While Hall of Famer Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller is receiving hospice care, we wanted to reflect on an outstanding interview he did with The Plain Dealer's Dennis Manoloff in the spring.
Days before Feller took off for spring training, he took the time to share with Manoloff. Just a few of the questions and answers:
PD: When you hear the term 'living legend' used to describe you, what does it mean?
BF: I owe baseball everything I am today. Whatever I may or may not be, I owe to baseball. I think of a young kid who had great parents, teachers, coaches and a scout, Cy Slapnicka, who signed me and took me in almost as his son. Living legend? It's a term I respect and appreciate because I started out as a kid with no idea what might happen in the game. Thanks to Cy having a lot of confidence in me, I was able to pitch for Cleveland.
PD: Which of the nicknames most attached to you do you prefer: The Heater from Van Meter, Bullet Bob or Rapid Robert?
BF: I don't like any of them that much, to be honest. To me, Bullet Bob is Bullet Bob Turley (1958 Cy Young winner). Rapid Robert is the most popular, but I don't care for it. Anne, my wife, doesn't like it, either. I prefer to be called Bob. If they call me Rapid Robert, well, so be it.
PD: In official baseball records and on your statue outside Progressive Field, you are listed as Robert William Andrew Feller. What is behind the two middle names?
BF: My father's name was William. My grandfather -- his father -- was Andrew. Andrew's widow, when I was born in 1918, wanted me to have her husband's name. She asked right in our home in Iowa. So my parents said, "Yes, we're going to name him Robert William Andrew Feller." They didn't. She never knew it when she went to her grave. My legal name at the county recorder's office in Dallas County, Iowa, is Robert William Feller. Robert William Andrew Feller is not my name, legally.
PD: But you don't mind the two middle names?
BF: I don't mind at all.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Ron Santo
Chicago -- Ron Santo, one of the greatest players in Chicago Cubs history and a longtime WGN radio announcer whose devotion to the perennial losers was made obvious night after night by his excited shouts or dejected laments, has died. He was 70.
"Ronnie will forever be the heart and soul of Cubs fans," Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement Friday. He praised Santo for "his passion, his loyalty, high great personal courage and his tremendous sense of humor."
Santo died in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer, according to WGN Radio. Santo was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 18 and later lost both legs to the disease.
A nine-time all-star in his 15-year career, Santo was widely regarded as one of the best players never to gain induction into the Hall of Fame. The quiet sadness with which he met the news year after year that he hadn't been inducted helped cement his relationship with the fans.
But nothing brought fans closer to Santo -- or caused critics to roll their eyes more -- than his work in the radio booth, where he made it clear that nobody rooted harder for the Cubs and nobody took it harder when they lost. Santo's groans of "Oh, nooo!" and "It's bad" when something bad happened to the Cubs, sometimes just minutes after he shouting, "YES! YES!" or "ALL RIGHT!" became part of team lore as the "Cubbies" came up short year after year.
"The emotion for me is strictly the love I have for this team," Santo told The Associated Press in August 2009. "I want them to win so bad."
Santo played for the Cubs from 1960-73 and wrapped up his career with the White Sox in 1974. He joined the Cubs' radio team in 1990.
Santo battled myriad medical problems after he retired as a player, having undergone surgery on his eyes, heart and bladder after doctors discovered cancer. On his legs alone, he underwent surgery more than a dozen times before they were ultimately amputated below the knees -- the right one in 2001 and the left a year later.
Don Kessinger, who played shortstop with the Cubs from 1964-1975 and perhaps saw more of Santo's play at third base than anyone else, said what he remembers most is how hard his teammate played every single day.
Kessinger said Santo deserved to be in the Hall of Fame, and cannot understand why he was never elected.
"It's hard for me to believe he wasn't elected, and I'm surprised the veterans committee didn't see fit to put him in," said Kessinger. "It would have meant so much to Ron Santo to be elected into that awesome hall."
Born Ronald Edward Santo in Seattle on Feb. 25, 1940, Santo was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 18. But he kept it from the team until he made his first All-Star game in 1963, and fans didn't know about his diabetes for years after that.
Even though the Cubs failed to make the World Series in his lifetime, Santo once said his association with the team probably prolonged his life.
"If I hadn't had this when my troubles started, I don't know if I would have survived," he said in September 2003. "I really mean that. It's therapy."
Santo was a fan favorite on a team that included Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. Many taverns near Wrigley Field include photos of Santo, including one in which he famously clicked his heels as he ran off the field.
By all accounts, it was a tremendous career. In his 14 years with the Cubs and his final season across town with the White Sox, the third baseman hit .277 with, 2,254 hits, 342 home runs and 1,331 runs batted in. He also was named to the All-Star team nine times won the Gold Glove award five times.
He hit .300 or better four times, had the best on-base percentage in the league in 1964 and 1966 and led the league in walks four times.
But the team routinely finished at or near the bottom of the standings.
One of the few times the Cubs didn't was in 1969, when they finished second after leading the New York Mets by nine games as late as Aug. 16. That year, a photograph was taken of Santo that became synonymous with both the team's failure and the supposed curses that have long haunted the team: There, in the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium, is Santo, a bat on his shoulder as a black cat scurries past.
Santo's disappointment with being passed over for induction into the Hall of Fame was well known to viewers, who watched him receive the news on the phone in 2003 thanks to television cameras he allowed inside his house when he thought he would be getting in.
In 2003, he was honored by the Cubs, who retired his No. 10, hoisting it up the left-field foul pole, just below Banks' No. 14.
"This flag hanging down the left-field line means more to me than the Hall of Fame," Santo told the cheering crowd at Wrigley Field when his number was retired.
"This couldn't be any better," he said. "With the adversity that I have been through if it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Santo had been active in fundraising for diabetes research, with his Walk-for-the-Cure raising millions of dollars
"Ronnie will forever be the heart and soul of Cubs fans," Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement Friday. He praised Santo for "his passion, his loyalty, high great personal courage and his tremendous sense of humor."
Santo died in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer, according to WGN Radio. Santo was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 18 and later lost both legs to the disease.
A nine-time all-star in his 15-year career, Santo was widely regarded as one of the best players never to gain induction into the Hall of Fame. The quiet sadness with which he met the news year after year that he hadn't been inducted helped cement his relationship with the fans.
But nothing brought fans closer to Santo -- or caused critics to roll their eyes more -- than his work in the radio booth, where he made it clear that nobody rooted harder for the Cubs and nobody took it harder when they lost. Santo's groans of "Oh, nooo!" and "It's bad" when something bad happened to the Cubs, sometimes just minutes after he shouting, "YES! YES!" or "ALL RIGHT!" became part of team lore as the "Cubbies" came up short year after year.
"The emotion for me is strictly the love I have for this team," Santo told The Associated Press in August 2009. "I want them to win so bad."
Santo played for the Cubs from 1960-73 and wrapped up his career with the White Sox in 1974. He joined the Cubs' radio team in 1990.
Santo battled myriad medical problems after he retired as a player, having undergone surgery on his eyes, heart and bladder after doctors discovered cancer. On his legs alone, he underwent surgery more than a dozen times before they were ultimately amputated below the knees -- the right one in 2001 and the left a year later.
Don Kessinger, who played shortstop with the Cubs from 1964-1975 and perhaps saw more of Santo's play at third base than anyone else, said what he remembers most is how hard his teammate played every single day.
Kessinger said Santo deserved to be in the Hall of Fame, and cannot understand why he was never elected.
"It's hard for me to believe he wasn't elected, and I'm surprised the veterans committee didn't see fit to put him in," said Kessinger. "It would have meant so much to Ron Santo to be elected into that awesome hall."
Born Ronald Edward Santo in Seattle on Feb. 25, 1940, Santo was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 18. But he kept it from the team until he made his first All-Star game in 1963, and fans didn't know about his diabetes for years after that.
Even though the Cubs failed to make the World Series in his lifetime, Santo once said his association with the team probably prolonged his life.
"If I hadn't had this when my troubles started, I don't know if I would have survived," he said in September 2003. "I really mean that. It's therapy."
Santo was a fan favorite on a team that included Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. Many taverns near Wrigley Field include photos of Santo, including one in which he famously clicked his heels as he ran off the field.
By all accounts, it was a tremendous career. In his 14 years with the Cubs and his final season across town with the White Sox, the third baseman hit .277 with, 2,254 hits, 342 home runs and 1,331 runs batted in. He also was named to the All-Star team nine times won the Gold Glove award five times.
He hit .300 or better four times, had the best on-base percentage in the league in 1964 and 1966 and led the league in walks four times.
But the team routinely finished at or near the bottom of the standings.
One of the few times the Cubs didn't was in 1969, when they finished second after leading the New York Mets by nine games as late as Aug. 16. That year, a photograph was taken of Santo that became synonymous with both the team's failure and the supposed curses that have long haunted the team: There, in the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium, is Santo, a bat on his shoulder as a black cat scurries past.
Santo's disappointment with being passed over for induction into the Hall of Fame was well known to viewers, who watched him receive the news on the phone in 2003 thanks to television cameras he allowed inside his house when he thought he would be getting in.
In 2003, he was honored by the Cubs, who retired his No. 10, hoisting it up the left-field foul pole, just below Banks' No. 14.
"This flag hanging down the left-field line means more to me than the Hall of Fame," Santo told the cheering crowd at Wrigley Field when his number was retired.
"This couldn't be any better," he said. "With the adversity that I have been through if it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Santo had been active in fundraising for diabetes research, with his Walk-for-the-Cure raising millions of dollars
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Sparky Anderson - Tim Kurkijan
David Wells was throwing a simulated game at Tiger Stadium on a hot day in 1994, but it could have been any day in any year. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson sat in the dugout, legs crossed, smoking a pipe and watching Wells throw as he talked breathlessly to a writer. He was watching Wells with one eye; with the other, he looked at the writer, with complete attention to both. "He's throwing great,'' he said. "Great curveball. Oh, he's ready.''
That was Sparky Anderson. He was a great judge of talent, and a great communicator with people, all at the same time, all the time, every day of his life.No manager in baseball history was more true to his nickname than George "Sparky'' Anderson. No manager ever loved the game more than Sparky. No manager did the job with the same relentless energy and enthusiasm as Sparky. No manager smiled as often as Sparky. No manager was more of a gentleman than Sparky. No manager was nicer than Sparky. Late in his career, Anderson asked the media to start calling him by his given name, George, saying no man in his 50s should be called Sparky. But, it never took. He was and always will be Sparky.
Part of his charm was his penchant for hyperbole. He once called Kirk Gibson, "the next Mickey Mantle,'' and said second baseman Chris Pittaro was a "future Hall of Famer'' even though everyone knew he wasn't. A writer once asked him about the great Reds teams that he managed, and Sparky ran his hand through his silver hair, put his two hands out and began counting fingers: "Bench, greatest catcher ever. Rose, most hits ever. Morgan, maybe the greatest second baseman ever. Perez, Hall of Famer. Concepcion, should be a Hall of Famer; Foster, unbelievable power; Geronimo, best defensive center fielder in the game,'' then proceeded to name every player on those teams, with a superlative attached to each.
"What do you think?'' he said. "Give me a team that could beat those teams.''
Anderson fractured the English language, but in an engaging, homespun sort of way. Of his Stengelesque mangling of words, which was comical and harmless, Anderson once said, "Why do you have to know English? It's like 'two.' There are three twos! There's tee-oh. There's tee-doublya-oh, and there's tee-double-oh. Three twos! Now, if I put any one of them down in a letter I wrote, you would know which one it is I am talking about. It's like 'there' and 'their.' What is the difference as long as you know there's a there there?''
When Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated went to do a story on Sparky, Anderson brought up the hilarious movie, "The Naked Gun," and in full uniform in his office, did his impersonation of Leslie Nielsen as the umpire, complete with the moonwalk and the yelling of Steeeeee-rike threeeee.
Anderson was a simple man who was, at times, embarrassed by the money and the lifestyle of a major leaguer, in part because he grew up in South Dakota in a house that didn't have an indoor toilet.
He once said, "I only had a high school education and, believe me, I had to cheat to get that.''
As the manager of the Tigers, he once said on game days, he would mostly stay in his hotel watching TV. "I loved 'Headline News,'" he said. "I could watch it all day. Sometimes, it was the same show, and I'd watch over and over.'' But his simple approach is what made him such a great manager. He didn't try to out-think the room, as some managers do. He knew, and said many times, that managers win only because of the players. At his Hall of Fame induction speech, he made that very clear.
And Anderson was a great manager. He won 2,194 games, sixth most ever. He won five pennants and three World Series. He and Tony La Russa are the only managers to win the World Series in each league. He is the all-time winningest manager for two franchises, the Reds and Tigers. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2000, and nothing made him happier than going back to Cooperstown each year and shaking hands with the other Hall of Famers.
But, as a manager, he was tough when he needed to be. His other nickname was "Captain Hook" because of his willingness to go to his bullpen as often as he saw fit. Some of his pitchers weren't particularly happy about coming out of a game, but Anderson once said of removing a pitcher, "I'll tell you when you're tired.''
Anderson was 36 years old when he took over the Reds in 1970. That was a good team, a relatively young team, but the veterans tested their new manager immediately, and immediately Sparky made it clear: It didn't matter that he was a rookie manager, or only 36 years old, he was in charge, and the players would do as he said. Quickly, they did. The Reds won world championships in 1975 and 1976. Those teams are considered among the greatest teams in National League history.
In 1979, Anderson took over the Tigers. He was instrumental -- but took no credit -- for helping make Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris and many others the players they became. In 1984, the Tigers started out 35-5, went wire-to-wire to take the division and won the World Series in five games over the Padres. Anderson wrote a diary of that special season, in which he typically lauded in the players in a book titled "Bless You Boys.''
No Sparky, bless you.
Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. His book "Is This a Great Game, or What?" was published by St. Martin's Press and became available in paperback in May 2008. Click here to order a copy.
That was Sparky Anderson. He was a great judge of talent, and a great communicator with people, all at the same time, all the time, every day of his life.No manager in baseball history was more true to his nickname than George "Sparky'' Anderson. No manager ever loved the game more than Sparky. No manager did the job with the same relentless energy and enthusiasm as Sparky. No manager smiled as often as Sparky. No manager was more of a gentleman than Sparky. No manager was nicer than Sparky. Late in his career, Anderson asked the media to start calling him by his given name, George, saying no man in his 50s should be called Sparky. But, it never took. He was and always will be Sparky.
Part of his charm was his penchant for hyperbole. He once called Kirk Gibson, "the next Mickey Mantle,'' and said second baseman Chris Pittaro was a "future Hall of Famer'' even though everyone knew he wasn't. A writer once asked him about the great Reds teams that he managed, and Sparky ran his hand through his silver hair, put his two hands out and began counting fingers: "Bench, greatest catcher ever. Rose, most hits ever. Morgan, maybe the greatest second baseman ever. Perez, Hall of Famer. Concepcion, should be a Hall of Famer; Foster, unbelievable power; Geronimo, best defensive center fielder in the game,'' then proceeded to name every player on those teams, with a superlative attached to each.
"What do you think?'' he said. "Give me a team that could beat those teams.''
Anderson fractured the English language, but in an engaging, homespun sort of way. Of his Stengelesque mangling of words, which was comical and harmless, Anderson once said, "Why do you have to know English? It's like 'two.' There are three twos! There's tee-oh. There's tee-doublya-oh, and there's tee-double-oh. Three twos! Now, if I put any one of them down in a letter I wrote, you would know which one it is I am talking about. It's like 'there' and 'their.' What is the difference as long as you know there's a there there?''
When Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated went to do a story on Sparky, Anderson brought up the hilarious movie, "The Naked Gun," and in full uniform in his office, did his impersonation of Leslie Nielsen as the umpire, complete with the moonwalk and the yelling of Steeeeee-rike threeeee.
Anderson was a simple man who was, at times, embarrassed by the money and the lifestyle of a major leaguer, in part because he grew up in South Dakota in a house that didn't have an indoor toilet.
He once said, "I only had a high school education and, believe me, I had to cheat to get that.''
As the manager of the Tigers, he once said on game days, he would mostly stay in his hotel watching TV. "I loved 'Headline News,'" he said. "I could watch it all day. Sometimes, it was the same show, and I'd watch over and over.'' But his simple approach is what made him such a great manager. He didn't try to out-think the room, as some managers do. He knew, and said many times, that managers win only because of the players. At his Hall of Fame induction speech, he made that very clear.
And Anderson was a great manager. He won 2,194 games, sixth most ever. He won five pennants and three World Series. He and Tony La Russa are the only managers to win the World Series in each league. He is the all-time winningest manager for two franchises, the Reds and Tigers. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2000, and nothing made him happier than going back to Cooperstown each year and shaking hands with the other Hall of Famers.
But, as a manager, he was tough when he needed to be. His other nickname was "Captain Hook" because of his willingness to go to his bullpen as often as he saw fit. Some of his pitchers weren't particularly happy about coming out of a game, but Anderson once said of removing a pitcher, "I'll tell you when you're tired.''
Anderson was 36 years old when he took over the Reds in 1970. That was a good team, a relatively young team, but the veterans tested their new manager immediately, and immediately Sparky made it clear: It didn't matter that he was a rookie manager, or only 36 years old, he was in charge, and the players would do as he said. Quickly, they did. The Reds won world championships in 1975 and 1976. Those teams are considered among the greatest teams in National League history.
