticipated charge of constructive dismissal from McLeish.

Birmingham claims that Aston Villa struck a deal with McLeish before he resigned from Birmingham on Sunday – a resignation that Birmingham has not yet accepted.

And the fans are less than thrilled, with one spray painting the message “Bluenose scum not welcome” on a wall at Villa’s training ground.

Oh Randy.

***

Liverpool has unveiled its third kit for next season, taking inspiration from the club’s jersey of 120 years ago.

It’s strange seeing blue incorporated into the jersey – kind of like if the Browns brought black-and-gold into their color scheme – but we see the historic nature of the kit.

Posted in Gold Cup, Liverpool, Randy Lerner, United States | Leave a comment
09 Jun 2011

Time for the Indians to turn this around

The Cleveland Indians head to New York this weekend for four games with a chance to get their season back on track.

The Tribe still holds a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Tigers, and as strange as it may sound, four games with the Yankees may be cure for the slumping Tribe.

The Indians have an advantage in at least three of the four pitching match-ups this weekend:

  • Fausto Carmona opposes someone named Ivan Nova in the series opener
  • Mitch Talbot (three runs in his last 12.2 innings of work) takes on Bartolo Colon on Saturday
  • Josh Tomlin goes against Freddy Garcia on Sunday

Even Monday’s match-up, Carlos Carrasco against A.J. Burnett, could favor the Indians if Carrasco keeps pitching the way he has lately (4-2 since coming off the disabled list).

Throw in the fact that the Yankee bullpen is a mess, with Joba Chamberlain likely out for the year with a torn ligament in his elbow, Pedro Feliciano out until July and Rafael Soriano still injured, and the Indians have an opportunity here.

Since sweeping the Reds, the Indians have gone just 5-11 and seen their seven-game lead evaporate. But manager Manny Acta is keeping a cool head amid the slump.

“Because it happens to every team in a 162-game season, and it’s not going to be the last one, either,” Acta told The Plain Dealer. “Usually, teams have two to three. Doesn’t matter who you are, big market, small market, young, old. It just happens. Teams went through it earlier in the year. We didn’t. Now we’re going through ours. We just have to fight back.”

With three games coming up next week against Detroit, now would be a good time for the Indians to start fighting back.

***

Big story out of the Gold Cup, as five players on Mexico’s soccer team, including goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, have tested positive for a banned substance and are out of the tournament – for now.

Decio De Maria, general secretary of the Mexican federation, said Ochoa, defenders Edgar Duenas and Francisco Rodriguez, and midfielders Christian Bermudez and Antonio Naelson tested positive for clenbuterol.

The five players haven’t been suspended, just “removed” from the team and won’t be allowed to play during the investigation. They were expected to miss Thursday night’s game against Cuba.

“What is presumed … one had to ingest contaminated materials – meat or chicken,” De Maria said in published reports. “Now comes the tough part, taking the players off the squad and opening an investigation. Meanwhile, it is a disagreeable moment to take this kind of decision, but we have to take responsibility.”

The Mexican federation said the five tested positive in pre-Gold Cup doping tests conducted May 21. Officials said the substance detected was the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.

“Everything points to it being an accident, very unfortunate,” De Maria said.

If the players end up being suspended for the rest of the tournament, that will remove an big obstacle for the U.S.

***

The rebuilding of Liverpool continues, as the club has completed a £20-million transfer deal with Sunderland for Jordan Henderson.

The 20-year-old midfielder if the club’s first signing of the summer, and joins fellow big-money signings Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. That’s three high-profile, young players to join the club since Fenway Sports Group’s takeover and Kenny Dalglish’s return as manager.

The fact that the team is working to get younger is a positive sign that the club continues to move in the right direction.

***

Finally, we might have to bid on this vintage Cleveland Indians cookie jar – unless Cleveland Frowns beats us to it, of course.

