Still losing

The Indians' 3-1 loss to the Tigers last night was their ninth straight. The Tribe fell to 61-89 on the year, on the day the freaking Yankees clinched a freaking playoff spot. They have fallen past the Royals into last place in the AL Central, and are just a game and a half ahead of the Orioles, owners of the AL's worst record. Things can't get much worse, if only because there are just 12 games left in the season.

The Tribe bats couldn't get anything going against Detroit starter Edwin Jackson, who shut them out for seven innings. They had a couple of chances, though. Matt LaPorta got thrown out trying to score from second base on a Trevor Crowe single in the second inning, and the Indians had runners in scoring position at least two other times, but couldn't bring them home. And they had a shot at a big inning in the eighth against the Tiger bullpen. But Jamey Carroll's bases-loaded walk turned out to be the only run the Indians would score.

The offense wasted another strong effort by Aaron Laffey, whose only mistake in 6 2/3 was a solo home run to Ryan Raburn in the third. Chris Perez gave up two more runs in the top of the eighth. At 24 years old, Laffey has had a pretty good season, and has shown a great deal of potential.

The Indians have to finish at least 2-10 to avoid losing 100 games. The way they're playing right now, that's hardly a sure thing.

Tribe skid continues

I know most of you aren't paying attention to the Tribe at this point. Honestly, even though baseball is my favorite sport and the Indians are my favorite team, I haven't been paying them much attention myself the past week or so. They've been on the West Coast, which means their games during the week started right around my bedtime. And the rest have been while I was at work or doing yard work or whatever. So I haven't watched an Indians game in several days.

And by the look of things, I haven't missed much. The Athletics' 8-4 win yesterday was the Indians' sixth straight loss. The skein drops the Tribe to 61-87, their low-water mark of the season in comparison to .500. Which I suppose is to be expected. They traded away most of their marquee talent, Grady Sizemore is out for the season, and a very large percentage of the current roster has spent time in the minors this year.

In fact, there are just two pitchers currently suiting up for the Indians who haven't spent a single day in the minors this year: Kerry Wood and Justin Masterson. And 2009 is Masterson's first full season in the bigs. And among the position players, it's just Kelly Shoppach, Jhonny Peralta and Shin-Soo Choo. Travis Hafner and Asdrubal Cabrera both had rehab stints in the minors, so they weren't really minor-leaguers. So that's a grand total of seven players the Indians have right now who were never true minor-leaguers this year. No wonder they're struggling.

This team could be better next year, but unless they make some free-agent signings, don't expect them to win more than about 65 to 70 games. And I don't think they'll make much of a splash in that department.

Disappointing weekend

I know it's Tuesday, and the Buckeyes played three days ago, and the Browns played two days ago. I wasn't eager to write about them until now. For that matter, I'm not eager to write about them now either, but I do have a few thoughts I want to get down.

First, on the subject of the Buckeyes: The fighting Tressels should be proud of their effort against one of the nation's very best teams. But they should also be disappointed that they didn't close the deal. And no doubt they are. The defense played tremendously well over the first 3 1/2 quarters, with USC's only touchdown to that point having been set up by a long interception return. Really, the OSU defense's only weak moments were at the ends of both halves. Behind freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, the Trojans put together drives of 61 and 77 yards in the second quarter (the first resulting in a missed field goal; the second in a made field goal), and of course the 86-yard drive that led to the winning score with 65 seconds to go. The Buckeyes had numerous chances to stop that drive, but USC kept pulling out clutch plays. It would have been nice if they could stop a quarterback sneak up the middle when they knew it was coming, but all in all, it was a pretty good effort by the defense.

Terrelle Pryor made some big mistakes in this game. On the Buckeyes' last possession, Pryor looked totally lost trying to operate a 2-minute offense. Of course, he threw an interception on OSU's first possession that led to USC's first touchdown, and often chose to pass when it was clear he should have run. He went 11-for-25 passing, which just won't get it done without a strong running game, which the Buckeyes never did get going.

The loss puts a serious crimp in Ohio State's national title hopes, but doesn't dash them entirely. One-loss teams do get into the national championship. They're now ranked 11th in both polls, and there's still a long, long way to go on the season.

And the Browns ... Well, they looked good in the first half, but they pretty much fell apart in the second. But at least they scored their first offensive touchdown since their 10th game of 2008.

Day of reckoning for Buckeyes?

There's some reason for optimism as the eighth-ranked Buckeyes get ready for their big showdown tonight against USC. For example, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is a better bet to have a big game than Trojans freshman Matt Barkley. OSU is playing at home. And ... well, that's about all I can think of.

After last week's egg-laying against Navy, I'm afraid I don't have high hopes for the Buckeyes tonight. Sure, Ohio State won that game, and that's the most important thing, but it should have been a blowout. A performance like that won't get the job done against a team like the third-ranked Trojans. They'll have to win the turnover battle to have any shot. I'll watch the game, and I'll always have faith in Jim Tressel, until he gives me reason not to. But I predict the Buckeyes' national title hopes will be dashed tonight.

Quarterback follies

I know this isn't exactly breaking news at this point, but I just moved over the weekend, so I've been busy. So sue me. (Actually, please don't. I don't want to pay a lawyer.) But anyway, Eric Mangini has declared that he has chosen a starting quarterback, but he won't tell us who it is. The idea is to make it that much more difficult for the Vikings to prepare for Sunday's game, because they have to allow for either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson to be running the Browns' offense.

The thing we all have to understand is that football coaches are not like the rest of us. They are paranoid men, constantly afraid that the other coach is going to outsmart them. As well they should be; the other coach is doing the same.

I would guess we're going to see Quinn out there on Sunday, but both quarterbacks had good training camps, and really, there is no wrong choice, unless he puts someone like Brett Ratliff or D'Qwell Jackson behind center. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing it.

September means debuts

The rosters expand to 40 every Sept. 1, which leads to teams who are out of the race (like the Indians) giving their young prospects a look against major-league competition.

Last night, that meant Carlos Carrasco making his major-league debut on the mound against the Tigers, and Michael Brantley making his major-league debut in left field. Brantley's debut went pretty well. Carrasco's was ... did I mention Brantley?

Carrasco, the first to debut of the four players the Tribe got for Cliff Lee, went just three innings and gave up six runs on nine hits, including three home runs. He walked three and struck out three. His career record is 0-1, and his career ERA stands at 18.00. That's obviously not going to get it done, but debuts can be that way. He's 22 years old, and he went 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA at Columbus after the trade. This kid's got potential, for sure.

Brantley had two hits. His first hit was a solid single the second of which was an infield single that he hustled to beat out. He was solid but not noteworthy in the field, though it should be said that in any individual game, most of the players don't do anything noteworthy on defense. Brantley's career average stands at .500. His on-base percentage is also .500, and his slugging average is .500 as well.

Andy Marte, who went nearly 60 at-bats before hitting his first home run of the season at the major-league level on Aug. 25, hit his fourth last night. Marte, like Carrasco and Brantley, spent most of the season in Columbus, but got called up after the Ryan Garko trade, and is finally starting to show the hitting talent he was reputed to have when they got him. Since Aug. 20, he's hitting .364 with the four dingers and 13 RBIs in 44 at-bats over 12 games. Obviously, we can't expect him to hit like that over the long term, but this is the first time he's produced anything like this, and it's great to see.

Thome to L.A.

Our old friend Jim Thome has been traded again. The White Sox sent him to the Dodgers to rejoin his former teammate Manny Ramirez. We all remember how devastating those guys were when hitting back-to-back in their 20s. Now they're both in their late 30s, and both can still hit the ball hard, if maybe not quite as often as they used to. It will be bittersweet to see them together again, wearing something other than Tribe unis.

But consider this: Unless Thome is ever hit with steroid allegations, he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He spent 12 years in Cleveland, three years in Philadelphia, and now 3 1/2 in Chicago. I don't know how long he'll be in L.A., but it won't be 12 years. He'll have Chief Wahoo on his Hall plaque.

I know, that doesn't change the fact that he left for more money after the 2002 season because the Phillies offered him more money, after saying he wanted to do whatever he could to stay in Cleveland. But as I said at the time (to friends; I didn't have a blog then), you and I would most likely have done the exact same thing.

Thome is currently 12th on the all-time home run list, with 564. Home run totals in this era don't mean as much as they used to, but if he's been clean his whole career, that's a very impressive total. Among those ahead of him are Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro, all of whom are known to have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Manny is behind Thome on the career list, but his numbers carry that taint as well. The only other recent player ahead of Thome is Ken Griffey Jr. If both those guys are clean (which we don't know and may never), we probably have seriously undervalued their careers because of the era in which they played.

Regardless, I wish Thome well, and will always remember his time in Cleveland fondly. May he have success in Los Angeles.

Tribe pulls one out

I know that many of you have hardly been paying attention to the Indians lately, and I certainly understand why. We all know it's been a lost season for the Indians, Browns camp has started, the Buckeyes are looking good again, the Cavs have made some big moves, etc., etc. But what a game the Tribe played last night in Baltimore!

Andy Marte is the one getting the headlines today, and not without cause. Marte's been a pretty big bust since he came over here in the Caca Crisp* trade, and that home run he hit off O's closer Jim Johnson was clutch. Marte has been hitting much better lately, and that was his second home run in his last three games, which is great to see.

But I'd like to point to the previous hitter, Matt LaPorta. LaPorta, up with two outs, nobody on base and the Indians trailing by a run, won an epic battle with Johnson. He worked the count full, then fouled off pitch after pitch before finally singling up the middle. (I want to tell you how many pitches LaPorta faced, but unfortunately, I've been unable to find that information, and I didn't count them. But it was a lot.) Without that great effort from LaPorta, the game would have ended right there, and Marte would never have come up to hit that home run.

LaPorta and Marte both spent most of the season in Columbus before the recent flurry of trades created opportunities for them. They were both hitting great down there, but had both struggled in previous major-league opportunities. I don't want to make too much out of a small sample size, but it's nice to see those guys swinging the bat well.

* For the record, I have nothing against Coco Crisp. In fact, I like him. I just think it's funny to call him Caca, much as I think it's funny to call a certain former teammate of his Feces Sabathia. This is my blog, and I can be as infantile as I want.