In 1979, Anderson took over the Tigers. He was instrumental -- but took no credit -- for helping make Gibson, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris and many others the players they became. In 1984, the Tigers started out 35-5, went wire-to-wire to take the division and won the World Series in five games over the Padres. Anderson wrote a diary of that special season, in which he typically lauded in the players in a book titled "Bless You Boys.''
No Sparky, bless you.
Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. His book "Is This a Great Game, or What?" was published by St. Martin's Press and became available in paperback in May 2008. Click here to order a copy.
Friday, October 15, 2010
A century doesn't erase questions surrounding Nap Lajoie's 8-for-8 day
One hundred years ago this Saturday, Cleveland Naps star second baseman Napoleon Lajoie authored one of the greatest single-day performances in a Major League Baseball regular season.
Or did he?
Did Lajoie legitimately go 8-for-8 in a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park to run down Ty Cobb for a batting title and automobile? Or did the Browns effectively attempt to hand the keys to the car to him -- and start the engine -- with a "defense" that gave up a string of bunt singles?
And was the 8-for-8, regardless of circumstance, actually enough to trump Cobb?
The combination of two legends, high stakes and various shades of gray creates, at the very least, a conversation piece 100 years later.
Entering the 1910 season, Detroit car magnate Hugh Chalmers offered a "Chalmers 30" to who ever finished with the highest average in the game. Owning a car in those days was a big deal.
The Detroit Tigers' Cobb, three-time defending AL batting champion, was the natural favorite to win. Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner and Cleveland's Lajoie were among those expected to be in the mix as well.
Eventually, it became a race between Cobb and Lajoie, who were destined to be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., in the late 1930s. By the final weekend, Cobb seemingly had the fourth straight title in his pocket, especially given his decision not to play the last two games. Cobb claimed that a recurring eye issue dogged him; his long line of haters wondered if he winked through the pain.
The lead of a sidebar in the Sunday, Oct. 9, edition of The Plain Dealer read: "Nap Lajoie's chances of owning the automobile presented to the leading batsman of the country are mightily slim -- in fact, they are practically obliterated unless the 'official' figures prove that 'unofficial' figures are radically incorrect. Cobb, according to The Plain Dealer's estimate, is batting close to .383, while Lajoie's present mark is slightly in excess of .378." (We know now that the lead was .383 to .376.)
The article went on to tweak Cobb for his plans to sit out the final two: "Cobb left the Detroit team Friday night, departing for Philadelphia where he will be a member of the All-Star team that will practice with the Athletics. The Georgian declared that he was not feeling very well. The fact that he was ahead in the auto race and feared that he might take a slump in the two games yet to be played may have had something to do with the sudden decision."
On Oct. 9, about 10,000 fans watched the awful Browns play the sub-.500 Naps in the doubleheader. Most were on hand to see if Lajoie -- aka "The Big French man" or "Larry" -- could mount a challenge to Cobb.
Lajoie tripled in his first at-bat of the opener, then, depending on one's definition of the term, bunted over and over. Lajoie went 4-for-4 in a loss and 4-for-4 with a sacrifice in a victory.
Lajoie kept dropping or pushing or dumping balls in front of Browns rookie infielder Red Corriden, who kept positioning himself ultra-deep, presumably on orders from his manager, Jack O'Connor.
A headline from the front page of The Plain Dealer's Oct. 10 edition stated, "Lajoie Wins Auto In Final Stretch," but acknowledged in a subhead that some thing had smelled at Sportsman's Park: "St. Louis Papers Say Browns Made It Easy for Nap Slugger."
After the writer of the "Special To The Plain Dealer" article described how excited fans were to see Lajoie pile up the hits, the case for the asterisk was summarized:
"But Larry's triumph is tinged with a charge of illegitimacy. St. Louis sporting writers assert that Lajoie was favored by opposing fielders. They say that the St. Louis pitchers pitched the ball where Larry could hit it to best advantage.
"They maintain that Corridon [sic], the Brown third baseman, did not field to the best of his ability when the Cleveland champion drove the ball into Corridon's territory. They insist that other fielders abetted him and aided Lajoie in his race for highest honors. Among others who wrote in similar strain, the baseball editor of the St. Louis Globe Democrat gave the fol lowing description of the St. Louis infield's work:
" 'Every time Lajoie stepped up to the plate, Corridon walked out to the very edge of the grass almost. The Browns' third sacker was virtually playing a short left field for Larry. This always resulted in the same old thing happening, that of Lajoie bunting down the third base line, Corridon rushing in to field the ball and then not throwing because a throw to first would have been useless.'"
The case for shenanigans was bolstered by various reports of pressure having been applied to the official scorer concerning Lajoie's second-game sacrifice. Whether the offender was St. Louis pitching coach Harry Howell or a Naps bat boy or someone else, the goal was to get the sacrifice changed to a hit, because Lajoie needed all the hits he could get. The scorer, possibly offered a bribe, refused to buckle. The play remained a sacrifice/error third base.
If the opposition had, in fact, laid down a Brown carpet for Lajoie, why had they done so? The answer apparently was as simple as ABC: Anybody But Cobb. The Browns were no different than other teams -- including, to a certain extent, the Tigers -- in their dislike for the irascible Cobb. If the down-to-earth Lajoie could be the foil, all the better.
The Plain Dealer's front page Oct. 10 listed how the Cleveland papers calculated the race. The Plain Dealer had Lajoie beating Cobb (.385 to .382), as did The Leader (382.4 to 381.7) and The Press (386.8 to 382.6). The News gave the nod to Cobb (384.15-384.09). Further indicative of the statistical uncertainty of the times was that each paper had a different hit total for Lajoie, ranging from 226 to 229.
A story on the cover of The Plain Dealer on Oct. 11 revealed that American League President Ban Johnson no longer would allow anymore individual contests/prizes as long as he was the league's boss. Johnson was furious about the allegations coming out of Sportsman's Park and promised to investigate.
Lajoie did not flinch. This, from the same story:
" 'It's too close for me to claim the victory and the auto,' said Lajoie at the Grand hotel in Cincinnati last evening. 'Take it from me, I am waiting until Ban Johnson and Robert McRoy tell me whether I have a better record than Cobb or Cobb has me beat. There is such a difference of opinion that I am not counting my eggs before they are hatched or taking a ride in that auto before Johnson and McRoy have poured in a little Cleveland gasoline.
" 'The talk about my not earning those eight hits in St. Louis, though, makes me tired. The first time up I smashed one to the outfield that went over Northen's head, yet some say he misjudged it. Then I hit one that Wallace was lucky to knock down. If that wasn't a hit, there never was one. Then we get down to those six bunts that I beat out. Suppose Corridon did play fairly well back. If he had played in for a bunt and I had swung hard on the ball, I suppose the youngster would have been roasted to a turn be cause he did not play deep."
McRoy was the American League secretary. Upon rechecking the season's stats, McRoy claimed that Cobb was not credited with a 2-for-3 performance from a late-September double header. Adding the 2-for-3 enabled Cobb to edge Lajoie. Johnson signed off on it.
Within a week of the season's conclusion, Johnson announced that Lajoie's 8-for-8 would stand even as O'Connor and Howell had been banished. Johnson also said that Lajoie should have gotten credit for a ninth hit in stead of the sacrifice. Still, according to Johnson and McRoy, Lajoie's perfect day was not enough to overtake Cobb. Johnson declared Cobb the winner of the title and the Chalmers 30. Cobb was credited with going 196-for-509 (.385069) to Lajoie's 227-for-591 (.384095).
Johnson declaring Cobb was entitled to the "Chalmers trophy" did not stop the president from asking Chalmers to provide Lajoie with an automobile, as well. Chalmers agreed; Lajoie, after initially balking, accepted the gift.
Debate continues to this day over who should be listed as the 1910 AL batting champion.
In the late 1970s, researchers Pete Palmer and Leonard Gettelson discovered that Cobb's 2-for-3 had been recorded and, therefore, was mistakenly duplicated. In April 1981, The Sporting News publicized the error but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn declined to alter the history books. In the eyes of baseball, Cobb would remain the 1910 AL batting champion -- part of nine consecutive titles from 1907 to 1915 -- and own 4,191 career hits.
Or did he?
Did Lajoie legitimately go 8-for-8 in a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park to run down Ty Cobb for a batting title and automobile? Or did the Browns effectively attempt to hand the keys to the car to him -- and start the engine -- with a "defense" that gave up a string of bunt singles?
And was the 8-for-8, regardless of circumstance, actually enough to trump Cobb?
The combination of two legends, high stakes and various shades of gray creates, at the very least, a conversation piece 100 years later.
Entering the 1910 season, Detroit car magnate Hugh Chalmers offered a "Chalmers 30" to who ever finished with the highest average in the game. Owning a car in those days was a big deal.
The Detroit Tigers' Cobb, three-time defending AL batting champion, was the natural favorite to win. Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner and Cleveland's Lajoie were among those expected to be in the mix as well.
Eventually, it became a race between Cobb and Lajoie, who were destined to be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., in the late 1930s. By the final weekend, Cobb seemingly had the fourth straight title in his pocket, especially given his decision not to play the last two games. Cobb claimed that a recurring eye issue dogged him; his long line of haters wondered if he winked through the pain.
The lead of a sidebar in the Sunday, Oct. 9, edition of The Plain Dealer read: "Nap Lajoie's chances of owning the automobile presented to the leading batsman of the country are mightily slim -- in fact, they are practically obliterated unless the 'official' figures prove that 'unofficial' figures are radically incorrect. Cobb, according to The Plain Dealer's estimate, is batting close to .383, while Lajoie's present mark is slightly in excess of .378." (We know now that the lead was .383 to .376.)
The article went on to tweak Cobb for his plans to sit out the final two: "Cobb left the Detroit team Friday night, departing for Philadelphia where he will be a member of the All-Star team that will practice with the Athletics. The Georgian declared that he was not feeling very well. The fact that he was ahead in the auto race and feared that he might take a slump in the two games yet to be played may have had something to do with the sudden decision."
On Oct. 9, about 10,000 fans watched the awful Browns play the sub-.500 Naps in the doubleheader. Most were on hand to see if Lajoie -- aka "The Big French man" or "Larry" -- could mount a challenge to Cobb.
Lajoie tripled in his first at-bat of the opener, then, depending on one's definition of the term, bunted over and over. Lajoie went 4-for-4 in a loss and 4-for-4 with a sacrifice in a victory.
Lajoie kept dropping or pushing or dumping balls in front of Browns rookie infielder Red Corriden, who kept positioning himself ultra-deep, presumably on orders from his manager, Jack O'Connor.
A headline from the front page of The Plain Dealer's Oct. 10 edition stated, "Lajoie Wins Auto In Final Stretch," but acknowledged in a subhead that some thing had smelled at Sportsman's Park: "St. Louis Papers Say Browns Made It Easy for Nap Slugger."
After the writer of the "Special To The Plain Dealer" article described how excited fans were to see Lajoie pile up the hits, the case for the asterisk was summarized:
"But Larry's triumph is tinged with a charge of illegitimacy. St. Louis sporting writers assert that Lajoie was favored by opposing fielders. They say that the St. Louis pitchers pitched the ball where Larry could hit it to best advantage.
"They maintain that Corridon [sic], the Brown third baseman, did not field to the best of his ability when the Cleveland champion drove the ball into Corridon's territory. They insist that other fielders abetted him and aided Lajoie in his race for highest honors. Among others who wrote in similar strain, the baseball editor of the St. Louis Globe Democrat gave the fol lowing description of the St. Louis infield's work:
" 'Every time Lajoie stepped up to the plate, Corridon walked out to the very edge of the grass almost. The Browns' third sacker was virtually playing a short left field for Larry. This always resulted in the same old thing happening, that of Lajoie bunting down the third base line, Corridon rushing in to field the ball and then not throwing because a throw to first would have been useless.'"
The case for shenanigans was bolstered by various reports of pressure having been applied to the official scorer concerning Lajoie's second-game sacrifice. Whether the offender was St. Louis pitching coach Harry Howell or a Naps bat boy or someone else, the goal was to get the sacrifice changed to a hit, because Lajoie needed all the hits he could get. The scorer, possibly offered a bribe, refused to buckle. The play remained a sacrifice/error third base.
If the opposition had, in fact, laid down a Brown carpet for Lajoie, why had they done so? The answer apparently was as simple as ABC: Anybody But Cobb. The Browns were no different than other teams -- including, to a certain extent, the Tigers -- in their dislike for the irascible Cobb. If the down-to-earth Lajoie could be the foil, all the better.
The Plain Dealer's front page Oct. 10 listed how the Cleveland papers calculated the race. The Plain Dealer had Lajoie beating Cobb (.385 to .382), as did The Leader (382.4 to 381.7) and The Press (386.8 to 382.6). The News gave the nod to Cobb (384.15-384.09). Further indicative of the statistical uncertainty of the times was that each paper had a different hit total for Lajoie, ranging from 226 to 229.
A story on the cover of The Plain Dealer on Oct. 11 revealed that American League President Ban Johnson no longer would allow anymore individual contests/prizes as long as he was the league's boss. Johnson was furious about the allegations coming out of Sportsman's Park and promised to investigate.
Lajoie did not flinch. This, from the same story:
" 'It's too close for me to claim the victory and the auto,' said Lajoie at the Grand hotel in Cincinnati last evening. 'Take it from me, I am waiting until Ban Johnson and Robert McRoy tell me whether I have a better record than Cobb or Cobb has me beat. There is such a difference of opinion that I am not counting my eggs before they are hatched or taking a ride in that auto before Johnson and McRoy have poured in a little Cleveland gasoline.
" 'The talk about my not earning those eight hits in St. Louis, though, makes me tired. The first time up I smashed one to the outfield that went over Northen's head, yet some say he misjudged it. Then I hit one that Wallace was lucky to knock down. If that wasn't a hit, there never was one. Then we get down to those six bunts that I beat out. Suppose Corridon did play fairly well back. If he had played in for a bunt and I had swung hard on the ball, I suppose the youngster would have been roasted to a turn be cause he did not play deep."
McRoy was the American League secretary. Upon rechecking the season's stats, McRoy claimed that Cobb was not credited with a 2-for-3 performance from a late-September double header. Adding the 2-for-3 enabled Cobb to edge Lajoie. Johnson signed off on it.
Within a week of the season's conclusion, Johnson announced that Lajoie's 8-for-8 would stand even as O'Connor and Howell had been banished. Johnson also said that Lajoie should have gotten credit for a ninth hit in stead of the sacrifice. Still, according to Johnson and McRoy, Lajoie's perfect day was not enough to overtake Cobb. Johnson declared Cobb the winner of the title and the Chalmers 30. Cobb was credited with going 196-for-509 (.385069) to Lajoie's 227-for-591 (.384095).
Johnson declaring Cobb was entitled to the "Chalmers trophy" did not stop the president from asking Chalmers to provide Lajoie with an automobile, as well. Chalmers agreed; Lajoie, after initially balking, accepted the gift.
Debate continues to this day over who should be listed as the 1910 AL batting champion.
In the late 1970s, researchers Pete Palmer and Leonard Gettelson discovered that Cobb's 2-for-3 had been recorded and, therefore, was mistakenly duplicated. In April 1981, The Sporting News publicized the error but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn declined to alter the history books. In the eyes of baseball, Cobb would remain the 1910 AL batting champion -- part of nine consecutive titles from 1907 to 1915 -- and own 4,191 career hits.
Indians' great Al Rosen on anti-Semitism: 'I had broad shoulders': When They Played The Game
Indians' great Al Rosen on anti-Semitism: 'I had broad shoulders': When They Played The Game
Published: Monday, October 11, 2010, 10:00 PM Updated: Monday, October 11, 2010, 10:17 PM
Editor's note: This is one of an ongoing series of stories catching up with some of Cleveland's best-known sports figures.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- About a month into Jackie Robinson's rookie season in 1947, Major League Baseball's first black player beat out a bunt as the throw pulled the hulking first baseman off the bag.
111
Share 13 Comments They collided, dusted themselves off and played on.
Had the fielder been someone other than Hank Greenberg, there may have been a dust-up, not a dust-off. But that day, the 6-4 Greenberg encouraged Robinson to not let the bigots beat him down. Baseball's first Jewish superstar certainly understood what it was like to play under a cloud of hate.
The integration of baseball -- and Cleveland's role in it -- is a familiar slice of history. Two months after Robinson's historic debut, the Indians' Larry Doby became the American League's first black player. In 1975, the Indians' Frank Robinson turned in his lineup card as baseball's first black manager.
The average fan is less aware of the struggles of Jewish ballplayers, although that, too, carries a thick Cleveland vein. Greenberg later became the Indians' general manager under owner Bill Veeck.
And Al Rosen, a Jewish kid from Florida who idolized Greenberg and came within an eyelash of an American League Triple Crown, was one of the Indians' all-time greats.
Their history is told in "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story," a documentary featured this month during the fourth annual Cleveland Jewish Film Festival.
