One second was all it took. An errant left turn under a thick October cloud deck on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
In one second, terror gripped those below, sixty-one months to the day after the World Trade Center fell.
Fire and smoke, billowing out of a high-rise. Talk of impact zones and hurried evacuations. The nation's air defense pounced into action. It was all too sickeningly familiar.
Then we exhaled. Once. It was a small plane.
But the next breath, we choked on. It wasn't just any small plane. It was registered to a Yankee.
"God, who was it? Was he on board?" we wondered with that voyeuristic curiosity that only celebrities can provide.
Yes, we learned shortly. It was Cory Lidle. He was dead at 34. Within the next day or two, he would have flown home to his wife and six-year-old son.
Then another sickening tragedy came to mind. This was Thurman Munson all over again.
The 1979 death of Thurman Munson, who crashed near the Akron-Canton airport, was so similar, and so equally unfair.
A baseball player on baseball's most famous team in the world's largest media market, using his passion for the sky as a way to lift himself out of the crucible of being a Yankee in New York City, if only for a time. The vast wealth of Munson and Lidle allowed them to indulge their hobby. Their vast wealth allowed them to fly their planes with little air experience. Their vast wealth might have killed them.
Lidle wasn't a Yankee in the sense that Munson was a Yankee. Munson was the captain of two world championship teams, the rocksteady catcher who handled the masterpieces of Ron Guidry. Lidle was a journeyman pitcher who came to the Yankees from Philadelphia in July. The Yankees were his seventh team.
Losing Munson in a midseason plane crash was a terrifying shock. It ripped out the heart and soul of the team, and they never really recovered until their next World Series title in 1996.
Losing Lidle is more a tragedy to the baseball community at large. You don't spend time with seven different teams without meeting a lot of people.
Reaction poured out over the airwaves Wednesday evening.
It's just sadder than sad," Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson told reporters. "It's horrific. It's almost unbelievable. It's a surreal moment."
Peterson was Lidle's pitching coach during his time with the Athletics.
"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement released to the media Wednesday.
It's just not right. On the same day that Lidle died, Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson was charged in connection with an altercation outside an Indianapolis night club. Jackson reportedly was punched, hit by a car and fired warning shots in the air from a gun he was carrying.
While other athletes spend their free time smoking pot, getting into altercations at night clubs, recklessly riding motorcycles, shooting up steroids and abusing their women, Lidle was spending his free time trying to find peace in the one place where it always is: in the sky, hundreds and thousands of feet above the din of civilization. For that, he paid with his life.
"No matter what's going on in your life, when you get up in that plane, everything's gone," he told Comcast SportsNet in April.
Next April, he won't be in uniform. And there will only be an empty locker in Yankee Stadium that once bore his name.
Out in California, there is now a widow and a child without a father.
All it took was one second and a wrong turn in the October sky.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
MLB playoffs: LCS
Thank you, Mets. Thank you for saving me from an embarrassing 0-for-4 in my division series predictions. Not that 1-3 is much better.
So we're just going to reset ourselves and hope to do better with the league pennants on the line. I have a sneaking suspicion I will.
ALCS
Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics
In 1972, these same two teams met in the ALCS. The A's won, and it started a string of three straight World Series titles. Those A's had Reggie Jackson, these A's have Frank Thomas. But unlike the '72 team, there isn't a Catfish Hunter in the bunch.
The Tigers are fresh off an emotional series win over the overhyped and overrated Yankees (Doesn't it feel good to say that?), a series win that washed away the momentary disappointment of losing the division to the since-dispatched Twins on the last day of the season.
The Tigers are riding high, feeding off a fan base that has waited almost 20 years for this. They feel like they can beat anybody right now, and they have the pitching to back it up.
From a purely nuts-and-bolts angle, the Tigers have a far deeper pitching staff than the A's. That will be the difference in the series. The Tigers and A's will split the first two in in Oakland, but when the series shifts to loud, rowdy Comerica, it will be all Tigers.
A first pennant since 1984 is in the cards for Detroit.
Tigers in five
NLCS
St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets
Maybe the ex-Indian factor played a role in the Padres losing their first-round series with the Cards. But on which side of the fence will the bad Cleveland karma land in this series?
The Cards have Ronnie Belliard, the Mets have Guillermo Mota. Both were purged as part of the veteran fire sale the Tribe conducted this summer.
On paper, this series looks like it shouldn't even be close. The Mets have the skindeep upper hand with deeper pitching and a better offense.
But the Mets don't have Albert Pujols. And they do have Mota in a very important late-inning role, charged with getting the ball to closer Billy Wagner.
My feeling is the Mets will win a squeaker, setting a dramatic World Series moment in which ex-Indian Mota is facing Pudge Rodriguez in the deciding game, and hacks up one of his trademark dead-red fastballs to Pudge. He'll hammer it deep into the Detroit night, handing the Tigers their first championship in 22 years, and proving that yes, Virginia, you can go home to Cleveland again.
Mets in seven
So we're just going to reset ourselves and hope to do better with the league pennants on the line. I have a sneaking suspicion I will.
ALCS
Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics
In 1972, these same two teams met in the ALCS. The A's won, and it started a string of three straight World Series titles. Those A's had Reggie Jackson, these A's have Frank Thomas. But unlike the '72 team, there isn't a Catfish Hunter in the bunch.
The Tigers are fresh off an emotional series win over the overhyped and overrated Yankees (Doesn't it feel good to say that?), a series win that washed away the momentary disappointment of losing the division to the since-dispatched Twins on the last day of the season.
The Tigers are riding high, feeding off a fan base that has waited almost 20 years for this. They feel like they can beat anybody right now, and they have the pitching to back it up.
From a purely nuts-and-bolts angle, the Tigers have a far deeper pitching staff than the A's. That will be the difference in the series. The Tigers and A's will split the first two in in Oakland, but when the series shifts to loud, rowdy Comerica, it will be all Tigers.
A first pennant since 1984 is in the cards for Detroit.
Tigers in five
NLCS
St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets
Maybe the ex-Indian factor played a role in the Padres losing their first-round series with the Cards. But on which side of the fence will the bad Cleveland karma land in this series?
The Cards have Ronnie Belliard, the Mets have Guillermo Mota. Both were purged as part of the veteran fire sale the Tribe conducted this summer.
On paper, this series looks like it shouldn't even be close. The Mets have the skindeep upper hand with deeper pitching and a better offense.
But the Mets don't have Albert Pujols. And they do have Mota in a very important late-inning role, charged with getting the ball to closer Billy Wagner.
My feeling is the Mets will win a squeaker, setting a dramatic World Series moment in which ex-Indian Mota is facing Pudge Rodriguez in the deciding game, and hacks up one of his trademark dead-red fastballs to Pudge. He'll hammer it deep into the Detroit night, handing the Tigers their first championship in 22 years, and proving that yes, Virginia, you can go home to Cleveland again.
Mets in seven
Monday, October 09, 2006
Catching up with Trajan
Saturday's exhibition matchup between the Clippers and Russian club CSKA Moscow gave us the answers to two burning questions:
Is former Cavaliers first-round bust Trajan Langdon still in professional basketball?
Has America's grip on the sport slipped to the point that a Russian club can stomp an NBA playoff team?
Yes and yes.
The Clippers were gracious guests in the Russian capital, playing the willing role of punching bag as Langdon and Euroleague champions CSKA Moscow rolled 94-75.
I think it's painfully obvious: the Clippers did indeed come within a win of the Western Conference finals last spring, but they are still the Clippers, and should not be representing American basketball interests overseas.
Langdon scored 17 points, which is roughly his aggregate point total during three seasons with Cleveland.
The Clips' reaction to getting schooled by a team from a hockey state that Ronald Reagan once referred to as "the evil empire"?
Ooooh, just wait 'til next time. We're going to show those Russkies.
"I'd love to come back and play these guys when we're definitely in shape -- to show them what we can do," Corey Maggette said.
Yep, that's right. Maggette is making excuses. For losing to a team from Russia. Next time, once his team lays off the Pizza Hut and hits the treadmill (which their zillion-dollar paychecks and free summers allow them zero time to do), they'll beat CSKA Moscow. For sure.
I'd love to see him make the same excuse when the Clippers lose to the Bobcats.
"It was the Grey Goose and the hookers from last night. I swear! If we weren't hungover and sexually exhausted, we beat Charlotte easy."
Langdon, who is apparently carving a nice living out for himself after being discarded by the NBA, was unavailable for comment.
Is former Cavaliers first-round bust Trajan Langdon still in professional basketball?
Has America's grip on the sport slipped to the point that a Russian club can stomp an NBA playoff team?
Yes and yes.
The Clippers were gracious guests in the Russian capital, playing the willing role of punching bag as Langdon and Euroleague champions CSKA Moscow rolled 94-75.
I think it's painfully obvious: the Clippers did indeed come within a win of the Western Conference finals last spring, but they are still the Clippers, and should not be representing American basketball interests overseas.
Langdon scored 17 points, which is roughly his aggregate point total during three seasons with Cleveland.
The Clips' reaction to getting schooled by a team from a hockey state that Ronald Reagan once referred to as "the evil empire"?
Ooooh, just wait 'til next time. We're going to show those Russkies.
"I'd love to come back and play these guys when we're definitely in shape -- to show them what we can do," Corey Maggette said.
Yep, that's right. Maggette is making excuses. For losing to a team from Russia. Next time, once his team lays off the Pizza Hut and hits the treadmill (which their zillion-dollar paychecks and free summers allow them zero time to do), they'll beat CSKA Moscow. For sure.
I'd love to see him make the same excuse when the Clippers lose to the Bobcats.
"It was the Grey Goose and the hookers from last night. I swear! If we weren't hungover and sexually exhausted, we beat Charlotte easy."
Langdon, who is apparently carving a nice living out for himself after being discarded by the NBA, was unavailable for comment.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
The Morning After: Carolina
Panthers 20, Browns 12
Record: 1-4
The Panthers are what the Browns want to be when they grow up.
In a game when both offenses looked impotent, both defenses had a chance to pick up the slack. The practiced Panthers defense did just that, giving Jake Delhomme and the offense enough breathing room to scratch out an ugly, eight-point win.
At some point in the future, the Browns would love to hitch Kamerion Wimbley to the wagon and ride him to paydirt the way the Panthers did with Julius Peppers Sunday. Peppers netted just one sack and five tackles, but he was in the backfield all day harassing Charlie Frye, stunting the running game, being a pest.
The Carolina defense was good enough that the 13 points Carolina's offense produced was enough to win the game.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. The Panther defense was good Sunday, true. But it's not like they'd be confused with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland's offense also deserves credit for being, once again, a tangled mess of penalties, botched plays and confusing playcalling.
Any time the Browns managed to grasp a shred of success, a penalty or dud play would suck the life right out of the drive. It would be upsetting if it wasn't so common. Instead, it's just annoying. By season's end, it will probably be accepted as the norm.
Once again, the offensive line struggled to protect Frye and open holes for Reuben Droughns. Frye was sacked twice but flushed from the pocket numerous other times. Peppers' lone sack of Frye caused a fumble and turnover shortly before halftime.
The blame can't all be placed at the feet of the O-line, though. Frye and the receivers also deserve some of the spotlight.
Frye, at times, looks like he should be holding a clipboard instead of playing. Frye is getting the full Tim Couch treatment of learning on the fly behind a porous offensive line that causes him to get the tar beaten out of him weekly. The difference between Couch and Frye is the Frye is far more mobile. That's a double-edged sword. One on hand, Frye can scramble, but he also tends to lead with his head far more than his legs when in the open field. Someday, that might result in him leaving the field on a cart.
Frye doesn't have the most reliable targets in the world in Dennis Northcutt and Braylon Edwards, who were both plagued with the dropsies again this week. When your starting tight end (Kellen Winslow) and your third receiver (Joe Jurevicius) have the best hands in your receiver corps, it doesn't bode well for your long passing game.
Winslow and Jurevicius combined for 11 catches and a total of 83 yards. Deep threats Edwards and Northcutt: four catches and 38 yards, though Northcutt did leave the game near halftime with a rib cage injury.
Stat of the week: in 12 career starts, Frye has thrown zero fourth-quarter touchdown passes and seven fourth-quarter interceptions. He's still young, but that's not a good trend by any means.
