Well, what do you know?

When the Browns were 0-3, none of us could have possibly imagined this outcome tonight. And in fact, even when they were 1-3, with a win over the woeful Bengals, we all figured we were basically sacrificial lambs against the undefeated defending champion Giants tonight.

But the team that took the field tonight in the brown and orange was not the same team that took the field any of the previous four games. In fact, I can't swear it's even the same team that went 10-6 last year. This team tonight looked better than any Browns team has looked since ... well, the Modell era. I don't want to exaggerate, but that's how it feels right now. I just sat here and watched every play of this game, and I still can't believe what my own eyes beheld.

Derek Anderson is suddenly a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback again, thanks in part to great protection from the offensive line that previously looked so shabby. Jamal Lewis could get a first down any time he wanted. Braylon Edwards seemed like he was open by five yards at all times. And Eric Wright, for the second game in a row, made the play of the day. That 94-yard interception return not only featured a fantastic read on Eli Manning and an athletic move to step ahead of the receiver, but a tremendous return in which he eluded Manning's attempt to force him out of bounds and/or knock the ball loose. When Wright kick-stepped over the goal line, we all knew it was over.

Thirty-five to fourteen over the undefeated, seemingly invincible, Super Bowl champs. This was probably the most satisfying early-season Browns win of the expansion era. Savor it, ladies and gentlemen. I sure hope it's a sign of things to come.

Very interesting

Loyal reader John Arthur "Hutch" Hutchison sent me this link about all the necklaces you see hanging on ballplayers' chests these days. Honestly, I hadn't really noticed, but it turns out Randy Johnson's behind a lot of it. They're called "phitens," and supposedly, they confer some sort of benefit on the players who wear them. Sounds like a load of hogwash, but then again, that's what doctors used to think of hand washing. (P.S. Wednesday is Global Handwashing Day, so be sure to celebrate in appropriate style.)

I'll never forget the image of Carlos Baerga jogging onto and off of the field with his big ol' silver chain and pendant bouncing up and down between his chest and his face. I guess I always figured it was a Latin thing.

I'm pissed at Channel 8

Like most 21st-century Americans, I have cable. In my case, about 75% of the reason I have cable is for the sports you can only get on cable. So I'm paying to see tonight's Browns game, whether a local station picks it up or not. But I'd also like to be able to flip to the National League Championship Series during commercials. And I can't, because Fox is showing the NLCS, and Channel 8 bought the local over-the-air rights to tonight's game. The HD Fox channel also has the Browns. The Fox Spanish-language channel has the Phillies and Dodgers, but I'd have to pay extra for that channel. I love the Browns as much as anybody else, but I've already got ESPN. I want the local Fox station to show the damned baseball game that Fox is showing.

This sucks.

Defense, special teams do it for Buckeyes

The Ohio State offense did very little in Saturday's 16-3 win over Purdue, but it didn't need to, thanks to Malcolm Jenkins and his defensive cohorts. Jenkins blocked a punt that Etienne Sabino (of whom I'd never heard) returned for a touchdown, and later added an interception that any one of four Buckeyes could have had.

Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeye O only gained 222 yards on the day, to Purdue's 298 yards; and only managed 14 first downs, to Purdue's 18. They didn't score an offensive touchdown, but did set up three field goals, which adds up to three times as many points as the Boilermakers' offense managed. The OSU D was impressive, keeping Purdue from getting inside the 30 until the last half-minute of the game.

Pryor, quite simply, struggled. He tried to do too much with his legs, which turned a couple of small gains into big losses. I recall one play in particular in the third quarter, in which Pryor faked a handoff to Beanie Wells and then took it off-tackle himself. First off, if he'd actually given the ball to Wells, he'd have had about a 10-foot hole to run through, and would have probably picked up at least 10 or 15 yards. I accept that if the play calls for a fake, you can't just give the back the ball, because he's not expecting it; but Pryor could have seen the soft spot in the defense and called an audible. Maybe that's too much to ask of a freshman quarterback. Anyway, once Pryor took the ball, it looked like he could have made about three or four yards if he'd cut up the field early, but instead he tried to cut it outside and wound up losing a couple of yards. But he's learning, he's obviously got a lot of talent, and the most important thing was the W.

Brett Myers the hitter

Just a few days ago, I posted something about Brett Myers, a career .116 hitter, battling CC Sabathia until he wore CC out in the NLDS. Myers fouled off three pitches before Sabathia walked him. It seemed like Sabathia must have lost something, for a poor-hitting pitcher to battle him like that. Myers only had four hits all season, after all. Who could have known he was just finding his stroke?

Myers had three hits in today's 8-5 win over the Dodgers. If he'd pitched better, he might have gotten a fourth at-bat and could have, in one game, matched his hit total for the entire regular season. He scored two runs and knocked in three -- the latter number of which, you may note, was the margin of victory.

Our old friend Charlie Manuel managed the Phillies' win just hours after the death of his mother. According to Joe Torre, Charlie still talked to his mother "on a regular basis." I can't imagine anybody not talking to their mother on a regular basis, unless she's mental or something, but it had to be tough for Charlie to put that out of his mind. He didn't talk to reporters today, which is certainly understandable. You're in our thoughts, Charlie. (I'm sure he's a regular reader.)

Speaking of people with Cleveland connections, Manny Ramirez hit his 27th career postseason home run in a losing cause. Of course, Manny has played in four World Series, two each with the Indians and Red Sox; and since 1995, his team has reached the playoffs every year but two. And you can't compare players from pre-1969, who never played in more than one round of the postseason, with players of today, who play in up to three rounds a year. Still, it's an impressive number. And here's an arcane stat: Manny now has 27 career LCS RBIs, which ties him for second all-time with former Tribe teammate David Justice. I have no comment on that.

Great game to open NLCS

These days, I'm not usually up this late on a school night, but I'm starting to get LCS fever. That's pretty corny, isn't it? Whaddaya want, I've been up since 6, and I'll be up at 6 tomorrow too.

Anyway, tonight's game between the Dodgers and Phillies was a minor classic. Cole Hamels was shaky early, but settled in; Derek Lowe was lights-out early, but lost it in the sixth, when he gave up home runs to Chase Utley and Pat Burrell. Thanks to ESPN's Jayson Stark, I now know that before Lowe gave up those two home runs in the space of three hitters, he had only given up two home runs to his previous 287 hitters.

So the Phillies have taken the lead, but apparently because of the matchups involved, a Diamond Mind simulation still thinks the Dodgers are slight favorites. Whatever. Such projections are fun, but who remembers them after the games are played?

There is NOTHING on

Last night, I watched no sports at all. Tonight, I'm watching Wisconsin at Northwestern in volleyball.

During the NBA playoffs, if both teams that are moving on to the next series against each other end their series early, the next series starts early. Why doesn't Major League Baseball do that? Easy. Major League Baseball is run by idiots. I'm looking at you, Allan H. Selig.

Buckeyes pulled it out

By halftime of yesterday's game against Wisconsin, one started to get the feeling that the Buckeyes didn't belong on the same field as the Badgers -- but even still, Wisconsin was only up 10-7. If the first half had been 30 minutes and 30 seconds rather than 30:00, it might well have been 14-7, but then again, if it were 29:30, it might well have remained tied at 7. Regardless, it was starting to feel like the Dairyheads were on their way to take us to the woodshed at Camp Randall Stadium, where Wisconsin had a 16-game winning streak.

But Terrelle Pryor, making his second start, started to put it together in the second half. He was far from perfect, but between his arm and his legs, he was the main reason Ohio State won that game. Sure, there was some good luck involved -- Brian Hartline's fumble bouncing directly to Brian Robiskie, for example -- but give Pryor credit. On the 11-yard touchdown run that put the Buckeyes ahead for good, Pryor recognized that four Wisconsin defenders were in confusion mode as the ball was snapped, and he ran it to the spot they didn't have covered.