The audience will learn about players who changed their last names to appear "less Jewish" to escape the insults. How Greenberg, Rosen and others fielded taunts from fans and the opposing dugout. And how New York Giants manager John McGraw sought Jewish players to boost attendance -- and it worked.
"It's not a story about baseball," said producer/director Peter Miller, an '84 Oberlin College grad who grew up a Red Sox fan in Boston. "It's a story about how a people found their way into the mainstream. And there's nothing more mainstream than baseball."
It was through baseball that Rosen assimilated as well.
Rosen recalled that his family didn't have enough money to send him to college. He eventually did earn a degree from the University of Miami, but it was on the sandlots of Miami where he countered the stereotype that Jews weren't good athletes.
"Sports were always my addiction," he said. "I fell in love with the game."
By the time he was through in 1956 at age 32 after 10 seasons, Rosen had driven in at least 100 runs five years in a row and was an American League All-Star four straight times.
His breakout year was 1953, when he stroked 43 homers, drove in 145 runs and missed winning the batting title -- and a Triple Crown -- by one percentage point. He was the league's unanimous MVP.
The following season, Indians manager Al Lopez asked Rosen to move from third to first base for a few weeks until he could trade for another first baseman. Rosen agreed, but broke his right index finger, an injury that ultimately ended his career.
While with the Indians, Rosen lived in Shaker Heights, first on Van Aken Boulevard and later near Canterbury Golf Club, and learned the investment business with the firm formerly known as Bache & Co.
Rosen, now 86, is married and has three sons (all Cleveland-born), a stepdaughter and stepson, and enjoys playing golf and bridge. In a recent phone interview from his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., he reflected on his time in Cleveland, being Jewish in the big leagues and on his relationship with the late George Steinbrenner.
On being a Jewish ballplayer:
"I can only tell you this, there was anti-Semitism throughout my playing days, and it came from the stands, it came from the managers, the coaches and players. But as time went on, and particularly after the birth of Israel as a nation, I think that a new aura took over and people had more respect for Jewish athletes or Jews generally, because it showed once again that Jews were not to be taken lightly and that they could fight as well as be bookkeepers and accountants and that sort of thing. The kind of taunting and things like that that I heard personally from the benches softened a great deal after 1946."
On whom he turned to for support:
"I have broad shoulders. I took it upon myself. There were times I had to assert myself and other times I just let it roll, but I've always managed to handle it and I thought I handled it well throughout my career."
On how he was treated in Cleveland:
"Cleveland was great for me. I loved every minute of it. During my baseball career I was received warmly and with only laudatory manners. It was just great ... I was just very happy there. My family was happy. We still have relatives there, and my boys still keep in touch with some of their old friends."
On the '54 World Series, in which the Indians were swept by the New York Giants after setting a regular-season win record:
"The Giants had an awfully good ball club. We knew that because we played them in spring training every year. The catch by [Willie] Mays, and Dusty Rhodes getting hot at the right time, that sort of thing, who knows how things may have turned around if Mays hadn't made that catch? It may have been different. But as it was, it was a very disappointing ending to a great year."
On almost buying the Indians with Steinbrenner ... and how the Yankees fell into Steinbrenner's lap:
"We thought we had an agreement with [Indians owner] Vern Stouffer. We were all set to make the announcement from George's office on the 14th floor of the East Ohio Building. The lobby was filled with writers. ... And we thought we had a deal when Vernon called at 5 o'clock Cleveland time and said there'd be no deal. So George had an appetite for baseball now and said to Gabe Paul, who was the [Indians'] president and general manager and myself, 'If you ever hear of a club for sale, let me know.'"
Rosen was flying back to Cleveland from New York with Paul on a Friday after working on Wall Street for a few days, when Paul turned to him.
"Coming home we talked about it. Gabe said there was a club for sale, and I asked him who and he whispered in my ear: 'The Yankees.' I almost fell off my chair, but the Yankees at that time weren't doing well. ... George Steinbrenner, true to the spirit of George, walked in, put together a group and bought the club."
On what he hopes the audience takes away from the documentary:
"Pride, and some additional knowledge. A lot of people are going to see this movie and not recognize the exploits of people like Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. It's going to be something new for them, and they're going to take it with great pride, because both of those men were so exemplary in everything they did."
Published: Monday, October 11, 2010, 10:00 PM Updated: Monday, October 11, 2010, 10:17 PM
Editor's note: This is one of an ongoing series of stories catching up with some of Cleveland's best-known sports figures.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- About a month into Jackie Robinson's rookie season in 1947, Major League Baseball's first black player beat out a bunt as the throw pulled the hulking first baseman off the bag.
111
Share 13 Comments They collided, dusted themselves off and played on.
Had the fielder been someone other than Hank Greenberg, there may have been a dust-up, not a dust-off. But that day, the 6-4 Greenberg encouraged Robinson to not let the bigots beat him down. Baseball's first Jewish superstar certainly understood what it was like to play under a cloud of hate.
The integration of baseball -- and Cleveland's role in it -- is a familiar slice of history. Two months after Robinson's historic debut, the Indians' Larry Doby became the American League's first black player. In 1975, the Indians' Frank Robinson turned in his lineup card as baseball's first black manager.
The average fan is less aware of the struggles of Jewish ballplayers, although that, too, carries a thick Cleveland vein. Greenberg later became the Indians' general manager under owner Bill Veeck.
And Al Rosen, a Jewish kid from Florida who idolized Greenberg and came within an eyelash of an American League Triple Crown, was one of the Indians' all-time greats.
Their history is told in "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story," a documentary featured this month during the fourth annual Cleveland Jewish Film Festival.
The audience will learn about players who changed their last names to appear "less Jewish" to escape the insults. How Greenberg, Rosen and others fielded taunts from fans and the opposing dugout. And how New York Giants manager John McGraw sought Jewish players to boost attendance -- and it worked.
"It's not a story about baseball," said producer/director Peter Miller, an '84 Oberlin College grad who grew up a Red Sox fan in Boston. "It's a story about how a people found their way into the mainstream. And there's nothing more mainstream than baseball."
It was through baseball that Rosen assimilated as well.
Rosen recalled that his family didn't have enough money to send him to college. He eventually did earn a degree from the University of Miami, but it was on the sandlots of Miami where he countered the stereotype that Jews weren't good athletes.
"Sports were always my addiction," he said. "I fell in love with the game."
By the time he was through in 1956 at age 32 after 10 seasons, Rosen had driven in at least 100 runs five years in a row and was an American League All-Star four straight times.
His breakout year was 1953, when he stroked 43 homers, drove in 145 runs and missed winning the batting title -- and a Triple Crown -- by one percentage point. He was the league's unanimous MVP.
The following season, Indians manager Al Lopez asked Rosen to move from third to first base for a few weeks until he could trade for another first baseman. Rosen agreed, but broke his right index finger, an injury that ultimately ended his career.
While with the Indians, Rosen lived in Shaker Heights, first on Van Aken Boulevard and later near Canterbury Golf Club, and learned the investment business with the firm formerly known as Bache & Co.
Rosen, now 86, is married and has three sons (all Cleveland-born), a stepdaughter and stepson, and enjoys playing golf and bridge. In a recent phone interview from his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., he reflected on his time in Cleveland, being Jewish in the big leagues and on his relationship with the late George Steinbrenner.
On being a Jewish ballplayer:
"I can only tell you this, there was anti-Semitism throughout my playing days, and it came from the stands, it came from the managers, the coaches and players. But as time went on, and particularly after the birth of Israel as a nation, I think that a new aura took over and people had more respect for Jewish athletes or Jews generally, because it showed once again that Jews were not to be taken lightly and that they could fight as well as be bookkeepers and accountants and that sort of thing. The kind of taunting and things like that that I heard personally from the benches softened a great deal after 1946."
On whom he turned to for support:
"I have broad shoulders. I took it upon myself. There were times I had to assert myself and other times I just let it roll, but I've always managed to handle it and I thought I handled it well throughout my career."
On how he was treated in Cleveland:
"Cleveland was great for me. I loved every minute of it. During my baseball career I was received warmly and with only laudatory manners. It was just great ... I was just very happy there. My family was happy. We still have relatives there, and my boys still keep in touch with some of their old friends."
On the '54 World Series, in which the Indians were swept by the New York Giants after setting a regular-season win record:
"The Giants had an awfully good ball club. We knew that because we played them in spring training every year. The catch by [Willie] Mays, and Dusty Rhodes getting hot at the right time, that sort of thing, who knows how things may have turned around if Mays hadn't made that catch? It may have been different. But as it was, it was a very disappointing ending to a great year."
On almost buying the Indians with Steinbrenner ... and how the Yankees fell into Steinbrenner's lap:
"We thought we had an agreement with [Indians owner] Vern Stouffer. We were all set to make the announcement from George's office on the 14th floor of the East Ohio Building. The lobby was filled with writers. ... And we thought we had a deal when Vernon called at 5 o'clock Cleveland time and said there'd be no deal. So George had an appetite for baseball now and said to Gabe Paul, who was the [Indians'] president and general manager and myself, 'If you ever hear of a club for sale, let me know.'"
Rosen was flying back to Cleveland from New York with Paul on a Friday after working on Wall Street for a few days, when Paul turned to him.
"Coming home we talked about it. Gabe said there was a club for sale, and I asked him who and he whispered in my ear: 'The Yankees.' I almost fell off my chair, but the Yankees at that time weren't doing well. ... George Steinbrenner, true to the spirit of George, walked in, put together a group and bought the club."
On what he hopes the audience takes away from the documentary:
"Pride, and some additional knowledge. A lot of people are going to see this movie and not recognize the exploits of people like Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. It's going to be something new for them, and they're going to take it with great pride, because both of those men were so exemplary in everything they did."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In ranking the Indians' 40-man roster, I combined what the players did in the 2010 season and what they're expected to do next year.
I studied their stats and their positions in the Indians' pecking order. To try and gauge each players value, I went to baseball- reference.com and checked out the WAR (wins above replacement) statistical study on the Tribe. The stat, developed by Sean Smith of Baseballprojections.com, measures the number of wins a player adds to his team above what a replacement player would add.
OK, I threw a few darts as well. It's not like I watched Ezequiel Carrera for 162 games this year.
Grady Sizemore, Carlos Santana, Anthony Reyes and Hector Ambriz are not technically on the roster because they're on the 60-day disabled list, but they were rated as well. The roster must be adjusted and cut to 40 players by Nov. 19 in preparation for the Rule 5 draft.
1. OF Shin-Soo Choo: Top player on the roster, but he needs lots of help.
2. RHP Chris Perez: Went 2-0 with 16 saves in 17 chances and a 0.63 ERA after the All-Star break.
3. RHP Fausto Carmona: Showed he's capable of being a No.1 starter.
4. CF Grady Sizemore: Indians still consider him an elite player. For their sake, he better be.
5. C Carlos Santana: Manny Acta says Santana was born to hit in the middle of the lineup.
6. DH Travis Hafner: Hit .329 (51-for-155) after the break, but Tribe needs a 500 at-bat season from Pronk.
7. SS Asdrubal Cabrera: Production down because of broken left forearm. Hit .342 (27-for-79) with runners in scoring position.
8. RHP Rafael Perez: Looks like a set-up man again in winning six games.
9. RHP Carlos Carrasco: September is a fooler, but six of his seven starts were rated quality starts.
10. RHP Justin Masterson: He should open 2011 in the rotation.
11. Shelley Duncan: Not sure what this says about Indians talent, but Duncan did everything asked of him this season.
12. RHP Mitch Talbot: Good first half, poor second half. Needs good health and a full season in 2011.
13. SS/2B Jason Donald: Of all the Tribe's young position players who came to the big leagues last season, with the exception of Carlos Santana, he was the most consistent hitter.
14. OF Michael Brantley: He's getting better, but a .296 on base percentage is a concern.
15. OF Trevor Crowe: He plays at 100 mph. If he hit .280 to .290, he'd play a lot more.
16. C Lou Marson: Great arm, bad bat. He can't possibly be that bad a hitter.
17. 2B/3B Jayson Nix: Out of the ashes of 11 errors at the hot corner, did the Indians find a third baseman or a utility infielder?
18. RHP Jeanmar Gomez: He'll help the Indians rotation at some point next year.
19. LHP Tony Sipp: Opposition hit only .218 against Sipp even though he gave up 12 homers, 30 runs and 39 walks.
20. RHP Joe Smith: Tough on righties (.160), weak on lefties (.342). It may cost him.
21. RHP Jensen Lewis: Pitched for his job in September (0.84 ERA, 1 run, 11 strikeouts, 3 walks). Did he do enough?
22. 1B Matt LaPorta: Manny Acta gave him a mulligan for 2010. What do you give him?
23. RHP Josh Tomlin: Started 12 games, won half of them. Good chance to make opening day rotation.
24. OF Nick Weglarz: He has the power the Indians crave, but thumb surgery stopped him at Class AAA Columbus last year.
25. RHP Justin Germano: Manny Acta likes relievers that can go two or three innings. Germano does that well.
26. LHP Aaron Laffey: Not sure if Laffey is out as a starter or not. If he's out, he's a left-handed Germano.
27. RHP Frank Herrmann: He throws the ball over the plate, a good thing for a guy who throws between 95 mph to 97 mph.
28. RHP Hector Ambriz: Rule 5 right-hander who was hurt all year. He'll be down for at least a year following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
29. 1B/3B Andy Marte: Good guy, but if he's still here in 2011, it means the Indians have gone backward instead of forward.
30. C Luke Carlin: Did well in a short look.
31. INF Drew Sutton: Ditto for Sutton.
32. C Chris Gimenez: Improved as a catcher, but with Carlos Santana and Lou Marson in front of him, he has nowhere to go but down.
33. RHP Vinnie Pestano: If he proves he can get lefties and righties out, he could steal a spot in the pen.
34. INF Luis Valbuena: He got lost in spring training and never found his way home.
35. OF Jordan Brown: Finally got his big-league shot, but he still needs a change of scenery.
36. LHP David Huff: Went from 11 wins in 2009 to 11 losses in 2010, but don't count him out.
37. RHP Jess Todd: There are a lot of bullpen arms in front of him.
38. OF Ezequiel Carrera: Acquired from Seattle for Russell Branyan. He was a phone call away when Michael Brantley twisted his ankle in late September.
39. LHP Kelvin De La Cruz: Put in a healthy year at Class A and AA after missing most of the 2009 season with elbow problems.
40.1B Wes Hodges: Hard to figure out what Indians think of Hodges after they designated him and then re-signed him.
41. OF Chad Huffman: Claimed on waivers from the Yankees on Sept. 17.
42. SS Carlos Rivero: Homers went from seven to six, errors from 14 to 28 in second year at Class AA Akron.
43. RHP Anthony Reyes: Still trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery.
44. RHP Hector Rondon: He's recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
I studied their stats and their positions in the Indians' pecking order. To try and gauge each players value, I went to baseball- reference.com and checked out the WAR (wins above replacement) statistical study on the Tribe. The stat, developed by Sean Smith of Baseballprojections.com, measures the number of wins a player adds to his team above what a replacement player would add.
OK, I threw a few darts as well. It's not like I watched Ezequiel Carrera for 162 games this year.
Grady Sizemore, Carlos Santana, Anthony Reyes and Hector Ambriz are not technically on the roster because they're on the 60-day disabled list, but they were rated as well. The roster must be adjusted and cut to 40 players by Nov. 19 in preparation for the Rule 5 draft.
1. OF Shin-Soo Choo: Top player on the roster, but he needs lots of help.
2. RHP Chris Perez: Went 2-0 with 16 saves in 17 chances and a 0.63 ERA after the All-Star break.
3. RHP Fausto Carmona: Showed he's capable of being a No.1 starter.
4. CF Grady Sizemore: Indians still consider him an elite player. For their sake, he better be.
5. C Carlos Santana: Manny Acta says Santana was born to hit in the middle of the lineup.
6. DH Travis Hafner: Hit .329 (51-for-155) after the break, but Tribe needs a 500 at-bat season from Pronk.
7. SS Asdrubal Cabrera: Production down because of broken left forearm. Hit .342 (27-for-79) with runners in scoring position.
8. RHP Rafael Perez: Looks like a set-up man again in winning six games.
9. RHP Carlos Carrasco: September is a fooler, but six of his seven starts were rated quality starts.
10. RHP Justin Masterson: He should open 2011 in the rotation.
11. Shelley Duncan: Not sure what this says about Indians talent, but Duncan did everything asked of him this season.
12. RHP Mitch Talbot: Good first half, poor second half. Needs good health and a full season in 2011.
13. SS/2B Jason Donald: Of all the Tribe's young position players who came to the big leagues last season, with the exception of Carlos Santana, he was the most consistent hitter.
14. OF Michael Brantley: He's getting better, but a .296 on base percentage is a concern.
15. OF Trevor Crowe: He plays at 100 mph. If he hit .280 to .290, he'd play a lot more.
16. C Lou Marson: Great arm, bad bat. He can't possibly be that bad a hitter.
17. 2B/3B Jayson Nix: Out of the ashes of 11 errors at the hot corner, did the Indians find a third baseman or a utility infielder?