(h/t Uni Watch)

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, Liverpool | Leave a comment
26 May 2011

Razor thin Tribe

The last two days against Boston highlighted just how thin the Tribe’s margin of error is right now.

With Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner out of the lineup with injuries, and Carlos Santana in an 0-for-19 slump, the Indians need to have outstanding pitching to have any chance of staying in the game.

Tuesday night’s game was a perfect example. Fausto Carmona went eight innings and really only made one bad pitch – the two-run home run he gave up to Jason Varitek in the seventh inning of the Indians 4-2 loss.

Most nights four runs would not have been that much to overcome, but the Tribe lineup is currently a bit thin. Add in the fact that the Indians forgot how to run the bases – they had a runner thrown out at third, two base stealers were caught at second, and Matt LaPorta was doubled off in the fifth.

With the offense in its current state, that’s not going to get it down.

And the less said about Mitch Talbot’s performance in Wednesday’s 14-2 loss the better. Doesn’t matter how well you are playing, few teams are coming back from 7-0 in the first inning.

So the Indians hit the road with a two-game losing streak. Does that mean the good times have come to an end? Of course not.

Detroit was rained out Wednesday, and the Twins and White Sox both lost. Pending the outcome of the Royals game, the Tribe leads second-place Detroit by 5.5 games, KC by at least 7.5 and Chicago by 9. Minnesota is so far behind they are lucky there isn’t relegation in baseball.

The Indians entered May 4.5 games ahead of second-place KC, so they’ve increased their lead during the month. And Sizemore is expected back on Friday.

So while the last two days haven’t been fun, the Tribe is a long way from the panic zone.

***

Former Cavs coach Mike Brown has agreed to become the coach of the Lakers, taking over for the retired Phil Jackson.

“In response to rampant speculation and reports about our head coaching position and Mike Brown, we’ve met with Mike and are very impressed with him,” the team said in published reports. “In addition, we have an outline for an agreement in place and hope to sign a contract within the next few days.”

Who saw this one coming?

Although, once you get past the initial surprise, the Lakers may have made a good hire.

During his time in Cleveland, Brown:

  • Won the third-most games in team history with 272 wins;
  • Won the most postseason games in team history with 42 wins;
  • Coached the team to the playoffs five straight years;
  • Coached the team past the first round of the playoffs every year;
  • Posted at least 45 wins five straight years, the first time in team history;
  • Posted back-to-back 60-win seasons;

And no one was under more of a spotlight than the Cavs during Brown’s last two years with the team, so the pressure of coaching the NBA’s marquee franchise shouldn’t faze him.

Plus, you don’t think Kobe Bryant is just itching to prove he can win a title without Phil Jackson?

“If you’re building a championship team, the DNA always has to start on the defensive end of the floor. Always. I’m a firm believer in that,” Bryant told The Los Angeles Times. “I don’t believe in building a championship team on offense. It has to be built on defense and rebounding. Period.”

Brown certainly knows defense, so if that’s what Bryant wants, he’s going to get it.

Congrats to coach Brown – a good guy who may gotten a raw deal at the end in Cleveland.

***

The Tribe is finally getting some love from the worldwide leader – with two (two!) columns praising the team in one day.

Tim Kurkjian risks being struck down by lightening for suggesting that Asdrubal Cabrera may be the best shortstop in the American League:

The best shortstop in the American League this year is not closing in on 3,000 hits, he’s getting close to 500. He has an unusual first name, his last name is the same as his double-play partner and he was traded for a current ESPN analyst who had only 17 hits after the deal.

Meet Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians. He is 25 years old, a switch-hitter and, so far this season, the best player on the best team in baseball.

Then Jerry Crasnick came through with a look at how the Indians fleeced the Mariners of both Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo in separate trades in 2006:

The Cleveland Indians lack the financial wherewithal to compete for big-name free agents and their recent draft history is nondescript, to put it kindly. But the Tribe sure does hold its own on the trade market.