These Buckeyes are the favorites for the Big Ten title, and I think we saw why. And darned if Terrelle Pryor didn't remind me just a little bit of a guy named Craig Krenzel yesterday.

CC's outing looked familiar

Well, folks, it seems CC Sabathia's playoff mental block is still there -- and as a result, he may have pitched his last for the Milwaukee Brewers. And he probably cost himself several million dollars.

As we Clevelanders all remember, if Sabathia had pitched well in the 2007 postseason, they Indians might have won the World Series. Going into tonight's game, the Brewers were in even more desperate need of a great start from their ace than the Indians were last year. But he laid yet another egg.

Before I go any further along these lines, let me say that Sabathia's failure in tonight's game brings me no pleasure. CC seems like a genuinely good guy and good teammate, and I have no doubt he wants to succeed for his team. I bear him no grudge. And there is absolutely no question that without him, the Brew Crew would have ended their season on Sunday, as the Indians and 21 other teams did.

But the man has obviously developed some sort of psychological trouble with pitching in October. He went just 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on six hits and four walks. Those runs all came in the second inning, when he gave up an RBI double to Pedro Feliz (aka Peter Happy) and a grand slam to Shane Victorino. One of the runners who scored on Victorino's blow was the opposing pitcher, Brett Myers, who hit .069 this year, and whom Sabathia walked. Myers actually managed to foul off three pitches during the plate appearance. When CC was pulled with two outs in the fourth, it was after having walked the last two hitters to load the bases.

One more loss to the Phillies, and the Beermakers are done. And CC's erratic performance will be one of the reasons why. I'd say I feel for the guy, but he's probably about to sign a contract worth at least $80 million. Some teams might shy away, based on his playoff performance, but someone's still going to drive a truckload of money up to his door. So yeah, he's undoubtedly having a worse night than I am, but I have a hunch he'll be OK.

A win! Hallelujah!

So the Browns finally put an actual number in the win column. I know that zero is technically a number, but you know what I mean. For the first time in eight games, including preseason, our team sucked less than the other team with whom they shared the field. Said other team, in this case the winless Cincinnati Bengals, were playing without their Pro Bowl quarterback, which clearly made a big difference in the Browns' 20-12 victory. But hey, a win's a win.

The Browns' defense played pretty well -- albeit, as previously mentioned, against a crippled Bengals O -- but our offense was pitiful until the fourth quarter. Derek Anderson, who was such a sensation last year, was 8-for-16 for just 72 yards going into the final frame, with a pick, which was pretty typical of his performance thus far this year. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking it was time to give Brady Quinn a shot. But as the Browns languished with a 6-3 deficit, D.A. finally turned it around. He went 7-for-8 in the last 15 minutes, for 66 yards and a touchdown, and led three scoring drives.

Jamal Lewis ran the ball 25 times, which worked pretty well until the last two plays of the first drive. Once the Bengals realized the Browns were just going to try to stuff it down their throats, they were able to hold the running game in check. Lewis only had 79 yards on those 25 carries, which is a 3.2 average per rush.

The star of the game? Ask me, it's DB Mike Adams, who got an interception and recovered a fumble.

CC wouldn't have gotten Tribe into the playoffs

Loyal Of Fair Hooker reader Jeff Brown weighs in with a theory that Mark Shapiro might have jumped the gun on trading CC Sabathia:

The Indians' cataclysmic season now shows them just 6 games out of first place. After being eliminated ages ago, they have been showing how good of a team they could have been (should have been?) all along.

Think for a moment, Steve -- they traded away C.C. Sabathia very early in the trading period, and if they had kept him, would he have been worth an additional 6 wins? 5? 4? Given the way he pitched in July and August, I surely think so. One has to second-guess GM Shapiro's decision to trade all of their players away, given that they could have made the playoffs in spite of their early-season struggles. Do you agree?

Well, let's take an objective look at that question. It's true that, had the Tribe held on to CC, and had he pitched as well for them as he has for the Brewers, they would likely have won at least a few more games. But it's hard for any player, no matter how well he plays, to make a six-game difference for his team.

Yes, CC has gone 10-2 (pending today's game) for the Beermakers, but before we go any further with those numbers, we must remember that he has done that in the National League, and these days, the senior circuit is clearly the junior varsity. The American League went 149-102 against the NL this year, a .594 winning percentage. That would work out to a 96-66 record over a 162-game season. Translate Carsten's 10-2 into AL numbers, and it's more like 8-4. (10-2 is a winning percentage of .833. If you multiply that by the baseline .500, divide by .594 and multiply again by 12, you come out with 8.4 wins.) CC would likely have taken most of the starts made by Zach Jackson and Anthony Reyes, who have combined for a 4-4 record. So that wouldn't have made a six-game difference. At most, that's a four-game difference, but 8-4 isn't really four games better than 4-4. If an 8-4 team were in the same division as a 4-4 team, they'd be considered two games ahead. And yes, pitcher wins and losses are overrated, but if you look at the underlying numbers, I think that's a reasonable approximation.

Naturally, it's worth mentioning that CC was not the only player the Indians traded. Paul Byrd has gone 5-2 for Boston since being traded for a few steak dinners, and Casey Blake is hitting .254 with 10 home runs since being traded to the Dodgers. It's hard to say whose starts Byrd would have taken, but we know whose at-bats Blake would have taken. Andy Marte has improved since the trade, hitting .250 in August and .297 in September, but with no power; and he's a .221 hitter for the season.

Byrd, I suppose, would have made some of the starts that were actually made by Scott Lewis (who won ALL FOUR of his starts) and Matt Ginter (1-3). So they combined for 5-3, compared to Byrd's 5-2. That's pretty much a wash. Blake probably would have made about one game's difference (keeping in mind his NL stats are NL stats), and CC would have made probably about two games' difference. Add all those numbers up, and we'd be looking at maybe an 84-77 team going into the last day of the season. We'd still be shut out of the playoffs.

Twins have it taking place

I'm blogging from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where there is a nursing convention going on (I'm editor of a nursing magazine), and where I watched the end of the last two nights' games between the Twins and White Sox in sports bars, surrounded by Twins fans. I'd have watched the games in my hotel room, except the TV in here doesn't get FSN North, which was carrying them. And what thrillers they were! Lexi Casilla got the game-winning hit last night, but Carlos Gomez was the hero of the series, making fantastic catches in the late innings in high-pressure situations both Wednesday and Thursday nights.

There's something slightly surreal about being in the presence of fans of a team foreign to you, who are celebrating a big victory by their team. I've been rooting for the Twins to win the AL Central ever since it became apparent that it was coming down to them and the White Sox, but not like I've been rooting for the Rays to make the playoffs. For a while, I was hoping the Twins AND White Sox would reach the playoffs at Boston's expense, but that's obviously not going to happen. Anyway, the White Sox just won it all three years ago, and Chicago is one of my least-favorite cities, even though I have dear friends there. I'm a country boy from Newbury, in Geauga County, and I just don't like being in the midst of that many millions of people crammed into that small a plat of land.

All that said, I have nothing much against the White Sox. And while I'm generally rooting for the Twins, I was watching last night's nailbiter as a more or less impartial observer, surrounded by people who were hanging on every pitch because they so desperately want their team to win the division. I know that feeling, of course; I'm just not used to not sharing it with the people around me. I'm not sure quite how I feel about it, but I'm on my way to another sports bar to watch the Twins battle the Royals tonight, surrounded by Twins fans. I look forward to it.

How about those Cleveland Indians!

In theory, I should have posted something about the Browns' debacle in Baltimore by now. But I don't feel like it. It sucked. What can I tell you that you don't already know about it?