18. RHP Jeanmar Gomez: He'll help the Indians rotation at some point next year.
19. LHP Tony Sipp: Opposition hit only .218 against Sipp even though he gave up 12 homers, 30 runs and 39 walks.
20. RHP Joe Smith: Tough on righties (.160), weak on lefties (.342). It may cost him.
21. RHP Jensen Lewis: Pitched for his job in September (0.84 ERA, 1 run, 11 strikeouts, 3 walks). Did he do enough?
22. 1B Matt LaPorta: Manny Acta gave him a mulligan for 2010. What do you give him?
23. RHP Josh Tomlin: Started 12 games, won half of them. Good chance to make opening day rotation.
24. OF Nick Weglarz: He has the power the Indians crave, but thumb surgery stopped him at Class AAA Columbus last year.
25. RHP Justin Germano: Manny Acta likes relievers that can go two or three innings. Germano does that well.
26. LHP Aaron Laffey: Not sure if Laffey is out as a starter or not. If he's out, he's a left-handed Germano.
27. RHP Frank Herrmann: He throws the ball over the plate, a good thing for a guy who throws between 95 mph to 97 mph.
28. RHP Hector Ambriz: Rule 5 right-hander who was hurt all year. He'll be down for at least a year following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
29. 1B/3B Andy Marte: Good guy, but if he's still here in 2011, it means the Indians have gone backward instead of forward.
30. C Luke Carlin: Did well in a short look.
31. INF Drew Sutton: Ditto for Sutton.
32. C Chris Gimenez: Improved as a catcher, but with Carlos Santana and Lou Marson in front of him, he has nowhere to go but down.
33. RHP Vinnie Pestano: If he proves he can get lefties and righties out, he could steal a spot in the pen.
34. INF Luis Valbuena: He got lost in spring training and never found his way home.
35. OF Jordan Brown: Finally got his big-league shot, but he still needs a change of scenery.
36. LHP David Huff: Went from 11 wins in 2009 to 11 losses in 2010, but don't count him out.
37. RHP Jess Todd: There are a lot of bullpen arms in front of him.
38. OF Ezequiel Carrera: Acquired from Seattle for Russell Branyan. He was a phone call away when Michael Brantley twisted his ankle in late September.
39. LHP Kelvin De La Cruz: Put in a healthy year at Class A and AA after missing most of the 2009 season with elbow problems.
40.1B Wes Hodges: Hard to figure out what Indians think of Hodges after they designated him and then re-signed him.
41. OF Chad Huffman: Claimed on waivers from the Yankees on Sept. 17.
42. SS Carlos Rivero: Homers went from seven to six, errors from 14 to 28 in second year at Class AA Akron.
43. RHP Anthony Reyes: Still trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery.
44. RHP Hector Rondon: He's recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
Friday, August 6, 2010
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Of all the electrifying moments on the Kenny Lofton highlight reel, none captures the essence of the player any better than his 180-foot dash to glory on Oct. 17, 1995.
It happened in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Indians and Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. With the Indians leading, 1-0, and Ruben Amaro on third, Lofton beat out a bunt against Randy Johnson. Lofton stole second. Moments later, Big Unit's pitch got away from catcher Dan Wilson and rolled toward the Tribe dugout on the first-base side.
Amaro, as expected, scored easily on the passed ball. The shocker -- to everyone except the man himself -- was that Lofton hit third base and kept on running. In a blur, Lofton slid in safely, catching Wilson and Johnson sulking/napping. The Indians went on to win the game, 4-0, and the series, 4-2, to advance to their first World Series in 41 years.
"My instincts made that play happen," Lofton said by phone earlier this week. "Once I took off, I knew I had the speed to take me where I needed to go."
Lofton will be inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame on Saturday in part because of his ability to impact games with such speed and daring. He also knew how to swing the bat and catch the ball. Everything was on display against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 3, 2000, when Lofton went 4-for-7 with a homer, walk, four runs and five steals in a 12-11 victory in 13 innings at Jacobs Field.
Lofton played for 11 teams in a major-league career that spanned from 1991 through 2007, but he always will be known as an Indian. He had three stints with Cleveland (1992-1996; 1998-2001; 2007) and remains the franchise leader with 452 steals and ranks third with 975 runs. Five of his six All-Star selections and all four of his Gold Gloves came with the Indians.
Lofton retired as a .299 hitter in 2,103 regular-season games overall. He had 2,428 hits, 1,528 runs and 622 steals. He played in 95 postseason games, including 50 with the Tribe, and scored 65 runs.
With the Indians Hall of Fame induction around the corner, Lofton reflected on his career:
Plain Dealer: When you think of yourself as a Cleveland Indian, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Kenny Lofton: Stolen bases. In Cleveland, I think people look at me as the guy who stole bases.
PD: Highlight of your career?
KL: Having been able to play on a lot of teams that made the playoffs. Having had a lot of opportunities to win a ring.
PD: You played in 20 postseason series in 11 years. Does one postseason stand out above the rest?
KL: The first one, with the Indians in 1995. That will stick out forever, because we were able to go to the World Series in Cleveland for the first time since 1954.
PD: Should the Indians have won the 1995 World Series against the Braves, or did they simply get beat by a better, more seasoned team?
KL: Honestly, I believe we played well enough to win. We put our hearts out there. But to be honest, with the teams and the situations what they were, I don't think we got a fair shot.
PD: Explain.
KL: In my opinion, we didn't get a fair shot from the umpires. The [Tom] Glavine and [Greg] Maddux strike zones were not right. They were getting the calls off the plate and our pitchers weren't. I'm not the only one who says that. You had to deal with it, though. You had no other choice.
PD: Your favorite Indians club?
KL: The '95 team, because of the personalities we had. We did a lot of freelancing. It was awesome.
PD: And you set the tone.
KL: The guys called me the igniter. Once I ignited the flames, everything took off. It was an exciting time.
PD: Which postseason ending in your career stings the most?
KL: The toughest to take is '95 because, as I said, I don't think the umpires were fair. Second is the Giants in 2002 because we were up, 3-2, in the World Series and had a five-run lead in Game 6 but lost to the Angels. We just lost.
PD: You also were on the Cubs when they fell to the Marlins in the infamous 2003 NLCS, during which fan Steve Bartman reached out and seemingly denied Moises Alou a catch late in Game 6.
KL: I've never viewed the Bartman situation as more than what it was -- a fan reached out and didn't get the ball. Those things happen. But the play soon after that, when Alex Gonzalez booted the double-play ball . . . that was the deciding factor. Everyone put it on Bartman, but I saw the double-play ball that didn't happen. Regardless, we still had Game 7. We didn't get it done.
PD: Do you believe in the Curse of Colavito (Indians) or Curse of the Billy Goat (Cubs)?
KL: No. If you put the right team on the field and play the way you should play, there's no curse. Look at Boston in 2004. Everybody said there was a curse, but they had the right team to win it all that year -- and they did. Bottom line: It's what you do on the field.
PD: You were a teammate of Barry Bonds in 2002. How do you view him? Is he a Hall of Famer?
KL: (Long pause) I'll say it this way: With Barry Bonds, for me, you have to be innocent until proven guilty in the Hall of Fame situation. So that's a tough one, because you have to show me some type of proof. I know there are allegations, but there's no proof. So, if the allegations had not come up -- for sure, he's a Hall of Famer. But because the allegations came up, and there's a lot of doubt, it makes it very tricky to say he's a Hall of Famer.
PD: Do you believe Barry Bonds used PEDs [performance-enhancing drugs]?
KL: That's not for me to say. I won't say I believe anything about that, because it's my own personal answer or thought in my head.
PD: Is Alex Rodriguez a Hall of Famer?
KL: I would not vote for him for the Hall of Fame. He cheated the game, he admitted it, and the game acts like nothing happened. It's as if he got a slap on the wrist. There's something wrong with that.
PD: How much baseball do you watch these days?
KL: Not a lot, but more this year than at any point since I retired. I love the game, but I'll be honest with you: I'm upset with the game. I'm upset because I was put out of the game because I wasn't cheating the game, if that makes sense.
PD: It does.
KL: I could have cheated and put up better numbers. Then I could have cheated to stay in the game. But I didn't. I was clean and played by the rules. And I know there are people who cheated, cheated to extend their careers, and it's not right.
PD: So it's safe to say that you, as a clean player, are upset you were forced to compete periodically on an uneven playing field?
KL: Do I have a problem with it? Without a doubt. I have a huge problem with it. It sticks with me to this day, knowing that people were cheating and knowing I was playing against them, with them, whatever. What really ticks me off is that baseball could have done something about it but didn't.
PD: Please elaborate.
KL: It comes back to the emphasis on home runs, when they came out with the commercial campaign of 'Chicks Dig The Long Ball.' Baseball wanted guys to hit homers because it was good for business. Why do you think certain guys started hitting so many home runs?
PD: As a result, your contributions get overshadowed.
KL: When everybody started talking about the long ball, they forgot about the speed, which was my game. It took my impact from close to the top to middle/bottom. Once they emphasized the long ball, I was looked at as a totally different player.
PD: Word association -- '95 Indians?
KL: Outstanding.
PD: Albert Belle?
KL: Intense.
PD: Carlos Baerga?
KL: Had fun playing the game.
PD: Sandy Alomar Jr.?
KL: Very focused.
PD: Mike Hargrove?
KL: (Chuckle) He had a tough job.
PD: Manny Ramirez?
KL: Great hitter.
PD: Jim Thome?
KL: Very strong.
PD: Joel Skinner?
KL: Very technical.
PD: I thought you would say of Skins: 'Never should have held me at third in Game 7 of 2007 ALCS.'
KL: (Chuckle) I can't hold that against him. He was the one who held me up, but I can't blame him, per se. He needed to make a decision; he just made the wrong decision. It's like when a pitcher should have thrown the fastball but throws a curve and the guy hits a homer. It's not about blame.
PD: How did Pat Listach beat you out for AL Rookie of the Year in 1992?
KL: To this day, I don't know how. I'm still trying to figure that out. But it worked out in the end for me. No disrespect to Pat Listach, but if you would have told me that I'd get Rookie of the Year and have my career end like his, I would have said, 'I don't want Rookie of the Year. You can have it.'
PD: On Aug. 4, 1996, you made what many consider the greatest catch in Jacobs/Progressive Field history, scaling an 8-foot wall in center to bring back a potential two-run homer by B.J. Surhoff of the Orioles. Did you amaze even yourself on that one?
KL: I don't know how I did it, but it happened. I don't think people understand the difficulty involved. It was one of the best catches I made and one of the best I've seen on film.
PD: Any regrets about your career?
KL: Not winning the World Series. I wanted it badly, but it didn't happen. My career still was a lot of fun.
PD: Best player you ever played with?
KL: That's where it gets tough. Performance enhancing is what makes it tough for me to make that call.
PD: What made you the player you were?
KL: Focus, determination, love of the game.
PD: You seemed to play with a chip on your shoulder, as if you had something to prove. Is that accurate?
KL: I'm not sure I wanted to prove the doubters wrong as much as I wanted to let people know that, 'Hey, I'm an athlete, I can play this game.'
PD: How do you want to be remembered as a player?
KL: As a guy who played the game right, played it fair. As a guy who loved the game and respected it.
It happened in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Indians and Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. With the Indians leading, 1-0, and Ruben Amaro on third, Lofton beat out a bunt against Randy Johnson. Lofton stole second. Moments later, Big Unit's pitch got away from catcher Dan Wilson and rolled toward the Tribe dugout on the first-base side.
Amaro, as expected, scored easily on the passed ball. The shocker -- to everyone except the man himself -- was that Lofton hit third base and kept on running. In a blur, Lofton slid in safely, catching Wilson and Johnson sulking/napping. The Indians went on to win the game, 4-0, and the series, 4-2, to advance to their first World Series in 41 years.
"My instincts made that play happen," Lofton said by phone earlier this week. "Once I took off, I knew I had the speed to take me where I needed to go."
Lofton will be inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame on Saturday in part because of his ability to impact games with such speed and daring. He also knew how to swing the bat and catch the ball. Everything was on display against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 3, 2000, when Lofton went 4-for-7 with a homer, walk, four runs and five steals in a 12-11 victory in 13 innings at Jacobs Field.
Lofton played for 11 teams in a major-league career that spanned from 1991 through 2007, but he always will be known as an Indian. He had three stints with Cleveland (1992-1996; 1998-2001; 2007) and remains the franchise leader with 452 steals and ranks third with 975 runs. Five of his six All-Star selections and all four of his Gold Gloves came with the Indians.
Lofton retired as a .299 hitter in 2,103 regular-season games overall. He had 2,428 hits, 1,528 runs and 622 steals. He played in 95 postseason games, including 50 with the Tribe, and scored 65 runs.
With the Indians Hall of Fame induction around the corner, Lofton reflected on his career:
Plain Dealer: When you think of yourself as a Cleveland Indian, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Kenny Lofton: Stolen bases. In Cleveland, I think people look at me as the guy who stole bases.
PD: Highlight of your career?
KL: Having been able to play on a lot of teams that made the playoffs. Having had a lot of opportunities to win a ring.
PD: You played in 20 postseason series in 11 years. Does one postseason stand out above the rest?
KL: The first one, with the Indians in 1995. That will stick out forever, because we were able to go to the World Series in Cleveland for the first time since 1954.
PD: Should the Indians have won the 1995 World Series against the Braves, or did they simply get beat by a better, more seasoned team?
KL: Honestly, I believe we played well enough to win. We put our hearts out there. But to be honest, with the teams and the situations what they were, I don't think we got a fair shot.
PD: Explain.
KL: In my opinion, we didn't get a fair shot from the umpires. The [Tom] Glavine and [Greg] Maddux strike zones were not right. They were getting the calls off the plate and our pitchers weren't. I'm not the only one who says that. You had to deal with it, though. You had no other choice.
PD: Your favorite Indians club?
KL: The '95 team, because of the personalities we had. We did a lot of freelancing. It was awesome.
PD: And you set the tone.
KL: The guys called me the igniter. Once I ignited the flames, everything took off. It was an exciting time.
PD: Which postseason ending in your career stings the most?
KL: The toughest to take is '95 because, as I said, I don't think the umpires were fair. Second is the Giants in 2002 because we were up, 3-2, in the World Series and had a five-run lead in Game 6 but lost to the Angels. We just lost.
PD: You also were on the Cubs when they fell to the Marlins in the infamous 2003 NLCS, during which fan Steve Bartman reached out and seemingly denied Moises Alou a catch late in Game 6.
KL: I've never viewed the Bartman situation as more than what it was -- a fan reached out and didn't get the ball. Those things happen. But the play soon after that, when Alex Gonzalez booted the double-play ball . . . that was the deciding factor. Everyone put it on Bartman, but I saw the double-play ball that didn't happen. Regardless, we still had Game 7. We didn't get it done.
PD: Do you believe in the Curse of Colavito (Indians) or Curse of the Billy Goat (Cubs)?
KL: No. If you put the right team on the field and play the way you should play, there's no curse. Look at Boston in 2004. Everybody said there was a curse, but they had the right team to win it all that year -- and they did. Bottom line: It's what you do on the field.
PD: You were a teammate of Barry Bonds in 2002. How do you view him? Is he a Hall of Famer?
KL: (Long pause) I'll say it this way: With Barry Bonds, for me, you have to be innocent until proven guilty in the Hall of Fame situation. So that's a tough one, because you have to show me some type of proof. I know there are allegations, but there's no proof. So, if the allegations had not come up -- for sure, he's a Hall of Famer. But because the allegations came up, and there's a lot of doubt, it makes it very tricky to say he's a Hall of Famer.
PD: Do you believe Barry Bonds used PEDs [performance-enhancing drugs]?
KL: That's not for me to say. I won't say I believe anything about that, because it's my own personal answer or thought in my head.
PD: Is Alex Rodriguez a Hall of Famer?
KL: I would not vote for him for the Hall of Fame. He cheated the game, he admitted it, and the game acts like nothing happened. It's as if he got a slap on the wrist. There's something wrong with that.
PD: How much baseball do you watch these days?
KL: Not a lot, but more this year than at any point since I retired. I love the game, but I'll be honest with you: I'm upset with the game. I'm upset because I was put out of the game because I wasn't cheating the game, if that makes sense.
PD: It does.
KL: I could have cheated and put up better numbers. Then I could have cheated to stay in the game. But I didn't. I was clean and played by the rules. And I know there are people who cheated, cheated to extend their careers, and it's not right.
PD: So it's safe to say that you, as a clean player, are upset you were forced to compete periodically on an uneven playing field?
KL: Do I have a problem with it? Without a doubt. I have a huge problem with it. It sticks with me to this day, knowing that people were cheating and knowing I was playing against them, with them, whatever. What really ticks me off is that baseball could have done something about it but didn't.
PD: Please elaborate.
KL: It comes back to the emphasis on home runs, when they came out with the commercial campaign of 'Chicks Dig The Long Ball.' Baseball wanted guys to hit homers because it was good for business. Why do you think certain guys started hitting so many home runs?
PD: As a result, your contributions get overshadowed.
KL: When everybody started talking about the long ball, they forgot about the speed, which was my game. It took my impact from close to the top to middle/bottom. Once they emphasized the long ball, I was looked at as a totally different player.
PD: Word association -- '95 Indians?
KL: Outstanding.
PD: Albert Belle?