Scan the roster for the Indians, the surprise American League Central leaders, and you’ll find quite a bounty by way of the Pacific Northwest. Asdrubal Cabrera, who leads AL shortstops with 10 homers, 58 hits and an .900 OPS, arrived from Seattle five years ago in a late June deal for Eduardo Perez. Less than a month later, the Indians acquired outfield prospect Shin-Soo Choo and pitcher Shawn Nottingham from the Mariners for Ben Broussard.

Two positive stories in one day? Things are definitely getting strange around here.

***

Finally, today is the anniversary of arguably one of the greatest games in Champions League history – Liverpool’s win in the final against AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005.

Trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Reds scored three times in the first six minutes of the second half and eventually won the game in a penalty shootout for their fifth European Cup championship.

Posted in Champions League, Cleveland Indians, Liverpool, Los Angeles Lakers, Mike Brown | Leave a comment
24 May 2011

Tribe bandwagon getting crowded

It took 45 games and almost two months of the season, but the rest of the country has finally figured out what we’ve known here in Cleveland since early in April – the Indians are the dogs bollocks this year.

The Tribe is No. 1 in the latest ESPN.com power rankings, have held the top spot in Real Clear Sports’ ranking for the entire month, are getting love from sites as diverse as The Wall Street Journal and Gaming Today, and have even won over Boston Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy:

“They’ve been no flash in the pan,” Remy said of the Indians. “They’ve done everything. They’re pitching well, they’re hitting well, they’re playing good defense. They’re just playing great baseball right now, and they’ve gained some confidence in themselves where they figure they can win this division.”

We were listening to Mad Dog Radio on Sirius today and Larry Bowa, a studio analyst for the MLB Network, was on and said he’s taken a seat on the Tribe bandwagon.

Life is truly good for the Wahoo Warriors.

***

American Brad Friedel will be part of Fox’s coverage of the Champions League final on Saturday between Manchester United and Barcelona.

The Fox pregame show will include host Curt Menefee along with Friedel and Eric Wynalda. Martin Tyler and Alan Smith will handle the play-by-play of the match.

Friedel, who has spent the past few years with Randy Lerner’s Aston Villa squad, is rumored to be returning to Liverpool, where he played from 1997 to 2000, next season to backup Pepe Reina.

Posted in Brad Friedel, Champions League, Cleveland Indians, dogs bollocks, Liverpool | Leave a comment
23 May 2011

Manny being Manny a winner

It’s easy to love this Indians team.

They have the best record in baseball at 29-15. The largest division lead by far in baseball – seven games. What’s not to like?

But it is more than that.

It’s the team never quitting, especially at home.

It’s a different player coming through seemingly every night.

If it’s not Travis Hafner hitting a game-winning home run against Seattle, it’s Travis Buck hitting a late-game homer against the Reds or Asdrubal Cabrera going 5-for-5 on Sunday to lead a sweep of Cincinnati.

It’s a starting rotation that has 19 wins against only 10 losses. And a bullpen that is the best in the American League.

And it’s manager Manny Acta.

We admit we were neutral when the Indians hired Acta last year. We don’t follow the National League – their snootiness about pitchers hitting and over-exaggeration on the “nuances of the double-switch” make us ill – and Acta had managed in Washington so we didn’t know much about him.

But we like his approach to the game. He takes things day to day – not in the soul-less “grind it out” way of Eric Wedge – but more of a “let’s take care of today” mentality. He worries about what he can control and deals with the rest when he has to.

The injuries to the pitching staff are a perfect example. While some were worried about what the team would do when Mitch Talbot was ready to come off the disabled list, Acta knew things would work out.

It’s unfortunate that the decision was made for the team as Alex White is now out for the next three months, but the fact that Acta kept the team focused on each day’s game – just worrying about what they can control – fills us with confidence that the Indians have the right guy in charge.

Just another reason to like Manny being Manny.

***

The Premier League season came to an end on Sunday, with Blackpool and Birmingham joining West Ham in being relegated in the closest race in league history.