Clifton and Carsten

If it's time to dip into the mailbag, that means it's time to hear from Jeff Brown:

Cliff Lee is 5-0 with the Phillies with a 0.68 ERA!

This is about as dominant as you can be. So much for the Phillies "settling" for Lee instead of getting Roy Halladay -- even Halladay would be hard-pressed to pitch THIS well, even when he's on a hot streak.

Similarly, C.C. Sabathia went 11-2 with the Brew Crew in 2008 with an ERA of 1.65, 7 complete games and 3 shutouts.

And that was after slowing down a bit toward the end of the season, after he won his first 9 starts.

Steve, this is truly remarkable, and for a change, this is not hyperbole on my part.

There's no exaggeration necessary with these numbers.

So now my question for you -- why did each of them have such a lousy record with the Tribe immediately prior to joining their new teams and absolutely dominating everyone in sight?

First, Lee was far from lousy for the Indians this year. He wasn't as good as he's been for the Phils, but he was pretty darned good. In fact, he was pitching his best ball of the season just before he was traded. True, he was only 7-9, but his ERA was 3.14, and he suffered from poor run support in Cleveland this year. Similarly, if I remember correctly, Sabathia was pitching pretty well just before he got traded last year, after a lousy start. Like Lee, he had a losing pre-trade record (6-8) but with a 3.83 ERA; and the latter number had come way down over the past month or so before he was dealt to Milwaukee. So both men would figure to pitch well after the trades too. Of course, neither could have been expected, based solely on their Indians performances, to dominate as they have/did.

I have a trio of theories. One, the American League is simply a stronger league than the National League, as evidenced by the junior circuit's dominance in interleague play (not to mention All-Star Games) the last few years; therefore, anyone who moves from AL to NL can expect his numbers to improve. Two, Sabathia and Lee both left situations in which they were pitching for nothing but their next contract (and I realize that's an oversimplification, but you see what I'm saying) to situations in which they were/are pitching for October, and presumably responded to the added incentive. Third, there will be some random fluctuation in any player's performance, and I think some of that is in play here.

Still, what Lee has done since that trade has been eye-popping. Few pitchers have a run like that at any time in their career. It must be fun to be Cliff Lee right now.

A new team record ... for the Royals

There's something very bittersweet about seeing a record set against your team. On the one hand, you have to appreciate seeing someone do something nobody's ever done before; on the other hand, every success for one team or individual is a failure for the opponent, and when that opponent is your team, that means your team is failing badly.

Such was the case in last night's game between the Indians and Royals. Zack Greinke has been a monster all season — there's no secret about that. But he had never missed as many bats as he did last night. Greinke went eight strong innings and struck out 15 Indians along the way, setting a new Royals team record for strikeouts in one game. (The record he broke, incidentally, was set 21 years ago by Mark Gubicza. Thought you'd like to know.)

Greinke took advantage of the Tribe's reluctance to swing at curveballs early in the count. And he was putting all his pitches exactly where he wanted them, which meant he had no trouble getting ahead in the count. Then he'd punch them out with sliders and his mid-90s fastball. Some of his off-speed pitches were somewhere in the 60s, and that variability in speed makes for a tough evening for the other team's hitters.

Greinke struck out Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo three times each; Jamey Carroll, Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta twice each; and Jhonny Peralta, Luis Valbuena and Andy Marte once each. Asdrubal Cabrera was the only hitter in the Indians lineup to avoid being whiffed at least once; he drove in the Tribe's second run in the eighth, and then promptly got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Marte got a measure of revenge with a home run in the top of the sixth, his first of the season in the bigs. Peralta, for good measure, struck out a second time in the ninth against Robinson Tejeda, giving the Royals staff 16 total for the game.

Greinke is now 12-8 with a 2.43 ERA (tops in the American League) while pitching for a team that's on pace to lose 100 games. The Cy Young discussions tend to favor pitchers who get a lot of wins, and there are six AL pitchers who've won more games than Greinke, but it's not his fault the Royals suck.

Justin Masterson struggled in his fourth start as an Indian, giving up four runs on seven hits, including one home run, and two walks in six innings. He struck out four, which looks laughable next to Greinke's 15. He wasn't awful, but I'd sure hope he'd do better against the worst team in the American League.

And hey, how about that Valbuena?

As soon as the ball came off Luis Valbuena's bat in the bottom of the 11th of last night's game against the Mariners, I knew it was gone. The only question was whether it would stay fair. Of course, it did, giving the Indians a 4-3 walk-off win. It was the first walk-off home run Valbuena had ever hit as a pro, and you could see how excited he was as he tossed aside his helmet between third and home so his jubilant teammates could beat him up once he touched the plate.

Valbuena's long ball was the lead story, but the secondary story was another impressive start from Aaron Laffey. Laffey gave up three runs in the top of the first, and then settled down to put up zeroes the rest of the way. I've said it before, but Laffey is an ace in the making. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find him in the 2010 All-Star Game, and maybe making a run at a Cy Young in a couple of years.

And the bullpen came through too, as Chris Perez, Kerry Wood, Tony Sipp, Joe Smith and Rafael Perez put up four more zeroes to hold the Mariners off long enough for Valbuena to end it. Rafael Perez, in particular, has been pitching much better lately, after getting off to a terrible start this season. He had a couple of bad outings after being recalled from Columbus in early April, but has been rock-solid since then, giving up nothing over his last five outings, and getting the win last night.

Rolling over a bad team

There was a lot to like about the Browns' effort last night against the Detroit Lions, but of course, you have to take it with a grain of salt because the opponent was the first team ever to come off an 0-16 season. Still, it was good to see our guys dominate like that.

Derek Anderson got the start behind center, and did not disappoint. Anderson went 8-for-13 for 130 yards as he led the Browns to a 20-0 first-quarter lead (aided in large part, of course, by Josh Cribbs' 84-yard punt return for a touchdown). He did throw a pick, but was mostly very solid. Brady Quinn got his chance in the second quarter and looked pretty good too, though he only threw five passes, completing three for 29 yards. I'd say the spot is still up for grabs, but Anderson is probably ahead by a nose after this.

And the Browns made a number of big plays. Besides Cribbs' impressive runback, there was the undrafted James Davis' 81-yard TD run at the end of the third quarter, and Eric Wright's interception of first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Stafford telegraphed the pass a bit, but Wright still made a great read on it. And getting back to Davis, I don't know if he's a good bet to make the team, but he sure looked good last night, albeit against the third-string defense for the NFL's worst team.

The Browns take on the Titans this coming Saturday. The quarterback situation is obviously the biggest story line to follow, but I look forward to seeing how everybody does against a real NFL team.

Masterful Masterson?

On the surface, Justin Masterson turned in a pretty darned solid performance last night against an explosive offensive team in the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels. Masterson, acquired in the Victor Martinez trade, went 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one unearned run on three hits. But Masterson only struck out three hitters while walking four. That's way too many walks. Usually, if you do that against a team like LA/A/C, you're going to get burned in the butt. Still, holding the Angels, who had eight .300 hitters in the lineup, to three hits is impressive, so I don't want to be too negative.

The real story last night was the Indians' offense, which has chugged along all season, no matter who is in the lineup. It was looking like a pretty good pitchers' duel until the sixth, when the Tribe hitters blew it wide open. The Indians hit four singles and three doubles in the inning, with a walk for good measure, in the course of batting around and putting a 7 on the board. Even the outs were pretty loud in the inning. Kelly Shoppach's sacrifice fly to deep center was the first out, and Shin-Soo Choo's liner to shortstop was the second and third outs, as Asdrubal Cabrera got doubled off second. Shoppach was the only hitter in the lineup who didn't reach base in the inning. The Tribe wound up putting 11 on the board for the game.

Lifelong Indians fans

Today, we're going to dip into the good ol' mailbag, from our most diligent correspondent, Mr. Jeffrey William Brown of Columbus, Ohio:

If you're feeling anything like I am these days, you are resigned and despondent about being a Cleveland Indians fan.

I mean, we trade away our best players and immediately they rock and roll with their new teams. The latest example: P Carl Pavano, who pitched 7 shutout innings in his first start with the Twinkies.

Also, Cliff Lee. Also, C.C. Sabathia last year, who not only "upped" his game, but pitched the most dominant 2 1/2 months of baseball I've ever seen.

Also, also, also... (and on and on and on).

Where does it end, Steve?

You and I are 38 years old, and let's just say for the sake of argument, we'll live to be around 85 years old.

That leaves us with 47 seasons to hope to see the Indians win the World Series, and realistically we've only got 46, because they already chose to be a last-place team next year.

Really -- and I ask you to be utterly realistic and honest -- do you believe and you and I will live to see a World Series champion in Cleveland?

For the record, Jeff and I were both born in 1971. I'm sure I don't need to remind Of Fair Hooker readers that none of Cleveland's three teams has won a title since the Browns in '64.

Let's keep in mind that these things tend to be cyclical. Two years ago, would you have said the Tampa Bay (not devil) Rays would even get into the playoffs over the next 10 years, much less win an American League pennant? Now look at them. They're not likely to get back in this year, but they're still one of the better teams in the majors, and they are still in contention for a postseason berth.

And look at what are the most pathetic franchises in baseball right now: You've got the Royals, who won a World Series 24 years ago; you've got the Pirates, who won a World Series 30 years ago; and you've got the Nationals, who have been to the playoffs once in their existence (as the Expos in 1981, the year the playoffs were expanded). The Nationals are a bad example, and I hope we can agree the Indians are a better bet than the guys in our nation's capital. The other two of those teams have won titles that I'm old enough to remember. (That '79 World Series is the first one I remember well, and hating Pittsburgh as I did even at age 8, I was rooting hard for Jim Palmer and the Orioles.)

The Dolans are clearly spending less money now than they did in 2007 and 2005, when they gave us a serious contender. The fact that they decided to cut expenditures right now doesn't mean they won't spend again when they think we have a real chance, possibly as soon as 2011 or 2012.