KL: Intense.
PD: Carlos Baerga?
KL: Had fun playing the game.
PD: Sandy Alomar Jr.?
KL: Very focused.
PD: Mike Hargrove?
KL: (Chuckle) He had a tough job.
PD: Manny Ramirez?
KL: Great hitter.
PD: Jim Thome?
KL: Very strong.
PD: Joel Skinner?
KL: Very technical.
PD: I thought you would say of Skins: 'Never should have held me at third in Game 7 of 2007 ALCS.'
KL: (Chuckle) I can't hold that against him. He was the one who held me up, but I can't blame him, per se. He needed to make a decision; he just made the wrong decision. It's like when a pitcher should have thrown the fastball but throws a curve and the guy hits a homer. It's not about blame.
PD: How did Pat Listach beat you out for AL Rookie of the Year in 1992?
KL: To this day, I don't know how. I'm still trying to figure that out. But it worked out in the end for me. No disrespect to Pat Listach, but if you would have told me that I'd get Rookie of the Year and have my career end like his, I would have said, 'I don't want Rookie of the Year. You can have it.'
PD: On Aug. 4, 1996, you made what many consider the greatest catch in Jacobs/Progressive Field history, scaling an 8-foot wall in center to bring back a potential two-run homer by B.J. Surhoff of the Orioles. Did you amaze even yourself on that one?
KL: I don't know how I did it, but it happened. I don't think people understand the difficulty involved. It was one of the best catches I made and one of the best I've seen on film.
PD: Any regrets about your career?
KL: Not winning the World Series. I wanted it badly, but it didn't happen. My career still was a lot of fun.
PD: Best player you ever played with?
KL: That's where it gets tough. Performance enhancing is what makes it tough for me to make that call.
PD: What made you the player you were?
KL: Focus, determination, love of the game.
PD: You seemed to play with a chip on your shoulder, as if you had something to prove. Is that accurate?
KL: I'm not sure I wanted to prove the doubters wrong as much as I wanted to let people know that, 'Hey, I'm an athlete, I can play this game.'
PD: How do you want to be remembered as a player?
KL: As a guy who played the game right, played it fair. As a guy who loved the game and respected it.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Andre Dawson - Hall of Fame
"Andre Dawson, the Hawk. No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. The Hawk. I watched him win MVP for a last-place team in 1987, and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."
--Ryne Sandberg during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech in July 2005
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Hall of Fame weekend is always an emotional time for inductees. Just imagine the pressure of standing on a stage in a coat and tie in 90-degree heat, trying to summarize a life and thank all the relevant contributors in 15 minutes or less. It can't be easy with the knowledge that 50-something baseball immortals are squirming in their seats and glancing at their watches directly behind you.
The day is equally poignant for former teammates, who sit among the crowd and reminisce along with the inductee. They're the ones who helped support him through slumps and streaks, on bus rides and plane trips, from rookie year to retirement. They can best relate to the sacrifices a Hall of Fame career entails.
Five years ago, Ryne Sandberg received his Hall plaque and used the forum to deliver a celebrity endorsement. Andre Dawson had barely cracked 50 percent in his fourth year on the ballot, and Sandberg feared his former teammate might become an afterthought in an age of cartoonish, steroid-fueled power numbers. So he took a moment in the middle of his speech to pay tribute to the Hawk, a man who embodied everything he held dear about the game.
"When I talked about respect for the game of baseball, he was the first teammate I thought of who fit that mold," Sandberg said. "I had a fear he'd lose out of going to the Hall of Fame based on the state of the game at that time in the steroid era. I felt like his numbers were being overlooked, and I wanted to put in a good word for him."
This Sunday in Cooperstown, the two ex-Cubs will swap roles. Dawson is entering the Hall along with former big league manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, and Sandberg will be a spectator. He will not be thinking about the heat or fretting about whether he'll be able to catch a late Sunday flight out of Albany.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Sandberg, manager of the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa farm club. "It'll mean a lot -- the fact that we were teammates and I added him into my speech promoting him for the Hall of Fame. It feels gratifying to be right on that call. Andre is going in, and baseball got it right."
"When I talked about respect for the game of baseball, he was the first teammate I thought of who fit that mold," Sandberg said. "I had a fear he'd lose out of going to the Hall of Fame based on the state of the game at that time in the steroid era. I felt like his numbers were being overlooked, and I wanted to put in a good word for him."
This Sunday in Cooperstown, the two ex-Cubs will swap roles. Dawson is entering the Hall along with former big league manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, and Sandberg will be a spectator. He will not be thinking about the heat or fretting about whether he'll be able to catch a late Sunday flight out of Albany.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Sandberg, manager of the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa farm club. "It'll mean a lot -- the fact that we were teammates and I added him into my speech promoting him for the Hall of Fame. It feels gratifying to be right on that call. Andre is going in, and baseball got it right."
--Ryne Sandberg during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech in July 2005
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Hall of Fame weekend is always an emotional time for inductees. Just imagine the pressure of standing on a stage in a coat and tie in 90-degree heat, trying to summarize a life and thank all the relevant contributors in 15 minutes or less. It can't be easy with the knowledge that 50-something baseball immortals are squirming in their seats and glancing at their watches directly behind you.
The day is equally poignant for former teammates, who sit among the crowd and reminisce along with the inductee. They're the ones who helped support him through slumps and streaks, on bus rides and plane trips, from rookie year to retirement. They can best relate to the sacrifices a Hall of Fame career entails.
Five years ago, Ryne Sandberg received his Hall plaque and used the forum to deliver a celebrity endorsement. Andre Dawson had barely cracked 50 percent in his fourth year on the ballot, and Sandberg feared his former teammate might become an afterthought in an age of cartoonish, steroid-fueled power numbers. So he took a moment in the middle of his speech to pay tribute to the Hawk, a man who embodied everything he held dear about the game.
"When I talked about respect for the game of baseball, he was the first teammate I thought of who fit that mold," Sandberg said. "I had a fear he'd lose out of going to the Hall of Fame based on the state of the game at that time in the steroid era. I felt like his numbers were being overlooked, and I wanted to put in a good word for him."
This Sunday in Cooperstown, the two ex-Cubs will swap roles. Dawson is entering the Hall along with former big league manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, and Sandberg will be a spectator. He will not be thinking about the heat or fretting about whether he'll be able to catch a late Sunday flight out of Albany.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Sandberg, manager of the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa farm club. "It'll mean a lot -- the fact that we were teammates and I added him into my speech promoting him for the Hall of Fame. It feels gratifying to be right on that call. Andre is going in, and baseball got it right."
"When I talked about respect for the game of baseball, he was the first teammate I thought of who fit that mold," Sandberg said. "I had a fear he'd lose out of going to the Hall of Fame based on the state of the game at that time in the steroid era. I felt like his numbers were being overlooked, and I wanted to put in a good word for him."
This Sunday in Cooperstown, the two ex-Cubs will swap roles. Dawson is entering the Hall along with former big league manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey, and Sandberg will be a spectator. He will not be thinking about the heat or fretting about whether he'll be able to catch a late Sunday flight out of Albany.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Sandberg, manager of the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa farm club. "It'll mean a lot -- the fact that we were teammates and I added him into my speech promoting him for the Hall of Fame. It feels gratifying to be right on that call. Andre is going in, and baseball got it right."
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Steinbrenner got beginning, ending right
Steinbrenner got beginning, ending right
July, 13, 2010 Jul 134:55PM ETEmail Print Comments6 By Rob Neyer
I've been reluctant to write about George Steinbrenner today. I'm intimidated, just as so many of his employees were intimidated for so many years. Steinbrenner's personality -- not to mention his accomplishments -- seem so large as to crowd out some distant writer's quick summary. Some years ago, I wrote a biographical article about Steinbrenner that consisted solely of quotations, presented chronologically, without any attempt to link them with my own words. That's how big he was, and (in my mind, apparently) still is.
Instead of trying to summarize his 37 years as Yankees owner, let me instead focus on the beginning and the end, because frankly I think that's when George Steinbrenner did his best work. All that ugliness in the middle, including his suspensions -- during which, it might be said, the Yankees were best-ministered -- has been written about before and will be written about again, but perhaps today's not the day.
In 1973, anyone could have bought the Yankees for a song. But it was George Steinbrenner who cut a deal to purchase one of the world's greatest sports franchises for $8.8 million. Sure, it seems obvious now, just as drafting Albert Pujols in the 13th round seems obvious now. But if it was so obvious, why didn't someone else do it? Why didn't someone draft Albert Pujols in the 12th round? Why didn't somone offer CBS $9.8 million for the Yankees? Wouldn't that have been one of the great investments, ever?
So maybe it wasn't so obvious. Maybe George Steinbrenner, for whatever reason, was one of the few men able to see not only what the Yankees had been, but what they could be. That was 1973.
Steinbrenner was suspended in 1974. By the time of his reinstatement in 1976, the pieces were in place and the Yankees won four division titles, three American League pennants and two World Series in five years.
Steinbrenner was suspended again in 1990. By the time of his reinstatement in 1993, the pieces were in place and the Yankees would, in 1994, begin a brilliant run of success that hasn't let up and shows no signs of letting up.
It's not hard to conclude that the Yankees have always been best-served when Steinbrenner's hands were tied ... Or, as in the middle 1990s, when he chose to take a less active role.
Now, about the end. When it became clear that George Steinbrenner, though obviously a force of nature, might not live forever, thoughts naturally turned to King Lear and the perils of succession. Which son-in-law or daughter or son could possibly fill the Boss's gigantic loafers? Who could possibly drive the franchise the way he had driven it?
Nobody, perhaps. But perhaps that sort of driving isn't actually necessary. Perhaps unlimited financial resources combined with steady and intelligent management can accomplish just as much. More, perhaps. Whether George Steinbrenner understood this or not, the fact remains that as he made his slow and steady exit, he somehow left his beloved Yankees in the capable hands of his sons.
George Steinbrenner's been called a lot of things, over the years. But "Boss Lear" will never been one of them. He got the ending right.Share
July, 13, 2010 Jul 134:55PM ETEmail Print Comments6 By Rob Neyer
I've been reluctant to write about George Steinbrenner today. I'm intimidated, just as so many of his employees were intimidated for so many years. Steinbrenner's personality -- not to mention his accomplishments -- seem so large as to crowd out some distant writer's quick summary. Some years ago, I wrote a biographical article about Steinbrenner that consisted solely of quotations, presented chronologically, without any attempt to link them with my own words. That's how big he was, and (in my mind, apparently) still is.
Instead of trying to summarize his 37 years as Yankees owner, let me instead focus on the beginning and the end, because frankly I think that's when George Steinbrenner did his best work. All that ugliness in the middle, including his suspensions -- during which, it might be said, the Yankees were best-ministered -- has been written about before and will be written about again, but perhaps today's not the day.
In 1973, anyone could have bought the Yankees for a song. But it was George Steinbrenner who cut a deal to purchase one of the world's greatest sports franchises for $8.8 million. Sure, it seems obvious now, just as drafting Albert Pujols in the 13th round seems obvious now. But if it was so obvious, why didn't someone else do it? Why didn't someone draft Albert Pujols in the 12th round? Why didn't somone offer CBS $9.8 million for the Yankees? Wouldn't that have been one of the great investments, ever?
So maybe it wasn't so obvious. Maybe George Steinbrenner, for whatever reason, was one of the few men able to see not only what the Yankees had been, but what they could be. That was 1973.
Steinbrenner was suspended in 1974. By the time of his reinstatement in 1976, the pieces were in place and the Yankees won four division titles, three American League pennants and two World Series in five years.
Steinbrenner was suspended again in 1990. By the time of his reinstatement in 1993, the pieces were in place and the Yankees would, in 1994, begin a brilliant run of success that hasn't let up and shows no signs of letting up.
It's not hard to conclude that the Yankees have always been best-served when Steinbrenner's hands were tied ... Or, as in the middle 1990s, when he chose to take a less active role.
Now, about the end. When it became clear that George Steinbrenner, though obviously a force of nature, might not live forever, thoughts naturally turned to King Lear and the perils of succession. Which son-in-law or daughter or son could possibly fill the Boss's gigantic loafers? Who could possibly drive the franchise the way he had driven it?
Nobody, perhaps. But perhaps that sort of driving isn't actually necessary. Perhaps unlimited financial resources combined with steady and intelligent management can accomplish just as much. More, perhaps. Whether George Steinbrenner understood this or not, the fact remains that as he made his slow and steady exit, he somehow left his beloved Yankees in the capable hands of his sons.
George Steinbrenner's been called a lot of things, over the years. But "Boss Lear" will never been one of them. He got the ending right.Share
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
University School revives Opening Day tradition
University School revives Opening Day tradition
By Pat Galbincea, The Plain Dealer
April 12, 2010, 9:00PM
US.jpgThomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerUniversity School students enjoy the Indians home opener Monday at Progressive Field. From left are: Morgan Karon, Sandy Cohn, Spencer Krantz, Stefan Leonard and Eli Weisblat.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Even before the first pitch, the day was made for a group of first-graders taking in Monday's Indians home opener.
The traditional Opening Day pageantry of reds, whites and blues etched on the field of green is what the youngsters from University School will remember.
Jay Jarvis, 7, couldn't stop talking about the giant American flag carried onto the field.
"I loved that flag and the stars that were also there," said Jay, of Cleveland. "I thought I'd be happy just seeing Slider [the Indians mascot]. What I wonder is how they got that flag cut out."
The patriotic colors presented in a different form got to Nicholas Nordell, 7.
"I go crazy over balloons," said the Gates Mills resident, "and it was cool when they launched them."
Nicholas had a great perch from which to watch the balloons drift out of Progressive Field. The 15 pupils sat in Section 575, way up and out in left field, in the general direction the wind carried the balloons.
The first-graders were at the game in part as a revival of a University School tradition. From 1890 to 1926, the school was on Hough Avenue, on Cleveland's East Side. Nearby was League Park, where the Indians played.
Starting in 1909, the school closed on Opening Day to let students and teachers attend the game. The practice continued even after both the Indians and the school moved out of the neighborhood. The Indians went downtown, and the school headed for Shaker Heights. In 1969 -- the year before US added a campus in Hunting Valley for its older students -- the school changed its policy and required staffers and students to have game tickets to get the day off, said Dick Parke, a University School math teacher and graduate.
The trip to Progressive Field was folded into the integrated theme curriculum the all-male private school has in its lower grades, said teacher Diane Meister. The first grade's current theme is Cleveland, with a focus on how sports developed as the city grew.
The idea on Monday was to participate as the community came together for a common goal -- to cheer the home nine to victory, and to see that it takes a whole lot of workers to make a sports team successful.
It was the first field trip for the kids. "We didn't have to twist any arms for them to go," said teacher Madeline Yano.
They took the rapid transit to the game, and had several interesting experiences.
Those sitting in Row R had to scramble in the third inning when a fan behind them spilled his beer. Luckily, nobody got an unwanted baptism.
Student Spencer Krantz, of Pepper Pike, was chewing on nachos at the end of the first inning, and lost a baby tooth that he was quick to display. Could that have prompted another tradition Monday night -- a visit from the tooth fairy?
By Pat Galbincea, The Plain Dealer
April 12, 2010, 9:00PM
US.jpgThomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerUniversity School students enjoy the Indians home opener Monday at Progressive Field. From left are: Morgan Karon, Sandy Cohn, Spencer Krantz, Stefan Leonard and Eli Weisblat.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Even before the first pitch, the day was made for a group of first-graders taking in Monday's Indians home opener.
The traditional Opening Day pageantry of reds, whites and blues etched on the field of green is what the youngsters from University School will remember.
Jay Jarvis, 7, couldn't stop talking about the giant American flag carried onto the field.
"I loved that flag and the stars that were also there," said Jay, of Cleveland. "I thought I'd be happy just seeing Slider [the Indians mascot]. What I wonder is how they got that flag cut out."
The patriotic colors presented in a different form got to Nicholas Nordell, 7.
"I go crazy over balloons," said the Gates Mills resident, "and it was cool when they launched them."
Nicholas had a great perch from which to watch the balloons drift out of Progressive Field. The 15 pupils sat in Section 575, way up and out in left field, in the general direction the wind carried the balloons.
The first-graders were at the game in part as a revival of a University School tradition. From 1890 to 1926, the school was on Hough Avenue, on Cleveland's East Side. Nearby was League Park, where the Indians played.
Starting in 1909, the school closed on Opening Day to let students and teachers attend the game. The practice continued even after both the Indians and the school moved out of the neighborhood. The Indians went downtown, and the school headed for Shaker Heights. In 1969 -- the year before US added a campus in Hunting Valley for its older students -- the school changed its policy and required staffers and students to have game tickets to get the day off, said Dick Parke, a University School math teacher and graduate.
The trip to Progressive Field was folded into the integrated theme curriculum the all-male private school has in its lower grades, said teacher Diane Meister. The first grade's current theme is Cleveland, with a focus on how sports developed as the city grew.
The idea on Monday was to participate as the community came together for a common goal -- to cheer the home nine to victory, and to see that it takes a whole lot of workers to make a sports team successful.
It was the first field trip for the kids. "We didn't have to twist any arms for them to go," said teacher Madeline Yano.