And after putting on such a strong run since Kenny Dalglish took over in January, Liverpool lost its last two games of the season to miss out on European play for the first time since 1999.

“The end of the season has come at a good time for us,” Dalslish told the Daily Mail. “I’m proud of the players and the way they turned it round. It’s been a long time since this club hasn’t been in Europe but we have to get used to it. This club didn’t build its history and tradition on losing games. We don’t want that to be a habit.”

If the team can add a few more players and pick up next season where they left off this one, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“The squad only needs tinkering,” Dalglish said. “If people want to see the best players and assets of the football club wearing a red shirt, that’s what we want to try and provide. We want to get the highest quality of player in that we can. That’s what position we have been put into, and that’s what we will try to do.”

Sounds good to us.

***

Had some quiet time this morning at Red Right 88 headquarters, so we put on the DVD of the Browns 1989 opener against Pittsburgh and a couple of things stood out to us.

The Browns starting backfield was Tim Manoa and Keith Jones. No wonder the Browns drafted Eric Metcalf for that season.

Who didn’t love the Bubby Brister era in Pittsburgh? In that game, Bubby was 4-of-8 in the first half for seven yards and two interceptions. Even Derek Anderson mocks those numbers.

We forgot how much fun it was to watch Webster Slaughter, Brian Brennan and Reggie Langhorne abuse the over-rated Rod Woodson twice a year.

The Browns defense, at least that first year under Bud Carson, was really good. Guys swarmed to the ball, hit people and made things happen. We haven’t seen that around here for a while now.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, Manny Acta | Leave a comment
16 May 2011

Grady Sizemore’s bad wheel

Apparently, since Portland is out of the NBA playoffs, Grady Sizemore borrowed Greg Oden’s knees.

Sizemore, who missed most of last season after having microfracture surgery on his left knee, hurt his right knee sliding into second base last week against Tampa Bay. Now he’s on the 15-day disabled list.

Of course he his.

”Grady has progressed the last five days, but not enough for us or for him to feel comfortable about his ability to play the outfield,” Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff told the Beacon Journal. ”We feel the most prudent course of action at this point is to place him on the 15-day DL to give him the time he needs to heal.”

”As of yesterday, he was hitting without symptoms, and he was running at about 75-80 percent with only mild symptoms.”

Sizemore started the season on the disabled list, but has been one of the Tribe’s best hitters since returning, batting .282 with 10 doubles, six home runs and 11 RBI.

Hopefully this is nothing more serious and it’s probably for the best that the Tribe is being cautious. He was swinging the bat well and, with Detroit creeping up in the standings, the Tribe needs all the offensive help they can get.

Plus the Indians start a 30-game stretch on Monday where they play at Kansas City, at the White Sox, Cincinnati, Boston, at Tampa Bay, at Toronto, Texas, Minnesota, at the Yankees and at Detroit.

That looks daunting at first, until you realize the Royals are fading; the White Sox stink; Boston,Toronto and Texas are .500 teams; Minnesota is in the Central Division basement; and the Yankees are falling apart as their players are crybabies who only care about themselves, not the team.

So things are set up well for the Tribe to make a nice run into June and come out of this next stretch of games in good shape.

And then things should get real interesting this summer.

***

You have to give credit where credit is due.

After seeing Manchester United claims its 19th league title – finally topping Liverpool as the most successful franchise in English soccer – United fans hung a banner at Anfield on Sunday saying MUFC 19 TIMES before Liverpool’s game with Tottenham Hotspur.

The fans who hung the banner made a quick getaway as they had cars waiting for them outside the stadium.

The banner was in response to one unfurled at Anfield in 1994 – when Sir Alex Ferguson won his first title as Manchester United’s manager – that said “Come back when you’ve won 18.”

Well, they came back, all right.

***

It’s not all bad news at Merseyside, however, as top-notch goalie Pepe Reina is buying what manager Kenny Dalglish is selling.