I'd much rather post about the Indians, who have won seven straight and are now 79-77. Our Tribe's been out of contention for months now, but they've still got six games to play, and I'm still excited about seeing how they do in those games. And their 4-3 win tonight over the Red Sox increased the Rays' lead in the East, which makes me happy too. If nothing else, it might mean one fewer October game at Fenway, and those people piss me off, Jimmy Fallon notwithstanding.

Zach Jackson got his first win as an Indian, in his eighth start, and he did a yeoman's job, holding the mighty BoSox to two runs in six innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Los Dos Rafael made it interesting, letting Boston get within one run before Jensen Lewis took over in the ninth. Lewis didn't exactly mow them down, but with the tying run at third and the winning run at second, he blew a fastball past Jed Lowrie to end the game. That's the sort of thing you expect from a major-league closer -- and with 12 saves in 13 opportunities, Jensen Lewis is now a bona fide major-league closer.

This is a very likable Indians team. It's too bad they hit such a wall in May and June, because if they were to get into the postseason, they could do some damage. Regardless, there's hope for next year.

Gary Sheffield is an idiot

Everybody knows it hurts to get hit by a baseball. I've been hit on the elbow, the knee, the thigh, the ribs, the nose ... everywhere. It hurts, and what's more, it can injure you. But that's the risk you take stepping into a batter's box. In order to get batters out, pitchers have to throw the ball at high velocity to a spot very close to the batter's body. The batter has a split second to decide whether to swing at the ball, then actually swing, if he so chooses. John Kruk against Randy Johnson in the All-Star Game notwithstanding, the batter is generally not thinking about having to get out of the way of the ball until it's nearly on top of him. This means the pitch is occasionally going to hit the batter. Everyone understands this.

When Fausto Carmona hit Gary Sheffield on his back forearm with a pitch in the Indians' 6-5 win over the Tigers Friday night, Sheffield got the idea that Carmona had "absolutely" (Sheffield's word) hit him on purpose, despite the fact that it was a breaking ball, despite the fact that it wasn't that far inside, and despite the fact that it was an 0-1 count. He didn't charge the mound right away; he waited until after Carmona had thrown over to first to keep him close. Sheffield yelled something to Carmona, Carmona apparently gestured in reply, and Sheffield decided to start a bench-clearing brawl.

Naturally, Sheffield was ejected. I thought Carmona probably would be too, even though he didn't do anything but defend himself; and I was right. Victor Martinez, who was also trying to defend his pitcher, got thrown out as well, as did the Tigers' Placido Polanco. I didn't really see what Polanco did to get tossed, but I think it's a crock that the two Indians were ejected. I'm reminded of the time Robin Ventura charged the mound after an inside pitch by Nolan Ryan, and Ryan got in five punches to the face before they were pulled apart. Ryan wasn't ejected, wasn't suspended, wasn't disciplined in any way, because it was understood that if an opposing player comes out trying to perpetrate acts of violence against the pitcher, the pitcher has the right to defend himself. I don't see how this situation's any different. If the umpires thought Fausto threw at Sheffield, they should have tossed him after the pitch; so he was obviously ejected for his role in the brawl. I'm sorry, but I think that's dumb. Carmona got some punches in, but Sheffield started it.

Victor for victory!

One could tell right off the bat that the ball Victor Martinez hit off Joe Nathan in the bottom of the 11th last night would go a long way, but it was unclear at first whether it would leave the yard. Of course, the Indians only needed one run, and with a runner on second, all they needed was for it to fall in somewhere. And it did -- it fell on the platform beyond the fence in right-center, giving the Tribe a 12-9, come-from-behind-after-blowing-a-big-lead victory.

That home run was about as unlikely as you can imagine. Nathan came into the game with a 1.03 ERA, having given up just four homers all year. Martinez had hit just one dinger this year, having been hurt for much of the season. Victor was 1-for-10 in his career against Nathan. He had never, ever hit a walk-off homer, and Nathan had never, ever given one up. That's why I love baseball.

Worst commercial ever

There is an Arby's commercial that currently plays with great frequency during Indians broadcasts on STO. Of course, any particular commercial that appears during any Indians broadcast on STO is replayed a lot, which makes them all seem tedious after a while.*

But even on first viewing, some are clearly worse than others, and the Arby's commercial in question falls under the heading of "some." The product being advertised is the Southern Style Chicken Mini. The voice-over says such remarkably inane things. "Arby's Southern Style Chicken Mini for 99 cents answers the question, which came first, the chicken or the deal? Together, of course! Think southern-style flavor, think an incredible 99 cents! Think Arby's!" What utter nonsense. The chicken or the deal? Together, of course? What moron ad writer came up with this prattle?

And the announcer sounds like an idiot, and the sound quality is downright offensive, and it's accompanied by a guitar player who sounds like he charged about $5 for the job, and the graphics are terrible, and the sandwich doesn't even look that good in the ad. I've been a big fan of Arby's for a long time (I love a Beef 'n' Cheddar with Horsey Sauce), but I think I'm forced to boycott them until they stop running that stupid commercial. And I don't think I can ever have a Southern Style Chicken Mini, even if they cut the price to a penny.

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* Ohio Lottery! Odds are you'll have fun! Odds are you'll lose, and what exactly is fun about that?

Bad night for Buckeye boosters

Boy, there's nothing like seeing your team get destroyed in a "marquee matchup" on national TV, is there? I don't think any of us expected Ohio State to win tonight, but we hoped they'd hang with USC. But they didn't. Not at all.

You can say, what would have happened if Brian Robiskie's touchdown reception hadn't been called back? I say Ohio State would probably have lost 35-10, if not 42-10 because the Trojans would have been playing hard a little bit longer.

You can say, what would have happened if Beanie Wells could have played? I say that would have made some difference, but I don't think you can attribute more than two touchdowns' difference, at most, to a single player. So it might have been 35-17. That wouldn't have been as embarrassing, but it would still have been a fairly lopsided loss.

USC is simply better. My team isn't national championship material this year. I can accept that.

Sensational debut for Lewis

We'll never know for sure, but it seems to me the only thing that kept Scott Lewis from pitching a shutout in his major league debut tonight was Eric Wedge's hook. Regardless, Lewis gave the Indians eight innings of three-hit shutout ball in their 7-1 win over Baltimore. Masa Kobayashi gave up a run in the ninth, after Wedge decided not to send Lewis out despite his having only thrown 96 pitches. Had Lewis pitched a scoreless ninth, he'd have been the first Indian to toss a complete-game shutout in his major league debut since Luis Tiant, 44 years ago. That would have been pretty dad-gummed cool.

As I think is pretty obvious by my word choices above, I wanted to see Lewis try to put a bow on it himself. I hate to criticize a manager for practicing caution with a young pitcher who's already had to overcome some injuries, but Lewis isn't that young; he's about to turn 25, which means his arm is past that dangerous late-teens-early-20s period. But whatever. At the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is that he's 1-0 in his major league career, and he's still healthy.

I used to follow the Indians' minor league teams a lot more than I do now, and I have to admit I had no idea who Scott Lewis was before a few days ago, when I heard he'd be pitching tonight in place of the injured Anthony Reyes. But his numbers from Akron and Buffalo show he's ready for this. He was 6-2, 2.33 in 13 starts with the AA Aeros, and 2-2, 2.63 in four starts with the AAA Bisons. In the two levels combined, he's struck out 82 hitters in 97 1/3 innings, against just 13 walks. And the topper? He's a Buckeye through and through. He grew up in Washington Court House and pitched for Ohio State.