They took the rapid transit to the game, and had several interesting experiences.
Those sitting in Row R had to scramble in the third inning when a fan behind them spilled his beer. Luckily, nobody got an unwanted baptism.
Student Spencer Krantz, of Pepper Pike, was chewing on nachos at the end of the first inning, and lost a baby tooth that he was quick to display. Could that have prompted another tradition Monday night -- a visit from the tooth fairy?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Pitching coach Belcher says Fausto Carmona deserves credit for strong start: Indians Insider
Pitching coach Belcher says Fausto Carmona deserves credit for strong start: Indians Insider
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
April 12, 2010, 10:29PM
Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer“In my first game, I was too quick [in the delivery]," said Fausto Carmona after Monday's game. "I know I’ve struggled against this team, so I tried to throw more strikes.” CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Pitching coach Tim Belcher says he's an innocent bystander in a productive spring training and two good starts in the regular season by Fausto Carmona.
"To be honest with you, I stand behind Fausto when he's throwing his bullpens and count pitches," said Belcher. "When he's got good tempo, when he's got good mechanics as far as staying back over the rubber, I say, 'Good boy.' When he doesn't, I don't say anything.
"He's done a good job self-correcting himself. He's done most of it himself."
The Indians lost Monday's home opener to Texas, 4-2, in 10 innings. Carmona was not involved in the decision, pitching eight strong innings. He held the Rangers to two runs on five hits in 111 pitches. He did walk four, giving him 10 for the season, but he was the first Tribe starter to reach eight innings.
"I felt good today," said Carmona, 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA. "In my first game, I was too quick [in his delivery]. I know I've struggled against this team, so I tried to throw more strikes."
The Rangers are 6-2 against Carmona.
Out again: Grady Sizemore missed his second straight game with a stiff back Monday. The back tightened Sunday in Detroit while he was hitting in the cages.
It was a fast ball: Hall of Famer Bob Feller, the winningest pitcher in Indians history, threw out the first pitch to first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. Feller and the Indians were celebrating the 70th anniversary of his opening day no-hitter on April 16, 1940.
No dice: Indians went 0-3 in home openers in the first seven games of the season. They lost openers in Chicago and Detroit before losing their own.
Fast start: Catching prospect Carlos Santana finished his first week at Class AAA Columbus by winning the International League's Player of the Week Award. Santana, in his first four games, hit .438 with four homers and eight RBI.
More ice, please: Catcher Mike Redmond is not going to feel good on Tuesday morning. Redmond, Carmona's personal catcher, was hit above the left knee cap and right thigh on foul tips off the bat of catcher Taylor Teagarden in the fifth inning.
In the seventh inning, Teagarden hit him in the right shoulder with a foul tip.
"I told him, 'What did I ever do to you?'" said Redmond.
Wild pitches: When Manny Acta was asked before Monday's game about closer Chris Perez criticizing catcher Lou Marson for not stopping a wild pitch in the ninth inning Sunday against Detroit, Acta said, "My energy is focused on today's game, not comments from [Sunday]."
In Sunday's 9-8 loss, Perez wild-pitched the winning run home in the ninth.
Keep it short: When asked if Shin-Soo Choo forgot how many out there were when he took off from first on Travis Hafner's routine fly ball with one out in the third, Acta simply said, "Yes."
Homecoming: Former Indians first baseman Ryan Garko returned to Progressive Field for the first time since the Tribe dealt him to San Francisco last season. He pinch-hit in ninth inning with the bases loaded and popped up to second.
Since then Garko has been on the move, signing with Seattle in February before being claimed off waivers by Texas on April 1.
"It's good to be back," he said before Monday's opener. "I had a lot of great memories here. I loved it here. I played hard, felt I left it on the field, you know, but it'll be weird coming out of the other dugout, that's for sure."
Finally: Actor Corbin Bernsen, who, among other roles, played third baseman Roger Dorn in "Major League," will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Saturday's game against Chicago. He's in town producing a film to help save the financially struggling Soap Box Derby. ... After addressing a throng of reporters in his office after Monday home opener, Acta said, "I expect to see each and everyone of you back here Wednesday." There will be significantly fewer reporters and fans for Wednesday's game.
Staff writer Bill Lubinger contributed to this
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
April 12, 2010, 10:29PM
Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer“In my first game, I was too quick [in the delivery]," said Fausto Carmona after Monday's game. "I know I’ve struggled against this team, so I tried to throw more strikes.” CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Pitching coach Tim Belcher says he's an innocent bystander in a productive spring training and two good starts in the regular season by Fausto Carmona.
"To be honest with you, I stand behind Fausto when he's throwing his bullpens and count pitches," said Belcher. "When he's got good tempo, when he's got good mechanics as far as staying back over the rubber, I say, 'Good boy.' When he doesn't, I don't say anything.
"He's done a good job self-correcting himself. He's done most of it himself."
The Indians lost Monday's home opener to Texas, 4-2, in 10 innings. Carmona was not involved in the decision, pitching eight strong innings. He held the Rangers to two runs on five hits in 111 pitches. He did walk four, giving him 10 for the season, but he was the first Tribe starter to reach eight innings.
"I felt good today," said Carmona, 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA. "In my first game, I was too quick [in his delivery]. I know I've struggled against this team, so I tried to throw more strikes."
The Rangers are 6-2 against Carmona.
Out again: Grady Sizemore missed his second straight game with a stiff back Monday. The back tightened Sunday in Detroit while he was hitting in the cages.
It was a fast ball: Hall of Famer Bob Feller, the winningest pitcher in Indians history, threw out the first pitch to first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. Feller and the Indians were celebrating the 70th anniversary of his opening day no-hitter on April 16, 1940.
No dice: Indians went 0-3 in home openers in the first seven games of the season. They lost openers in Chicago and Detroit before losing their own.
Fast start: Catching prospect Carlos Santana finished his first week at Class AAA Columbus by winning the International League's Player of the Week Award. Santana, in his first four games, hit .438 with four homers and eight RBI.
More ice, please: Catcher Mike Redmond is not going to feel good on Tuesday morning. Redmond, Carmona's personal catcher, was hit above the left knee cap and right thigh on foul tips off the bat of catcher Taylor Teagarden in the fifth inning.
In the seventh inning, Teagarden hit him in the right shoulder with a foul tip.
"I told him, 'What did I ever do to you?'" said Redmond.
Wild pitches: When Manny Acta was asked before Monday's game about closer Chris Perez criticizing catcher Lou Marson for not stopping a wild pitch in the ninth inning Sunday against Detroit, Acta said, "My energy is focused on today's game, not comments from [Sunday]."
In Sunday's 9-8 loss, Perez wild-pitched the winning run home in the ninth.
Keep it short: When asked if Shin-Soo Choo forgot how many out there were when he took off from first on Travis Hafner's routine fly ball with one out in the third, Acta simply said, "Yes."
Homecoming: Former Indians first baseman Ryan Garko returned to Progressive Field for the first time since the Tribe dealt him to San Francisco last season. He pinch-hit in ninth inning with the bases loaded and popped up to second.
Since then Garko has been on the move, signing with Seattle in February before being claimed off waivers by Texas on April 1.
"It's good to be back," he said before Monday's opener. "I had a lot of great memories here. I loved it here. I played hard, felt I left it on the field, you know, but it'll be weird coming out of the other dugout, that's for sure."
Finally: Actor Corbin Bernsen, who, among other roles, played third baseman Roger Dorn in "Major League," will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Saturday's game against Chicago. He's in town producing a film to help save the financially struggling Soap Box Derby. ... After addressing a throng of reporters in his office after Monday home opener, Acta said, "I expect to see each and everyone of you back here Wednesday." There will be significantly fewer reporters and fans for Wednesday's game.
Staff writer Bill Lubinger contributed to this
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Manager Manny Acta inspires with action and words: Indians Insider
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Manager Manny Acta threw a curveball to reporters Thursday when he said he was going to give his "Vincente Lombardo" speech to his players before the Indians first full-squad workout Friday.
Vincente Lombardo, translated, is a reference to football coaching legend Vince Lombardi.
"I just dropped that name on you guys," said Acta after Friday's workout. "I'm not a Vince Lombardi-type guy. I'm a John Wooden-type of guy. I've never met him personally, but coach Wooden has made the most impact on my career as a coach. I read his biography and a lot of other books."
Acta's said he's used Wooden's pyramid of success theory wherever he's won in the minors and winter ball.
"He believes good things happen to good people. It worked for him. You have to admire a guy who has lived the way he has lived. And a guy who had the patience to lose for 14 years in a row and then became the greatest [men's college basketball] coach ever in this country."
Wooden is the former UCLA basketball coach who won 10 NCAA championships.
The Indians have been picked to finish last or close to last in the AL Central this year. The Sporting News ranks them as the worst team in the big leagues. Acta touched on that in his speech.
"It's freedom of speech here," he said. "We respect all of your opinions, we just don't have to believe it. You have to be positive and believe you can do it."
Acta was a blur for most of practice. He sprinted from one field to the next. He hit grounders to infielders. At the end of one drill, he grabbed an empty bucket and sprinted to short left field to help coaches and players pick up baseballs.
It's safe to say no other Indians manager in the past 28 years has done that.
"I've always done that," said Acta. "I used to be an infield instructor and third base coach. I'm not going to stop instructing and [coaching] just because I'm manager."
The only thing Acta can't do is throw batting practice. He had surgery on his right shoulder in September, the result of throwing batting practice for 20 years. He could be back in the mound in a couple of months.
"I just don't like to be standing behind the batting cage," Acta said.
As for his speech, Indians outfielder/first baseman Matt LaPorta said, "It fired me up
Where do I fit? LaPorta, who worked out with the team Friday, says he tentatively will be able to play in Cactus League games starting March 10. He's recovering from surgery on his left big toe and left hip.
He'll keep taking grounders at first base, but once he gets on a running program, he'll gradually move to left field. He's still a man without a position, knocked loose of his moorings at first base by the acquisition of Russell Branyan.
"I can't worry about positions until I'm 100 percent healthy," LaPorta said.
Acta said LaPorta or Michael Brantley will bear the brunt of Branyan's presence with a probable trip to Class AAA Columbus.
"If Matt is healthy, he's going to get 500 at-bats somewhere," Acta said. "We've still got 40 days to go. Let's see what happens."
Old friend: Carlos Baerga, doing games for ESPN Deportes, stopped by the Indians' complex Friday.
"You might see me coaching next year," Baerga said.
Good tracking: Indians hitters looked, but didn't swing at the offerings from their pitching teammates Friday. They'll do the same thing today before starting to swing Sunday.
Hitters "track" pitches instead of swinging at them. Acta believes batters are at a disadvantage this early in camp and could fall into bad habits by swinging so early in camp. He did it last year with Washington.
Finally: Jeremy Sowers (left shoulder), who threw a bullpen session Friday, could get into a Cactus League game before the end of spring training. . . . Acta said second base is "Luis Valbuena's job to lose." . . . Brian Bixler, competing for a utility infielder's job, could get a look in center. The Pirates played him there last year.
Vincente Lombardo, translated, is a reference to football coaching legend Vince Lombardi.
"I just dropped that name on you guys," said Acta after Friday's workout. "I'm not a Vince Lombardi-type guy. I'm a John Wooden-type of guy. I've never met him personally, but coach Wooden has made the most impact on my career as a coach. I read his biography and a lot of other books."
Acta's said he's used Wooden's pyramid of success theory wherever he's won in the minors and winter ball.
"He believes good things happen to good people. It worked for him. You have to admire a guy who has lived the way he has lived. And a guy who had the patience to lose for 14 years in a row and then became the greatest [men's college basketball] coach ever in this country."
Wooden is the former UCLA basketball coach who won 10 NCAA championships.
The Indians have been picked to finish last or close to last in the AL Central this year. The Sporting News ranks them as the worst team in the big leagues. Acta touched on that in his speech.
"It's freedom of speech here," he said. "We respect all of your opinions, we just don't have to believe it. You have to be positive and believe you can do it."
Acta was a blur for most of practice. He sprinted from one field to the next. He hit grounders to infielders. At the end of one drill, he grabbed an empty bucket and sprinted to short left field to help coaches and players pick up baseballs.
It's safe to say no other Indians manager in the past 28 years has done that.
"I've always done that," said Acta. "I used to be an infield instructor and third base coach. I'm not going to stop instructing and [coaching] just because I'm manager."
The only thing Acta can't do is throw batting practice. He had surgery on his right shoulder in September, the result of throwing batting practice for 20 years. He could be back in the mound in a couple of months.
"I just don't like to be standing behind the batting cage," Acta said.
As for his speech, Indians outfielder/first baseman Matt LaPorta said, "It fired me up
Where do I fit? LaPorta, who worked out with the team Friday, says he tentatively will be able to play in Cactus League games starting March 10. He's recovering from surgery on his left big toe and left hip.
He'll keep taking grounders at first base, but once he gets on a running program, he'll gradually move to left field. He's still a man without a position, knocked loose of his moorings at first base by the acquisition of Russell Branyan.
"I can't worry about positions until I'm 100 percent healthy," LaPorta said.
Acta said LaPorta or Michael Brantley will bear the brunt of Branyan's presence with a probable trip to Class AAA Columbus.
"If Matt is healthy, he's going to get 500 at-bats somewhere," Acta said. "We've still got 40 days to go. Let's see what happens."
Old friend: Carlos Baerga, doing games for ESPN Deportes, stopped by the Indians' complex Friday.
"You might see me coaching next year," Baerga said.
Good tracking: Indians hitters looked, but didn't swing at the offerings from their pitching teammates Friday. They'll do the same thing today before starting to swing Sunday.
Hitters "track" pitches instead of swinging at them. Acta believes batters are at a disadvantage this early in camp and could fall into bad habits by swinging so early in camp. He did it last year with Washington.
Finally: Jeremy Sowers (left shoulder), who threw a bullpen session Friday, could get into a Cactus League game before the end of spring training. . . . Acta said second base is "Luis Valbuena's job to lose." . . . Brian Bixler, competing for a utility infielder's job, could get a look in center. The Pirates played him there last year.
Former Cleveland Indians pitcher Jim Bibby dead at 65
Former Cleveland Indians pitcher Jim Bibby dead at 65
By Plain Dealer staff
February 17, 2010, 5:00PM
UPDATED: 5 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Hard-throwing right-hander Jim Bibby, who pitched for the Indians from 1975-77, died at age 65 on Tuesday night in Lynchburg, Va.
The cause was not disclosed. The family said a statement would be released later.
The 6-5 Bibby went 111-101 with a 3.76 earned run average for four teams in a major league career that began in 1972. The Indians traded Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry to the Texas Rangers for Bibby, pitchers Rick Waits and Jackie Brown and $100,000 on June 13, 1975.
Bibby compiled a 30-29 record in the next 2 1/2 seasons with the Indians, with four saves, a 3.36 ERA and 63 starts among his 95 appearances.
The way the Indians lost Bibby was symbolic of that era's financially-strapped Cleveland franchise. Bibby's 1977 contract with the Indians included a $10,000 bonus if he made at least 30 starts. He pitched in 37 games, making exactly 30 starts. The Indians failed to pay Bibby the money on time, and while the team was in spring training for the 1978 season, an arbitrator ruled that Bibby be declared a free agent.
Bibby signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He helped them win the 1979 World Series, going 12-4 with a 2.81 ERA, then posting a 2.08 ERA in three postseason starts -- including two in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles -- although he wasn't credited with a decision.
Bibby pitched the first no-hitter in Rangers history, a 6-0 win over Oakland in 1973. He had a 19-19 record with Texas in 1974, and went 19-6 and made the National League all-star team with the Pirates in 1980.
Bibby's brother, Henry, 60, played nine seasons in the NBA.
By Plain Dealer staff
February 17, 2010, 5:00PM
UPDATED: 5 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Hard-throwing right-hander Jim Bibby, who pitched for the Indians from 1975-77, died at age 65 on Tuesday night in Lynchburg, Va.
The cause was not disclosed. The family said a statement would be released later.
The 6-5 Bibby went 111-101 with a 3.76 earned run average for four teams in a major league career that began in 1972. The Indians traded Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry to the Texas Rangers for Bibby, pitchers Rick Waits and Jackie Brown and $100,000 on June 13, 1975.
Bibby compiled a 30-29 record in the next 2 1/2 seasons with the Indians, with four saves, a 3.36 ERA and 63 starts among his 95 appearances.
The way the Indians lost Bibby was symbolic of that era's financially-strapped Cleveland franchise. Bibby's 1977 contract with the Indians included a $10,000 bonus if he made at least 30 starts. He pitched in 37 games, making exactly 30 starts. The Indians failed to pay Bibby the money on time, and while the team was in spring training for the 1978 season, an arbitrator ruled that Bibby be declared a free agent.
Bibby signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He helped them win the 1979 World Series, going 12-4 with a 2.81 ERA, then posting a 2.08 ERA in three postseason starts -- including two in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles -- although he wasn't credited with a decision.
Bibby pitched the first no-hitter in Rangers history, a 6-0 win over Oakland in 1973. He had a 19-19 record with Texas in 1974, and went 19-6 and made the National League all-star team with the Pirates in 1980.
Bibby's brother, Henry, 60, played nine seasons in the NBA.