Reina is committed to staying at Liverpool thanks in part to the team’s climb up the table under Dalglish and because of the team’s transfer plans for the summer.

“In recent weeks I believe we are going in the right direction and we have to keep it like that,” the Spain international told The Daily Mail. “Next season it will be more positive and the quicker we react and improve the better it will be for the club.”

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Grady Sizemore, Liverpool, Manchester United, Pepe Reina | Leave a comment
15 May 2011

A real dog of a weekend

The weather and Tottenham Hotspur conspired to make it one crappy weekend in these parts.

After the Indians started a new home winning streak Friday night on Travis Hafner’s two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth – with more than 33,000 in attendance – the weather washed out games Saturday and Sunday.

”Now it feels like [Friday’s win] was ages ago,” manager Manny Acta said in published reports after Sunday’s rainout. ”We really wanted to use all that energy we got from that walk-off homer on [Saturday] and [Sunday]. It’s too bad that we couldn’t use all the energy we had built up. It feels like a long time ago when Travis hit that home run.”

So instead of building on the enthusiasm of another late win, the Tribe sat around for two days and now heads back out on the road for four games.

Of course.

The NBA playoffs carry on, sans the Cavaliers.

Because of the owners, the NFL lockout drags on, so there are no rookie minicamps or OTAs to think about.

And with a chance to clinch a spot in Europe for next season, Liverpool lost – at home no less – to Tottenham Hotspur.

It probably shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise that, in a week where there was so much hoopla around Kenny Daglish being name permanent manager, the Reds would come out a bit flat. Of course, they were playing at home, so we may be going a little easy on them.

But there’s no question we could have done without Luis Suarez falling down every five minutes. Once it became obvious that referee Howard Webb was not going to be calling any touch fouls, Suarez needed to man up and start playing.

And Webb will receive some criticism over some of his calls, especially his foul call on John Flanagan that resulted in a penalty kick to Spurs.

But bottom line, Liverpool didn’t play well enough and didn’t deserve to win.

There is still an outside shot Liverpool could grab fifth place. If they beat Aston Villa on the road next week and Spurs lose at home to Birmingham, the Reds take fifth.

Maybe it’s for the better if they don’t, though. If Liverpool doesn’t have to worry about competing in the Europa tournament next year, they can focus solely on the league and shoot for something bigger than pool play with Levski Sofia and Club Brugge.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Liverpool, wasted weekend | Leave a comment
13 May 2011

Long live King Kenny


The king is dead. Long live the king.

In the same week that LeBron James tried to justify his decision to ride Dwyane Wade’s coattails in Miami, we found a new king to embrace at Red Right 88 headquarters.

Liverpool finally did the expected, signing Kenny Dalglish to a three-year contract to manage the team. King Kenny took over a dispirited club in January that was languishing in 12th place in the Premier League table and turned things around, with the Reds on the verge of clinching a spot in Europe for next season.

The night before, after Miami eliminated Boston in the second-round of the NBA playoffs, James “apologized” for kicking Cleveland in the collective yam bag last summer.

“I knew deep down in my heart, as much as I loved my teammates back in Cleveland and as much as I loved home, I knew I couldn’t do it by myself against that team,” James said. “The way it panned out with all the friends and family and the fans back home, I apologize for the way it happened. I knew this opportunity was once in a lifetime.”

What James doesn’t get – really what he never seemed to understand – is that he never had to do it alone. The owner, the team and the fans always had his back – probably more than any fan base in the history of sports. Think about it, who else ever was loved the way we once loved James?

Does he really think he’ll ever get a reaction like this from the fans disguised as empty seats in Miami?

Luckily, Dalglish has stepped up to take the sports throne that James so willingly abdicated last summer.

“It was obvious to us very early on that the atmosphere surrounding the club had been transformed by his presence,” Liverpool owner John W. Henry said. “No one else could have produced such a response.”