And that's just talking in the short term. Jeff and I will be 60 in 22 years, we'll be 70 in 32 years, and presuming medical science and/or our strong constitutions can keep us alive that long, we'll be 80 in 42 years. I say it's a strong bet the Indians, Cavaliers and Browns ALL win a title in that time. The fact that it hasn't happened in our lifetimes already is a statistical aberration; and all three have had championship-caliber teams that we are old enough to remember well.

So that's my answer. Yes, I believe Jeff and I will both live to see a World Series champion in Cleveland.

Now that the pressure is off ...

The Indians are playing very well right now, using players who have spent large portions of the season in AAA. Since the trade deadline, the Tribe has won six of nine, taking three straight series against Central Division teams, capped off by yesterday's 8-4 win over the White Sox. The stars of that game were David Huff, who opened the season in Columbus; Jamey Carroll, who has been the club's utility infielder all year; and Wyatt Toregas, who would still be in Columbus if not for the Victor Martinez trade.

In an odd way, the Indians' recent run seems to somehow reflect badly on Eric Wedge. I don't know if that makes sense, but think about it: The Tribe got off to a very slow start, as they have almost every year Wedge has been here, and fell out of contention early, even while playing with an $80 million payroll made up of players we were counting on to make us contenders. Now that many of those players are gone and there's no pressure, the players who are left are playing their best ball of the season. Where was this in April and May?

I've heard a lot of people calling for Mark Shapiro's head, and some of the same people are calling for Wedge's. Leaving aside the Shapiro question for now; it's hard to know what a manager's true effect is on a team, but I say somebody else ought to get a shot to get these guys playing well out of the chute next year. As we've said in this spot, it seems like Shapiro's given up on 2010 already, but the reality is, it might not take more than 85 or 86 wins to take this division next year. If these guys can play like this in August 2009, they ought to be able to play like this in April 2010. But I don't think it'll happen with Wedge in the dugout.

Mangini speaks on SportsCenter

Chris Mortensen's tour of NFL training camps for ESPN's SportsCenter took him to the Browns' camp yesterday, and naturally he spoke to Eric Mangini about the quarterback controversy. Mangini basically said he's going to give both Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn every chance to impress him, and that he won't make a snap decision. (Mortensen asked him to bring us "up to snuff" on how the competition is going, which I don't think is quite what he meant to say.)

"At some point, one will make a really strong case that they should be the starter, and at that point, we'll name them," Mangini told Mortensen. "The most important thing to me is not to make a quick decision, it's to make the right decision."

There was no mention of the recent release of Shaun Smith, apparently for being lazy and insubordinate. I have to say I like the way Mangini is running his camp, based on what I've seen. Sure, giving both quarterbacks a fair chance to be the starter isn't exactly brain surgery, but a lot of coaches would have just named a starter by now so they wouldn't have to worry about it. And he's making sure his players know who's boss. It comes to mind that a certain former coach with a Shakespearean name wouldn't have done that.

Laffey wins laugher

We all know the Indians are done for this season, and we all know they've gotten rid of a lot of the players who were on the opening-day roster. But darn it, this team is still fun to watch sometimes.

Aaron Laffey went eight innings — the longest outing of his major-league career — and gave up just one unearned run on six hits, striking out five. Laffey first came up in 2007, so it's easy to forget he's only 24. He's got a bright future, provided he stays healthy.

The offense scored eight runs without leaving the park, with an 11-hit attack led by the top third of the order, Grady Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo. Sizemore and Cabrera had three hits each, Choo added two, and each member of the trio had a double.

And Trevor Crowe, hitting ninth, also had two hits, which is nice to see. When Crowe was sent to Columbus on June 24, he was hitting .169. Since being recalled on July 31, he's hitting .381 in five games, bringing his season average up to .221. Crowe is 25, so his peak years are still to come.

The Indians and Twins play their rubber match today at noon, with Fausto Carmona facing Nick Blackburn. I have to work for a living, so I won't get to see it, but I'd sure like to see Fausto turn in a solid outing.

Aftermath

I haven't watched or heard any Tribe games since Shapiro's Fire Sale '09, as I was out of town all weekend. But I did catch some of the Trivisonno show on Friday (hosted on this occasion by Chuck Galeti), just a couple of hours after the Victor Martinez trade was announced. And wow, were there some angry Indians fans. One caller questioned whether Paul Dolan and Mark Shapiro will have the guts to eat out in public in Cleveland. Another was saying how Victor was her favorite player, and now she's going to give away her remaining tickets.

I understand that kind of thinking, but if, as a Cleveland Indians fan, you start picking favorite players and getting upset when they leave, you're going to be disappointed a lot. Does anyone reading this think Grady Sizemore is going to finish his career in Cleveland? No way. He'll be too expensive when his next contract comes up. And we're all rooting for players like Shin-Soo Choo and Fausto Carmona and Jhonny Peralta to become the stars we think they can be. But if they do, they'll also be too expensive to keep.

A lot of people are angry at Dolan and Shapiro for getting rid of probably our two best players in Martinez and Cliff Lee. I admit I hated to see them go too. But the people running the Indians didn't create the Major League Baseball salary structure. It's not their fault the Indians can't make the kind of money that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers can make. And it's not their fault that those teams are allowed to outspend them year after year. I disagreed with trading those guys now instead of next year, but Mark Shapiro is smarter than I am, at least when it comes to running a baseball team. He does it for a living. I could never hope to have all the knowledge he has at his disposal every day. That doesn't mean he's right and I'm wrong, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Don't forget, he did build a team that almost went to the World Series two years ago. If he was smart then, he didn't get stupid in two years, unless he's developed a meth habit that we don't know about.

We did get some fine young talent in those trades, as well as the Garko, Betancourt and DeRosa deals. ESPN.com's Keith Law posted a list on his blog about the 10 best prospects to have changed teams this past week, and four of the 10 are now playing in the Indians farm system. And that doesn't even include Justin Masterson, who's an established major-leaguer. Law has Nick Hagadone ranked second, and believes he might become a fine starter, though it would take time for him to get to that point. He also has good things to say about Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco and Bryan Price.

Right now, it doesn't feel great to be a Cleveland Indians fan. Nobody feels that more keenly than I. But let's give these players a few years to develop. We may someday be glad Mark Shapiro blew up the team in 2009.

As expected

I don't have a whole lot of time to write about the Victor Martinez trade, but I will say that once Mark Shapiro decided to trade Cliff Lee, we knew Victor was going too. It wouldn't have made any sense to keep one and not the other of those guys. Shapiro had obviously given up on 2010, and Martinez isn't signed past then. He's obviously trying to stockpile as many young arms as possible. If a few of them pan out, maybe we'll be glad he did it.

The question becomes, what did we get back for Victor? I don't know much about these guys, but quickly:

• Justin Masterson is a 24-year-old right-hander who's pitched pretty well in limited action in the majors, consisting of 15 starts and 52 relief appearances. He's struck out 135 guys and walked 65, in 160 1/3 innings at the major-league level, with a 3.76 ERA over two years in the majors. Those walks are troubling, but he's obviously a bona fide major-leaguer.

• Nick Hagadone, a 23-year-old left-hander who hasn't pitched higher than single-A (and boy howdy, we've added a few of those guys over the past week). He's struck out 77 hitters in 59 professional innings, which is impressive, but he's a long way from the majors.

• Bryan Price, a 22-year-old right-hander who's got a 4.42 career minor-league ERA, in two seasons, with 140 strikeouts against 41 walks. Looks like he's got good stuff. Heck, looks like all these guys have good stuff.

I like this trade a little better than the Lee trade. Time will tell ...

Oh yeah, the Browns

With the Indians having given up not only on this season, but next season too, and the NBA season still months away, perhaps it's time to turn our attention to the Browns, who open training camp tomorrow. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop watching the Indians, even if I should. And I'm sure I'll have something to say about the Victor Martinez trade that is no doubt going to happen sometime in the next eight hours.)

As we all know, the Browns were terrible last season, except for one shining moment in which they dominated the then-defending Super Bowl champion Giants. Romeo Crennel is gone, and Eric Mangini is now calling the shots. Brady Quinn and former Pro Bowler Derek Anderson are still in a quarterback controversy (I think it'll be Quinn, but it makes sense to let them duke it out in the preseason). Braylon Edwards is hurt, Donte Stallworth is suspended indefinitely after killing a man with his car in the offseason, and Kellen Winslow is gone, so who knows who they'll have to throw to. Brian Robiskie just signed, so all the draft picks are in the fold. The o-line is a little bit up in the air, but we know Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach will be there, and first-round pick Alex Mack figures to compete for the center spot. Jamal Lewis turns 30 next month, but he's coming off the first back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons by a Browns running back in a very, very long time.

The defense has a few new parts (C.J. Mosley, Kenyon Coleman, Abram Elam, Eric Barton), and some guys who hope to recover from an injury-plagued 2008 (Robaire Smith, Shaun Smith), but there really aren't any big changes to last year's squad.

Basically, the Browns seem to be hoping that guys stay healthy, young players develop quickly, and Mangini makes a big difference over Crennel. Could happen, I guess. If they go 8-8, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Addendum

Just in case anyone's wondering and hasn't found the answer on their own, yes, this is the first time in major-league history the same team has traded away the defending Cy Young award winner two years in a row. In fact, it's only the fourth time the reigning Cy has been traded away the next season. They are:

• Frank Viola, traded from the Twins to the Mets in 1989
• David Cone, traded from the Royals to the Blue Jays in spring training 1995, then traded again to the Yankees in midseason that year
• CC Sabathia, traded from the Indians to the Brewers in 2008
• Cliff Lee, traded from the Indians to the Phillies in 2009.

Remarkable.

In another bit of Lee-trade-related news, two players who have failed miserably at the big-league level this year will have another chance as a result of Lee and Francisco vacating the roster. Let's hope Fausto Carmona and Trevor Crowe can do a little bit better this time. They could hardly do much worse.

Trading away the reigning Cy ... again

In 2008, Cliff Lee had the greatest season by an Indians starter in my lifetime. In 2009, he's been somewhere in the neighborhood of nearly as good, which is a convoluted way to say he's having a fine season. The Indians held an option on him for 2010, when it might take 87 or 88 wins to take the Central Division. So I'm a little bit confused by yesterday's trade. I haven't checked, but I doubt any team has ever traded away the previous year's Cy Young award winner two years in a row. It's depressing. (I know it's only sports, and I mean the word "depressing" in a sports kind of way.)