Speaking of Reyes, I don't know when he'll be back, but I'm sure hoping we'll see Lewis a few more times this year. Reyes has earned the right to keep pitching if he's healthy, so that would be a good problem to have. And if you look at the Indians' starters right now, there's a lot of reason for optimism going into 2009. We all know what a mockery Cliff Lee has made out of the American League this year. Fausto Carmona hasn't looked like he did last year, but if he stays healthy next year, starting in spring training with everyone else, I expect him to pitch like a near-ace again. Jeremy Sowers has been up and down, but he was excellent last night against these Orioles, and I believe he'll get it together and be a solid fourth or fifth starter. And Aaron Laffey looked pretty good in his first few starts after being called up this year.

That's six guys right there who could be in the big-league rotation next year. I don't know what Mark Shapiro will do in the offseason (and he probably doesn't either, though he could probably make a better guess than I could), but he's going to keep his eyes open for pitching bargains, because you can never have enough arms. I think this is going to be a strong rotation next year, CC or no CC.

It was nice while it lasted

The coolest sports record ever set in Cleveland is no more. The Red Sox sold out their 456th consecutive home game last night, eclipsing the record set in the early days of the ballpark then known as Jacobs Field. As if to cement the disappointment, the Indians lost a 14-3 rout to the Orioles at the same time.

We still have our retired number -- I'm sure the Indians won't take down the words "455 THE FANS" from the post they've been painted on, assuring that no Indian will ever wear the number 455. And we still have the memories of the way the Tribe dominated the AL Central Division between 1995 and 2001, and the two World Series appearances.

So now the record sits in Fenway Park. Say what you will about Boston fans, but they do support their teams. Even if they just show up to boo, they buy tickets.

By the way ...

Cliff Lee is now 21-2 after beating the Royals 3-1 today. There's really nothing I can say about Lee that I haven't said already, and that many others have also said. With every start, he cements his 2008 as the best season by an Indians pitcher since ... well, maybe ever. He's the first Indian who's ever been 21-2, I'll tell you that. The Indians have played 108 seasons of baseball, and Cliff Lee is the first guy to go 21-2 in those 108 years -- and all this was after spending part of the previous year IN THE MINOR LEAGUES!

Lee has a major-league-leading 2.28 ERA, in a year when the overall ERA in the majors is 4.30. (In an unusual degree of symmetry, the American League's ERA is 4.29, the National League's 4.30.) He has an outside chance to finish with an ERA less than half the major-league average (MLA, and I believe I just coined that acronym; tell your friends). I don't know how often a qualifier for an ERA title has done that, but the last time it happened was 2005, when known steroid user Roger Clemens posted a 1.87 for the Astros, compared to an MLA of 4.28.

I'd also like to note that Victor Martinez knocked in all three Cleveland runs in today's game, which is certainly nice to see. He's hitting .333 in 21 at-bats since coming off the DL, with six RBIs and his only home run of the year.

Yeesh

There was an optimism around Northeast Ohio today. I saw people wearing Browns paraphernalia everywhere I went today, and in recent days, I've heard talk about how our guys should be able to hang with the mighty Dallas Cowboys. They're tough, but we've got a lot of talent, people said. Our newly revamped defensive front ought to be able to pressure Tony Romo, people said. Derek Anderson and our high-octane offense will surely put enough points on the board to make it interesting, people said.

Then the game started.

Buckeyes weren't too good

Ohio State would have been in serious trouble yesterday against the Ohio Bobcats if not for five OU turnovers and two big plays on special teams, one of which overlaps both categories. OU, a 33 1/2-point underdog, was leading 14-6 going late in the third quarter before the Buckeyes finally remembered they're supposedly the third-best team in the nation.

In the words of Brian Hartline: "That was pathetic. It was a pathetic performance. OU should have won the game. I don't know how we came out with it."

Todd Boeckman wasn't very good, but in his defense, the running game wasn't taking much pressure off him. OSU really missed Beanie Wells, who is expected to be back next week for USC, and thank goodness. I would have liked to see more of Terrelle Pryor, who only played one series while the game was still in doubt. He got some garbage time at the end, but only threw two passes in the game, both of which were incompletions. He did some nice work with his legs, though, rushing for 37 yards on five carries.

The Buckeyes outgained the Bobcats for the game, 272-254. Any Big Ten team that puts up numbers like that against any MAC team should be deeply disappointed, whether they're ranked third in the nation or not.

Oklahoma City blunder

And we have a new entrant in the worst team name in North American sports competition. The team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics is now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. I've always hated team names that aren't plural; they seem cartoonish to me. And I like names that are geographically based, like the Seattle Supersonics, reflecting that area's connection to the world of aviation, with Boeing and all. The Oklahoma City Thunder simply reflects that the area has bad weather every now and then. I wonder what that's like.

The team trademarked six names, then waited until yesterday to pick one. They could have been (in alphabetical order) the Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshals, Thunder or Wind. None of those are very good, and we Clevelanders wouldn't like to see them named the Barons, because that's one of our old hockey names. But the Oklahoma City Marshals would have been a decent name.

It's incredible that the Thunder isn't the worst one they considered. The Energy? The Wind? Did they just open up a dictionary and pick whatever words their fingers landed on?

Tribe's having fun

The Indians' 9-3 win over the White Sox yesterday was a lot of fun to watch, in large part because it involved fine performances by two guys who have been hurt much of the year. Victor Martinez hit what was rather unbelievably his first home run of the year, in his third start since having elbow surgery in June; and Fausto Carmona -- though he wasn't exactly dazzling -- won his third straight start, going 5 2/3 innings. He's now 8-5 with a 4.51 ERA, and if you subtract his disastrous first start off the disabled list, in which he gave up nine runs in 2 1/3, he's 8-4, 3.81.

The expanded roster limit allowed the Indians to call up Josh Barfield, Michael Aubrey, and pitchers Brian Slocum, John Meloan and Tom Mastny. That'll come in handy if they play a 20-inning game. The next game Meloan pitches in will be his major-league debut, so that's pretty exciting.

The news isn't all good, though. Travis Hafner, who's been on a rehab assignment in AAA Buffalo for the last week or so, is deemed not ready to return to the bigs despite hitting .318 in seven games for the Bisons. But he appears to have a positive attitude about it, and says he'll keep working on his shoulder through the offseason and be ready to come back in the spring. I have my doubts whether he'll ever again be the hitter he was a couple of years ago, but I hope I'm wrong.

Also, Aaron Laffey has been shut down with elbow inflammation. I believe he has a bright future if he can stay healthy, but that's always a big "if" when you're talking about a young arm.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Cleveland Indians have a 20-game winner

Now THAT's how you win your 20th game. Cliff Lee is 20-2, after toying with the Chicago White Sox for the full nine tonight, finishing with a five-hit shutout. And Gaylord Perry is no longer the Indians' last 20-game winner, a title he held for 34 years.

I hope to post a game-by-game look at Lee's season after he wins the Cy Young. But to sum it up, this is the best season I've ever seen an Indians pitcher have. He's better than CC was last year, he's better than Jose Mesa was in 1995, and he's better than Bert Blyleven, Rick Sutcliffe, Dennis Martinez, Tom Candiotti, et al ever were in Tribe uniforms. The fact that he's doing this for a team that's fighting for third place makes it that much more impressive. And he's got a month to build on that total. He could end up with 24 or 25 wins.

Congratulations, Cliff. (I assume he's a regular reader.)

Speaking of CC ...

Did you see the clips from his "one-hitter"?* He made one of the best defensive plays I have ever seen a pitcher make. He caught a line drive with his bare hand. Granted, his bare hand is bigger than most people's mitts, but still. And then he threw to first to double off a runner. CC has been absolutely out of his mind since arriving in Milwaukee. He's now 9-0 since the trade, with an ERA of 1.43, in 10 starts as a National Leaguer. That, my friends, is patently ridiculous.