“Both John [W Henry] and Tom [Werner, chairman] have taken their time to assess what was best for the football club and bring in the people they wanted to take the club forward,” Dalglish told The Guardian. “They are both winners, but understand what the supporters want from a Liverpool side and the way that we should go about things. This is a unique football club and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help build something special here again.”

“We’re not going to shout our mouths off and say, ‘we’re going to win this’ and ‘we’re going to finish here.’ We are just going to work and do the best we possibly can, because a lot of people care an awful lot about this club,” Dalglish told The Daily Mail. “We’ve got to prove we feel the same way.”

So instead of running from a challenge, Dalglish decided to stay on and build “something special.” Too bad he wasn’t around to talk to LeBron last summer before free agency hit.

On the day that Dalglish signed his contract, the first song that came up on our iPod shuffle at the gym was You’ll Never Walk Alone.

It’s too bad LeBron never heard that one – things may have worked out differently if he had.

Posted in Kenny Dalglish, LeBron James, Liverpool | Leave a comment
11 May 2011

Tribe pen the Rodney Dangerfield of MLB

ESPN’s David Schoenfield listed what he thinks are the best bullpens on “contenders” in his latest Sweet Spot column.

We’re not sure what we’re more offended by, the fact that he didn’t give the Indians bullpen any credit or that he doesn’t consider the Tribe – who only have the best record in the American League – contenders.

Predictably Schoenfield places the Yankees as the third best bullpen and tops in the American League, writing:

Yes, Mariano Rivera had that little burp, but he’s back on track. Setup man Rafael Soriano has struggled, but I project he’ll turn it around. Joba Chamberlain is throwing better than he has in years, and underrated David Robertson has one of the nastiest curves you’ll see. The ‘pen has allowed just five home runs in 95 innings. The big question is whether Boone Logan will prove to be a reliable lefty in the absence of Pedro Feliciano.

Well of course Soriano is going to turn it around, they’re the Yankees after all! And we can’t forget Joba, only the most over-rated pitcher in the game.

The Tribe bullpen is better or as good as the Yankees in every statistical category. Heading into Tuesday night’s game with Tampa:

  • The Indians bullpen has a 3.16 ERA to the Yankees 3.22 ERA
  • The Indians have allowed 79 hits to the Yankees 85
  • Thirty-six walks and 76 strikeouts for the Tribe; 35 and 78 for the Yankees
  • The Yankees have allowed “just five home runs in 95 innings”? Well, the Indians have given up just four in 94 innings of work.

But still, no respect.

The Indians bullpen right now matches up with any bullpen in baseball:

  • Closer Chris Perez has 10 saves in 15 innings of work, with nine strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA
  • Tony Sipp has worked 15.2 innings, striking out 12 and putting up a 1.72 ERA
  • Vinnie Pestano has worked 13.2 innings, striking out 15 and posting a 1.32 ERA
  • Joe Smith has nine strikeouts in eight innings of work after coming off the disabled list
  • Rafael Perez has worked 13.1 innings, striking out nine and posting a 0.68 ERA

Now tell us the Yankees have a better bullpen.

We get it; no one thought the Indians were going to be very good this season. We weren’t even sure what to expect.

But eventually the on-field performance has to be more important than perceptions. What the team is actually doing is more important than what people think they should be doing.

Until then, we’ll just enjoy watching the Tribe as it sits atop the Central Division standings.

If you think the bullpen is doing well, check out how the starters are performing.

And we would be remiss if we didn’t pass along Cleveland Frowns latest Tuesdays with Tony.

***

Peter Crouch did his old team a solid on Tuesday, scoring an own goal to help Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0.

The loss by Spurs puts Liverpool in the driver’s seat for Sunday’s game at Anfield. Win and the Reds secure a spot in Europe for next year.

Not bad for a team that was sitting in 12th place in January.

Don’t feel too bad for Crouch, though. He got to go home and have nachos with Mrs. Crouch after the game.

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Liverpool, no respect, Peter Crouch | Leave a comment

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