Cleveland's defense continued to look like the burgeoning force on the roster. They still allowed too many big running plays, this time to DeShaun Foster, but showed positive, if inconsistent, ability to stop Carolina drives and get into the backfield.
Daven Holly and Brodney Pool were the emergency starters at cornerback. On paper, you'd think Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson would have had a field day. But they were held in check, netting 11 catches and 129 yards between them. Johnson had the lone Carolina TD.
The Panthers were held to six second-half points by the Cleveland defense, which allowed the Browns to at least put the fear of an upset into the heavily-favored Panthers. But every time kick returner Josh Cribbs -- who totaled 162 yards in kickoff and punt returns -- put the Browns' offense in good field position, the drive invariably stalled and the Browns settled for a field goal.
Great for people who have Phil Dawson on their fantasy team. Bad for the Browns.
All second half, up until the final few minutes of the game, it appeared the Browns were one big play from getting back into the game, but the play never came.
When the big play was needed, the Panthers defense, not the Browns offense, came through.
That's the mark of a championship-caliber team. Even on a Sunday ripe for a letdown, playing a last-place team on a soggy field, the Panthers were still able to make the plays to win the game.
For the Browns, it's lesson time. The Panthers just gave them an excellent primer on how to win a game in spite of yourself. That's a lesson the Browns desperately need to learn. Luckily, they have two weeks to study before their next game.
Up next: Denver, Oct. 22, 4 p.m.
Record: 1-4
The Panthers are what the Browns want to be when they grow up.
In a game when both offenses looked impotent, both defenses had a chance to pick up the slack. The practiced Panthers defense did just that, giving Jake Delhomme and the offense enough breathing room to scratch out an ugly, eight-point win.
At some point in the future, the Browns would love to hitch Kamerion Wimbley to the wagon and ride him to paydirt the way the Panthers did with Julius Peppers Sunday. Peppers netted just one sack and five tackles, but he was in the backfield all day harassing Charlie Frye, stunting the running game, being a pest.
The Carolina defense was good enough that the 13 points Carolina's offense produced was enough to win the game.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. The Panther defense was good Sunday, true. But it's not like they'd be confused with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland's offense also deserves credit for being, once again, a tangled mess of penalties, botched plays and confusing playcalling.
Any time the Browns managed to grasp a shred of success, a penalty or dud play would suck the life right out of the drive. It would be upsetting if it wasn't so common. Instead, it's just annoying. By season's end, it will probably be accepted as the norm.
Once again, the offensive line struggled to protect Frye and open holes for Reuben Droughns. Frye was sacked twice but flushed from the pocket numerous other times. Peppers' lone sack of Frye caused a fumble and turnover shortly before halftime.
The blame can't all be placed at the feet of the O-line, though. Frye and the receivers also deserve some of the spotlight.
Frye, at times, looks like he should be holding a clipboard instead of playing. Frye is getting the full Tim Couch treatment of learning on the fly behind a porous offensive line that causes him to get the tar beaten out of him weekly. The difference between Couch and Frye is the Frye is far more mobile. That's a double-edged sword. One on hand, Frye can scramble, but he also tends to lead with his head far more than his legs when in the open field. Someday, that might result in him leaving the field on a cart.
Frye doesn't have the most reliable targets in the world in Dennis Northcutt and Braylon Edwards, who were both plagued with the dropsies again this week. When your starting tight end (Kellen Winslow) and your third receiver (Joe Jurevicius) have the best hands in your receiver corps, it doesn't bode well for your long passing game.
Winslow and Jurevicius combined for 11 catches and a total of 83 yards. Deep threats Edwards and Northcutt: four catches and 38 yards, though Northcutt did leave the game near halftime with a rib cage injury.
Stat of the week: in 12 career starts, Frye has thrown zero fourth-quarter touchdown passes and seven fourth-quarter interceptions. He's still young, but that's not a good trend by any means.
Cleveland's defense continued to look like the burgeoning force on the roster. They still allowed too many big running plays, this time to DeShaun Foster, but showed positive, if inconsistent, ability to stop Carolina drives and get into the backfield.
Daven Holly and Brodney Pool were the emergency starters at cornerback. On paper, you'd think Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson would have had a field day. But they were held in check, netting 11 catches and 129 yards between them. Johnson had the lone Carolina TD.
The Panthers were held to six second-half points by the Cleveland defense, which allowed the Browns to at least put the fear of an upset into the heavily-favored Panthers. But every time kick returner Josh Cribbs -- who totaled 162 yards in kickoff and punt returns -- put the Browns' offense in good field position, the drive invariably stalled and the Browns settled for a field goal.
Great for people who have Phil Dawson on their fantasy team. Bad for the Browns.
All second half, up until the final few minutes of the game, it appeared the Browns were one big play from getting back into the game, but the play never came.
When the big play was needed, the Panthers defense, not the Browns offense, came through.
That's the mark of a championship-caliber team. Even on a Sunday ripe for a letdown, playing a last-place team on a soggy field, the Panthers were still able to make the plays to win the game.
For the Browns, it's lesson time. The Panthers just gave them an excellent primer on how to win a game in spite of yourself. That's a lesson the Browns desperately need to learn. Luckily, they have two weeks to study before their next game.
Up next: Denver, Oct. 22, 4 p.m.
Shapiro unplugged
What Mark Shapiro would tell you if he were totally candid about himself and the state of the Indians:1. The 2006 season disillusioned him about winning in Cleveland, at least temporarily.
Maybe it was the the bitterness of his first real taste of defeat as a GM, but Shapiro appears to be sulking his way into the offseason. The can-do attitude of offseasons past has been replaced with an attitude of "We're going to do what we can, but there's only so much we can do."
His quote in last week's Plain Dealer, "Had we not traded (Bob Wickman), we're looking at [an] 82-, 84- or 85-win season. That would have been a positive outcome for this market." is a dead giveaway that Shapiro is starting to view the Indians as a low-ceiling team.
You'd hate to think the Indians are going to get a half-hearted effort from Shapiro this winter, but all the offseasons of fighting the financial current with little to show for it might be taking their toll.
2. If the Indians are to get to the playoffs, it will be an overachievement.
Shapiro has come to the conclusion that he cannot put a playoff team on the field per se. The best he can do is put an 80-85 win team on the field and hope that the stars align better than they did in 2005.
Every year is a roll of the dice. While the White Sox, Twins and Tigers will be regular playoff (or at the very least pennant race) participants, the Indians will strike far less regularly, forced to patch new holes in the roster every year on a shoestring.
3. He's not chasing after big bats because he's been burned in free agency before.
Any major improvements Shapiro makes to this team will almost certainly come through a trade. Last offseason's free agency futility showed Shapiro that not only are the Indians financially overmatched, they're gaining a tightwad reputation among players and agents.
Usually, a visit to Cleveland serves only as a means for a free agent to up the ante with the team he really wants to sign with. B.J Ryan and Trevor Hoffman did that, playing the Indians to perfection last winter to squeeze huge deals from the Blue Jays and Padres.
Shapiro is probably sick of playing the pawn, so he's not even going to touch the upper -- or middle -- tiers of the free agent market this winter.
4. He's not satisfied with the job Eric Wedge did as manager this year, but ...
... firing him now would make him look like the fall guy for Shapiro's bad moves this past winter. Wedge was Shapiro's hand-picked manager. Both have expiring contracts next fall. They have one shot to make this work next year, or the Dolans reserve the right to perform an organizational reset.
5. If a bigger market team needs a GM in 2008, Shapiro is listening.
It's easy to be the GM of a small-market baseball team if you resign yourself to the fact that winning will be somewhere between extremely difficult and virtually impossible depending on the previous season's gate revenue.
If you don't accept that fact, being the GM of a small market team will inevitably wear you out. It takes so much more work just to keep pace with higher-payroll teams, and there is so much failure involved, that even the best small-market GMs reach their breaking point. After five seasons trying to spin straw into gold, Shapiro might be reaching that point.
Like any small-market GM, he is starting to see how ridiculous the market fight really is in baseball. He's human, he covets what he doesn't have. What GMs like the White Sox's Ken Williams do have: the safety net of a competitive payroll.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Indians final grades
In a follow up to my midterm grades for the team in July, it's time to give the Indians another progress report. "Progress" being a relative term. (Midterm grades in parenthesis.)
The lineup
Casey Blake, OF/1B
.282, 19 HR, 68 RBI
As far as manager Eric Wedge is concerned, Blake is an uber-Indian. He's so versatile, you need to wear versatility shades to watch him play. Once a serviceable third baseman who put his ego on the shelf to become a serviceable right fielder, he again put his ego on the shelf to become a serviceable first baseman.
Wedge and Mark Shapiro agree: he's a great player for this market.
Grade: B (B-plus)
Aaron Boone, 3B
.251, 7 HR, 46 RBI
In the words of Bob Hope, thanks for the memories.
Grade: D (C-minus)
Shin-Soo Choo, OF
.295, 3 HR, 22 RBI
If he's going to hold down a lineup spot, Choo has to do one of two things: hit for enough power to justify placing him in a corner outfield spot, or get on base enough to justify placing him first or second in the order.
My money is on the latter.
Grade: B (acquired after midterms)
Ryan Garko, 1B
.292, 7 HR, 45 RBI
I love what he brought to the table after being promoted in the second half. However, it would be a mistake to simply hand him the first baseman's job in spring training. He's not done earning his place on the team yet.
Grade B-plus (promoted after midterms)
Franklin Gutierrez, OF
.272, 1 HR, 8 RBI
He raised his batting average significantly from his .229 at midterms, but it's a hollow victory since it brought nothing in the way of production.
As of right now, Gutierrez is nary more than a fourth outfielder.
Grade: C-minus (C)
Travis Hafner, DH
.308, 42 HR, 117 RBI
And to think, he did it all in five months before a broken hand cost him September.
If the Indians can't find the cash to lock Pronk up past 2008, or at least force a big market team to pay through the nose to pry him away, the Dolan regime will officially be a joke in my book.
Grade: A (A)
Joe Inglett, 2B
.284, 2 HR, 21 RBI
See Shin-Soo Choo. And my money is on neither.
A respectable bench player, nothing more.
C-plus (Incomplete)
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B/DH
.214, 3 HR, 11 RBI
Right now, "The Kouz" serves the valuable purpose of pushing Andy Marte for the third baseman's job next spring. But as much of a fan favorite as Kouzmanoff is becoming, the only way he doesn't start the season in Buffalo next year is if Marte completely bombs in spring training.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Hector Luna, IF
.276, 2 HR, 17 RBI
If his glove settles back down, he can be a good utility player, but little more. I still find it difficult to believe that both he and Inglett might make the 25-man roster next April. But that might be the case.
Grade: C (acquired after midterms)
Andy Marte, 3B
.226, 5 HR, 23 RBI
He has yet to impress, but he is still the frontrunner to be the team's starting third baseman on opening day.
In my book, he is a future Gold Glove third baseman who will never hit for a high average but should provide 30-homer power every year. Not a heart-of-the-order hitter, but a good option hitting sixth or seventh.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Victor Martinez, C/1B
.316, 16 HR, 93 RBI
Martinez can thank Garko for saving his catcher's job late in the season. It would still be a better scenario if Martinez could take his proficient bat to a less-taxing defensive position, but it appears Martinez is locked in at catcher for the foreseeable future.
Grade B-plus (B-plus)
Jason Michaels, LF
.267, 9 HR, 55 RBI
Got to love his hustle, but I still get the feeling that Michaels is another Casey Blake, a "four-A" player who can only be a respectable major leaguer if he overachieves to the nth degree. Guys like Michaels and Blake are great for rounding out the roster, but you don't want them to be a major ingredient in your foundational concrete.
Grade: C-plus (B-minus)
Jhonny Peralta, SS
.257, 13 HR, 68 RBI
Too often this year, he seemed clueless or disinterested at the plate and in the field. He started to ramp up in the final two weeks of the season, but it's only a small sample of what is going to be needed for him to stay in the team's long-term picture.
As it is, the Indians are going to roll the dice and hope this year was an aberration. If it wasn't, they're in trouble.
Grade: C-minus (C-minus)
Kelly Shoppach, C
.245, 3 HR, 16 RBI
He played like a backup catcher and put up the stats of a backup catcher. The only thing that puts him in the conversation for starting is his arm, far better than that of Martinez.