It was surreal to see Lee and Ben Francisco, who is joining him in Philadelphia, sitting in the dugout during yesterday's loss to the Angels because the trade wasn't official yet. Lee and Francisco both knew they were going, but had to sit in their Indians uniforms and wait for the official word. But they both seemed to be handling it well. Why not? They're probably going to be in the playoffs this year. I don't care much about Francisco; he's a useful player, but outfielders like him practically grow on trees. But a left-hander like Lee doesn't come along very often. I know he was gone after 2010 either way, but ...

All right, let's try to stay objective as we look at what we got for him. We did get four of the Phillies' top 10 prospects, though neither of their top two (according to Baseball America). They are:

• Carlos Carrasco, a 22-year-old right-handed starter who went 6-9 with a 5.18 ERA for the Phillies' AAA team in Lehigh Valley. Those numbers aren't great, but he's still considered a top prospect. Rob Neyer on ESPN.com, whose opinion I greatly respect, says he could be the Indians' best starter as soon as next year.

• Jason Knapp, an 18-year-old fireballer who's struck out 149 batters in 116 1/3 innings as a pro, all at the single-A level or below. He's got a 98-mile-an-hour fastball. Tantalizing, but if a 22-year-old pitcher is a risk, an 18-year-old pitcher is a humongous risk, because there's a lot that can go wrong with a young arm.

• Lou Marson, a 23-year-old catcher who, according to some things I've read, could become Victor Martinez's replacement when Mark Shapiro trades Martinez today or tomorrow. The Indians are a catching-rich organization already, with Wyatt Toregas and Carlos Santana waiting in the wings, but Marson is apparently considered a better prospect than those guys. His .433 OBP was tops in all of AA ball last year, but he's not hitting nearly as well this year, and he has no power.

• Jason Donald, a 24-year-old shortstop who has hit well in the lower levels of the minors, but was hitting .236 with one home run in Lehigh Valley at the time of the trade. I've read that he's below-average defensively.

With the exception of Knapp, everybody the Indians got has regressed this season. Marson is the only one who's played at the major-league level, hitting .235 in 17 games with the Phillies this year, after going 2-for-4 with a home run in a single game as a September call-up in '08.

Sure, one or more of these guys might turn out to be great, but I just don't understand why this trade was made now. Seems to me Shapiro should have held onto Lee for another year, then dealt him if we're out of it again next year. I guess he doesn't plan to contend in 2010 either.

Garko goes; Tribe rolls on

It came as a bit of a surprise that the Indians traded Ryan Garko yesterday. No one had been talking about Garko as possible trade bait. But as usual, it's about salary. Garko is making less than half a million this year, but he's going to be much richer next year, as he is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. He's hitting .285/11/39 so far this year, which are decent numbers but nothing special for a part-time first baseman who's no wizard with the glove and can't run.

In return, the Tribe got 21-year-old A-ball pitcher Scott Barnes, who went 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 98 innings for the Giants' California League affiliate in San Jose. Those are fine numbers, and Barnes appears to have a lot of upside. But it needs to be said that a 21-year-old pitchers' arms are fragile things, and I just hope Barnes stays healthy.

After the trade was announced, the Tribe brought up Andy Marte, who's been a colossal flame-out so far in several shots at the majors, but was tearing it up for AAA Columbus this year. Marte was hitting .327 with 18 home runs and just 50 strikeouts in 300 plate appearances for the Clippers. He'll take Garko's spot at first base, and I have some hope that he'll actually succeed this time. If he does, the trade will have some positive value, regardless of what Barnes does. So in summary, it's a bit of a risk, but all trades are, and I'm optimistic about this one.

Whether this is Shapiro's last deal before Friday's trading deadline or not, we'll just have to wait and see. I remain hopeful that we can be contenders next year, which should mean he'd have to be blown away to trade Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez. We'll see.

In unrelated news, the Tribe pulled out their fifth straight win last night, after many Northeast Ohioans (myself included) had already gone to bed. The aforementioned Martinez hit a three-run homer off All-Star closer Brian Fuentes in the top of the ninth to make it 7-6, and a Jhonny Peralta solo shot tied a bow on it, to make it 8-6. It was Peralta's fourth hit of the game, as he and Shin-Soo Choo (also with four hits) led an eye-popping 20-hit attack off the Angels' pitchers.

It was a bad start for Carl Pavano, who's had a lot of those lately, as he gave up back-to-back-to-back homers in the second inning on the way to surrendering six runs in six innings, but Jose Veras and Kerry Wood combined to shut out the Angels over the last three frames, and that was huge.

Yes, we're out of the race, and yes, we're losing key pieces left and right as we rebuild. But this team is fun to watch right now.

Domination!

Just when you thought it was time to forget about the Indians and spend the rest of your summer doing crossword puzzles and waiting for football, they go out to Seattle and slug the bejesus out of a pretty decent team in three straight, outscoring them a combined total of 31-6. Baseball's a funny game, isn't it? The Mariners entered the series at 51-44, thinking they were contenders for the AL West crown. The sweep at the hands of our Tribe knocks them back to 7 1/2 games behind the Angels, and four behind the second-place Rangers. And it probably means the M's will be sellers instead of buyers at the trade deadline. That's what the Indians did to them this past weekend. And the Tribe now finds itself back in fourth place, ahead of the slumping Royals.

Here are some fun little observations about the series that just ended:

• The two runs Cliff Lee gave up in the first inning of yesterday's 12-3 blowout were the only two runs surrendered by an Indians starter in the entire series. Lee held them scoreless over the next six innings to pick up his seventh win of the season. He is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA over his last three starts, the previous two of which were complete games.

• Jeremy Sowers, fresh off a stint in Columbus, went seven shutout innings in Saturday's 10-3 whitewashing, his best start of the season. It's been well-chronicled here and many other places that he's been absolutely crushed his third time through the batting order, but not this time, Biff. The Mariners went 1-for-8 with a walk the first time through the order, 3-for-9 the second time through, and 0-for-8 with a walk the third time through. Sowers even retired leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki in Ichiro's fourth trip to the plate before heading for the showers. (And try saying "Sowers showers" five times fast.)

• Aaron Laffey shut out the M's for seven innings in Friday night's 9-0 laugher, giving up three hits and three walks while striking out seven. It was also Laffey's best outing of the year, though it was only his seventh start in the majors, as he's battled injury and spent time in the bullpen. If Laffey can stay healthy going forward, he figures to have a bright future. He's only 24.

• The three starters' combined ERA for the series was a sparkling 0.88. Contrast that with Mariners starters Ryan Rowland-Smith, Erik Bedard and Jason Vargas, who gave up 12 runs in 14 combined innings, for an ERA of 7.71.

• The bullpen ... Well, the relievers didn't have any tight leads to protect, and did well enough with the huge, gaping leads they were given. They combined to give up four runs in six innings in the series, which works out to a 6.00 ERA. Yeah, the bullpen still sticks out like a sore thumb. But at least it was better than Seattle's bullpen, not that that's saying much after this series. (The Indians scored 17 earned runs in 13 innings against the Mariners' relievers, for a series bullpen ERA of 11.77. I sure am glad the Indians' bullpen was better than that.)

• Indians pitchers kept the Mariners' hitters in the yard the entire series, which you just don't see much these days. On the flip side, the Tribe hit 11 home runs in the three games, capped off by the four they hit yesterday, including Jhonny Peralta's grand slam. The Indians also outhit the Mariners by a combined total of 39-20. They dominated this series by any measure you can come up with.

• The Indians have now won four straight, their longest winning streak since May, and their longest road winning streak of the season. The sophisticated computers at coolstandings.com recently gave them a 0.2% chance, or one in 500, to make the playoffs. They now say it's a 0.7% chance, or about one in 150. Still not great odds, but quite an improvement.

Our boys open a three-game set tonight against the first-place Angels. I'd be very surprised if they can keep this kind of streak going, but maybe they can stay hot and finish this road trip strong.

Trading Betancourt? Sure, why not?

A guy that used to be one of the linchpins of the Indians' bullpen got traded yesterday to Colorado for a 24-year-old pitcher who's currently in single-A. Thus have the fortunes of the Tribe bullpen fallen.

Rafael Betancourt had an amazing year in 2007, the year the Indians got within a win of the World Series. He went 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA as the main setup man for closer Joe Borowski, struck out almost nine hitters for every hitter he walked, and gave up just four home runs all year, in 79 1/3 innings. Then last year, he regressed badly along with the rest of the bullpen, posting a 5.07 ERA in 71 innings, striking out about 2 1/2 hitters for each one he walked, and giving up 11 home runs. He's been somewhere in the middle this year, with a 3.52 ERA. His K/BB numbers are even worse than last year, but he's only given up three taters. I think it can be said he's been one of the Indians' better relievers this year, which is kind of like choosing your favorite flavor of Boone's Farm wine.

Regardless, Betancourt was likely to be gone after this year anyway, and it's not like he'd have made the difference between playoffs or no playoffs this year. The Indians had a $5.4 million option on him for next year, but they weren't going to spend that on a reliever who's not even a great setup man anymore. The surprising thing, to me, is that this was Betancourt's seventh year in the majors, all with the Indians. Did you know he'd been around that long? Time flies when you're getting older, I guess.

In return, the Tribe got a 6'7" pitcher named Connor Graham, an Ohio native who played college ball at my alma mater, Miami University, before being drafted in the fifth round in 2007. Baseball America rated him as the Rockies' 12th-best prospect. He was 7-4 with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts at Modesto of the California League. Pitchers tend to develop later than hitters, but I can't get too excited about a guy who hasn't gotten past A ball yet, at age 24. But hey, his numbers are good, and maybe he'll get to Cleveland in a couple of years and show us something.

Victor, Cliff on the block?