Of course, the story from that game involves the one "hit," which was an infield "single" by Andy LaRoche. It was what some commentators would call a swinging bunt; LaRoche topped the ball, it bounced in front of the plate, and Sabathia himself attempted to field it with his aforementioned bare hand, which apparently doesn't work for him unless the ball's traveling as fast as a car. CC fumbled the ball and could not recover in time to throw out LaRoche. LaRoche was about 30 feet down the line when CC touched the ball, and there is no doubt he could have -- had he fielded it cleanly, using his glove if necessary -- thrown the runner out. But the official scorer in Pittsburgh scored it an error, saying it would have taken an above-average play to throw the runner out.

At this point, I should like to express an opinion about baseball's reverence for its single-game accomplishments. A no-hitter is but one example; you've got your single-game RBI records, your single-game stolen base records, your single-game outfield assist records, etc.

Baseball's single-game feats come in three tiers, with one each for pitching, hitting and fielding: On the first tier, you've got a perfect game for pitchers, four home runs for hitters, and an unassisted triple play for the glovemen. One could make the argument that an unassisted triple play belongs in a different category because it only involves a single play and requires a great deal of luck, but I am including it because it still happens within the confines of a single game, and it takes some luck to pitch a perfect game or hit four home runs as well. These events are about equally likely: There have been 17 perfect games, 15 four-homer games, and 14 unassisted triple plays in major-league history. Of course, the four-homer game is the only one that's possible to top, but it hasn't happened yet.

If you look at the players who have accomplished these top-tier feats, you'll see a wide range of players. To use the perfect game as an example, you'll see some Hall of Famers (Sandy Koufax, Cy Young, Catfish Hunter, Cleveland's Addie Joss, and future first-balloter Randy Johnson); a bunch of guys who had strong careers but fell short of that level (Dennis Martinez, David Wells, Mike Witt, etc.); and a few guys who actually finished their careers with losing records (Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, our own Lenny Barker). So while being a great player surely increases the likelihood of appearing on one of these lists, it's also quite possible to get there as a mediocre player. Hard-hittin' Mark Whiten hit four homers in a game, but if he ever got a single Hall of Fame vote, the writer who voted for him would deserve to be stripped of his vote. And our boy Asdrubal Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play earlier this year, shortly before being sent down to the minors because he wasn't hitting.

In the second tier, you've got no-hitters, hitting for the cycle and the standard triple play, which of course is a team feat. There have been 256 no-hitters, 278 cycles, and 672 triple plays in major-league history. So the defensive feat is considerably more likely, but it's still rare enough to be notable. The names on these lists almost seem random; for example, in the last decade, no-hitters have been credited to such luminaries as Anibal Sanchez, Clay Buchholz, Bud Smith and Jose Jimenez -- and six Astros combined on a no-no of the Yankees.

In the third tier, you've got your odd records like most strikeouts, most hits, etc., and while these are arguably more impressive than those in the second tier, if not the first, they are not held in nearly the same esteem. Ask me, the cycle is a highly overrated accomplishment that has occasionally prompted a player to abstain from taking the extra base, which actually hurts his team. I've watched a few no-hitters myself (I saw Barker's perfecto and Bud Smith's no-no, and I saw Dwight Gooden no-hit the Mariners, all on TV), and it is kind of thrilling. But the bottom line is winning, and it does occasionally happen that a pitcher throws a no-hitter and loses. The reverence for these single-game feats sometimes overshadows the idea that you're supposed to try to win the game, and I find that troubling.

Getting back to CC, the Brewers have appealed to the commissioner's office for the one hit to be changed to an error. I don't know how I feel about this. The official scorer does not affect the outcome of the game, but can have a profound impact on these revered feats, obviously. I feel the official scorer blew this one, but now that the game's in the books, turning it back into a no-hitter would be anticlimactic at best. And if it had been scored an error from the start, would the Pirates' hitters have approached the ninth inning differently, knowing a no-hitter was on the line? I don't know. I was in favor of overturning it last night, but right now, I think I'm against it. Ask me in an hour, and my answer might be different. But the only thing that really matters is that the Brewers won. They're in a pennant race, after all.

* Could be a no-hitter, if the Brewers' appeal is upheld.

Swept!

How do you follow a 10-game winning streak? By being swept at home by the American League's worst team, of course.

The Indians' 6-4 loss to the Mariners today is perhaps more indicative of the way the season has gone than their 10-game winning streak was. But, it should be mentioned, the Tribe is now 10-3 over the last 13 games. Hey, that's still pretty good.

Zach Jackson, acquired in the Sabathia deal, had his worst start in the bigs (out of 4), giving up six runs on seven hits in five innings. Hey, it's his fourth major league start. He'll have much better ones than this, and of course, he'll have a few that are even worse. This is baseball, and everybody's up some days, down some others.

Get well, Beanie

As expected, Ohio State demolished Youngstown State yesterday, 43-0. But that's not the story. Sure, if the I-AA Penguins had upset the mighty Buckeyes, that would have been a story, but Ohio State beating any other team from Ohio is a footnote at best.

The story, as we all know, is that Heisman candidate Beanie Wells hurt his foot after taking a handoff in the third quarter. The Buckeyes have a lot of talent, but they play USC in two weeks, and that would be a tough enough game without your Heisman candidate running back. X-rays were negative, but that doesn't mean there's no ligament damage.

I know it's easy to say this in hindsight, but why was Beanie still in the game at that point? It was halfway through the third quarter, Ohio State was up 26-0, and against that Youngstown State defense, Maurice Wells or Daniel Herron could have done the job the rest of the way (as they did after that play). Yes, your regulars need some game time to get ready for the battles ahead, but Beanie had already run for 111 yards on 13 carries. I don't often second-guess Jim Tressel -- and I'm sure Tressel's second-guessing himself now too. I just hope he'll be close to 100% for the Trojans.

As always, there were some upsets on the college football season's opening weekend, and the biggest involved an Ohio school. Bowling Green knocked off No. 25 Pittsburgh, 27-17, after being down 14-0 early on. So not only did they pull off a big upset, they beat a team from Pittspuke while wearing brown and orange. I certainly hope that's not the first time we see that this season.

Baseball finally steps into the 1990s

So Major League Baseball has finally decided to allow instant replay to help decide home run and fair/foul calls. And I say, it's about time. I've covered a lot of this ground before, but to recap briefly, there's been a lot of talk about replay "removing the human element." That's absolute rubbish. I can accept the fact that players make mistakes; heck, that's an essential part of the game. But errors by the umpires can mean that a particular game wasn't decided by the players.

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian explains how replay will work, and colleague Rob Neyer put together a very interesting list of big games that might have gone differently had the umpires had access to replay. It includes Game 1 of the 1948 World Series, which our Indians lost 1-0 to the Braves. That one run was scored by Phil Masi off Bob Feller, after Feller may or may not have picked Masi off second base. The second-base umpire said Masi was safe, but Feller insists to this day he was out. That being 60 years ago, there's no replay that definitively solves the mystery one way or the other, so that call was made using all the tools available to the umpires at the time, which one has to accept. And anyway, the Indians would go on to win that World Series in six games, so all's well that ends well, though the great Bob Feller never did win a postseason game. It should be noted, obviously, that the newly implemented replay system would not have corrected that call, since it was not a home run or a fair/foul call, but just as replay has evolved in football, it will evolve in baseball.

John Kruk said a bunch of incredibly stupid things on the subject of replay last night on "Baseball Tonight." I like John Kruk; I find him entertaining, and he seems like a generally nice guy. But I also think he's kind of an idiot. He was railing about how it's wrong to put "a rule change" in place in the middle of the season, because it's not fair to teams who were affected by bad calls earlier in the year. The reasons why this argument is ridiculous are obvious to me, but I will put them forth nonetheless. First of all, there is no rule change here. It's simply giving the umpires a new tool to enforce the rules that are already in place. Second of all, teams that were hurt by bad calls earlier in the year will not be helped by bad calls later in the year, unless those calls should happen to go in their favor. But those teams are just as likely to be hurt again by bad calls, and I really don't see what good that would do.