Grade: C-plus (Incomplete)
Grady Sizemore, CF
.290, 28 HR, 76 RBI
He's so good as a leadoff hitter that part of me wants to keep him there. But with his bat in the third slot, he could easily have passed the 30 HR, 100-RBI mark. If they can find a competent leadoff hitter (Choo, are you listening?), I'd be all for a Sizemore-Hafner tandem batting third and fourth, the back-to-back lefties theory be damned.
Grade: A (A)
The pitching
Rafael Betancourt
3-4, 3.81 ERA
I still haven't seen anything out of him that makes me think he's any more than a solid middle reliever. But the Indians reportedly will continue to try and shoehorn him in as a setup man.
Grade: C (C)
Andrew Brown
No record, 3.60 ERA
Live arm, questionable control. Possibly trade bait to find a more experienced reliever.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Paul Byrd
10-9, 4.88 ERA
He started slowly, improved in the middle of the season, then slumped again in September. A passable No. 4 starter, but there's no way he's earning his $7 million salary.
Grade: C-minus (C)
Fernando Cabrera
3-3, 5.19 ERA
Suddenly, like magic, the light bulb went on in August and he became competent again. Kind of like the team.
If he wants to realize his potential, he needs to bring it for six months, otherwise he's a waste of time.
Grade: C (D)
Fausto Carmona
1-10, 5.42 ERA
He was "Tim Couched" by the Indians in the middle of the season, thrown into the ninth inning fire with very little preparation.
Unlike Couch, his handlers suddenly came to their senses and reinstated him as a starter, where he showed steady improvement as the season drew to a close.
If Shapiro has any sense, Carmona will start next season in the rotation, otherwise they will mess up this promising young pitcher beyond repair.
Grade: C-minus (B)
Jason Davis
3-2, 3.74 ERA
His stuff is mouth-watering, but he rarely impresses. This has been going on for parts of five seasons. Something tells me he's going to be traded in the offseason.
Grade: C (D)
Jeremy Guthrie
No record, 6.98 ERA
His contract is up, as is his time with the Indians. Both sides tried and failed to make it work.
Don't be a stranger, Jeremy. Stop in and visit sometime.
Grade: D (Incomplete)
Juan Lara
No record, 1.80 ERA
The sample of his work is too small for any real analysis. He might have a future as a situational lefty.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Cliff Lee
14-11, 4.40 ERA
He somewhat rescued a disappointing season in September. His ability to go deep into games is a concern. He simply can't fall as hard as he consistently did in the sixth and seventh innings this year. Perhaps conditioning is the issue?
Grade: B-minus (B)
Tom Mastny
5 saves, 5.51 ERA
He saved the closer's role to some degree, but he blew a few saves, too. He's not a closer, but he might have a future in the bullpen.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Matt Miller
0-1, 3.45 ERA
I wrongly declared his career dead and buried when he reinjured his elbow for the umpteenth time earlier this year. He did a reasonably good job in September and appears to be in line for a bullpen spot next year.
Grade: C (injured at midterms)
Edward Mujica
No record, 2.95 ERA
Do the Indians really need two Raffy Betancourts?
Grade: C-plus (promoted after midterms)
C.C. Sabathia
12-11, 3.22 ERA
I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to fall in the trap. The instant I declare C.C. an ace is the instant he starts next season 0-4 with a 6-plus ERA. He had a fine finish, that's all I'm going to say.
Grade: B (B-minus)
Brian Sikorski
0-2, 4.58 ERA
Thanks for playing. We have some lovely parting gifts for you.
C-minus (acquired after midterms)
Brian Slocum
No record, 5.60 ERA
He moved to the rotation at season's end. I doubt he'll be there to start next season without an overhaul of the rotation. If anything, he can be a nice insurance policy at Buffalo.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Jeremy Sowers
7-4, 3.57 ERA
The Indians were right to shut him down in September. I would have done it even sooner. He looks like the meal ticket for this rotation in years to come.
Grade: B-plus (Incomplete)
Jake Westbrook
15-10, 4.17 ERA
He's the quintessential middle-rotation starter. He keeps churning out consistent decent work. I have no problems with him.
Grade: B
Off the field
Eric Wedge, Manager
If a team is a reflection of the manager, look no further than the team's record as a mathematical quantification. In Wedge's case, it's a mediocre 78-84.
Grade: C-minus (C-minus)
Mark Shapiro, General Manager
His winter moves put this team behind the eight-ball. His summer moves were a direct consequence of the non-contention the winter moves caused, but they were still mostly good given the situation. Choo, for one, looks like a solid find.
Grade: C-plus (C-minus)
Larry and Paul Dolan, owners
They haven't earned their grades yet. They have set the table by promising a significant increase in payroll for 2007. We'll see what happens from here.
Grade: Incomplete (C)
The lineup
Casey Blake, OF/1B
.282, 19 HR, 68 RBI
As far as manager Eric Wedge is concerned, Blake is an uber-Indian. He's so versatile, you need to wear versatility shades to watch him play. Once a serviceable third baseman who put his ego on the shelf to become a serviceable right fielder, he again put his ego on the shelf to become a serviceable first baseman.
Wedge and Mark Shapiro agree: he's a great player for this market.
Grade: B (B-plus)
Aaron Boone, 3B
.251, 7 HR, 46 RBI
In the words of Bob Hope, thanks for the memories.
Grade: D (C-minus)
Shin-Soo Choo, OF
.295, 3 HR, 22 RBI
If he's going to hold down a lineup spot, Choo has to do one of two things: hit for enough power to justify placing him in a corner outfield spot, or get on base enough to justify placing him first or second in the order.
My money is on the latter.
Grade: B (acquired after midterms)
Ryan Garko, 1B
.292, 7 HR, 45 RBI
I love what he brought to the table after being promoted in the second half. However, it would be a mistake to simply hand him the first baseman's job in spring training. He's not done earning his place on the team yet.
Grade B-plus (promoted after midterms)
Franklin Gutierrez, OF
.272, 1 HR, 8 RBI
He raised his batting average significantly from his .229 at midterms, but it's a hollow victory since it brought nothing in the way of production.
As of right now, Gutierrez is nary more than a fourth outfielder.
Grade: C-minus (C)
Travis Hafner, DH
.308, 42 HR, 117 RBI
And to think, he did it all in five months before a broken hand cost him September.
If the Indians can't find the cash to lock Pronk up past 2008, or at least force a big market team to pay through the nose to pry him away, the Dolan regime will officially be a joke in my book.
Grade: A (A)
Joe Inglett, 2B
.284, 2 HR, 21 RBI
See Shin-Soo Choo. And my money is on neither.
A respectable bench player, nothing more.
C-plus (Incomplete)
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B/DH
.214, 3 HR, 11 RBI
Right now, "The Kouz" serves the valuable purpose of pushing Andy Marte for the third baseman's job next spring. But as much of a fan favorite as Kouzmanoff is becoming, the only way he doesn't start the season in Buffalo next year is if Marte completely bombs in spring training.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Hector Luna, IF
.276, 2 HR, 17 RBI
If his glove settles back down, he can be a good utility player, but little more. I still find it difficult to believe that both he and Inglett might make the 25-man roster next April. But that might be the case.
Grade: C (acquired after midterms)
Andy Marte, 3B
.226, 5 HR, 23 RBI
He has yet to impress, but he is still the frontrunner to be the team's starting third baseman on opening day.
In my book, he is a future Gold Glove third baseman who will never hit for a high average but should provide 30-homer power every year. Not a heart-of-the-order hitter, but a good option hitting sixth or seventh.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Victor Martinez, C/1B
.316, 16 HR, 93 RBI
Martinez can thank Garko for saving his catcher's job late in the season. It would still be a better scenario if Martinez could take his proficient bat to a less-taxing defensive position, but it appears Martinez is locked in at catcher for the foreseeable future.
Grade B-plus (B-plus)
Jason Michaels, LF
.267, 9 HR, 55 RBI
Got to love his hustle, but I still get the feeling that Michaels is another Casey Blake, a "four-A" player who can only be a respectable major leaguer if he overachieves to the nth degree. Guys like Michaels and Blake are great for rounding out the roster, but you don't want them to be a major ingredient in your foundational concrete.
Grade: C-plus (B-minus)
Jhonny Peralta, SS
.257, 13 HR, 68 RBI
Too often this year, he seemed clueless or disinterested at the plate and in the field. He started to ramp up in the final two weeks of the season, but it's only a small sample of what is going to be needed for him to stay in the team's long-term picture.
As it is, the Indians are going to roll the dice and hope this year was an aberration. If it wasn't, they're in trouble.
Grade: C-minus (C-minus)
Kelly Shoppach, C
.245, 3 HR, 16 RBI
He played like a backup catcher and put up the stats of a backup catcher. The only thing that puts him in the conversation for starting is his arm, far better than that of Martinez.
Grade: C-plus (Incomplete)
Grady Sizemore, CF
.290, 28 HR, 76 RBI
He's so good as a leadoff hitter that part of me wants to keep him there. But with his bat in the third slot, he could easily have passed the 30 HR, 100-RBI mark. If they can find a competent leadoff hitter (Choo, are you listening?), I'd be all for a Sizemore-Hafner tandem batting third and fourth, the back-to-back lefties theory be damned.
Grade: A (A)
The pitching
Rafael Betancourt
3-4, 3.81 ERA
I still haven't seen anything out of him that makes me think he's any more than a solid middle reliever. But the Indians reportedly will continue to try and shoehorn him in as a setup man.
Grade: C (C)
Andrew Brown
No record, 3.60 ERA
Live arm, questionable control. Possibly trade bait to find a more experienced reliever.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Paul Byrd
10-9, 4.88 ERA
He started slowly, improved in the middle of the season, then slumped again in September. A passable No. 4 starter, but there's no way he's earning his $7 million salary.
Grade: C-minus (C)
Fernando Cabrera
3-3, 5.19 ERA
Suddenly, like magic, the light bulb went on in August and he became competent again. Kind of like the team.
If he wants to realize his potential, he needs to bring it for six months, otherwise he's a waste of time.
Grade: C (D)
Fausto Carmona
1-10, 5.42 ERA
He was "Tim Couched" by the Indians in the middle of the season, thrown into the ninth inning fire with very little preparation.
Unlike Couch, his handlers suddenly came to their senses and reinstated him as a starter, where he showed steady improvement as the season drew to a close.
If Shapiro has any sense, Carmona will start next season in the rotation, otherwise they will mess up this promising young pitcher beyond repair.
Grade: C-minus (B)
Jason Davis
3-2, 3.74 ERA
His stuff is mouth-watering, but he rarely impresses. This has been going on for parts of five seasons. Something tells me he's going to be traded in the offseason.
Grade: C (D)
Jeremy Guthrie
No record, 6.98 ERA
His contract is up, as is his time with the Indians. Both sides tried and failed to make it work.
Don't be a stranger, Jeremy. Stop in and visit sometime.
Grade: D (Incomplete)
Juan Lara
No record, 1.80 ERA
The sample of his work is too small for any real analysis. He might have a future as a situational lefty.
Grade: Incomplete (promoted after midterms)
Cliff Lee
14-11, 4.40 ERA
He somewhat rescued a disappointing season in September. His ability to go deep into games is a concern. He simply can't fall as hard as he consistently did in the sixth and seventh innings this year. Perhaps conditioning is the issue?
Grade: B-minus (B)
Tom Mastny
5 saves, 5.51 ERA
He saved the closer's role to some degree, but he blew a few saves, too. He's not a closer, but he might have a future in the bullpen.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Matt Miller
0-1, 3.45 ERA
I wrongly declared his career dead and buried when he reinjured his elbow for the umpteenth time earlier this year. He did a reasonably good job in September and appears to be in line for a bullpen spot next year.
Grade: C (injured at midterms)
Edward Mujica
No record, 2.95 ERA
Do the Indians really need two Raffy Betancourts?
Grade: C-plus (promoted after midterms)
C.C. Sabathia
12-11, 3.22 ERA
I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to fall in the trap. The instant I declare C.C. an ace is the instant he starts next season 0-4 with a 6-plus ERA. He had a fine finish, that's all I'm going to say.
Grade: B (B-minus)
Brian Sikorski
0-2, 4.58 ERA
Thanks for playing. We have some lovely parting gifts for you.