It's no secret to anyone that the Indians aren't going anywhere this year. Just for the heck of it, I checked coolstandings.com this morning, and they predict a final record of 67-95 and give the Tribe a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs. So that's a one-in-500 shot. Ain't gonna happen.*

So the rumor reported last night on ESPN's Baseball Tonight is that Mark Shapiro is shopping Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Both are have club options for 2010. In Lee's case, it's a $9 million option, and in Victor's case, it's a $7 million option. Presuming both are still here and still healthy, there's no doubt the Tribe will pick up those options. The big question is whether Shapiro can sign them past 2010, and the correlary to that question is whether he should.

If Lee is still here in 2010 and has another year like this year (never mind last year), he'll make somewhere around $15 million on the open market. That's not in the Indians' budget for one player. If they did spend that kind of money on him, it would put a serious crimp in their ability to sign other players. I don't see him giving us a hometown discount. So if Shapiro doesn't think we can contend in '10, he should trade him. No, you're not going to get another Cy Young-caliber pitcher for him, but maybe you'll get two or three players with All-Star potential. Of course, if Shapiro hangs on to Lee for another year, and the Indians don't contend next year, he could always trade him then. The return might not be as good, but contending teams are usually willing to pay premium prices for premium talent, even if the player isn't signed past the current year.

Victor's in a different situation. He's a 30-year-old catcher who has begun the transition to first base. It's clear that Kelly Shoppach can't hit enough to be a regular catcher, but the Indians do have some top catching prospects in the high minors (Wyatt Toregas, Carlos Santana). A trade of Martinez will immediately open the door for one of those guys. But regardless, Victor's never going to be able to catch 100 games in a season again. His body will break down. Even if he does stay in Cleveland, he'll probably become a full-time first baseman/designated hitter before long. But Victor is probably more signable for the Indians than Lee is. For one thing, he'll be cheaper, because of the aforementioned, and because he's never accomplished anything as amazing as a Cy Young. For another thing, Victor genuinely seems to want to stay in Cleveland.

My thoughts? I hope Shapiro doesn't trade either one of those guys, and tries to make a serious run at it in 2010. The pieces are pretty much in place; he just needs guys to stay healthy, and he needs to revamp the bullpen. And if things don't go well next year, then trade those guys.

* There are five teams with less chance than the Indians, and the Nationals are the only team at 0.0%. They're expected to finish about 53-109. Now that is a bad team. They also have the distinction of being the only team this year (so far as I know) to send their players out onto the field with the team's name misspelled on the front of their jerseys, as a result of which SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett calls them the "Natinals" every time he talks about them. What a pathetic organization that is. At least we're not them.

Another AL win

Some thoughts I accumulated during the All-Star festivities in St. Louis:

• This was a pretty decent All-Star Game. It looked like it could turn into a slugfest early, but pitching and defense carried the day, as only two runs were scored over the last seven innings. Carl Crawford made the play of the game in the seventh, robbing Brad Hawpe of a home run, and Adam "Not Pac-Man" Jones got the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly after Heath Bell intentionally walked our very own Victor Martinez to pitch to Jones.

• The decision to walk Martinez may seem like a poor one, given that Victor's been ice-cold the last few weeks. But that was more or less irrelevant to the situation, as there was one out and the score was tied with a runner on third. They were just trying to set up the double play.

• The National League still has not won an All-Star Game since 1996. Naturally, you want to know why, and I have some theories. First of all, as Tim McCarver pointed out when President Obama asked him, the AL has the DH, which means more hitters available to pull from when filling out a 33-man All-Star roster. Second, the AL is just plain better than the NL these days, as evidenced by our league's domination in interleague play. Third, and I think most importantly, the NL has two more teams than the AL, which coupled with the requirement that every team must have a representative, means the NL has more mandatory spots to fill on its roster every year. The AL manager has his hands tied a little bit less by being able to select two more "at-large" players. As further evidence that this is a factor, I would point to the fact that the NL dominated All-Star play in the '70s and '80s, when the AL had 14 teams and the NL had 12.

• All that said, I don't think the AL is really this much better. The NL could easily have won this game with a couple of bounces going different ways, and in fact could have won several others over the past 13 years. Each of the last four has been a one-run game. Part of it is just plain luck.

• This is not a political blog, and I don't mean to express a political opinion of the president. But I will say that I'm getting a little bit tired of seeing him on SportsCenter, and I really don't give a rat's petoot which baseball team he roots for or what jacket his wife thinks he looks cute in.

• I always get a kick out of seeing my old friend and Cleveland native Chris Rose on TV. I haven't spoken to him since he became a star, but we were classmates at Miami University, and I always figured he'd do great things with his life. I didn't expect him to be hosting a sports talk show on national cable or being on the field at the All-Star Game, though. Good for you, Chris. (I'm sure he's a regular reader.)

• I always find the home run derby entertaining, and this was a particularly good one, with the battle that emerged between Nelson Cruz and eventual champion Prince Fielder. But it's never as much fun to watch as an actual game. What I'd really like to see is an inside-the-park home run derby. I'd like to see Prince Fielder win that!

Pavano good, Wood bad

Carl Pavano got off to a rough start last night against the Tigers, but he turned it around with the help of three double plays turned by his defense, one of which was a rare 2-4-5-2 strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out job, and gave up two runs in his eight innings of work. Pavano threw 101 pitches, and he struck out seven and didn't walk anybody, while keeping the ball in the yard, and that's a recipe for success. Pavano left with a 5-2 lead, which should be enough for a major-league closer to handle.

But Kerry Wood came in and walked the leadoff man, Placido Polanco, then gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera to make it a one-run game. He got the next three guys on two fly balls and one ground ball, but man, you hate for your closer to come in and walk the leadoff man with the heart of the order coming up. Wood did record his 12th save of the season, but he threw just seven strikes in 14 pitches, and his ERA now stands at 5.28, which is just plain too high for a closer.

But I don't want to be too negative. Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-for-5 to get his average back up over .300, and fellow former DL denizens Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner each had two hits. Hafner is actually having a pretty decent season (while he's playing, that is), with a .288 average and nine home runs in just 132 at-bats. He's got a .946 OPS, which would be good enough for seventh in the American League if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. If he can stay healthy, maybe he can put together an All-Star-caliber season next year, when he'll turn 32.

Tomo Ohka starts today against Justin Verlander in the last game of the first half. It's been a very, very disappointing first half, obviously, but maybe we can end it on a positive note.

Recession to benefit Cavs?

Well, it seems the current recession may have affected the Cavaliers in a positive way, as it would appear to make it more likely that they will be able to sign LeBron James next offseason. The NBA just sent out a memo to teams, warning them that the salary cap will likely drop to somewhere in the range of $50 to $54 million for the 2010-11 season, down from last season's $58.7 million cap and the upcoming season's $57.7 million cap.

That means that a team like the Knicks, who were clearing cap space to take a run at LeBron next year, will not have nearly the money available to sign free agents that they'd been expecting to have. This story on ESPN.com says teams were counting on a roughly $63 million cap to work with next offseason, so it looks like they'll have at least $10 million less to spend than they expected. And because the NBA has a "soft" cap, that means the Cavs can go over the limit to sign LeBron, and no other team in the league can do that. The Knicks' plans to take a run at LeBron apparently included signing at least one other big-name free agent, and they're not going to have the money to do anything of the kind.

So I guess the economic downturn may create some intangible benefit to those who care about the Cleveland Cavaliers. I still hope the economy turns around, but we'll take what we can get.

Sowers sours again

There's not much to say about Jeremy Sowers' outing last night against the White Sox that I haven't said already about his last few starts, but it's truly amazing how it seems like he flips a switch when the batting order comes up the third time. Sowers sailed right through the first five innings, his only blemish a solo home run by Paul Konerko in the second inning. Then, in the sixth, Scott Podsednik came up for the third time, and Sowers fell apart. Again. He got Podsednik on a ground ball, and that was the last hitter he retired.

Of course, the bullpen fell apart too, as it has so many times. Chris Perez came in and immediately gave up a grand slam to Konerko (the second of his three homers in the game), and Winston Abreu, making his Indians debut, gave up a walk, a single, and two two-run homers while only retiring one hitter. Tomo Ohka came in and retired all five hitters he faced.

The Tribe offense showed signs of life, and it was good to see Grady Sizemore hit two four-baggers. But with pitching like this, this team is going nowhere.

Aaron Laffey, fresh off the disabled list, starts tonight's game, his first big-league action since May 22. I hope he's feeling good. He's had two rehab starts in the minors, both of which went badly, but got called back up to Cleveland anyway. You can tell me what that says about this rotation as well as I can tell you.

LeBron to opt in?

So it sounds like all this talk about LeBron James signing with the Knicks next year might have been premature. LeBron reportedly told Trevor Ariza, whom the Cavaliers were courting as a free agent, that he plans to stay in Cleveland when his contract expires at the end of the '09-'10 season. Ariza apparently didn't put much stock in what LeBron said, signing with the Rockets instead.

As I've mentioned in this space before, there is going to be a lot, lot, lot of talk between now and this time next year about where LeBron will go, if anywhere, when his deal is up. When you think about it, there is basically no news here at all. LeBron told someone he'd sign with the Cavaliers. That's not the same as actually signing with the Cavaliers. Of course, if he does wind up signing elsewhere, he's now a liar. I won't draw a Carlos Boozer analogy, because they're not the same person, but there are nonetheless lessons to be drawn from Boozer's exit from Cleveland.

For what it's worth, I believe LeBron meant what he told Ariza, and currently plans to stay in Cleveland. But none of it means a cotton-pickin' thing until he signs a new contract.

Hey, at least we're better than the Nationals

Following this week's three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox, the Indians are now on a five-game losing streak, and at 31-49, have the worst record in the American League. They are 13 games behind first-place Detroit, and 3 1/2 games behind fourth-place Kansas City. Many of had hopes as the season dawned that the Tribe would contend for the Central Division crown this year; it's pretty obvious that isn't going to happen. The Indians have been a bit unlucky — they do have a better run differential than the Royals and Orioles — but let's face it, this is not a good team.

With Jeremy Sowers on the mound, last night's game went about as might have been expected. As we've discussed previously, Sowers has lights-out the first two times through the order this year, then run into serious trouble when hitters started coming up the third time. And when White Sox leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik got his third look at Sowers with two out in the top of the fifth, Sowers and the Tribe were hanging onto a 1-0 lead. Podsednik reached on an infield single, setting up a first-and-third situation; and Alexei Ramirez followed with an RBI single, then got thrown out trying for second, ending the inning.