As it is currently constituted, replay will not pop up very much. MLB has said it would have been used on about a dozen plays up to this point in the season, so that's about once every 10-12 days or so. I look forward to seeing the first bad call an instant replay turns into a good call.

That's 10

Ten games ago, the Indians were in last place, 12 games under .500, at 55-67.

After tonight's 7-5 win over the Tigers, they're in third place at 65-67, and just 10 1/2 games out of first place. Granted, 10 1/2 games back with 30 to play is still pretty insurmountable, but stranger things have happened. But I'm not about to suggest the Indians are suddenly contenders. I'm just happy to enjoy this streak.

For anyone who missed it, Cliff Lee is now 19-2. Jensen Lewis, though he gave up two runs in the ninth tonight, is now a legitimate major league closer. Fausto Carmona appears to be on his way back, even though he struggled at times tonight. Grady Sizemore is the Indians' second 30-30 man, showing that rare combination of speed and power that we haven't seen since Joe Carter. Kelly Shoppach has proven to be a regular-quality major-league catcher, which is a good thing if we want to play Victor Martinez every day next year, whether at first, DH or whatever. Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez are good enough to play every day, too. And if they need a rest, Shin-Soo Choo is a viable option. Jhonny Peralta is quietly having a good year. Asdrubal Cabrera is about as good as they come in the field, and has started to come around at the plate. Even Andy Marte finally got his batting average over .200 tonight.

In many ways, this is a lost season for the Indians, and I know they can't keep playing like this. I predict they go about .500 the rest of the way, maybe a little better. They might finish about 83-79. Hey, I'll take that, after all those injuries.

Put him in a Chinese prison!

The above photo speaks for itself. The man on the left is Cuban taekwondo athlete Angel Matos, and the man on the right is Swedish taekwondo official Chakir Chelbat. Just before this photo was taken, Chelbat had disqualified Matos from the bronze medal match against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov because he Matos had taken more than one minute to nurse an injury. That's not a judgment call on Chelbat's part, those are the rules of Olympic taekwondo. If you're hurt, you get one minute, and if you can't continue, you're done. It's harsh, but nobody gets an Olympic medal if they're injured too badly to compete.

Matos kicked the official in the head for the unpardonable offense of enforcing the rules. He'll get his due process, but he's going to be banned for life from international taekwondo, and rightly so. But that's not enough. Do you know what would happen if you were to kick a police officer in the head? Not only would you spend some time in jail, you'd "accidentally fall down the stairs" first. And you'd have it coming. Kicking a taekwondo official in the head is basically the same thing. I don't mean to imply that taekwondo officials have as dangerous a job, but to assault an authority figure for properly enforcing the rules? That should be punished not only by the taekwondo authorities, but by the Chinese court system. Because dammit, that's assault.

This offense brings to mind Orlando Brown shoving an official after being hit in the eye with a penalty flag. That was also completely unacceptable, and I also think he should have been prosecuted in court. The fact that it happened on the field of play doesn't make it any less egregious. This was not a player shoving another player. It's a little bit more understandable in Brown's case, because that flag actually injured Brown, causing him to miss three seasons.

Getting back to the current case, it's possible that Matos' coach, Leudis Gonzalez, will also be banned for being unapologetic afterwards. He claimed Chelbat was "too strict," and wondered out loud to a reporter whether the Kazakhs had paid him off. I'm a little bit more inclined toward leniency in this case, because I doubt whether Gonzalez, who has probably spent his whole life in Communist Cuba, has any concept of free press. This is probably the first time any reporter's even noticed him before, much less interviewed him. I'd bet he's surprised his remarks have even been reported. He must apologize, but if he does, I say let him off with a six-month suspension or something like that.

18-2!

Before I get into Cliff Lee, let me start by offering condolences to the families of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and NFL players union Executive Director Gene Upshaw. They both did and said things I disagreed with, but they worked hard to get where they were, and they both died too young.

Ladies and gentlemen, Cliff Lee is going to win the Cy Young award this year. Lee won his 18th game today, in a 10-3 laugher over the Royals. He's now 18-2 with a 2.43 ERA. His nearest competitors are miles behind him. According to Bill James' Cy Young Predictor, he has only a slim lead over Francisco Rodriguez, but I think the formula has changed somewhat for relievers because the Cy voters have come to value them less (as they should). Rodriguez might break the saves record, but Lee could win 23 or 24 games. The voters aren't going to pass over that for a reliever, no matter what the reliever did.

The other star of the game was Mr. Sizemore, who hit his 29th home run, stole his 31st base, and knocked in seven runs from the leadoff spot. That's not easy to do. And with about 5 1/2 weeks left in the season, he's got a legitimate shot at 40-40. I'm betting he falls short in home runs, but we'll see.

Getting back to the Cy Young race, loyal reader Jeff Brown points out that last year's AL Cy winner, CC Sabathia, has been beyond amazing with the Brewers so far in the second half, and asked whether I think CC has a shot to follow up his AL Cy with an NL Cy the following season.

It brings to mind Rick Sutcliffe winning the Cy Young in 1984. The Indians, as you recall, traded Sutcliffe to the Cubs in the middle of that season, along with George Frazier and Ron Hassey, for Don Schulze, Mel Hall and Joe Carter. Hall was seen as the linchpin of the deal, but of course, Carter would go on to have the greater career. He won the RBI title in 1986, as you also recall. But I digress.

Sutcliffe was traded on June 13, 1984, at which point he was 4-5, 5.15 ERA, 58 Ks in the American League; and after which he went 16-1, 2.69, 155, in the senior circuit, for an overall total of 20-6, 3.64, 213. CC was traded almost a month later in the season, on July 7, after amassing a record of 6-8, 3.83, 123, with the Tribe; and since which he's gone 8-0, 1.60, 69, with the Crew, for a total of 14-8, 2.99, 192. Sabathia's six wins behind Ricky-boy, and has more losses, but by any other measure, CC is having a better season than Sutcliffe did the year Sutcliffe won the Cy. There's still about six weeks left in the season, so he'll undoubtedly pass him in strikeouts -- and he could reach 20 wins, though it's not likely.

But we must not forget that the Cy Young is a league award, and as such, must be based solely on what the pitcher accomplished in that league. And while CC has been unbelievable, he's likely to regress somewhat, and I predict he'll finish with a record of about 12-2 with an ERA around 2.00, and about 100 to 110 strikeouts. Those are great numbers, but can you give a guy a Cy for winning a dozen games and striking out about 100? In theory, yes, but only if there aren't strong candidates who spent the whole season in that league.

Brandon Webb's numbers right now are 18-4, 2.85, 145. He's the obvious front-runner for the award, and would almost have to fall on his face to lose it. And even if he did, Tim Lincecum, Edinson Volquez, Ryan Dempster and Danny Haren are also having Cy-caliber seasons in the NL.

Would I like to see Carsten Charles Sabathia win the NL Cy Young this year? You bet I would. But it won't happen. Maybe next year, when he's back in Cleveland. (A man can dream, can't he?)

Wow, did that suck!

The Browns' starters got absolutely demolished by the Super Bowl champion Giants last night. It was pathetic. I was in bed by 10, so I didn't see our third-stringers nearly pull it out against the Giants' third-stringers, but I did see the debacle that was the first quarter. Eli Manning only threw seven passes, but two of them went for touchdowns. Derek Anderson threw 10 passes, completing just four for just 20 yards, or an average of two yards per pass. Jamal Lewis did better than that -- six rushes for 13 yards, or 2.2 yards per attempt. But consider that he got 12 yards on his first two rushes, and that's an average of 0.25 yards per run in his last four.