C-minus (acquired after midterms)
Brian Slocum
No record, 5.60 ERA
He moved to the rotation at season's end. I doubt he'll be there to start next season without an overhaul of the rotation. If anything, he can be a nice insurance policy at Buffalo.
Grade: C (promoted after midterms)
Jeremy Sowers
7-4, 3.57 ERA
The Indians were right to shut him down in September. I would have done it even sooner. He looks like the meal ticket for this rotation in years to come.
Grade: B-plus (Incomplete)
Jake Westbrook
15-10, 4.17 ERA
He's the quintessential middle-rotation starter. He keeps churning out consistent decent work. I have no problems with him.
Grade: B
Off the field
Eric Wedge, Manager
If a team is a reflection of the manager, look no further than the team's record as a mathematical quantification. In Wedge's case, it's a mediocre 78-84.
Grade: C-minus (C-minus)
Mark Shapiro, General Manager
His winter moves put this team behind the eight-ball. His summer moves were a direct consequence of the non-contention the winter moves caused, but they were still mostly good given the situation. Choo, for one, looks like a solid find.
Grade: C-plus (C-minus)
Larry and Paul Dolan, owners
They haven't earned their grades yet. They have set the table by promising a significant increase in payroll for 2007. We'll see what happens from here.
Grade: Incomplete (C)
Friday, October 06, 2006
Pacers with guns
Want to know who is going to win the NBA's Eastern Conference this year?You can probably eliminate the Indiana Pacers right about .... now.
This from the Associated Press via CNNSI.com:
"Indiana Pacers player Stephen Jackson was hit in the mouth, struck by a car and fired a gun outside a strip club early Friday, police said. Jackson, 28, told officers he fired his 9 mm pistol four or five times in the air in self-defense after he was punched and hit by a car outside the club, said Sgt. Matthew Mount, spokesman for the Indianapolis Police Department.
Jackson went up onto the hood of the car, Mount said."
"... An argument involving patrons, Jackson and other members of the Pacers began inside the club, Mount said. The players said they left the club, but patrons followed them outside.
'At some point when leaving the club, a verbal altercation ensued that turned into a physical altercation,' Mount said."
"... The other Pacers at the scene were Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels and Jimmie Hunter.
Tinsley and Daniels also had guns in their cars, and all three players had permits for the weapons, Mount said, although Daniels' permit was issued in Florida."
So let me get this straight: Jackson, the best player on the team, allegedly just fired a gun in the air and got rammed by a car? And Tinsley and Daniels, two other potential starters, had guns in their cars? In downtown Indianapolis, where the primary danger is uneven concrete on the sidewalks?
If this is how the Pacers celebrate their coach's contract extension, heaven only knows what they do at a birthday party.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Rockin' the World
If you're a Cavaliers fan who thinks World B. Free is getting the shaft each day the rafters at The Q are left devoid of his jersey number, you're in luck.Why let his old jersey gather dust in the rafters when you can slap it on the backs of the current team?
The Akron Beacon Journal's Brian Windhorst made a reference to the Cavs' forthcoming "orange" alternate uniforms in a column earlier this week. In a follow-up e-mail, I asked if that meant the Cavs were breaking out the World B. Free traffic-cone orange threads.
His response: "I believe that to be true."
Sweet. the World rocks once again, and we get to wonder what it would have been like with LeBron slashing to the hoop, drawing the double team and kicking it out to World for the three-point bomb. All the while, the Cavs get to prop up a highly-underappreciated era and player in their history, a guy who might very well have saved basketball in Cleveland.
Good karma pays forward. I can smell a championship from here.
Bang for the buck
What baseball team gets the most bang for their payroll buck? With 78 wins this year, you wouldn't think the Indians would be near the top of the list.
You'd be wrong.
According to a list compiled by FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry, the Indians are one of the most dollar-efficient teams in baseball. With a 2006 ending payroll of $56,795,867 and 78 wins, each win cost the Indians an average of $728,152 this year, good enough for seventh place among baseball's 30 teams.
The most efficient team was the Marlins, with a Major League low $14,344,500 payroll and 78 wins for an average of $192,288 paid out per win.
Other teams more efficient than the Indians were the Rockies ($541,223 per win), Devil Rays ($580,622), Pirates ($600,519), Twins ($664,688) and Athletics ($670,129) .
Of course, it can be argued that the Twins and A's got the most bang for their buck in the end since they are the two most efficient teams that made the playoffs.
The least efficient team, no surprise, is the Yankees. With a $198,662,180 payroll and 97 wins, the Yanks averaged a whopping $2,048,063 paid out for each win.
To put it in perspective, to be more efficient than the Indians were with 78 wins, the Yankees would have needed 273 wins this year, which would have given them an average of $727,700 per win.
As we all know, 273 wins would only be possible if Major League Baseball converted to the metric system.
You'd be wrong.
According to a list compiled by FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry, the Indians are one of the most dollar-efficient teams in baseball. With a 2006 ending payroll of $56,795,867 and 78 wins, each win cost the Indians an average of $728,152 this year, good enough for seventh place among baseball's 30 teams.
The most efficient team was the Marlins, with a Major League low $14,344,500 payroll and 78 wins for an average of $192,288 paid out per win.
Other teams more efficient than the Indians were the Rockies ($541,223 per win), Devil Rays ($580,622), Pirates ($600,519), Twins ($664,688) and Athletics ($670,129) .
Of course, it can be argued that the Twins and A's got the most bang for their buck in the end since they are the two most efficient teams that made the playoffs.
The least efficient team, no surprise, is the Yankees. With a $198,662,180 payroll and 97 wins, the Yanks averaged a whopping $2,048,063 paid out for each win.
To put it in perspective, to be more efficient than the Indians were with 78 wins, the Yankees would have needed 273 wins this year, which would have given them an average of $727,700 per win.
As we all know, 273 wins would only be possible if Major League Baseball converted to the metric system.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Swingin' in Baltimore
Roch Kubatko is a Baltimore Sun writer who maintains a daily sports blog for baltimoresun.com. From my limited exposure to it, it appears he spends most of the time live blogging Orioles games and chronicling just how painful it is to follow the Orioles at the moment.
But a few weeks ago, he took some time away from baseball to weigh in on the Cavaliers' dismissal of Michael Reghi. Reghi, as many of you know, was also the Orioles' TV voice for quite a few years.
Kubatko echoed the sentiments of most of us: Reghi was jobbed, and it was a low blow on the part of Cavs management to can him so late in the off-season after all the good NBA announcer gigs were taken.
Kubatko also took the pulse of the Cleveland media. He quoted columns by The Plain Dealer's Bill Livingston, The Akron Beacon Journal's Terry Pluto, the Lake County News Herald's Bob Finnan, the Medina Gazette's Rick Noland, and Erik Cassano's Weblog.
Whaaaa?? Erik Cassano's Weblog? Mentioned in the same analytical breath as Livingston, Pluto and two Cavs beat reporters?
Kubatko knows I don't get paid to do this, right?
But a few weeks ago, he took some time away from baseball to weigh in on the Cavaliers' dismissal of Michael Reghi. Reghi, as many of you know, was also the Orioles' TV voice for quite a few years.
Kubatko echoed the sentiments of most of us: Reghi was jobbed, and it was a low blow on the part of Cavs management to can him so late in the off-season after all the good NBA announcer gigs were taken.
Kubatko also took the pulse of the Cleveland media. He quoted columns by The Plain Dealer's Bill Livingston, The Akron Beacon Journal's Terry Pluto, the Lake County News Herald's Bob Finnan, the Medina Gazette's Rick Noland, and Erik Cassano's Weblog.
Whaaaa?? Erik Cassano's Weblog? Mentioned in the same analytical breath as Livingston, Pluto and two Cavs beat reporters?
Kubatko knows I don't get paid to do this, right?
Shapiro not looking for bats
Just so we're clear, Indians GM Mark Shapiro thinks his team has enough offense for next year.In an Plain Dealer article Wednesday, Shapiro basically scoffed at the idea of adding a big bat to the lineup.
"So that would mean we'd finish first in the big leagues in runs instead of second?" he sarcastically asked reporters.
Any wet dreams you had about Gary Sheffield or Alfonso Soriano donning the Wahoo next year can be quickly put to bed. The Indians aren't looking for sticks. And to me, that's flawed thinking by Shapiro.
Is rebuilding the bullpen the number one priority? Of course, and Shapiro is right to jump on that the instant the World Series ends. But if you focus solely on the bullpen and neglect other areas of the team, it's going to become a repeat of last offseason. Shapiro and his crew are going to head into the winter with the best of intentions and come out with a team that is worse for the wear.
The ability of Shapiro to improve the bullpen is going to be extremely limited this winter, as will be the case for every GM in baseball. The well might quickly run dry.
This year's free agent class of relievers is downright sad. There isn't a Bob Wickman in the bunch, let alone a Trevor Hoffman or B.J. Ryan. All the big-name relievers like Eric Gagne, Keith Foulke and Dustin Hermanson come with major injury caveats. Beyond that is a long list of has-beens and never-will-be's.
There are always trades, but what are the odds that any team that has a reliever worth acquiring is going to want to trade him?
Look at it this way: if the infinitely-endowed Yankees are trotting out Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth in playoff games, you know the bullpen situation is bleak throughout baseball.
So while the Indians are busy grasping at straws, trying to find veteran relievers to stabilize the bullpen, a far stronger class of hitters and starting pitchers will pass them by.
If you can't really address a weakness the way you want to, strengthen the strengths of your team. It all adds up to the net sum of improving the team. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Shapiro is thinking that way.
If the Indians approach next season with the same offense, the same starting rotation and a markedly improved bullpen, I'll be happy. But if Shapiro doesn't widen his scope of thinking, it is highly likely that the Indians will approach next season with the same offense, the same starting rotation, and Octavio Dotel (or worse) as the closer. I have a big problem with that.
If you can't pull the bullpen entirely out of the mud, and the free agency and trade landscape says you won't, at least add to the offense and starting pitching so they can mask your weakness, and try to do some more tinkering with the 'pen early in the season.
This is a make-or-break year for Shapiro. He is a free agent GM next fall. If he wants to cash in with elite GM bucks, either here or elsewhere, he can ill-afford to sit on his hands this winter. GMs of 78-84 teams generally don't cash in. And that's what Shapiro is right now.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
MLB playoffs: Division series
It's finally that time of year again. Until the Cavaliers season gets underway in about four weeks, we'll refer to it as "The Dead Zone" here in Cleveland.
With no Indians playoff games to occupy our time between the weekend dice rolls that are Browns games, we'll just have to live vicariously through the success of other cities teams.
Sure, you won't be able to revel in their joy, but you also won't have to experience their sorrow. And in Cleveland, that has to be worth something.
Here are my predictions for the division series, which get underway today.
American League
New York Yankees (AL East Champs) vs. Detroit Tigers (wild card)
For the Tigers, this has to be like jumping into an ice cold pool. They play their first playoff game in 19 years under the lights tonight at Yankee Stadium. I expect major shrinkage, though I don't expect the Tigers to get humiliated.
The Yankees have everything going for them: better pitching, better hitting and the best closer in history. The Tigers, however, have Jim Leyland going for them. Even if the Tigers lose this series, Leyland will see to it that his young team emerges from it stronger.
Yankees in four
Minnesota Twins (AL Central champs) vs. Oakland Athletics (AL West champs)
Twins + home playoff game = starving dog + sirloin steak
The A's are a team capable of winning a playoff series, but this series was decided when the Twins clinched homefield in the first two games. Combine that with the fact that the Twins have been baseball's best team since June, and Oakland doesn't stand much of a chance.
Twins in three
National League
New York Mets (NL East champs) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (wild card)
You think the Mets are still fuming over that upset in the 1988 NLCS? Well, probably not. But they'll still get their revenge, Pedro or no Pedro.
The Dodgers showed remarkable fortitude rebounding from the depths of mediocrity to reach the postseason, but the Mets are still the league's best team and should get at least as far as the NLCS.
Mets in four
San Diego Padres (NL West champs) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central champs)
I know the Cardinals have the history and the pedigree here. I know they went to the World Series two years ago and reached the cusp last year. I know they knocked off the Padres a year ago en route to the NLCS. But this year, the Padres are the better team. They have deeper pitching, a better bullpen and above all, homefield advantage. It might be close, but the Padres will advance to the NLCS for the first time since 1998.