The Indians went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, and then came the sixth. The top of the sixth went like this: Fly-ball out, single, single, three-run homer, double, RBI single, double-play groundout. And a tie game was now a 5-1 White Sox lead. The third time through the order, the White Sox went 7-for-9 against Sowers, with two runners getting thrown out on the bases. Obviously, Sowers either needs to figure out why he can't get hitters out the third time through the order, or stop pitching to hitters three times in the same game. Because this just can't be allowed to continue.

Our Tribe opens a three-game set at home on Friday night against the 33-44 Oakland A's. Maybe they can take a game or two. But they way they're playing, I'm not holding my breath.

Brazilian reasons to love soccer

Yes, I was rooting for the United States, of course, but I just can't pass up a pun. I recognize this as a weakness.

Regardless of who won, that game between the U.S. and Brazil yesterday in the Confederations Cup final was quite a thrill. For those who don't know, the Americans, who had upset Spain to get to the final, were a heavy underdog against the Brazilians, but scored twice in the first half, leading to a 2-0 advantage at the break. It was an ominous sign when Brazil scored just a minute or so into the second half, and they did go on to vanquish the upstarts from the Northern Hemisphere, 3-2. But it sure was fun to see our countrymen hang in there like that in a game that is about our sixth or seventh most popular sport.

Think about this: Generally speaking, if you're a good athlete growing up in the States, not only are you more likely to play the big three team sports (baseball, football or basketball), you might be almost as likely to play golf, tennis or hockey as soccer. Sure, a lot of kids play more than one sport, and soccer's more popular among the generation born in the '80s and '90s than it is with my generation, but there still aren't too many kids playing soccer in this country. In Brazil, which has a population about the same size as the United States', each child is given a soccer ball at birth and kicks it constantly for the rest of his or her life.

I admit I'm not all that familiar with the structure of international soccer, so I didn't realize until after the game that every single soccer-playing nation on earth was eligible to win this tournament. The U.S. came in second. That, right there, is the highest point in the history of American soccer. Savor it, folks.

Attaboy, Jeremy!

It sure was good to see Jeremy Sowers finish the seventh inning and only give up two runs in last night's 9-2 win over the Reds. Sowers is now 2-5, and he lowered his ERA to 5.44. And for once, the bullpen didn't make it interesting, as Jensen Lewis got all three outs in the eighth (albeit after walking two), and Tony Sipp pitched a perfect ninth. Sipp, who turns 26 in a couple of weeks and has been up and down between Cleveland and Columbus this year, now has a 3.38 ERA. With a bullpen as bad as this one, it's kind of a mystery why he hasn't gotten more of a chance. If he keeps pitching like this, he will.

But the story last night was Sowers. I recently saw some numbers about how Sowers has done each time through the other team's batting order, and unfortunately I don't remember where I saw them and can't find them right now, but basically, he's been mowing them down the first time through, getting a little bit more reachable the second time through, and then getting absolutely battered the third time through.

The same thing happened last night. The only difference is, Sowers was almost totally untouchable the first two times through the order; the Reds' only hit until the third time through was by Jonny Gomes, who singled in the second inning. The third time through the order, they were 4-for-9, and the last pitch Sowers threw was the one Reds leadoff hitter Willy Taveras smoked for a double to score Chris Dickerson, who had singled to start the inning.

But hey, Sowers struck out six in his seven innings of work and only walked one, and kept the ball in the yard. Any pitcher who can do that on a regular basis will win a lot of games.

Come on already!

Does anyone remember the 1988 group that the Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes dubbed the Bullpen From Hell? His colleague, Bud Shaw, proposed this week that the current Indians bullpen should replace them with that moniker, and he's quite right. This is a terrible, horrible, awful bullpen.

They did it again last night in Pittsburgh. After Cliff Lee turned in a typical performance for him — seven innings, two runs — Eric Wedge had little choice but to call on one his relievers to pitch the eighth and ninth of what was then a 2-2 game, as Lee had thrown 115 pitches.

The eighth was very dicey, as Joe Smith walked both the LaRoche brothers after striking out Freddy Sanchez, and Rafael Perez followed by walking Brandon Moss to load the bases. He got out of it with a double play, but man oh man, your relievers can't be walking the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a tie game. That's a recipe for disaster. And by the way, the two outs Perez got lowered his ERA to 9.70. The fact that Wedge keeps having to give the ball in late-inning pressure situations to a guy who gives up more than a run an inning speaks volumes about this "relief" crew.

Enter Matt Herges in the ninth. The 39-year-old veteran made his first appearance for the Tribe on May 7, and had a fine May, entering June with a 1.13 ERA. His June? Yeah, not so good. He entered last night's game having given up seven runs in 6 2/3 innings this month, for a 9.45 ERA. The difference is right there in the strikeout column — he struck out 14 in 16 innings in May, and just two of the 20 outs he's gotten in June have come via the K. Regardless, he sure didn't get the job done last night. He didn't record an out, the three hitters he faced all singled, the last of the three bringing home the first of the three, and that was the game.

This is getting pathetic. I don't know what needs to be done, but I will say this: If Eric Wedge is still the manager when the 2010 season opens, I'll be surprised.

SHAQ!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this one's a mind-blower. Two future Hall of Famers on the same team at the same time, right here in Cleveland. LeBron and Shaq. Shaq and LeBron. When this trade was rumored a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure we all thought it was too good to be true. But yet, here it is. Shaquille O'Neal is going to become a Cleveland Cavalier. Wow!

Yes, it's true that he's 37 years old, and is no longer the player he was in Los Angeles, or Orlando, or even Miami. But jeez, the guy still scored 17.8 points and hauled in 8.4 rebounds a game last year for the Suns, shot 60% from the floor and made his 15th All-Star team. Nobody's going to tell me you wouldn't take that kind of production next year. (And yes, I know he won't score like that when he's sharing the offense with LeBron. Still, though, he'll take a lot of that offensive pressure off the King.)

This will most likely mean Zydrunas Ilgauskas will come off the bench next year, and that's a good thing. Z is one of my all-time favorite Cleveland athletes, but his 34-year-old body is starting to break down. With Z and Shaq splitting the minutes at center, that's going to allow both of them to stay fresh down the stretch and into the playoffs, which is huge.

The best part about this deal is the Cavs gave up next to nothing. Ben Wallace is at the end of the line, and will probably retire. Sasha Pavlovic didn't contribute much last season, as the Mo Williams acquisition made him fairly redundant. The 46th pick in the draft doesn't usually amount to much.

Shaquille O'Neal is coming to Cleveland. This is a good day to be a Cavs fan.

The old Feller can still bring it ... sort of

For those who missed it, the greatest Indian of them all is still in game shape, at age 90. Bob Feller pitched to three batters Sunday in Cooperstown, in the old-timers' game that has replaced the annual exhibition game between two major-league teams. He didn't get any of them out, but none of them got more than a single, and all three are significantly younger than Feller. (Paul Molitor is 52, Bobby Grich is 60, and Steve Finley is 44.)

This piece on Sports Illustrated's website about the oldest living Hall of Famer's appearance in Cooperstown is worth the read.

Losing streak is over, but bullpen blues continue

David Huff turned in the best pitching performance of his fledgling major-league career last night, and earned the right to relax through an easy ninth inning, leaving the game with a 5-0 lead. But that isn't what happened.

Winning and losing is the important thing, and I don't want to lose sight of the fact that the Indians won last night. But what Matt Herges and Kerry Wood put us through in that ninth inning sticks in the mind. Let's recap: After Huff's eight-inning masterpiece, in which he shut out the Pirates on four hits, Herges came in and immediately blew the shutout, giving up a leadoff home run to Adam LaRoche. Then he gave up a single to Robinzon Diaz. Then an Andy LaRoche groundout sent Diaz to second. Then pinch-hitter Brandon Moss doubled Diaz in. And that was it for Herges, who left with the score 5-2 and the runner on second his responsibility.

Wood, who's been maddeningly streaky this year and is on a very bad jag, came in and gave up an RBI double to Jack Wilson. Then he struck out pinch-hitter Delwyn Young with some high cheese, in the only at-bat of the inning in which the pitcher looked halfway decent. That made it two outs, with the score 5-3. Next, an Andrew McCutchen single scored Wilson from second. Then Wood walked Nyjer Morgan, who represented the winning run. Then he walked Freddy Sanchez, sending the winning run to second. That brought up Adam LaRoche, who you may recall led off the inning with a homer off Herges. Tell me you watched that ninth inning and didn't picture LaRoche sending a screamer into the outfield and scoring two.

Well, LaRoche did hit it pretty hard, but it landed in the glove of Mark DeRosa in right field, and the Indians are now on a one-game winning streak. But it shouln't have been that difficult.

On a more positive note, it was great to see Grady Sizemore back, and getting two hits, including his second triple of the season, which scored the Tribe's first two runs. He also made some nice catches. So that's a good sign.

For those keeping score at home, the Indians are back in last place, a game-and-a-half out of fourth, and 10 games out of first. If they're going to do it, they've got to make a move in the standings very soon. But I have serious doubts about whether they can do it with these arms in their bullpen.

Indians continue losing

I know what you're probably thinking when you look at that headline. Duh, right? Well, yeah. The Indians have lost a season-high six straight, and several of those games have been particularly painful, including the one my lovely fiancee and I attended Wednesday, on my birthday. (For the record, the Indians haven't won since I was 37.)

The key problem has been the bullpen, as we know, though the starting rotation hasn't been great either. A quick review of the relievers' performance against the starters' in the six-game stretch:

* 6/15, vs. Brewers: Carl Pavano had one of his worst starts of the year, giving up six runs in five innings, but left with an 8-6 lead. The Indians go on to lead 12-7 before a six-run eighth inning at the expense of Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges and current minor-leaguer Rafael Perez gives the Brewers a 14-12 win. The relievers gave up eight runs in four innings.