Former Cleveland Indians shortstop and manager George Strickland dies at 84
Former Cleveland Indians shortstop and manager George Strickland dies at 84
By Plain Dealer staff and wire reports
February 23, 2010, 3:33PM
ToppsIndians shortstop George Strickland's 1958 Topps baseball card.By Nakia Hogan
The Times-Picayune
George Strickland, the slick-fielding shortstop for the Indians in their historic 1954 season and a two-time interim manager for the team, died on Sunday at 84.
The Indians acquired Strickland in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 18, 1952. Playing in an era when the value of middle infielders was determined by their fielding and not their hitting, Strickland batted .233 with 22 home runs and 213 runs batted in for the Indians before he was released on Aug. 3, 1960.
For much of his time with the Indians, Strickland's glove ably backed the Indians' famed "Big Four" starting pitchers: Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, and all-star Mike Garcia.
Strickland played 112 games, batting .213 with six homers and 37 RBI, in 1954, when Cleveland set what was then an American League record for wins, finishing 111-43 before being swept in the World Series by the New York Giants.
Strickland was an Indians coach from 1963-69, usually stationed at third base. His first stint as Cleveland's interim manager began on April 2, 1964, one day after manager Birdie Tebbetts suffered a heart attack, and days before the start of the season. The Indians went 33-39 with Strickland at the helm, before Tebbetts returned on July 5.
Cleveland began the 1966 season 27-10, but had slumped to a 66-57 record when Tebbetts was dismissed as the manager on Aug. 19. Strickland took over, and Cleveland went 15-24 the rest of the way to finish 81-81. Strickland went back to his duties as the third base coach when Joe Adcock was hired as the manager.
Strickland, a New Orleans native who was a standout baseball player at S.J. Peters High School in the early 1940s and played two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association, was one of that city's more celebrated players.
Nicknamed "Bo," Strickland was one of the more provocative speakers among a group of retired athletes in the New Orleans area who met once a week for lunch and some good-old-days conversation.
Strickland often was the life of the party.
"Everybody wanted to sit near George at those things," said local baseball historian Peter Barrouquere, a former Times-Picayune reporter. "He told the most amazing stories. When (Hall of Fame pitcher) Bob Lemon passed away, he kept us going for 3 1/2 hours with Bob Lemon stories. He had us in stitches."
Mel Parnell, a former All-Star pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and a high school teammate of Strickland, agreed.
"It was great getting together like that because we had a mixture of athletes," Parnell said. "We have baseball, football, basketball, a boxing referee and a race horse trainer. And we all talked about our profession. We would bring up stories about our playing days, which were interesting."
Strickland had much to talk about.
After graduating from high school, Strickland served in the Navy in 1944 and '45. He then spent five years in the minor leagues, including two seasons with the Pelicans, before making his major league debut in 1950.
Strickland made the Pirates in 1950, and including his time with them, he had a career batting average of .224 with 36 homers and 284 RBI.
By Plain Dealer staff and wire reports
February 23, 2010, 3:33PM
ToppsIndians shortstop George Strickland's 1958 Topps baseball card.By Nakia Hogan
The Times-Picayune
George Strickland, the slick-fielding shortstop for the Indians in their historic 1954 season and a two-time interim manager for the team, died on Sunday at 84.
The Indians acquired Strickland in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 18, 1952. Playing in an era when the value of middle infielders was determined by their fielding and not their hitting, Strickland batted .233 with 22 home runs and 213 runs batted in for the Indians before he was released on Aug. 3, 1960.
For much of his time with the Indians, Strickland's glove ably backed the Indians' famed "Big Four" starting pitchers: Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, and all-star Mike Garcia.
Strickland played 112 games, batting .213 with six homers and 37 RBI, in 1954, when Cleveland set what was then an American League record for wins, finishing 111-43 before being swept in the World Series by the New York Giants.
Strickland was an Indians coach from 1963-69, usually stationed at third base. His first stint as Cleveland's interim manager began on April 2, 1964, one day after manager Birdie Tebbetts suffered a heart attack, and days before the start of the season. The Indians went 33-39 with Strickland at the helm, before Tebbetts returned on July 5.
Cleveland began the 1966 season 27-10, but had slumped to a 66-57 record when Tebbetts was dismissed as the manager on Aug. 19. Strickland took over, and Cleveland went 15-24 the rest of the way to finish 81-81. Strickland went back to his duties as the third base coach when Joe Adcock was hired as the manager.
Strickland, a New Orleans native who was a standout baseball player at S.J. Peters High School in the early 1940s and played two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association, was one of that city's more celebrated players.
Nicknamed "Bo," Strickland was one of the more provocative speakers among a group of retired athletes in the New Orleans area who met once a week for lunch and some good-old-days conversation.
Strickland often was the life of the party.
"Everybody wanted to sit near George at those things," said local baseball historian Peter Barrouquere, a former Times-Picayune reporter. "He told the most amazing stories. When (Hall of Fame pitcher) Bob Lemon passed away, he kept us going for 3 1/2 hours with Bob Lemon stories. He had us in stitches."
Mel Parnell, a former All-Star pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and a high school teammate of Strickland, agreed.
"It was great getting together like that because we had a mixture of athletes," Parnell said. "We have baseball, football, basketball, a boxing referee and a race horse trainer. And we all talked about our profession. We would bring up stories about our playing days, which were interesting."
Strickland had much to talk about.
After graduating from high school, Strickland served in the Navy in 1944 and '45. He then spent five years in the minor leagues, including two seasons with the Pelicans, before making his major league debut in 1950.
Strickland made the Pirates in 1950, and including his time with them, he had a career batting average of .224 with 36 homers and 284 RBI.
Breaking down the big questions as the Cleveland Indians prepare for spring training: Analysis
Breaking down the big questions as the Cleveland Indians prepare for spring training: Analysis
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 20, 2010, 8:08PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Spring training is here. Where did the winter go?
There's still evidence of it on neighborhood streets and roofs, but in Goodyear, Ariz., a snowflake doesn't stand a chance. Maybe the winter has been hidden from view because of the frantic pace of the Indians' off-season maneuvering.
Excuse me, there was no maneuvering.
Seattle maneuvered. So did the Angels, Rangers, A's, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles. The Twins were busy. The same with Detroit, the White Sox and Royals. The Pirates, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Giants and Diamondbacks had people coming and going at a rapid rate.
The Indians opted to strike it rich through a bevy of non-guaranteed, minor-league contracts. Maybe it will work in one or two instances, but it's not the recommended way to build a team.
Then again, the Indians say they're beyond the rebuild stage. The 162-game season, which begins April 5 in Chicago, will test a portion of that belief.
Right now new manager Manny Acta and his new coaching staff, starting Sunday, have six weeks -- 43 days, to be exact -- to discover the beginnings of what kind of team they have.
Every team, be they World Series champion or also-ran, enters a new season with unanswered questions or key issues to be resolved. Some of the answers will come in spring training. Others won't be determined until well into the season. Injuries, roster moves and a player's talent will take care of the rest.
Here are the key issues facing the Indians.
WHAT KIND OF MANAGER IS MANNY ACTA?
Best-case scenario: Acta is able to repeat the small miracle he worked with the Nationals in his rookie season of 2007 when he built a starting rotation from scratch. The Nationals, picked to lose 100 games, went 73-89 and finished fourth in the NL East.
The Indians have given Acta better arms to work than he had in 2007. He still needs to find the right mix.
Worst-case scenario: The Indians resemble the uninspired Nats that some scouts saw under Acta in 2008 and 2009.
What will probably happen: Acta, the first Tribe manager to actually manage somewhere else in the big leagues besides Cleveland since John McNamara in 1990, uses that experience to establish a pressure-free teaching environment where young players can take a deep breath and relax. How many games they win is another question all together.
WHO WILL BE IN THE STARTING ROTATION?
Best-case scenario: Jake Westbrook's right elbow stays sound and he assumes the No. 1 spot. Fausto Carmona gets his head out of the clouds, his feet back on the ground and has his first winning season since 2007. Justin Masterson proves he's more starter than reliever. David Huff makes it two years in a row with double-digit victories. Aaron Laffey throws more strikes and stays strong the whole season. Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Sowers and Hector Rondon provide a safety net.
Worst-case scenario: The direct opposite of the above.
What will probably happen: A couple of starters will do well. A couple won't. Consistency and innings pitched will be a problem. The pen, which pitched the third most innings last year in the AL, will once again be overworked.
WHAT SEVEN PITCHERS WILL BE IN THE BULLPEN?
Best-case scenario: Closer Kerry Wood and set-up men Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith win the first five jobs. Jensen Lewis, Jamey Wright, Jason Grilli, Mike Gosling, Saul Rivera, Jess Todd, Talbot and Sowers will be the main competitors for the last two spots. There will be more competition in the pen than anywhere else in camp, except for the race to the players' cafeteria for breakfast and lunch.
Worst-case scenario: GM Mark Shapiro gets a deal he can't refuse and trades Wood before opening day. The bullpen, without a pressure-tested closer, is in a state of flux all year.
What will probably happen: Wood will be traded by midseason so he doesn't finish 55 games on the Tribe's watch to vest his $11 million option for 2011. Chris Perez takes over as closer, but he needs time to make the transition. Rafael Perez and Smith have bounce-back seasons, while the revolving door on the pen spins for the second straight year.
WHO'S GOING TO CATCH?
Best-case scenario: Veteran backup Mike Redmond pairs with rookies Lou Marson or Wyatt Toregas to keep the position warm until Carlos Santana -- scheduled to play some Cactus League games after breaking the hamate bone in his right hand in winter ball -- arrives from Class AAA Columbus. This is the thinnest the Indians' catching position has been in years.
Worst-case scenario: Marson and Toregas can't handle the everyday job. Santana, meanwhile, stalls in his first year at Class AAA. That means Redmond, 38, has to catch more than anticipated, but as Acta said in January: "I don't worry about his age. He's fresh. When you back up Joe Mauer, you don't play that much."
What will probably happen: Whichever rookie wins the job out of spring training does a decent job with the staff, but doesn't hit much. Redmond gets a chance to earn some of his games-played performance bonuses. Santana makes his big-league debut, but his impact won't be felt until 2011.
WHO'S GOING TO PLAY LEFT FIELD?
Best-case scenario: Michael Brantley picks up where he left off in September with a great spring to win the job. He gives Acta a speed element to put at the bottom of the lineup and link with Grady Sizemore in the No.1 spot. Trevor Crowe will back up Brantley as the fourth outfielder.
Worst-case scenario: Brantley isn't quite ready and needs more time at Columbus. Left field rotates among Crowe, Austin Kearns and Matt LaPorta. Even Shelley Duncan and Jordan Brown get into the act.
What will probably happen: Brantley opens the season in left, struggles and gets optioned to Columbus. He returns and takes over the job.
CAN GRADY SIZEMORE AND MATT LAPORTA STAY HEALTHY?
Best-case scenario: Sizemore (left elbow, left groin) returns to his All-Star, Gold Glove form in center field. LaPorta (left big toe, left hip) establishes himself as an every-day first baseman with the ability to play left or right field.
Worst-case scenario: Sizemore and/or LaPorta break down in spring training and aren't ready for the regular season. Indians scramble to replace them.
What will probably happen: From all reports, Sizemore and LaPorta should have the green light in spring training. They'll be handled carefully, but should be ready to open the season. If not, the Indians' depth will be tested.
IS LUIS VALBUENA AN EVERYDAY SECOND BASEMAN?
Best-case scenario: Despite the Indians' efforts to sign veteran second baseman Orlando Hudson this winter, Valbuena shows he can hit left-handers (.205 last year), improves his on-base percentage (.298) and maintains his extra-base hit ability (38 extra-base hits out of 92 overall last year).
Worst-case scenario: The AL adjusts to Valbuena, but he doesn't adjust back. Hello sophomore jinx.
What will probably happen: Mark Grudzielanek, Brian Bixler, or one of the other utility infielders the Indians have signed will play second when Valbuena needs a break against a left-hander.
WHEN DO NICK HAGADONE AND JASON KNAPP GET TO THE BIG LEAGUES?
Best-case scenario: The left-handed Hagadone, 24, could be banging on the door of Progressive Field by the middle of the 2011 season if he gets through this season healthy and with no performance setbacks. Obtained in the Victor Martinez trade, he's 6-5, 230 and typically throws between 93-94 mph. He can touch 98 mph and is projected as a front-of-the-rotation starter or closer.
Knapp, 19, is coming off right shoulder surgery and it's going to take him longer. The top prospect in the Cliff Lee deal is 6-5, 215 and throws between 93-95 mph. The Indians think he can be a top starter or closer.
Hagadone and Knapp will probably start at Class A Kinston this year, but while Hagadone could progress quickly, Knapp will be on a slower track because of his age and injury. He's got a chance to be in Cleveland late in the 2012 season, but more likely sometime in 2013.
Worst-case scenario: Hagadone and Knapp turn into the second and third coming of Adam Miller.
What will probably happen: Perhaps one of the two gets to Cleveland and pitches well. If they both make it, and pitch to expectations, it will make the Martinez and Lee deals easier to live with.
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 20, 2010, 8:08PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Spring training is here. Where did the winter go?
There's still evidence of it on neighborhood streets and roofs, but in Goodyear, Ariz., a snowflake doesn't stand a chance. Maybe the winter has been hidden from view because of the frantic pace of the Indians' off-season maneuvering.
Excuse me, there was no maneuvering.
Seattle maneuvered. So did the Angels, Rangers, A's, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles. The Twins were busy. The same with Detroit, the White Sox and Royals. The Pirates, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Giants and Diamondbacks had people coming and going at a rapid rate.
The Indians opted to strike it rich through a bevy of non-guaranteed, minor-league contracts. Maybe it will work in one or two instances, but it's not the recommended way to build a team.
Then again, the Indians say they're beyond the rebuild stage. The 162-game season, which begins April 5 in Chicago, will test a portion of that belief.
Right now new manager Manny Acta and his new coaching staff, starting Sunday, have six weeks -- 43 days, to be exact -- to discover the beginnings of what kind of team they have.
Every team, be they World Series champion or also-ran, enters a new season with unanswered questions or key issues to be resolved. Some of the answers will come in spring training. Others won't be determined until well into the season. Injuries, roster moves and a player's talent will take care of the rest.
Here are the key issues facing the Indians.
WHAT KIND OF MANAGER IS MANNY ACTA?
Best-case scenario: Acta is able to repeat the small miracle he worked with the Nationals in his rookie season of 2007 when he built a starting rotation from scratch. The Nationals, picked to lose 100 games, went 73-89 and finished fourth in the NL East.
The Indians have given Acta better arms to work than he had in 2007. He still needs to find the right mix.
Worst-case scenario: The Indians resemble the uninspired Nats that some scouts saw under Acta in 2008 and 2009.
What will probably happen: Acta, the first Tribe manager to actually manage somewhere else in the big leagues besides Cleveland since John McNamara in 1990, uses that experience to establish a pressure-free teaching environment where young players can take a deep breath and relax. How many games they win is another question all together.
WHO WILL BE IN THE STARTING ROTATION?
Best-case scenario: Jake Westbrook's right elbow stays sound and he assumes the No. 1 spot. Fausto Carmona gets his head out of the clouds, his feet back on the ground and has his first winning season since 2007. Justin Masterson proves he's more starter than reliever. David Huff makes it two years in a row with double-digit victories. Aaron Laffey throws more strikes and stays strong the whole season. Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Sowers and Hector Rondon provide a safety net.
Worst-case scenario: The direct opposite of the above.
What will probably happen: A couple of starters will do well. A couple won't. Consistency and innings pitched will be a problem. The pen, which pitched the third most innings last year in the AL, will once again be overworked.
WHAT SEVEN PITCHERS WILL BE IN THE BULLPEN?
Best-case scenario: Closer Kerry Wood and set-up men Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith win the first five jobs. Jensen Lewis, Jamey Wright, Jason Grilli, Mike Gosling, Saul Rivera, Jess Todd, Talbot and Sowers will be the main competitors for the last two spots. There will be more competition in the pen than anywhere else in camp, except for the race to the players' cafeteria for breakfast and lunch.
Worst-case scenario: GM Mark Shapiro gets a deal he can't refuse and trades Wood before opening day. The bullpen, without a pressure-tested closer, is in a state of flux all year.
What will probably happen: Wood will be traded by midseason so he doesn't finish 55 games on the Tribe's watch to vest his $11 million option for 2011. Chris Perez takes over as closer, but he needs time to make the transition. Rafael Perez and Smith have bounce-back seasons, while the revolving door on the pen spins for the second straight year.
WHO'S GOING TO CATCH?
Best-case scenario: Veteran backup Mike Redmond pairs with rookies Lou Marson or Wyatt Toregas to keep the position warm until Carlos Santana -- scheduled to play some Cactus League games after breaking the hamate bone in his right hand in winter ball -- arrives from Class AAA Columbus. This is the thinnest the Indians' catching position has been in years.
Worst-case scenario: Marson and Toregas can't handle the everyday job. Santana, meanwhile, stalls in his first year at Class AAA. That means Redmond, 38, has to catch more than anticipated, but as Acta said in January: "I don't worry about his age. He's fresh. When you back up Joe Mauer, you don't play that much."