Padres in five
With no Indians playoff games to occupy our time between the weekend dice rolls that are Browns games, we'll just have to live vicariously through the success of other cities teams.
Sure, you won't be able to revel in their joy, but you also won't have to experience their sorrow. And in Cleveland, that has to be worth something.
Here are my predictions for the division series, which get underway today.
American League
New York Yankees (AL East Champs) vs. Detroit Tigers (wild card)
For the Tigers, this has to be like jumping into an ice cold pool. They play their first playoff game in 19 years under the lights tonight at Yankee Stadium. I expect major shrinkage, though I don't expect the Tigers to get humiliated.
The Yankees have everything going for them: better pitching, better hitting and the best closer in history. The Tigers, however, have Jim Leyland going for them. Even if the Tigers lose this series, Leyland will see to it that his young team emerges from it stronger.
Yankees in four
Minnesota Twins (AL Central champs) vs. Oakland Athletics (AL West champs)
Twins + home playoff game = starving dog + sirloin steak
The A's are a team capable of winning a playoff series, but this series was decided when the Twins clinched homefield in the first two games. Combine that with the fact that the Twins have been baseball's best team since June, and Oakland doesn't stand much of a chance.
Twins in three
National League
New York Mets (NL East champs) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (wild card)
You think the Mets are still fuming over that upset in the 1988 NLCS? Well, probably not. But they'll still get their revenge, Pedro or no Pedro.
The Dodgers showed remarkable fortitude rebounding from the depths of mediocrity to reach the postseason, but the Mets are still the league's best team and should get at least as far as the NLCS.
Mets in four
San Diego Padres (NL West champs) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central champs)
I know the Cardinals have the history and the pedigree here. I know they went to the World Series two years ago and reached the cusp last year. I know they knocked off the Padres a year ago en route to the NLCS. But this year, the Padres are the better team. They have deeper pitching, a better bullpen and above all, homefield advantage. It might be close, but the Padres will advance to the NLCS for the first time since 1998.
Padres in five
Monday, October 02, 2006
The Morning After: Oakland
Browns 24, Raiders 21
Record: 1-3
This game wasn't so much manna from heaven as it was an opportunity for the Browns to finally pick on someone their own size.
Even then, it was far too close to being the Disaster by the Bay. For the first 20-odd minutes of play, before the team finally woke up and realized they were playing a football game they had no business losing, the Browns looked every bit the collection of limp noodles they were throughout the New Orleans and Cincinnati contests.
I thought for certain that the Browns had, once again, swallowed their own hype like a fishing lure and ran onto the McAfee Coliseum field figuring "Heck, if we took Baltimore to the 59th minute, we should be able to cruise past the Raiders."
The proof was in the pudding. Reuben Droughns was bowled over by Sam "Who?" Williams, causing the burly Droughns to cough up the ball, easy pickings for Williams, who scampered 30 yards in the other direction for the first score of the game.
It didn't get much better. LaMont Jordan was starting to look like Jamal Lewis circa 2003. The Browns bit on cutback after cutback as Jordan rushed for 100 first-half yards, 59 coming on a touchdown run that should have humiliated the Browns defense.
I think it actually did. That TD made it 21-3, and the Browns, showing a spark of resolve that eventually became a fire, decided to finally fight back.
It probably helped that the Browns were facing one of the few teams in the league that could actually be worse than them, but right now, we are only concerned with results, not under what circumstances they are achieved.
Charlie Frye and Reuben Droughns rushed to the rescue against an Oakland defense that would probably have a hard time stopping Ken Dorsey. That awful interception against Baltimore was flashing through everyone's mind when Frye dropped back to pass over the goal line in the second quarter, but this time, the play worked as drawn up. Stuffing the box, the Browns drew the entire Raider defense to the line of scrimmage, allowing tight end Darnell Dinkins to slip around the corner. Frye found him for a touchdown pass that made it 21-10.
An energized return game consistently gave the Browns good field position. Raider kicker Sebastian Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler tripped up Josh Cribbs and Dennis Northcutt respectively or else we'd be talking about a rare day for the Browns' special teams. As it was, Cribbs and Northcutt combined for 191 return yards and made life a heck of a lot easier on the offense in the second half.
The Browns settled nicely into their preferred run-set-up-the-pass game plan in the final three quarters, but the comeback wasn't without flaw. Frye was sacked two more times, both by Derrick Burgess. Frye's touchdown passes only outpaced his interceptions by one, 3-2. The Browns lost the turnover battle 3-1, which would likely be a recipe for defeat against most of the rest of the league. But, unlike the Ravens the week before, the Raiders offense wasn't able to do anything with either of Frye's interceptions.
The ghosts of last week continued to try and haunt the Browns, but the Raiders weren't playing along. Frye once again threw a critical interception in the end zone with time winding down in the fourth quarter and a chance to put the game away. Unlike last week, when Chris McAllister plucked a dart out of the air from Frye and Steve McNair promptly drove the ball into field goal range, allowing Matt Stover to sink a 45-yard free throw and win the game, the decidedly less-experienced Raiders offense took Frye's perplexing paper airplane of a throw and punted it away after three plays.
There's a reason why Art Shell went years between coaching stints in the NFL, and why the Raiders are the only team that's ever employed him as a head coach. You saw it right there. With 3:58 remaining, Shell put the Browns in a position where one first down and some poor defensive clock management could win the game. The Browns got two first downs, and needed just seven plays to wrap it up.
Perhaps there are different philosophies on what to do with the ball late in the game. I just think that once the clock has ticked inside four minutes and you're trailing, it's almost always four down time. Curiously, the Raiders did try -- and fail -- on fourth down on the previous possession thanks to a clutch tackle of Jordan by Orpheus Roye.
Two defensive plays summed up each Browns half for me. In the first half, Leigh Bodden went up for an interception, dropped the ball and came down hard on his ankle causing yet another injury for the depleted Browns secondary. While all that was going on, Alvin McKinley got a little too up close and personal with Oakland's Andrew Walter for a roughing the passer penalty, essentially nullifying what was still a great break-up by Bodden.
It was the three-cut: missed interception, injury and penalty.
In the second half, Kamerion Wimbley continued to make his case for defensive rookie of the year, absolutely leveling Walter for one of his two sacks. And unlike the first two weeks of the season, the Browns' run defense was good enough to make Cleveland's four quarterback sacks stand for something.
The Browns toyed with disaster. It should never have come down to rallying from an 18-point deficit, tying the second-largest rally in Browns history. But they pulled themselves together and got into the win column. After three losses, that's what matters.
Just so long as they realize there are going to be no 18-point rallies next week against the Panthers.
Up next: at Carolina, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Record: 1-3
This game wasn't so much manna from heaven as it was an opportunity for the Browns to finally pick on someone their own size.
Even then, it was far too close to being the Disaster by the Bay. For the first 20-odd minutes of play, before the team finally woke up and realized they were playing a football game they had no business losing, the Browns looked every bit the collection of limp noodles they were throughout the New Orleans and Cincinnati contests.
I thought for certain that the Browns had, once again, swallowed their own hype like a fishing lure and ran onto the McAfee Coliseum field figuring "Heck, if we took Baltimore to the 59th minute, we should be able to cruise past the Raiders."
The proof was in the pudding. Reuben Droughns was bowled over by Sam "Who?" Williams, causing the burly Droughns to cough up the ball, easy pickings for Williams, who scampered 30 yards in the other direction for the first score of the game.
It didn't get much better. LaMont Jordan was starting to look like Jamal Lewis circa 2003. The Browns bit on cutback after cutback as Jordan rushed for 100 first-half yards, 59 coming on a touchdown run that should have humiliated the Browns defense.
I think it actually did. That TD made it 21-3, and the Browns, showing a spark of resolve that eventually became a fire, decided to finally fight back.
It probably helped that the Browns were facing one of the few teams in the league that could actually be worse than them, but right now, we are only concerned with results, not under what circumstances they are achieved.
Charlie Frye and Reuben Droughns rushed to the rescue against an Oakland defense that would probably have a hard time stopping Ken Dorsey. That awful interception against Baltimore was flashing through everyone's mind when Frye dropped back to pass over the goal line in the second quarter, but this time, the play worked as drawn up. Stuffing the box, the Browns drew the entire Raider defense to the line of scrimmage, allowing tight end Darnell Dinkins to slip around the corner. Frye found him for a touchdown pass that made it 21-10.
An energized return game consistently gave the Browns good field position. Raider kicker Sebastian Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler tripped up Josh Cribbs and Dennis Northcutt respectively or else we'd be talking about a rare day for the Browns' special teams. As it was, Cribbs and Northcutt combined for 191 return yards and made life a heck of a lot easier on the offense in the second half.
The Browns settled nicely into their preferred run-set-up-the-pass game plan in the final three quarters, but the comeback wasn't without flaw. Frye was sacked two more times, both by Derrick Burgess. Frye's touchdown passes only outpaced his interceptions by one, 3-2. The Browns lost the turnover battle 3-1, which would likely be a recipe for defeat against most of the rest of the league. But, unlike the Ravens the week before, the Raiders offense wasn't able to do anything with either of Frye's interceptions.
The ghosts of last week continued to try and haunt the Browns, but the Raiders weren't playing along. Frye once again threw a critical interception in the end zone with time winding down in the fourth quarter and a chance to put the game away. Unlike last week, when Chris McAllister plucked a dart out of the air from Frye and Steve McNair promptly drove the ball into field goal range, allowing Matt Stover to sink a 45-yard free throw and win the game, the decidedly less-experienced Raiders offense took Frye's perplexing paper airplane of a throw and punted it away after three plays.
There's a reason why Art Shell went years between coaching stints in the NFL, and why the Raiders are the only team that's ever employed him as a head coach. You saw it right there. With 3:58 remaining, Shell put the Browns in a position where one first down and some poor defensive clock management could win the game. The Browns got two first downs, and needed just seven plays to wrap it up.
Perhaps there are different philosophies on what to do with the ball late in the game. I just think that once the clock has ticked inside four minutes and you're trailing, it's almost always four down time. Curiously, the Raiders did try -- and fail -- on fourth down on the previous possession thanks to a clutch tackle of Jordan by Orpheus Roye.
Two defensive plays summed up each Browns half for me. In the first half, Leigh Bodden went up for an interception, dropped the ball and came down hard on his ankle causing yet another injury for the depleted Browns secondary. While all that was going on, Alvin McKinley got a little too up close and personal with Oakland's Andrew Walter for a roughing the passer penalty, essentially nullifying what was still a great break-up by Bodden.
It was the three-cut: missed interception, injury and penalty.
In the second half, Kamerion Wimbley continued to make his case for defensive rookie of the year, absolutely leveling Walter for one of his two sacks. And unlike the first two weeks of the season, the Browns' run defense was good enough to make Cleveland's four quarterback sacks stand for something.
The Browns toyed with disaster. It should never have come down to rallying from an 18-point deficit, tying the second-largest rally in Browns history. But they pulled themselves together and got into the win column. After three losses, that's what matters.
Just so long as they realize there are going to be no 18-point rallies next week against the Panthers.
Up next: at Carolina, Sunday, 1 p.m.
The last day
Some random observations from the last day of baseball's regular season:
Let's blow this Popsicle stand
I attended the last game of the Indians' lost season Sunday. It was the quickest 6-3 game I've ever seen in my life, under two and a half hours. Riding in a Jacobs Field elevator midway through the game, the elevator operator told us he took his break during the third inning and saw the Devil Rays had already packed up their equipment truck for the ride to the airport.
There are getaway days, and then there are real getaway days. Such will happen when a 100-loss team faces an 80-loss team during the last series of the season.
The choke happened five months ago
Last season, with the playoffs on the line, the Indians hosted the Devil Rays and White Sox on the final homestand of the season. They went 1-6 and choked away the playoffs.
This season, with nothing on the line, the Indians hosted the same two teams and went 6-1. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
In speaking of choking...
It's hard to say the Tigers truly choked since they're still headed for the playoffs. But man, did they do everything in their power to make sure October is not an enjoyable experience.
We thought the Indians were pathetic when they were swept by the Royals earlier this year. But the Tigers, vying for a division title, allowed arguably the worst team in baseball to come into their packed stadium and sweep them right into the wild card. Sunday, they couldn't hold a 6-0 lead and were ultimately beaten in extra innings 10-8.