And the mistakes! One after another. Penalties, blown coverages, missed blocks, a punt returned for a touchdown, and so on. On one series late in the first quarter, the Browns started at their own 8. The series of plays:

* Anderson passes to Charles Ali for six yards, but it's called back on an offensive pass interference penalty on Kellen Winslow Jr. First and 14 at the 4.
* Lewis runs over left tackle, but never gets close to the line, losing two yards. Second and 16 at the 2.
* Anderson's pass attempt to Travis Wilson is incomplete. Third and 16 at the 2.
* Anderson's pass attempt to Steve Heiden is incomplete. Fourth and 16 at the 2.
* In punt formation, Kris Griffin is called for a false start. Fourth and 17 at the 1.
* Dave Zastudil, who cannot drop back the usual 15 yards to punt because the back of the end zone is only 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage, gets his punt blocked because his own blocker is pushed back into the ball's path. The ball bounces out of bounds in the end zone. Safety, New York leads, 16-3.
* Zastudil's free kick is fielded at the 18 by the Giants' Dominik Hixon, who returns it 82 yards for a touchdown. Following the extra point, New York leads, 23-3.

About the only good thing that happened for the Browns in that quarter was Phil Dawson's 56-yard field goal, made necessary by the offense's collective anemia. And just three plays after the above-described sequence, after Syndric Steptoe's kickoff return to the 9 and a seven-yard pass from Anderson to Ali put the Browns at the 2, James Butler returned Anderson's fumble 98 yards for a touchdown, and the Giants were up 30-3. Pathetic.

But it was just a preseason game, so let's not all burn our Browns gear. They're a much better team than this.

Also ...

The Cavaliers pulled off a beauty today, sending Joe Smith and Damon Jones to Milwaukee for Mo Williams. Smith moves on to Sea ... er, Oklahoma City. And LeBron finally gets a point guard.

No disrespect to Delonte West, who played pretty well in the postseason last year despite not being a pure point guard. But Mo had 17 points and six assists a game in '07-08. This is going to be good.

Bye, Byrdie

One of my favorite Indians got traded yesterday, basically for nothing. And I'm glad.

Paul Byrd is the only modern major leaguer who still throws his hands back before his windup, which sort of makes him the Mark Moseley of pitching. And he's a nice guy who cracks a lot of jokes. I think I'd enjoy having a beer with him. But his contract was up at the end of the year, and as Mark Shapiro said, trading him provides the Indians with some "payroll relief" -- $2 million worth. If you can avoid paying $2 million for a pitcher who's not signed for next year when your team is out of playoff contention, why shouldn't you do it?

I know it seems like they could have gotten a decent prospect for Byrd, but I'm pretty sure if there had been a better deal out there, Shapiro would have taken it. And it does suck that he went to the Red Sox. He was the last pitcher to beat the Red Sox in 2007, but we all know what happened after that. I've come to think of the Red Sox as the "other Yankees," just because it seems inevitable every year that at least one of those teams will make the playoffs. And the Red Sox are probably going to do it again this year, as they're in the lead for the AL Wild Card, and they're better than the White Sox or Twins. (Thank the stars, the Yankees probably won't get in, though I'll feel a lot better when they're actually eliminated.)

But in addition to the $2 million, this will also give some of the younger guys a chance to pitch to major leaguers this year, and that has value too. Keeping Byrd might have meant the Indians would finish 76-86 this year instead of 74-88, but letting him go might mean they'll go 91-71 instead of 89-73 next year. Yes, I plucked those numbers out of the air, but that's a reasonable guess. There's a lot of talent in this Cleveland Indians organization.

And remember, they won the World Series just 60 years ago.

Rolling along

In case you haven't noticed -- and judging by the attendance, you haven't -- the Indians have managed to win a few ballgames, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.

Yes, that's Bob Uecker as Harry Doyle in "Major League," but it applies to the present situation as well. No, these Indians aren't going to climb over the whole division and win a one-game playoff against the Yankees, who aren't even in their division anymore, but they're riding a four-game winning streak right now, after last night's offensive explosion. They're not contenders, but there's a lot to like about this team.

Fausto was going along reasonably well last night against the Orioles, until Edward Mujica came in and threw gas on the fire. Mujica relieved Carmona with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, and the Tribe up 7-4, and immediately gave up a three-run triple to tie it, then the run scored on a ground ball to give Baltimore the 8-7 lead. But these Indians weren't about to let that stand, putting up three in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth to win it 13-8. It's not every day you give up eight runs and still win.

Mujica, who gave up just the one run in two-thirds of an inning but allowed all three inherited runners to score, was awarded the win, and I think that's a mistake by the official scorer. Taken from the official rule book (found here on baseball-almanac.com):

(4) The winning relief pitcher shall be the one who is the pitcher of record when his team assumes the lead and maintains it to the finish of the game.

EXCEPTION: Do not credit a victory to a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when a succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain the lead. In such cases, credit the succeeding relief pitcher with the victory.

I don't know how anyone could claim that Mujica was not ineffective in a brief appearance. Brandon Donnelly, making his Indians debut, pitched a scoreless eighth to maintain the lead, and should have been given the win.

But ultimately, that's not very important. The important thing is, the Indians got 13 runs across on 13 hits, three of which left the yard. Asdrubal Cabrera hit his fourth of the year, and has hit much better since his remedial assignment in Buffalo. His season average of .211 is nothing to rave about, but keep in mind, he was hitting just .186 when he got sent down in early June. Ben Francisco's 12th of the year and Andy Gonzalez's first as an Indian (third of his career) both wrapped around the left-field foul pole in the eighth. Francisco, at .277/12/44, is having a pretty good year in just 318 at-bats, and he'll be 27 next year, which is the age at which most hitters peak. I look forward to seeing what he'll do.

And I missed mentioning this yesterday, but Cliff Lee is now 16-2 with a 2.45 ERA. SIXTEEN AND TWO. And the bullpen has blown three games in which Lee left with the lead. He could have had 19 wins in mid-August. He's probably got about nine starts left, and would appear to have a strong chance at winning 20.

Oh, yeah! The Olympics!

I just finished watching the opening ceremony from the Olympics in Beijing on my DVR, and they sure spent a lot of money on it. It reportedly cost $300 million just to put on the opening, and in a country where hundreds of millions live in poverty, that seems pretty ridiculous. It was garish, it was opulent, it was exorbitant, it was almost dehumanizing to the thousands and thousands of Chinese people who performed -- and it was spectacular. I absolutely loved what they did with the torch-lighting at the end, after 4 1/2 hours of pomp. If you didn't see it, my words won't do it justice. I may watch the whole thing a few more times. Heck, with all the money they spent on it, it almost seems like I owe them that.
I love the Parade of Nations. I think it's my favorite part of the Olympics, watching all these athletes who've come from all over the world to represent their nations, soaking up the roar of the crowd. And I love reading all the cool names of the men and women who are carrying their nation's flag. Here are my favorites, for your amusement (and I'm not making fun; I'm sure they're lovely people, and they've all worked hard for this honor):

Fatmata Fofanah (Guinea)
Soloniaina Razanadrakoto (Madagascar)
Guwanc Nurmuhammedow (Turkmenistan)
Daba Modibo Kaita (Mali)
Priscila Tommy (Vanuatu)
Souleyman Chebal Moctar (Mauritania)
Bradely Ally (Barbados)
Bose Kaffo (Nigeria)
Daniela Del Din (San Marino)
Marcel Tshopp (Liechtenstein)
Abubaker Kaki (Sudan)
Jangy Addy (Liberia)
Fiderd Vis (Aruba)
McWilliams Arroyo (Puerto Rico)
Lopez Lomong (United States; more on him later)
Hem Bunting (Cambodia)
Ahamada Feta (Comoros)
Manus Boonjumnong (Thailand)
Miruts Yefter (Ethiopia)
Tsotang Maine (Lesotho)
Jeroen Delmee (The Netherlands)
Ele Opeloge (Samoa)
Dilshod Nazarov (Tajikistan)
Phone Myint Tayzar (Myanmar)
Hastings Bwalya (Zambia)

A lot of countries gave the honor of carrying the flag to the most famous athlete representing them, which is why there were four NBA players waving flags (Dirk Nowitzki for Germany, Andrei Kirilenko for Russia, Manu Ginobili for Argentina, and of course, Yao Ming for the host country). Sarunas Jasikevicius, a former NBA-er who now plays in Greece, carried Lithuania's flag, presumably because the Cavaliers succeeded in barring his good friend Zydrunas Ilgauskas from playing in the Olympics. (I think that stinks, but that's another matter for another time.) And the world's greatest tennis player, Roger Federer, carried Switzerland's colors into the stadium.

