Blake the bomber

One of two things were going to get Tribe fans to stop riding Casey Blake this year.
He needed to get benched, demoted or traded, or needed to have a year that redeemed himself from an atrocious 2005, when he at times looked like a scared, lost minor leaguer playing in the big leagues.
Most of us systematically eliminated the second option, figuring what we saw with Blake in '05 was pretty much was we were going to get: a player who had some pop in his swing, but was incapable of reacting and adjusting to good major league pitching.
It was a matter of talent, we figured, and there was probably a reason why Blake wasn't a major league regular until age 29. Even when he arrived in the majors to stay, in 2003, it was on an Indians team searching frantically for a stopgap at third base after Travis Fryman retired.
Nobody, maybe not even Blake, thought this was going to turn into a long-term relationship.
Not only has it turned into a long-term relationship, it is going to turn into a career if early returns on Blake's 2006 season stay true.
Don't look now, but out of the gate, he's hitting .385. In 2005, "385" would have been the number of Jacobs Field fans booing him after any of his many called third strikes.
He picked up the pace in the Chicago series. But he saved his best for Friday's home opener, in front of the fans that have branded him inept for three years.
Sure, Twins starter Kyle Lohse grooved a fastball. And yes, he is most definitely not Johan Santana. But the point is, Blake seized the day. Bases loaded, two out, Indians clinging to a 4-3 lead, and he took Lohse's fastball and crushed it. Not just a grand slam, a knockout blow when his team needed it most.
The slam turned out to be the difference in an 11-6 win.
We can accuse Blake of being the blind dog that finds a bone. We can call it the law of averages catching up to Blake, dismiss it as Blake closing his eyes, swinging and randomly finding paydirt.
If Blake is hitting .230 a month from now, it will be easy to do. And his detractors will be right.
But what we have to go on now is four games, a grand slam, and what appears to be a rejuvenated Casey Blake, ready to make peace with himself and Cleveland fans.