The Tigers now head to Yankee Stadium for the first two games of their division series. Good luck.
On the flip side
The Twins have looked good since about June. Like Jessica-Simpson-before-she-became-a-waif good. The best home team in baseball will now host Oakland to begin their division series.
Sunday, Minnesota became the first team in baseball history to take sole possession of first place for the first time on the last day of the season. Not to rain on the parades of Detroit and Oakland fans, but Sunday likely sets up an excellent ALCS between the Yankees and Twins.
And the winner of that series is likely going to be hoisting a championship trophy, since I see no one in the National League who can take the American League's best in a seven-game series, especially since the now Pedro-less Mets appear to be in a rapid decline.
Let's blow this Popsicle stand
I attended the last game of the Indians' lost season Sunday. It was the quickest 6-3 game I've ever seen in my life, under two and a half hours. Riding in a Jacobs Field elevator midway through the game, the elevator operator told us he took his break during the third inning and saw the Devil Rays had already packed up their equipment truck for the ride to the airport.
There are getaway days, and then there are real getaway days. Such will happen when a 100-loss team faces an 80-loss team during the last series of the season.
The choke happened five months ago
Last season, with the playoffs on the line, the Indians hosted the Devil Rays and White Sox on the final homestand of the season. They went 1-6 and choked away the playoffs.
This season, with nothing on the line, the Indians hosted the same two teams and went 6-1. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
In speaking of choking...
It's hard to say the Tigers truly choked since they're still headed for the playoffs. But man, did they do everything in their power to make sure October is not an enjoyable experience.
We thought the Indians were pathetic when they were swept by the Royals earlier this year. But the Tigers, vying for a division title, allowed arguably the worst team in baseball to come into their packed stadium and sweep them right into the wild card. Sunday, they couldn't hold a 6-0 lead and were ultimately beaten in extra innings 10-8.
The Tigers now head to Yankee Stadium for the first two games of their division series. Good luck.
On the flip side
The Twins have looked good since about June. Like Jessica-Simpson-before-she-became-a-waif good. The best home team in baseball will now host Oakland to begin their division series.
Sunday, Minnesota became the first team in baseball history to take sole possession of first place for the first time on the last day of the season. Not to rain on the parades of Detroit and Oakland fans, but Sunday likely sets up an excellent ALCS between the Yankees and Twins.
And the winner of that series is likely going to be hoisting a championship trophy, since I see no one in the National League who can take the American League's best in a seven-game series, especially since the now Pedro-less Mets appear to be in a rapid decline.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Life at the end of the road
Few things in the sports world leave a fan with an emptier feeling than the end of a non-contending baseball season.
It's not just the sparse crowds, the losing or the apathy laid on heavier than an Autumn cloud deck. It's the fact that it's all reinforced on a daily basis. Every day, your team shows up to play games that mean nothing. They are forced to show up every day and play meaningless games until the schedule runs out.
For the Indians, they lost the marathon in Mile 9. The have been forced to run the remaining 17.2 miles because that's what they're paid to do. It's been nothing more than a forced march since the beginning of summer.
Sunday, the schedule finally runs out and we can put this season to bed. The Indians can win no more than 78 games, a 15-game backslide from a year ago. They will finish the season with the fewest saves in the majors.
You might be glad that this is the end of the road. But I can't think of this season's end being anything more than a melancholy event. It's not just the losing. It's the fact that we are happy that baseball is over for the year.
All winter, we wait for this. All winter, we want spring to come. We want baseball to start, to rescue us from snowstorms and wet socks and cars splattered with dry salt brine and let us look forward to summer.
After Sunday, we'll be back in winter mode. Jacobs Field will go silent for yet another long, cold, dark spell, the hibernating neighbor we'll pass by on our way to Cavaliers games at The Q. Soon, our disgust with the season will be melted by longing for the days when we can once again enjoy a night out at the ballpark.
At some point, somewhere, you will be whisked back to the days when you rediscovered baseball in Cleveland. You'll remember the drama, the comeback victories, the playoff games, the park as a vortex of noise. And you'll want those days back. And you'll be sorry that you ever wished baseball away for the year.
That's the real heartbreak that surrounds a dead season like this, a season where bitterness outpaces a love for the game. A season where a fan base grows sick of baseball, sick of the team, sick of the losing, and just wants it to all go away.
At some point, you'll regret the way you felt. Not about the team, but about the game. At some point, you'll miss it again. But you'll have to wait.
You'll have to go through the long, harsh death and rebirth of winter to be reunited with the game you can't stand right now, to apologize and renew your vows.
This game, she might frustrate you. But she'll make you want her again. You might be able to live without her, but you'll have a void inside you. And that void lasts all winter.
It's not just the sparse crowds, the losing or the apathy laid on heavier than an Autumn cloud deck. It's the fact that it's all reinforced on a daily basis. Every day, your team shows up to play games that mean nothing. They are forced to show up every day and play meaningless games until the schedule runs out.
For the Indians, they lost the marathon in Mile 9. The have been forced to run the remaining 17.2 miles because that's what they're paid to do. It's been nothing more than a forced march since the beginning of summer.
Sunday, the schedule finally runs out and we can put this season to bed. The Indians can win no more than 78 games, a 15-game backslide from a year ago. They will finish the season with the fewest saves in the majors.
You might be glad that this is the end of the road. But I can't think of this season's end being anything more than a melancholy event. It's not just the losing. It's the fact that we are happy that baseball is over for the year.
All winter, we wait for this. All winter, we want spring to come. We want baseball to start, to rescue us from snowstorms and wet socks and cars splattered with dry salt brine and let us look forward to summer.
After Sunday, we'll be back in winter mode. Jacobs Field will go silent for yet another long, cold, dark spell, the hibernating neighbor we'll pass by on our way to Cavaliers games at The Q. Soon, our disgust with the season will be melted by longing for the days when we can once again enjoy a night out at the ballpark.
At some point, somewhere, you will be whisked back to the days when you rediscovered baseball in Cleveland. You'll remember the drama, the comeback victories, the playoff games, the park as a vortex of noise. And you'll want those days back. And you'll be sorry that you ever wished baseball away for the year.
That's the real heartbreak that surrounds a dead season like this, a season where bitterness outpaces a love for the game. A season where a fan base grows sick of baseball, sick of the team, sick of the losing, and just wants it to all go away.
At some point, you'll regret the way you felt. Not about the team, but about the game. At some point, you'll miss it again. But you'll have to wait.
You'll have to go through the long, harsh death and rebirth of winter to be reunited with the game you can't stand right now, to apologize and renew your vows.
This game, she might frustrate you. But she'll make you want her again. You might be able to live without her, but you'll have a void inside you. And that void lasts all winter.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Old guards
When Phil Savage took control of the Browns roster, we expected that we were getting an architect whose work would be rooted in research, analysis and logic. It was to be far more stable than the govern-by-edict style of Pope Butch I.
To a greater or lesser extent, Savage has given the Browns that. No more are they trading a first- and second-rounder to move up one spot in the draft, as Butch Davis did to nab Kellen Winslow Jr. in 2004.
But something still doesn't add up about the way the Browns roster is constructed. And, guess what? It's the offensive line. The omnipresent problem that was never tackled by Dwight Clark or Davis, and still appears to be an albatross hovering over Savage.
Funny we should mention tackling. That's all opposing defenses have been doing against Cleveland's O-line. Charlie Frye has been getting sacked and knocked down at such an alarming rate, it appears a forgone conclusion that he's going to wind up on a gurney a la Chris Simms at some point this season.
The only thing more shocking that Simms' ruptured spleen last Sunday was the fact that it didn't happen to Frye first.
Then there's the little problem of Cleveland's lack of a running game. Reuben Droughns, the Browns' 1,200-yard man of a year ago, might be lucky to crack 700 yards at his current pace. Behind him are a pair of undersized rookies in Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison.
We know just about all fingers can point to the offensive line. But why? Seven years ago, when Jim Pyne was starting, we could point to a lack of talent. But that's not the case now.
The Browns have among the most accomplished groups of offensive linemen in the league. All five of the Browns current starting offensive linemen have played for other teams -- good teams at that. Four -- Hank Fraley, Joe Andruzzi, Cosey Coleman and Ryan Tucker -- started in at least one Super Bowl. The fifth, Kevin Shaffer, protected Michael Vick on a respectable Falcons team.
This group of lineman have a long history of success in the league. And maybe that's part of the problem.
Not one of the Browns' current offensive line starters is younger than 26. Tucker and Andruzzi are the graybeards at 31, Fraley is 29, Coleman 28 and Shaffer is the baby of the bunch at 26.
If he were healthy, LeCharles Bentley would only tie Shaffer as the youngest.
Now, you might be thinking, "So? Isn't experience supposed to be a good thing? Isn't that what the Browns have been missing?" Well, experience is a good thing from the neck up. From the neck down, however, "experience" becomes "mileage."
That's the problem. The freakishly long careers of Lou Groza and Bruce Matthews aside, offensive linemen generally don't have long shelf lives. Once you've been in the trenches, having your 300-pound body hit, twisted, pulled, punched, kicked and scraped for the better part of 10 years, 30 seems more like 40, maybe 50 if you're talking about your knees.
The Browns' offensive linemen are a well-worn bunch, each with a long rap sheet of injuries that just about every lineman will accumulate. The injuries take their toll, the spring in your step gradually fades, and before you know it, Julius Peppers is blowing past your flank three downs in a row to make mincemeat of your quarterback.
That's the danger of building your offensive line from veterans. Along with the experience, you are also absorbing the years of wear when you decide to commit money to an offensive lineman with some years in the league.
Even more prevalent than the danger of losing a step is the danger of constant injuries. Outside of the center position, the Browns have been relatively lucky so far this year. But the odds say more Browns linemen will miss time with injuries this year, robbing the line of valuable snaps together. Playing together is the only way to build a cohesive five-man unit, and a lack of cohesion is a large factor in why the Browns line has looked so bad to this point.
The only cure to having your young quarterback and running backs sent running for their lives by an aging, deteriorating offensive line is to draft linemen, draft them high, and draft them every year until you build the depth to withstand some injuries. It's a concept no Browns personnel man has seemed to grasp yet.
If this decorated group of Super Bowl linemen continues to look like an old, sorry bunch as the season wears on, here's hoping the light goes on in Savage's head, and he starts thinking about offensive linemen in preparation for next April's draft.
To a greater or lesser extent, Savage has given the Browns that. No more are they trading a first- and second-rounder to move up one spot in the draft, as Butch Davis did to nab Kellen Winslow Jr. in 2004.
But something still doesn't add up about the way the Browns roster is constructed. And, guess what? It's the offensive line. The omnipresent problem that was never tackled by Dwight Clark or Davis, and still appears to be an albatross hovering over Savage.
Funny we should mention tackling. That's all opposing defenses have been doing against Cleveland's O-line. Charlie Frye has been getting sacked and knocked down at such an alarming rate, it appears a forgone conclusion that he's going to wind up on a gurney a la Chris Simms at some point this season.
The only thing more shocking that Simms' ruptured spleen last Sunday was the fact that it didn't happen to Frye first.
Then there's the little problem of Cleveland's lack of a running game. Reuben Droughns, the Browns' 1,200-yard man of a year ago, might be lucky to crack 700 yards at his current pace. Behind him are a pair of undersized rookies in Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison.
We know just about all fingers can point to the offensive line. But why? Seven years ago, when Jim Pyne was starting, we could point to a lack of talent. But that's not the case now.
The Browns have among the most accomplished groups of offensive linemen in the league. All five of the Browns current starting offensive linemen have played for other teams -- good teams at that. Four -- Hank Fraley, Joe Andruzzi, Cosey Coleman and Ryan Tucker -- started in at least one Super Bowl. The fifth, Kevin Shaffer, protected Michael Vick on a respectable Falcons team.
This group of lineman have a long history of success in the league. And maybe that's part of the problem.
Not one of the Browns' current offensive line starters is younger than 26. Tucker and Andruzzi are the graybeards at 31, Fraley is 29, Coleman 28 and Shaffer is the baby of the bunch at 26.
If he were healthy, LeCharles Bentley would only tie Shaffer as the youngest.
Now, you might be thinking, "So? Isn't experience supposed to be a good thing? Isn't that what the Browns have been missing?" Well, experience is a good thing from the neck up. From the neck down, however, "experience" becomes "mileage."