But I like what the U.S. did. There are literally dozens of famous athletes performing in Beijing, from LeBron and the rest of the "Redeem Team" to Lindsey Davenport to Michael Phelps, and so on. But none of those people got the honor of carrying the Stars and Stripes. Instead, it went to Lopez Lomong, a 1,500-meter runner who emigrated here in 2001, at age 16, as one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan." His story is particularly gripping -- he was abducted from a Catholic Mass at age 6, and his parents were so sure he'd been killed that they held a funeral for him in absentia. He almost did die in captivity, but he and three others escaped to Kenya, where he spent the next decade in a refugee camp before Catholic Charities paid his way to the U.S. He assumed his family had been killed, but they had moved to Nairobi, and he was reunited with them in 2003. Lopez was an excellent choice to carry the flag, and he's already done our nation proud, whether he medals or not.

Some thoughts from last night's Browns game

Apparently, Channel 3 never told Time Warner Cable it had the Browns last night, so the channel lineup didn't say the Browns were on. So I had to set my DVR to record "Entertainment Tonight," "Last Comic Standing," "America's Got Talent," Channel 3 News, and "The Tonight Show." And I don't know when "Last Comic Standing" is being replayed, which stinks, because I've been following it. I'm rooting for the bald British guy who plays the cello.

What a catch by Braylon Edwards in the first quarter! He was clearly expecting the ball to be in front of him, but when he turned around, he saw that Derek Alexander had put it behind him. And it was way too far behind him for him to catch it, but he caught it anyway, with one hand. He's a special talent. I almost forgive him for going to Michigan.

That one-hour lightning delay gave everybody a chance to FINALLY talk about Brett Favre. Yes, that was sarcasm. Don't get me wrong, I understand that a future Hall of Famer changing teams at this stage of his career is a huge story, but that doesn't mean I can't be sick of it. It will be strange seeing Favre in that color. Sure, it's still green, but it's a lighter shade.

I think Josh Cribbs is my favorite Brown. In fact, he's one of my favorite Browns of all time. He came out of Kent State as an undrafted quarterback, and has made a career as a gung-ho special teamer, and he's now seeing some action as a wide receiver. He's the kind of guy who'll do anything he can to help win football games. How can you not love a guy like that?

Alexander looked pretty good in limited action. The one TD pass he threw was a better play by Edwards than it was by Alexander, but in his defense, he put it where if his guy didn't get it, nobody would get it, and that's worth plenty.

Brady Quinn was just OK. He made a bad throw on the interception. Syndric Steptoe was open, but Quinn threw it too hard and put it where Steptoe couldn't reel it in.

It's a bit unsettling to watch a bomb thrown against your defense, even in the preseason. But it was a nice moment for David Clowney of the Jets. And right after catching the touchdown, he made the tackle on the kick return. I really like that.

The Jets technically won the game, but the Browns' starters outplayed the Jets' starters. Then again, it's worth mentioning that the guy who's going to start at QB for the Jets watched from the sidelines because he'd only been traded there the previous day.

And another thing ...

I'm sick and tired of Brett Favre leading off SportsCenter every day. I watch SportsCenter to get highlights, not soap opera updates.

Come on already, Jim Brown

Let me start off by saying I've never been a big fan of Jim Brown. Sure, he's the greatest Brown of all time, arguably the greatest running back of all time, and quite probably the greatest athlete Cleveland has ever seen. I love watching footage of him slashing his way through defenses, running between, past and through very large men as if they were little children. I'm glad he played for our team, even though I'm not old enough to remember it.

And I also give him his due for his acting work. He was fantastic in The Dirty Dozen, and I loved his scenes with Isaac Hayes in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Nor do I deny he is doing positive things with gangs in Cleveland and L.A., through the Amer-I-Can program.

All that said, I think the guy's kind of full of it. He sees himself as a role model -- and to be sure, many others do too -- but let's not forget he's been accused of throwing a woman off a balcony, threatening to snap his wife's neck, and raping another woman. In fairness, he was never convicted of any of those crimes, but I have a hard time believing a man accused of three acts of violence against women has never committed a violent act against a woman. If he has done that, I can't imagine why anyone would care about his opinion on anything. And he does have his opinions, and will share them with anybody who will put a microphone in front of his face, all the while wearing that ridiculous hat-thing.

But none of this has anything much to do with the reason for today's post. Today's post has to do with Brown's recent lawsuit against EA Sports for using his likeness in a video game. Taken from the Bloomberg.com story:

The character, part of the "Real Old School Teams and Players'' series, is a muscular, African-American running back wearing the number 32 jersey who is featured in the game's "All Brown's Team,'' Brown said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in New York.

Brown, who wore number 32 for the Cleveland Browns, said in the complaint that he "never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used.''

Professional athletes now typically sign agreements allowing the use of their names and likenesses, according to the complaint. Brown said in the complaint that, when he played football, "The NFL had league wide policy that players shall have no lawyers or agents when negotiating compensation. Video games were not invented yet and no union to obtain rights from existed.''

Professional athletes DO sign agreements that allow their names and faces to be used ON THE FRONT OF THE BOX. I have a very hard time believing EA Sports got signatures from every NFL player to put them in Madden 2008. That would be a pretty steep burden to impose.

Regardless, I'm sure EA Sports is doing irreparable damage to Jim Brown's reputation by allowing video gamers to maneuver a computer image that looks like him up and down a computer-generated field substitute. But maybe he'll feel better if he throws the game off a balcony.

Today in sporting history

The late Rod "Shooter" Beck would have turned 40 today. Beck is 24th on the all-time saves list, saving 286 games for the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Padres between 1991 and 2004, and is tied for the eighth-most in a single season, nailing down 51 saves for San Francisco in 1998. Beck was a three-time All-Star, and won the National League's Rolaids Relief Man award in The Season With No Champion. He remains the Giants' all-time saves leader.

Beck was well-known for his electric stuff, his ridiculous Fu Manchu mustache, his long, flowing locks, and his death by cocaine overdose in 2007, at age 38. He was by all accounts a nice guy and a good teammate, but had struggled with the white powder since at least 2004, when he abruptly left the Padres in midseason to enter a rehabilitation program.

And he was against the designated hitter rule, which earns him my admiration. Growing up in Southern California, he followed the Dodgers, but didn't watch the Angels, due to his opposition to the DH. Lifted from his Baseball Library page:

"If there's an American League game on TV, I'll turn it on mute and play pool," he told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1999. "I didn't like the American League going to the designated hitter. I always wanted to be a pitcher, but I wanted to hit, too."

Rest in peace, Rod Beck. Wherever you are, I hope you're having a happy birthday.