* 6/16, vs. Brewers: Jeremy Sowers took the loss in this one, but still only gave up three runs in his five innings of work, and left with the score 3-2 in Milwaukee's favor. Jensen Lewis did all right in his first two innings of relief, but went on to give up three runs in the eighth. The Tribe came back to score two in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't make up the deficit in what turned out to be a 7-5 game. The bullpen gave up four runs in four innings.

* 6/17, vs. Brewers: This is the game we went to, and it started late because of rain. Not that that's important, but I'm just sort of thinking out loud, as it were. It's my blog, and I'll think out loud if I want to. Anywhat, starter David Huff struggled through five innings, but still only gave up three runs. It was tied at three going into the seventh, but Joe Smith was in his second inning, and couldn't hold them. Smith, Herges and Vizcaino gave up five runs over the last four innings of regulation. After the Indians sent it to extras with a stirring four-run bottom-of-the-ninth comeback, Kerry Wood pitched a perfect tenth, and current minor-leaguer Greg Aquino was lucky to get out of the 11th with just one run scored. The Indians weren't able to get a run in the bottom of the 11th, and it was a 9-8 loss. The bullpen gave up six runs in seven innings.

* 6/19, at Cubs: The Indians gave starter Cliff Lee a 7-0 lead to work with, but he started to let the Cubs creep back in, giving up a solo homer in the fifth and another one in the sixth. He left with a 7-2 lead after giving up a leadoff single in the eighth, and that runner would score with Smith on the mound. So Lee went seven and gave up three. From there, the bullpen completely imploded. Smith gave up three of his own (two were unearned), and Wood blew his third save in his much-anticipated return to Wrigley Field, forcing another extra-inning game. Vizcaino was the loser after walking Alfonso Soriano, letting him steal second, and then giving up an RBI single to Ryan Theriot. The bullpen gave up five runs (three earned) in 2 2/3 innings.

* 6/20, at Cubs: Starter Tomo Ohka struggled, but battled, through six innings, giving up four runs, but left with a 4-3 deficit. For once, Lewis, Herges, Smith and Perez held them tough while the Indians tied it in the seventh, then scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th in their third consecutive overtime game. But Wood totally imploded in the bottom of the 13th, blowing his fourth save of the season as he gave up the tying run on a single and the winning run on a wild pitch, which is the second-worst way for a pitcher to lose a game (after a bases-loaded walk). The bullpen gave up two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

* 6/21, at Cubs: This one was the starter's fault. Sowers gave up six runs in 4 1/3, and the offense was punchless against rookie Randy Wells. The bullpen gave up zero runs in 3 2/3 innings.

So during the six-game slide, the starters' ERA is 6.96, and the bullpen ERA is 8.44. And that's why the Indians have lost six games in a row.

NFL out-punishes court system on Stallworth case

Well, Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth got 30 days in jail for killing a man with his car while driving drunk. Whether or not you or I would get the same sentence if we did the same thing is an open question, but I won't address that here.

As Browns fans, many of us probably had the initial reaction upon hearing of that sentence along the line of: Well, that's over with. Maybe he can come back and contribute on the field this year. But Roger Goodell had other ideas, suspending Stallworth indefinitely. And good for Goodell. Stallworth is, from what I understand, a basically good guy who made a colossal mistake, but the NFL can't be having its players getting loaded and driving around killing people.

I guess we'll see how long "indefinitely" is, but I hope we can all agree that a man's life means a lot more than football. And maybe Goodell's swift punishment of Stallworth will help prevent more such tragedies in the future.

Pitching pandemonium

There's plenty of blame to go around for the Indians' ugly 14-12 loss to the Brewers yesterday. Carl Pavano was never sharp, and gave up six runs on nine hits, including a Ryan Braun home run, in struggling through five innings. And the bullpen was even worse. Greg Aquino, Luis Vizcaino, Matt Herges and Rafael Perez each gave up two runs — though it should be pointed out that Herges' runs didn't score until Perez was on the mound. Perez gave up the Prince Fielder grand slam that put the Brew Crew ahead 13-12, and gave up two other hits and a walk. He never did record an out.

Perez was once one of the better set-up men in the majors, but he sure doesn't fit that description these days. He's been about as good at pitching as George Armstrong Custer was at battlefield planning. In 17 1/3 innings this year, Perez has given up 23 runs, all earned, for an 11.94 ERA. He's struck out 14, which is pretty good; but also walked 14, which is very, very bad. He spent most of May in Columbus, and I hope he liked that city, because he'll be back soon.

The Tribe offense seems to be humming along pretty well, I'm glad to report. Their 12 runs came with the help of four homers, and I just read that Grady Sizemore will be back in a week to 10 days. If they can just get the bullpen straightened out ...

Aw, let's face it. That's not going to happen this year. Too bad.

Shaq in Cleveland?

You've probably all heard the rumors, and they're apparently true. The Cavaliers are talking to the Suns about a trade that would allegedly send the great Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland in exchange for Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace. Pavlovic was a starter on the team that went to the Finals in '07, but no longer plays much; and Wallace is a former All-Star who is no longer the player he was, and is now contemplating retirement.

So if that part of the rumor is true, the Cavs would be basically getting something for close to nothing. And according to this story at ESPN.com, that's not going to be enough to get Shaq. The report says the Suns are interested in Delonte West, but I'd sure hate to see him go in exchange for a 37-year-old, even if it is Shaquille O'Neal.

On the other hand, Shaq is coming off a fine season, in which he averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds a game for the also-ran Suns. Teamed up with LeBron James and Mo Williams, he wouldn't be a good bet to put up those scoring numbers, but I think it's pretty obvious he's still got most of what he had in his younger days in Orlando and Los Angeles.

The obvious question is, would Shaq have made the difference in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Magic? They beat us with a strong perimeter game, made possible in large part by Dwight Howard's dominance in the paint. I love Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but he wasn't able to do much to slow Howard down. Somebody like O'Neal, who's just three years older than Z, might have been able to do something about that. And wouldn't you love to see LeBron and Shaq together? Z would gladly come off the bench to make room for Shaq, and I wouldn't be surprised to see both of them on the floor at the same time sometimes, as their skill sets are very different.

These talks are reportedly in the very preliminary stages, so it sounds like it'll be a while before anything gets done, if it ever does. But I don't mind telling you I hope it happens.

Domination!

I'm sure anyone interested enough in Cleveland sports to be reading this blog is aware of what Cliff Lee did last night. But just to recap, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and wound up with a three-hit shutout of the Cardinals. My question is, who jinxed him by saying "no-hitter" in the eighth? Because clearly, we fans have that kind of power over the events on the field.

Seriously, the reigning AL Cy Young is having another fine season, even if he doesn't have a big pile of wins to show for it. He's now 4-6 with a 2.88 ERA, good for seventh in the league. He is second in the league in innings pitched — no small matter when you're dealing with this Indians bullpen — and 11th in strikeouts. He's walked just 20 in his 97 innings, and given up just five home runs. So he's doing quite well in the defense-independent pitching stats.

Choo-choo Choo

For the second straight night, Shin-Soo Choo was one of the heroes last night in the Indians' 7-3 win over the Cardinals. Choo went 3-for-4 and knocked in three runs, and didn't need no stinking seagulls to do it this time. He'd been struggling lately, so it's nice to see him break out a little bit. Let's hope he can keep it going.

David Huff, who got the win to improve to 2-2, had his best start as a major-leaguer, in his sixth try. Huff went 7 1/3 innings and left with the score 5-1. Joe Smith gave up back-to-back singles to Albert Poo Holes and former Indian Ryan Ludwick to score two more runs that were charged to Huff, but he and Rafael Perez finished a shaky eighth that ended with a bases-loaded ground ball to short. Huff's ERA dropped to a still-ugly 7.39, but it's definitely moving in the right direction. He got battered in his first two major-league starts, after which his ERA stood at 17.55, and then with each start fell to 10.97, then 9.77, 8.71, and now 7.39. At this rate, he'll be under 1 in no time. (Yeah, I know. I'm just kidding.)

The Tribe offense came right back with two more in the bottom of the eighth, courtesy of a Victor Martinez two-run double, and Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation. Wood has had some rough outings too, as we all know, but last night's performance got his ERA under 5, and he hasn't given up a run in his last 10 outings.

I have to take issue with one of Eric Wedge's tactical moves last night. After Ryan Garko led off the seventh with a double, Wedge pulled him in favor of pinch-runner Trevor Crowe. I understand what Wedge was trying to do there, as it was then a 2-1 game and he wanted to get an insurance run. But the Indians' offense still had nine outs to work with, counting the bottom of the ninth, which they proved not to need. That meant Garko's spot in the order would probably come up again, and Crowe came into the game hitting .185. Seemed to me the Indians were more likely to get another run via Garko's bat than Crowe's legs. Sure enough, Crowe didn't score a run (he got thrown out at the plate), and he did come up to bat in the bottom of the eighth, whereupon he promptly struck out.

But hey, a win's a win. At 28-35, the Tribe is now just a half-game behind the White Sox for third place, and 2 1/2 behind the Twins for second. The first-place Tigers are seven in front of the Indians, but we've got to take things one step at a time. There's still 99 games to go.

Byrd vs. bird

Waiting for Next Year undoubtedly gets many more hits per day than Of Fair Hooker, which makes sense because they have nine regular posters, while I have just me. And they do a fine job. So it probably doesn't make much difference to them to have me sending people over there to view their posts. But I just have to alert my readers to this post, which is a boxing-style "tale of the tape" between Paul Byrd and the bird Shin-Soo Choo's game-winning hit bounced off of the other day. It made me laugh out loud.

On a wing and a prayer

I've often said that if you watch a baseball game from start to finish, there's a good chance you'll see something you've never seen before — even if you've watched thousands of baseball games in your life. The ending to last night's Indians-Royals game was one of those things. I've never seen a seagull deflect a ball off its wing, causing the center fielder to misplay it and allowing the winning run to score. It's a pretty good bet I'll never see it again.