That's the problem. The freakishly long careers of Lou Groza and Bruce Matthews aside, offensive linemen generally don't have long shelf lives. Once you've been in the trenches, having your 300-pound body hit, twisted, pulled, punched, kicked and scraped for the better part of 10 years, 30 seems more like 40, maybe 50 if you're talking about your knees.
The Browns' offensive linemen are a well-worn bunch, each with a long rap sheet of injuries that just about every lineman will accumulate. The injuries take their toll, the spring in your step gradually fades, and before you know it, Julius Peppers is blowing past your flank three downs in a row to make mincemeat of your quarterback.
That's the danger of building your offensive line from veterans. Along with the experience, you are also absorbing the years of wear when you decide to commit money to an offensive lineman with some years in the league.
Even more prevalent than the danger of losing a step is the danger of constant injuries. Outside of the center position, the Browns have been relatively lucky so far this year. But the odds say more Browns linemen will miss time with injuries this year, robbing the line of valuable snaps together. Playing together is the only way to build a cohesive five-man unit, and a lack of cohesion is a large factor in why the Browns line has looked so bad to this point.
The only cure to having your young quarterback and running backs sent running for their lives by an aging, deteriorating offensive line is to draft linemen, draft them high, and draft them every year until you build the depth to withstand some injuries. It's a concept no Browns personnel man has seemed to grasp yet.
If this decorated group of Super Bowl linemen continues to look like an old, sorry bunch as the season wears on, here's hoping the light goes on in Savage's head, and he starts thinking about offensive linemen in preparation for next April's draft.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Revenge? Not exactly
Monday night was a shot of sweet revenge for the Indians. The Indians were able to crush the last vestiges of hope within the White Sox's clubhouse, eliminating them from the postseason, ensuring that there will be no repeats on Chicago's South Side this year.
During Monday's 14-1 romp, Cleveland fans delighted in returning White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's famous choke sign given them during Chicago's final-nail victory over the Indians on the last day of the 2005 season.
Glorious payback, wasn't it?
Believe that if you want. I don't.
Cleveland's elimination of Chicago this year and Chicago's elimination of Cleveland a year ago are two completely different stories, and reflect a great deal on each team's manager.
Last year, Guillen's club knocked the Indians out when the two teams were jostling for a postseason berth. This year, Eric Wedge's club merely completed a formality when neither team was going anywhere.
Guillen won when it counted. Wedge, as has been the case for most of his tenure, is counting his biggest victories when the pressure is off.
It's at the heart of why, when you need to win a big game, you want someone like Guillen managing, and you want just about anybody besides Wedge.
All last season, Guillen agitated, annoyed and insulted while Wedge kept everything vanilla. The White Sox jumped out to a 15-game lead that served them well come September, when the Indians made up 14 of those games but couldn't get over the hump. The White Sox faded a bit in the second half, but had built up such a large lead in the standings, they were able to outlast the Indians' charge.
Granted, there are other reasons why the Indians missed the playoffs and the White Sox went on to win their first championship in 88 years, among them a large payroll discrepancy. But even as it was happening, I could sense that Guillen was getting more out of his team than Wedge was getting out of his team.
Guillen is outspoken and abrasive. The same qualities that lead him to say stupid things that get printed in the paper are the same qualities that keep his players on their toes.
Wedge is the kind of guy who'd rather be tinkering with the stove than cooking the stew. He's an organizational-innards kind of guy. The same qualities that make him a good manager for nuturing young talent make him a bad manager for winning.
By the time Wedge and the Indians got out of bed last year, stretched, read the paper and had some coffee, it was June. By then, the White Sox were already at the office closing deals. Guillen had his team sharp from the get-go, while the Indians approached the season like they do every season: sluggishly. That, to me, is a direct cause-and-effect of Guillen versus Wedge.
This year, same story. The Indians stumbled out of the gate and never really recovered. The White Sox played competitive baseball for four months before fading.
Pin the fade on Guillen if it satisfies you. But at least the White Sox were competitive, which is more than you can say for your 2006 Indians.
You can laugh all you want at loudmouth Ozzie and his merry band of underachievers. You can gloat at the fact that the Indians played a direct role in making sure that Chicago won't be able to defend their championship next month. You can return Guillen's famous choke sign en masse for the rest of the week.
But I know this much: Guillen will have his team ready to play again next spring. Will Wedge? History says no.
During Monday's 14-1 romp, Cleveland fans delighted in returning White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's famous choke sign given them during Chicago's final-nail victory over the Indians on the last day of the 2005 season.
Glorious payback, wasn't it?
Believe that if you want. I don't.
Cleveland's elimination of Chicago this year and Chicago's elimination of Cleveland a year ago are two completely different stories, and reflect a great deal on each team's manager.
Last year, Guillen's club knocked the Indians out when the two teams were jostling for a postseason berth. This year, Eric Wedge's club merely completed a formality when neither team was going anywhere.
Guillen won when it counted. Wedge, as has been the case for most of his tenure, is counting his biggest victories when the pressure is off.
It's at the heart of why, when you need to win a big game, you want someone like Guillen managing, and you want just about anybody besides Wedge.
All last season, Guillen agitated, annoyed and insulted while Wedge kept everything vanilla. The White Sox jumped out to a 15-game lead that served them well come September, when the Indians made up 14 of those games but couldn't get over the hump. The White Sox faded a bit in the second half, but had built up such a large lead in the standings, they were able to outlast the Indians' charge.
Granted, there are other reasons why the Indians missed the playoffs and the White Sox went on to win their first championship in 88 years, among them a large payroll discrepancy. But even as it was happening, I could sense that Guillen was getting more out of his team than Wedge was getting out of his team.
Guillen is outspoken and abrasive. The same qualities that lead him to say stupid things that get printed in the paper are the same qualities that keep his players on their toes.
Wedge is the kind of guy who'd rather be tinkering with the stove than cooking the stew. He's an organizational-innards kind of guy. The same qualities that make him a good manager for nuturing young talent make him a bad manager for winning.
By the time Wedge and the Indians got out of bed last year, stretched, read the paper and had some coffee, it was June. By then, the White Sox were already at the office closing deals. Guillen had his team sharp from the get-go, while the Indians approached the season like they do every season: sluggishly. That, to me, is a direct cause-and-effect of Guillen versus Wedge.
This year, same story. The Indians stumbled out of the gate and never really recovered. The White Sox played competitive baseball for four months before fading.
Pin the fade on Guillen if it satisfies you. But at least the White Sox were competitive, which is more than you can say for your 2006 Indians.
You can laugh all you want at loudmouth Ozzie and his merry band of underachievers. You can gloat at the fact that the Indians played a direct role in making sure that Chicago won't be able to defend their championship next month. You can return Guillen's famous choke sign en masse for the rest of the week.
But I know this much: Guillen will have his team ready to play again next spring. Will Wedge? History says no.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Morning After: Baltimore
Ravens 15, Browns 14
Record: 0-3
Divisional record: 0-2
Now, THESE are the Browns I've come to know and love. These are the Browns of my youth.
Heart-pounding razor-close games. Critical mistakes at the worst possible times. The opposing team driving an 80-yard stake into your heart. Waiting for the inevitable score that would lose the game.
These are my Browns. I feel so at home now.
In a game most people (including myself) thought the Browns had zero chance of competing in, let alone winning, the Browns' offense and defense suddenly sprang to life in a glorious stretch that last most of the second and third quarters.
Charlie Frye found Braylon Edwards for a 58-yard touchdown pass to put the Browns up 7-3. The offense used the two-minute drill to near-perfection to put up a convincing 14-3 halftime lead.
For the first time all season, the Browns actually looked like they had their shit together. The defense provided fairly consistent pressure on Steve McNair for most of the game. The run defense stepped way up from Weeks 1 and 2, stifling Jamal Lewis.
But as has been the case pretty much since the Browns re-entered the league, they lost the experience battle, and it cost them the game.
After an uprising in the second quarter, the offense went dormant again in the second half. Baltimore, loaded with veterans, knew that if they could chip away at the lead, they had a chance to win. The Browns, who needed nary more than a field goal to seal the game, couldn't even muster that.
You could hear Baltimore's footsteps growing louder as late afternoon turned to dusk. A touchdown to pull to within 14-9. D'Qwell Jackson made a great play to avert a two-point conversion.
But the Ravens kept chipping away. A fourth-quarter field goal put them right on Cleveland's doorstep at 14-12.
Then came the play that decided the game. Second and goal, inside of four minutes to play. Browns youth versus Ravens experience. Cleveland, which had managed to stay in the driver's seat most of the game, were finally overmatched when it mattered most.
Charlie Frye, going for the gusto, forced a pass up top to Braylon Edwards six yards deep in the end zone. If Edwards catches it, the game is essentially over. But he didn't. He didn't have a chance.
Instead, savvy cornerback Chris McAllister gambled, committing to the ball. It paid off. McAllister plucked the ball away from Edwards, setting up the Ravens drive that would result in Matt Stover's game-winning field goal.
All throughout the second half, the Ravens' veteran poise was the story. McNair keeping drives alive with clutch third-down completions. Matt Stover calmly nailing a pair of fourth quarter field goals like he's been doing for more than 15 years. McAllister's well-timed gamble in the end zone.
They kept chipping, chipping, chipping, like miners looking for a vein of gold. It wasn't pretty, but they found it and escaped from Cleveland with the win that kept them tied with Cincinnati atop the AFC North.
Anyone who wants to place this loss solely at the feet of Frye is missing the point. Much like Bill Buckner's immortal fielding gaffe, it was simply the last domino to fall in a series. Truth be told, the Ravens won this game, in a geological sense, over the past 10 years, amassing a cache of impressive veteran talent, making draft picks that panned out, building a roster that has needed very little turnover.
Those teams are the teams that tend to win the close games. Those are the teams that can take the pinhole of an end-zone interception and turn it into the daylight of a win.
That's the type of team we can only hope the Browns are going to have in five years.
Up next: at Oakland, Sunday, 4 p.m.
Record: 0-3
Divisional record: 0-2
Now, THESE are the Browns I've come to know and love. These are the Browns of my youth.
Heart-pounding razor-close games. Critical mistakes at the worst possible times. The opposing team driving an 80-yard stake into your heart. Waiting for the inevitable score that would lose the game.
These are my Browns. I feel so at home now.
In a game most people (including myself) thought the Browns had zero chance of competing in, let alone winning, the Browns' offense and defense suddenly sprang to life in a glorious stretch that last most of the second and third quarters.
Charlie Frye found Braylon Edwards for a 58-yard touchdown pass to put the Browns up 7-3. The offense used the two-minute drill to near-perfection to put up a convincing 14-3 halftime lead.
For the first time all season, the Browns actually looked like they had their shit together. The defense provided fairly consistent pressure on Steve McNair for most of the game. The run defense stepped way up from Weeks 1 and 2, stifling Jamal Lewis.
But as has been the case pretty much since the Browns re-entered the league, they lost the experience battle, and it cost them the game.
After an uprising in the second quarter, the offense went dormant again in the second half. Baltimore, loaded with veterans, knew that if they could chip away at the lead, they had a chance to win. The Browns, who needed nary more than a field goal to seal the game, couldn't even muster that.
You could hear Baltimore's footsteps growing louder as late afternoon turned to dusk. A touchdown to pull to within 14-9. D'Qwell Jackson made a great play to avert a two-point conversion.
But the Ravens kept chipping away. A fourth-quarter field goal put them right on Cleveland's doorstep at 14-12.
Then came the play that decided the game. Second and goal, inside of four minutes to play. Browns youth versus Ravens experience. Cleveland, which had managed to stay in the driver's seat most of the game, were finally overmatched when it mattered most.
Charlie Frye, going for the gusto, forced a pass up top to Braylon Edwards six yards deep in the end zone. If Edwards catches it, the game is essentially over. But he didn't. He didn't have a chance.
Instead, savvy cornerback Chris McAllister gambled, committing to the ball. It paid off. McAllister plucked the ball away from Edwards, setting up the Ravens drive that would result in Matt Stover's game-winning field goal.
All throughout the second half, the Ravens' veteran poise was the story. McNair keeping drives alive with clutch third-down completions. Matt Stover calmly nailing a pair of fourth quarter field goals like he's been doing for more than 15 years. McAllister's well-timed gamble in the end zone.
They kept chipping, chipping, chipping, like miners looking for a vein of gold. It wasn't pretty, but they found it and escaped from Cleveland with the win that kept them tied with Cincinnati atop the AFC North.
Anyone who wants to place this loss solely at the feet of Frye is missing the point. Much like Bill Buckner's immortal fielding gaffe, it was simply the last domino to fall in a series. Truth be told, the Ravens won this game, in a geological sense, over the past 10 years, amassing a cache of impressive veteran talent, making draft picks that panned out, building a roster that has needed very little turnover.
Those teams are the teams that tend to win the close games. Those are the teams that can take the pinhole of an end-zone interception and turn it into the daylight of a win.
That's the type of team we can only hope the Browns are going to have in five years.
Up next: at Oakland, Sunday, 4 p.m.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Getting short with Peralta
It's hard to tell what's gotten into Jhonny Peralta this year.
The Peralta who was driven to succeed a year ago has been replaced with a character who plays lax defense at baseball's most important defensive position, and is hitting nowhere near enough to offset the shaky glovework.
All in all, it looks like his competitive fire went out and he has no idea how to restoke it. Or he doesn't really care about restoking it.
Peralta's limp season is not lost on Tribe manager Eric Wedge, who is making his shortstop a favorite lightning rod for public criticism. After Thursday's series-losing loss in Oakland, Wedge laid Peralta open in the media again.
"The way he's playing shortstop right now is just not getting it done," Wedge told The Plain Dealer.
Wedge took particular umbrage to a Marco Scutaro infield single, which Wedge said Peralta should have been able to make a play on. The single helped ignite an Oakland rally that eventually put the Athletics up 4-1.
"Yeah, he should have made that play," Wedge told reporters. "I'm tired of talking about the guy. We've challenged him ... He has to make that play. We've challenged his pregame preparation, his first-step quickness ... He's going to have to do better to be the defensive shortstop we want him to be."
If Wedge is at his wit's end with Peralta, It means the Indians' front office is as well. So unless Peralta suddenly turns on the juice these last 10 games of the season, it is highly likely that Peralta will either not be a member of the Indians by next spring, or will be playing a different position at the very least.
A lot of preseason prognosticators fingered Peralta for a slide this year after an impressive full-season debut, but I don't think anyone though he would fall this hard. His spacy play at shortstop looks like it might even be infecting Andy Marte, a third baseman with Gold Glove potential who has also shown an aversion to exerting himself at times.
So how did it get this bad for Peralta? We can only hypothesize about what's going on in his head, but it's probably a combination of several factors:
1. He bought his own hype
After hitting .292 a year ago and setting an Indians franchise record for home runs by a shortstop with 24, Peralta appeared to be a rising star. Sure, he didn't have the range of Omar, but he was competent in the field after a shaky start and his offense made everyone believe he was going to follow in the lineage of Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada and other shortstops who developed into heart of the order hitters.
Peralta swallowed the accolades hook, line and sinker, and much like the departed Brandon Phillips, started believing he was better than he actually was. Maybe he started thinking he had this baseball thing down pat, which is a sure recipe for humble pie for a young player.
2. He signed a fat contract extension
It's amazing how different players react with stark contrast to newfound financial security. Grady Sizemore signed a six-year contract extension and took it as a vote of confidence from the Indians organization. It seems to have made him try even harder to be a great player. Peralta signed a five-year contract extension and is acting like a person who hit the lottery and never has to worry about money again. The drive to prove himself seems to have evaporated.
3. He is no longer viewed as Omar's replacement
Peralta had a huge mountain to scale at the start of last season. He was the guy who had to prove he was worthy to tread the same infield soil where Omar Vizquel worked his magic. Every time a ball was hit to him, Peralta knew he would be incessantly compared to his predecessor. Every error, every late throw, every miscalculation would be met with eye rolls, scoffs and "Omar would have made that play." Peralta knew it, and it kept him on his toes last year.
This season, we are in the year 2 A.O. (After Omar), and Peralta, based on his performance a year ago, was allowed to stand on his own merits without the relentless comparisons to Vizquel. It caused him to relax, maybe too much.
Peralta seems to be one of those players who needs constant prodding to realize his potential. Wedge -- hardly a master motivator -- is having a hard time doing that. It is possible that Peralta might need to play for a different manager who can find a way to light a fire under him again.
But I'm not about to lay the bulk of the blame at the feet of Eric Wedge for not motivating Peralta. In the end, the player is the one who has to take the field and find a way to make the plays and get the hits. This season, Peralta isn't doing that.
The Peralta who was driven to succeed a year ago has been replaced with a character who plays lax defense at baseball's most important defensive position, and is hitting nowhere near enough to offset the shaky glovework.
All in all, it looks like his competitive fire went out and he has no idea how to restoke it. Or he doesn't really care about restoking it.
Peralta's limp season is not lost on Tribe manager Eric Wedge, who is making his shortstop a favorite lightning rod for public criticism. After Thursday's series-losing loss in Oakland, Wedge laid Peralta open in the media again.
"The way he's playing shortstop right now is just not getting it done," Wedge told The Plain Dealer.
Wedge took particular umbrage to a Marco Scutaro infield single, which Wedge said Peralta should have been able to make a play on. The single helped ignite an Oakland rally that eventually put the Athletics up 4-1.
"Yeah, he should have made that play," Wedge told reporters. "I'm tired of talking about the guy. We've challenged him ... He has to make that play. We've challenged his pregame preparation, his first-step quickness ... He's going to have to do better to be the defensive shortstop we want him to be."
If Wedge is at his wit's end with Peralta, It means the Indians' front office is as well. So unless Peralta suddenly turns on the juice these last 10 games of the season, it is highly likely that Peralta will either not be a member of the Indians by next spring, or will be playing a different position at the very least.
A lot of preseason prognosticators fingered Peralta for a slide this year after an impressive full-season debut, but I don't think anyone though he would fall this hard. His spacy play at shortstop looks like it might even be infecting Andy Marte, a third baseman with Gold Glove potential who has also shown an aversion to exerting himself at times.
So how did it get this bad for Peralta? We can only hypothesize about what's going on in his head, but it's probably a combination of several factors:
1. He bought his own hype
After hitting .292 a year ago and setting an Indians franchise record for home runs by a shortstop with 24, Peralta appeared to be a rising star. Sure, he didn't have the range of Omar, but he was competent in the field after a shaky start and his offense made everyone believe he was going to follow in the lineage of Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada and other shortstops who developed into heart of the order hitters.
Peralta swallowed the accolades hook, line and sinker, and much like the departed Brandon Phillips, started believing he was better than he actually was. Maybe he started thinking he had this baseball thing down pat, which is a sure recipe for humble pie for a young player.
2. He signed a fat contract extension
It's amazing how different players react with stark contrast to newfound financial security. Grady Sizemore signed a six-year contract extension and took it as a vote of confidence from the Indians organization. It seems to have made him try even harder to be a great player. Peralta signed a five-year contract extension and is acting like a person who hit the lottery and never has to worry about money again. The drive to prove himself seems to have evaporated.
3. He is no longer viewed as Omar's replacement
Peralta had a huge mountain to scale at the start of last season. He was the guy who had to prove he was worthy to tread the same infield soil where Omar Vizquel worked his magic. Every time a ball was hit to him, Peralta knew he would be incessantly compared to his predecessor. Every error, every late throw, every miscalculation would be met with eye rolls, scoffs and "Omar would have made that play." Peralta knew it, and it kept him on his toes last year.
This season, we are in the year 2 A.O. (After Omar), and Peralta, based on his performance a year ago, was allowed to stand on his own merits without the relentless comparisons to Vizquel. It caused him to relax, maybe too much.
Peralta seems to be one of those players who needs constant prodding to realize his potential. Wedge -- hardly a master motivator -- is having a hard time doing that. It is possible that Peralta might need to play for a different manager who can find a way to light a fire under him again.
But I'm not about to lay the bulk of the blame at the feet of Eric Wedge for not motivating Peralta. In the end, the player is the one who has to take the field and find a way to make the plays and get the hits. This season, Peralta isn't doing that.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The wrong move again
Those Indians, they just can't do anything right.
Last winter, they couldn't lure B.J Ryan or Trevor Hoffman to town, so they had to settle for grossly overpaying Bob Wickman to the tune of $5.4 million for another year of his services.
Even coming off a career high 45 saves in 2005, the move was largely panned for a variety of reasons, but mostly because Wickman isn't Jose Mesa from 1995, he of the three-up, three-down save variety.
All we ever heard from Joe Blow on the street was how Wickman was not to be trusted, how watching a Wickman save required one to chug antacid, how the Indians were never going to win anything with Wickman as a closer.
Then Wickman was traded to Atlanta for a Class A catcher and a bag of peanuts, we were subjected to the likes of Fausto Carmona, Jason Davis and Tom Mastny in the closer's role, and suddenly Wickman didn't look so bad.
Then, Wednesday, Wickman signed a one-year, $6.5 million extension with the Braves, and the Indians instantly became idiots for dumping Wickman under the auspices that he was certain to retire at season's end. Even if the Indians didn't believe that, it became Cleveland's own "weapons of mass destruction" rumor, based on faulty intelligence gathered by an inept network of spies.
Yeah, those dumb Indians. What kind of GM is Mark Shapiro anyway, shipping off an experienced closer for jack-diddly-squat? The Braves are going to get a lot of mileage out of Wickman, and we're going to be left with nothing.
It's so easy to be a backseat commentator, isn't it?
If the Indians kept Wickman and inked him to a one-year extension worth nearly $7 million, what would we all be saying?
"Does Wickman have compromising photos of Larry Dolan?"
"What are Dolan and Shapiro smoking?"
"Do the Indians want me to have a coronary, subjecting me to another year of Wickman?"
I think, at this stage, being critical of Indians management is such a reflexive action among the fan base that no matter what the Indians do, it will be met with criticism.
The Indians do deserve a fair amount of criticism for creating a domino effect that began last winter and will end with the team's fourth losing season in five years. But to call the Wickman trade a bad move in retrospect is purely a knee-jerk response without a lot of thought to back it up. If they had kept him, that would have been a bad move, too.
Criticism of the Wickman trade says a lot more about the fans and local media than it does about the team.
Last winter, they couldn't lure B.J Ryan or Trevor Hoffman to town, so they had to settle for grossly overpaying Bob Wickman to the tune of $5.4 million for another year of his services.
Even coming off a career high 45 saves in 2005, the move was largely panned for a variety of reasons, but mostly because Wickman isn't Jose Mesa from 1995, he of the three-up, three-down save variety.
All we ever heard from Joe Blow on the street was how Wickman was not to be trusted, how watching a Wickman save required one to chug antacid, how the Indians were never going to win anything with Wickman as a closer.
Then Wickman was traded to Atlanta for a Class A catcher and a bag of peanuts, we were subjected to the likes of Fausto Carmona, Jason Davis and Tom Mastny in the closer's role, and suddenly Wickman didn't look so bad.
Then, Wednesday, Wickman signed a one-year, $6.5 million extension with the Braves, and the Indians instantly became idiots for dumping Wickman under the auspices that he was certain to retire at season's end. Even if the Indians didn't believe that, it became Cleveland's own "weapons of mass destruction" rumor, based on faulty intelligence gathered by an inept network of spies.
Yeah, those dumb Indians. What kind of GM is Mark Shapiro anyway, shipping off an experienced closer for jack-diddly-squat? The Braves are going to get a lot of mileage out of Wickman, and we're going to be left with nothing.
It's so easy to be a backseat commentator, isn't it?
If the Indians kept Wickman and inked him to a one-year extension worth nearly $7 million, what would we all be saying?
"Does Wickman have compromising photos of Larry Dolan?"
"What are Dolan and Shapiro smoking?"
"Do the Indians want me to have a coronary, subjecting me to another year of Wickman?"
I think, at this stage, being critical of Indians management is such a reflexive action among the fan base that no matter what the Indians do, it will be met with criticism.
The Indians do deserve a fair amount of criticism for creating a domino effect that began last winter and will end with the team's fourth losing season in five years. But to call the Wickman trade a bad move in retrospect is purely a knee-jerk response without a lot of thought to back it up. If they had kept him, that would have been a bad move, too.
Criticism of the Wickman trade says a lot more about the fans and local media than it does about the team.
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