Here's how it happened, for those who missed it. In the bottom of the tenth, with the score tied at 3, Mark DeRosa singled off Kyle Farnsworth, who then walked Victor Martinez to bring up Shin-Soo Choo. Choo sent a solid single to center field, where a flock of seagulls were hanging out. Center fielder Coco Crisp probably wanted to run so far away. ... As the ball approached, the birds started scattering, and Crisp, who's always been a good egg, got in position to field the ball and wing it home. But one of those seagulls was apparently an Indians fan, and let the ball hit it. Coco had a good bird's eye view of the ball as it bounded past him. DeRosa came home to roost, and that was the game, boys and gulls. This sent the Tribe back into fourth place, which is a real feather in their cap.

My fiancée says I'm a punaholic. I don't know what she's talking about.

That was fun while it lasted

Well, the Indians got out of last place for exactly one day. The Royals totally dominated the Tribe last night, as Gil Meche struck out 11 in seven shutout innings and Carl Pavano had his worst start in months on the way to a 9-0 loss at Progressive Field. Pavano gave up all nine runs on 11 hits — including three homers — in 4 2/3 innings.

But on the plus side, the same fan in left field caught two home runs in the same inning. Unfortunately, they were both off Royal bats.

The Tribe will try to salvage the series tonight, with Jeremy Sowers going against early Cy Young front-runner Zack Greinke. Yeah, I don't see it happening.

Out of the cellar

Good old Mark DeRosa. His line-drive grand slam off Jamey Wright in the bottom of the seventh last night left the park in about three seconds, giving the Indians an 8-4 lead over Kansas City that would turn out to be the final score. I'm not much of a lip reader, but it looked like as DeRosa rounded first, he was shouting an expletive that rhymes with "duck," followed by "yeah." And who could blame him. The Indians' win earned them fourth place in the American League Central, as they traded places in the standings with these same Royals.

That was DeRosa's 10th home run of the year, tying him with Victor Martinez for the team lead; and gave him 42 RBIs on the season, tops on the Tribe. Not bad for a guy who can play any position on the diamond but pitcher and catcher — and I wouldn't be surprised if he's considered the emergency catcher in case Martinez and Kelly Shoppach are both hurt in the same game. At age 34, DeRosa is having a fine season, and seems a good bet to top his career high in home runs, which is the 21 he hit last year for the Cubs. So far, getting him for pitchers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Gaub — none of whom have reached the majors yet — looks pretty darned good. Of course, that'll change if one of those guys goes to a couple of All-Star games, but that's not particularly likely.

Last night's win came on a day Cliff Lee didn't pitch particularly well, giving up four runs on 11 hits in six innings. Two of those runs should never have scored, though. On Miguel Olivo's single to right in the top of the sixth, Mark Teahen beat Shin-Soo Choo's throw to third, and then slid off the bag before catching it again with his hand. Replays showed Jamie Carroll was tagging Teahen while he was off the bag. Third-base umpire Mike Reilly was looking right at it, but apparently wasn't looking hard enough. That would have been the third out of the inning, and the two runs that scored after that play would never have happened.

But the Tribe came back with four in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to some very generous defensive play by the Royals. On two separate occasions in that inning, throws pulled defenders off bags — and the Royals looked distinctly like a last-place team. Thanks to last night's result, that's just what they are.

Broadcasters aplenty

Today, I have no particularly original thoughts, so I'm posting a link to someone else's blog. One of the authors of Waiting for Next Year has put together a list of his five favorite Cleveland sports announcers of the last 30 years, along with a paragraph about why he likes each of them. His five are, in order, Joe Tait, Nev Chandler, Tom Hamilton, Michael Reghi and Jack Corrigan.

Naturally, any time someone puts together such a list, there will be disagreements, and I respectfully disagree slightly with this list. No argument against Joe Tait; he's the best there is. I'm old enough to remember when Tait did Indians games with Bruce Drennan, and I thought those guys were fantastic together. But he's mostly made his mark as the radio voice of the Cavaliers, and he is brilliant at that job, working without a partner. It's a rare broadcaster who can both entertain and illuminate by himself, and Joe is that guy.

The late Nev Chandler did a fine job as the radio voice of the Browns, and I'm also a big fan of Tom Hamilton, even though he sometimes goes a little bit too crazy for my taste. I really liked Jack Corrigan too, and he was kind enough to reply to an e-mail I sent him a few years ago in which I lamented the fact that he was the odd man out when Channel 43 stopped carrying Indians games. Why they held onto John Sanders over Corrigan is beyond me. People who say baseball is boring must have been watching John Sanders broadcasts.

So that leaves one guy on the list, and it's Michael Reghi. Let me start by saying I really don't have anything against Reghi, and thought he was treated unfairly when the Cavs sent him packing on the cusp of the 2006-07 season in favor of Fred McLeod, whom I consider his inferior as a play-by-play man. Reghi now hosts the afternoon drive-time show on WNKR, and I've listened to him from time to time. He knows his Cleveland sports, and expresses himself articulately about them. But there's always been something that bugged me about Reghi, that I've never been able to quite put my finger on. He somehow seems a little bit cocky, I guess, even though I've never heard any stories that indicate he really is.

I would have liked to see Herb Score on the list. The guy from WFNY obviously didn't care for Herb, saying he "suffered through so many years of Herb Score." Herb misspoke sometimes, and gave some players' names creative pronunciations that he stuck with, but he was a colorful character who knew his baseball and loved Cleveland.

The other glaring oversight I see is the current radio voice of the Browns, longtime Channel 3 sports anchor Jim Donovan. Donovan is similar to Chandler, in that he calls it like it happens and doesn't sugar-coat anything, and will crack the occasional joke at the Browns' expense, which I really like.

So I guess my list would be six. I think I'm entitled to that.

I hate to say it, but ...

It's time to pull the plug on Fausto Carmona. I don't mean that he should be put to death, of course, but he has no business being in a major-league starting rotation right now. He should either be sent down to Columbus or go to the bullpen, or possibly both at the same time, as I understand they have a bullpen in Columbus as well.

After yesterday's debacle against the Twins (seven runs in two innings), Fausto is now 2-6 with a hideous 7.42 ERA. He has walked 41 hitters and struck out just 36 in 60 2/3 innings this year, and given up nine home runs. In his last three starts, he's gone a total of 7 1/3 innings and given up 19 runs, 16 earned. That's an ERA of 19.64. He's not fooling anybody. It's time to give someone else a chance.

It's hard to believe this is the same man who went 19-8 and finished fourth in the A.L. Cy Young voting just two years ago. Maybe there's something wrong with him that we don't know about, or maybe he just doesn't have his head straight right now. Regardless, he's got to go.

P.S. Just to avoid any confusion, I'm just joking about putting him in the bullpen in Columbus. If he goes there, he should start.

Yeah, so the Cavs ...

Well, they had a fine season. They went 66-16, better than any Cavaliers team has ever done in the regular season. They were the first Cavs team ever to have the NBA's best record. They set themselves up such that if they won all their home games, they would run the table. LeBron James was the Cavs' first MVP of the NBA. Mike Brown was named Coach of the Year. Mo Williams was an All-Star, and deservedly so. Anderson Varejao developed into a legitimate NBA starter. They swept their first two postseason series, winning each game by double digits. Barring a Finals sweep (which is possible), they will be the only team to have swept any playoff series this year. They seemed invincible. I could go on and on.

And we all know what happened. The obviously inferior Orlando Magic squashed us like a bug.

The Cavaliers certainly could have won that series. They were never in that game six, but they had great chances to win games one and four. But if one were to look at it that way, one would have to admit that the Magic could have swept, because it was a minor miracle that the Cavs took game two. There is no question that the Orlandoans had the better team in this series.

Of course, once we have fully digested this loss, the talk will inevitably turn to whether or not LeBron James is in his last days as a Cavalier. And if he does, whether or not he will become a Knick. And unless he signs an extension, you and I will get very tired of hearing about it.

It's the offseason. Go Tribe. ... What? ... They're in what place?

Cavaliers are freaking unstoppable

I almost feel sorry for the Atlanta Hawks. Our Cavaliers have totally dominated the first two games against Atlanta, after making a mockery out of Detroit in the first round, and have now won all of their first six playoff games of the year by double-digits. More than that, the 85 points the Hawks scored last night were the most the '08-09 Cavs have given up in a playoff game, and they only got that many because the second units played almost the whole fourth quarter.

Our boys absolutely toyed with the Hawks for three quarters. LeBron's shot from nearly half-court at the end of the half was a microcosm of the game. The Hawks could do nothing but watch as the home team had its way with them. That shot gave the Cavs a 24-point halftime lead, which got as big as 36 in the third. It was just so very, very easy.

I've predicted that the Cavs would win this series in five games, but I'm starting to think it'll be another sweep. As if the Hawks weren't having enough trouble hanging with us, leading scorer Joe Johnson turned his ankle last night and is questionable at best for Saturday's Game 3. If Johnson can play, it's going to be tougher to win in Atlanta than it was in Detroit, but there's no reason these Cavaliers can't rattle off two more quick ones and wait for Orlando and Boston to finish beating up on each other.

I've long felt that the '95 Indians would probably be the best Cleveland team I'd ever see, even if they didn't manage to win the title. As great as that team was, the '08-09 Cavaliers are better. This is a championship-caliber team. Those Lakers over there in the West are awfully strong too, and if they meet up in the Finals (as seems almost inevitable), that's going to be a barn-burner, but in the East, our Cavaliers are men among boys. Savor it, Cleveland.

Manny being chemically enhanced Manny

Turns out the best hitter I've ever seen in an Indians uniform hasn't been playing by the rules. I'm guessing anyone checking this blog right now has already heard, but Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. Reportedly, the drug he took was not a steroid, which raises two questions: What is it, and why is it banned by MLB? Manny says it was a drug a doctor prescribed, but it's the player's responsibility to know what drugs are banned. Raise your hand if you're surprised Manny spaced on that. (Put your hand down, you liar.)

The bigger question is what this will do to Manny's legacy. Based on his numbers, he's a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer if he retires today, but we all know that players of the last 20 years or so are not judged solely on their numbers. Mark McGwire is not within a sniff of the Hall, and we'll soon see players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens suffer similarly. I predict the latter two will eventually get in, but it will take them a long time if they do. If what Manny took was truly not a steroid, maybe it won't hurt him much, but I'm interested to see how this plays out.