What will probably happen: Whichever rookie wins the job out of spring training does a decent job with the staff, but doesn't hit much. Redmond gets a chance to earn some of his games-played performance bonuses. Santana makes his big-league debut, but his impact won't be felt until 2011.
WHO'S GOING TO PLAY LEFT FIELD?
Best-case scenario: Michael Brantley picks up where he left off in September with a great spring to win the job. He gives Acta a speed element to put at the bottom of the lineup and link with Grady Sizemore in the No.1 spot. Trevor Crowe will back up Brantley as the fourth outfielder.
Worst-case scenario: Brantley isn't quite ready and needs more time at Columbus. Left field rotates among Crowe, Austin Kearns and Matt LaPorta. Even Shelley Duncan and Jordan Brown get into the act.
What will probably happen: Brantley opens the season in left, struggles and gets optioned to Columbus. He returns and takes over the job.
CAN GRADY SIZEMORE AND MATT LAPORTA STAY HEALTHY?
Best-case scenario: Sizemore (left elbow, left groin) returns to his All-Star, Gold Glove form in center field. LaPorta (left big toe, left hip) establishes himself as an every-day first baseman with the ability to play left or right field.
Worst-case scenario: Sizemore and/or LaPorta break down in spring training and aren't ready for the regular season. Indians scramble to replace them.
What will probably happen: From all reports, Sizemore and LaPorta should have the green light in spring training. They'll be handled carefully, but should be ready to open the season. If not, the Indians' depth will be tested.
IS LUIS VALBUENA AN EVERYDAY SECOND BASEMAN?
Best-case scenario: Despite the Indians' efforts to sign veteran second baseman Orlando Hudson this winter, Valbuena shows he can hit left-handers (.205 last year), improves his on-base percentage (.298) and maintains his extra-base hit ability (38 extra-base hits out of 92 overall last year).
Worst-case scenario: The AL adjusts to Valbuena, but he doesn't adjust back. Hello sophomore jinx.
What will probably happen: Mark Grudzielanek, Brian Bixler, or one of the other utility infielders the Indians have signed will play second when Valbuena needs a break against a left-hander.
WHEN DO NICK HAGADONE AND JASON KNAPP GET TO THE BIG LEAGUES?
Best-case scenario: The left-handed Hagadone, 24, could be banging on the door of Progressive Field by the middle of the 2011 season if he gets through this season healthy and with no performance setbacks. Obtained in the Victor Martinez trade, he's 6-5, 230 and typically throws between 93-94 mph. He can touch 98 mph and is projected as a front-of-the-rotation starter or closer.
Knapp, 19, is coming off right shoulder surgery and it's going to take him longer. The top prospect in the Cliff Lee deal is 6-5, 215 and throws between 93-95 mph. The Indians think he can be a top starter or closer.
Hagadone and Knapp will probably start at Class A Kinston this year, but while Hagadone could progress quickly, Knapp will be on a slower track because of his age and injury. He's got a chance to be in Cleveland late in the 2012 season, but more likely sometime in 2013.
Worst-case scenario: Hagadone and Knapp turn into the second and third coming of Adam Miller.
What will probably happen: Perhaps one of the two gets to Cleveland and pitches well. If they both make it, and pitch to expectations, it will make the Martinez and Lee deals easier to live with.
Cleveland Indians are playing catch-up behind the plate during spring training
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 26, 2010, 5:00AM
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians have started spring training without a regular catcher. It's a problem because someone has to get behind the plate or every pitch is going to bounce to the backstop.
It's a unique situation for the Indians because over the past 6-1/2 years three-time All-Star Victor Martinez took care of that unpleasant job. Last spring, the Indians had what many teams considered two starting catchers in Martinez and Kelly Shoppach.
Martinez was traded to Boston in July to save money. Shoppach was traded to Tampa Bay in December for the same reason, but on a smaller scale.
It's going to take a while to assemble the pieces left behind.
Lou Marson and Wyatt Toregas, who don't have a year's time in the big leagues between them, will hold a catch-off for the starting job. It starts today with the first full-squad workout and could last until early April.
Veteran Mike Redmond was signed to help the winner over the rough spots of the season.
If Marson or Toregas aren't the answer, Carlos Santana will be waiting at Class AAA Columbus to save the day.
Sounds logical, but when was the last time logic worked for the Indians?
Manny Acta, like all managers, requires a lot more than offense from his catchers.
"Nobody is just going to throw a pitch with conviction just because you can swing the stick," said Acta. "You need to earn their trust."
Acta is looking for a catcher who calls a good game, works well with the pitching staff, blocks balls in the dirt and throws well. But most of all, he's looking for a catcher who can get the best out of whatever pitcher is on the mound when he's behind the plate.
Toregas and Marson have been listening
"You want to take all the pressure off your pitcher when he's on the mound," said Toregas, a 24th-round draft choice by the Indians in 2004. "You don't want him to think about what pitch he wants to throw."
Toregas made his big-league debut Aug. 1, the day after Martinez was traded. Toregas appeared in 19 games and hit .176 (9-for-51) with six RBI.
Marson came to the Indians from Philadelphia in the Cliff Lee trade July 29. He caught 21 games in the big leagues last year, seven with the Phillies and 14 with the Indians.
"It was a great experience last year," said Marson, a fourth-round pick in 2004. "It doesn't matter what fingers you put down, what matters is that they trust what you put down. That's what I'm going to try and get out of this spring."
Marson caught 14 games in September. That could give him an edge. He hit .250 (11-for-44) with four RBI last year with the Tribe. In 22 games in the big leagues, including one in 2008, he has hit one homer.
"Marson is a guy who gives you an approach to hitting that translates to the big leagues," said GM Mark Shapiro. "Obviously, he doesn't have a lot of power, but he puts the ball in play and gets on base."
The best part of Toregas' game is defense, but he hit .284 (59-for-208) with 10 doubles, seven homers and 29 RBI last year at Columbus.
"He calls a good game, blocks well, has a pretty good arm," said Shapiro. "Last year, his bat made some strides and that was good to see."
Hovering over Marson and Toregas is Santana, the Indians' top prospect. He seems recovered from a broken hamate bone in his right hand, but Acta and Shapiro have made it clear he will spend the year at Columbus, despite bringing the Class AA Eastern League to its knees last year by hitting .290 (124-for-428) with 30 doubles, two triples, 23 homers and 97 RBI.
"We're really excited about Carlos, but he's a guy who has never caught a Class AAA game," said Shapiro. "We love his tools, we love his production to date, it's just that we feel he's going to benefit from some finishing."
Shapiro would not say if Santana would make his big-league debut this year.
"That's a byproduct of his progression and whoever is the starting catcher," said Shapiro.
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 26, 2010, 5:00AM
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians have started spring training without a regular catcher. It's a problem because someone has to get behind the plate or every pitch is going to bounce to the backstop.
It's a unique situation for the Indians because over the past 6-1/2 years three-time All-Star Victor Martinez took care of that unpleasant job. Last spring, the Indians had what many teams considered two starting catchers in Martinez and Kelly Shoppach.
Martinez was traded to Boston in July to save money. Shoppach was traded to Tampa Bay in December for the same reason, but on a smaller scale.
It's going to take a while to assemble the pieces left behind.
Lou Marson and Wyatt Toregas, who don't have a year's time in the big leagues between them, will hold a catch-off for the starting job. It starts today with the first full-squad workout and could last until early April.
Veteran Mike Redmond was signed to help the winner over the rough spots of the season.
If Marson or Toregas aren't the answer, Carlos Santana will be waiting at Class AAA Columbus to save the day.
Sounds logical, but when was the last time logic worked for the Indians?
Manny Acta, like all managers, requires a lot more than offense from his catchers.
"Nobody is just going to throw a pitch with conviction just because you can swing the stick," said Acta. "You need to earn their trust."
Acta is looking for a catcher who calls a good game, works well with the pitching staff, blocks balls in the dirt and throws well. But most of all, he's looking for a catcher who can get the best out of whatever pitcher is on the mound when he's behind the plate.
Toregas and Marson have been listening
"You want to take all the pressure off your pitcher when he's on the mound," said Toregas, a 24th-round draft choice by the Indians in 2004. "You don't want him to think about what pitch he wants to throw."
Toregas made his big-league debut Aug. 1, the day after Martinez was traded. Toregas appeared in 19 games and hit .176 (9-for-51) with six RBI.
Marson came to the Indians from Philadelphia in the Cliff Lee trade July 29. He caught 21 games in the big leagues last year, seven with the Phillies and 14 with the Indians.
"It was a great experience last year," said Marson, a fourth-round pick in 2004. "It doesn't matter what fingers you put down, what matters is that they trust what you put down. That's what I'm going to try and get out of this spring."
Marson caught 14 games in September. That could give him an edge. He hit .250 (11-for-44) with four RBI last year with the Tribe. In 22 games in the big leagues, including one in 2008, he has hit one homer.
"Marson is a guy who gives you an approach to hitting that translates to the big leagues," said GM Mark Shapiro. "Obviously, he doesn't have a lot of power, but he puts the ball in play and gets on base."
The best part of Toregas' game is defense, but he hit .284 (59-for-208) with 10 doubles, seven homers and 29 RBI last year at Columbus.
"He calls a good game, blocks well, has a pretty good arm," said Shapiro. "Last year, his bat made some strides and that was good to see."
Hovering over Marson and Toregas is Santana, the Indians' top prospect. He seems recovered from a broken hamate bone in his right hand, but Acta and Shapiro have made it clear he will spend the year at Columbus, despite bringing the Class AA Eastern League to its knees last year by hitting .290 (124-for-428) with 30 doubles, two triples, 23 homers and 97 RBI.
"We're really excited about Carlos, but he's a guy who has never caught a Class AAA game," said Shapiro. "We love his tools, we love his production to date, it's just that we feel he's going to benefit from some finishing."
Shapiro would not say if Santana would make his big-league debut this year.
"That's a byproduct of his progression and whoever is the starting catcher," said Shapiro.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Don't cry over Robbie, save your tears for Bert Blyleven
Don't cry over Robbie Alomar, save your tears for Bert Blyleven
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
January 06, 2010, 5:16PM
UPDATED: 5:16 p.m.
Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerRoberto Alomar was the best all-around player Paul Hoynes has ever seen, and he finished a handful of votes short of the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Robbie Alomar deserved election to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot today by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He didn't get it, but he's still the best all-around player I've ever seen.
Weep not for Alomar. He has 14 years left on the ballot and should make it next year after receiving 73.7 of the required 75 percent of the vote. It's the most votes a first-year player has ever received and not gotten elected.
Rusty Kennedy / Associated PressJust five votes short of Cooperstown, Bert Blyleven has had to wait an unbelievable 13 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, says Paul Hoynes.The guy I feel bad for is Bert Blyleven, who received 74.2 percent of the vote. The winner of 287 games missed enshrinement by five votes in his 13th year on the ballot. It is small and cruel margin for a pitcher who threw 60 shutouts and 242 complete games in a 22-year career.
Blyleven, who pitched for the Indians from 1981-85, has two years left on the ballot. The five-vote shortfall is the fifth fewest in history, trailing Nellie Fox (four), Pie Traynor (four), Billy Williams (two) and Jim Bunning (two). Those four eventually made it to Cooperstown, but Bunning and Fox ran out of time on the BBWAA's ballot and were elected by the Veterans Committee, which can be its own box of snakes.
I watched Blyleven win 19 games for the Indians in 1984. I still don't know how he did it. They lost 87 games that year and finished 29 1/2 games out of first place.
Blyleven's shortstop was Julio Franco, who made 36 errors. His closer was Ernie Camacho. Manager Pat Corrales had to come out in the ninth inning of almost every save situation and punch Camacho in the chest to remind him to forget his curve, slider and change-up and just throw his 98 mph fastball.
"No, tricks, Ernie," Corrales would scream.
Writers vote the way they do for many reasons. I believe the growth and interpretation of statistics has become more and more a factor in the process. It's one thing to watch a player throughout his career. It's another to put his statistics through a series of mathematical hoops to prove a point.
Blyleven was a Hall of Famer the day his career ended in 1992. He's still one today even if five votes say he isn't. A look at the percentage of votes he's received over the last 13 years show how the writers have been slow to warm to him: 18 percent in 1998; 14 percent 1999, 17 percent 2000; 24 percent 2001; 26 percent 2002; 29 percent 2003, 35 percent 2004; 41 percent 2005; 53 percent 2006; 48 percent 2007; 62 percent 2008, 63 percent 2009 and 74.2 percent in 2010.
I watched Alomar for the three years he played in Cleveland from 1999 to 2001. There was nothing he couldn't do. He hit for average and power. He stole bases. He played defense as if he invented the concept.
Was he a diva? Certainly. He's still the only player I've seen who caused a clubhouse ruckus because he didn't feel his pitcher hit a Cincinnati batter as hard as he'd been hit by a Cincinnati pitcher. Still, to watch Alomar and Omar Vizquel play the middle of the diamond for three years negated a lot of pettiness.
Drama and Alomar were never far apart. There was the spitting incident with plate umpire John Hirschbeck. When the Indians traded him to the Mets after the 2001 season, his drop in production was startling. Then came a lawsuit by a former girlfriend that he had AIDS.
These things may have cost Alomar votes, but they won't keep him out of Cooperstown. He missed by only seven votes this year.
BBWAA writers with 10 years experience are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. They can vote for as many as 10 players on the ballot. Here's mine:
• Alomar: He could have won the AL MVP in any of the three years he played in Cleveland.
• Blyleven: I don't understand why he's had to wait so long.
• Harold Baines: Career .289 hitter with 2,866 hits. He would have been an automatic Hall of Famer with 134 more hits.
• Andre Dawson: The Hawk was the only player elected by the writers this year. The late Hall of Fame baseball writer Jerome Holtzman told me Dawson was one of the few players he'd ever covered who could inspire a bad team to be better than they were. Eight Gold Gloves, 438 homers, 1,591 RBI and 314 steals helped the cause.
• Barry Larkin: Shortstop with good power. He hit .353 in the 1990 World Series when the Reds upset Oakland.
• Edgar Martinez: Has there ever been a hitter who has scared more Indians fans than Martinez?
• Jack Morris: Like Blyleven, I can't understand why Morris wasn't elected a long time ago. Critics say his ERA is too high. All I know is he was the winningest pitcher in the 1980s. That means he dominated his craft for 10 years.
• Tim Raines: I missed his prime years with the Expos. The stats say he's the best leadoff hitter this side of Rickey Henderson.
• Alan Trammell: I was voting for Trammell before Larkin came on the ballot this year. Quality player for a long time.
• Lee Smith: Before Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, there was Lee Smith and his 478 saves.
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
January 06, 2010, 5:16PM
UPDATED: 5:16 p.m.
Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerRoberto Alomar was the best all-around player Paul Hoynes has ever seen, and he finished a handful of votes short of the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Robbie Alomar deserved election to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot today by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He didn't get it, but he's still the best all-around player I've ever seen.
Weep not for Alomar. He has 14 years left on the ballot and should make it next year after receiving 73.7 of the required 75 percent of the vote. It's the most votes a first-year player has ever received and not gotten elected.
Rusty Kennedy / Associated PressJust five votes short of Cooperstown, Bert Blyleven has had to wait an unbelievable 13 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, says Paul Hoynes.The guy I feel bad for is Bert Blyleven, who received 74.2 percent of the vote. The winner of 287 games missed enshrinement by five votes in his 13th year on the ballot. It is small and cruel margin for a pitcher who threw 60 shutouts and 242 complete games in a 22-year career.
Blyleven, who pitched for the Indians from 1981-85, has two years left on the ballot. The five-vote shortfall is the fifth fewest in history, trailing Nellie Fox (four), Pie Traynor (four), Billy Williams (two) and Jim Bunning (two). Those four eventually made it to Cooperstown, but Bunning and Fox ran out of time on the BBWAA's ballot and were elected by the Veterans Committee, which can be its own box of snakes.
I watched Blyleven win 19 games for the Indians in 1984. I still don't know how he did it. They lost 87 games that year and finished 29 1/2 games out of first place.
Blyleven's shortstop was Julio Franco, who made 36 errors. His closer was Ernie Camacho. Manager Pat Corrales had to come out in the ninth inning of almost every save situation and punch Camacho in the chest to remind him to forget his curve, slider and change-up and just throw his 98 mph fastball.
"No, tricks, Ernie," Corrales would scream.
Writers vote the way they do for many reasons. I believe the growth and interpretation of statistics has become more and more a factor in the process. It's one thing to watch a player throughout his career. It's another to put his statistics through a series of mathematical hoops to prove a point.
Blyleven was a Hall of Famer the day his career ended in 1992. He's still one today even if five votes say he isn't. A look at the percentage of votes he's received over the last 13 years show how the writers have been slow to warm to him: 18 percent in 1998; 14 percent 1999, 17 percent 2000; 24 percent 2001; 26 percent 2002; 29 percent 2003, 35 percent 2004; 41 percent 2005; 53 percent 2006; 48 percent 2007; 62 percent 2008, 63 percent 2009 and 74.2 percent in 2010.
I watched Alomar for the three years he played in Cleveland from 1999 to 2001. There was nothing he couldn't do. He hit for average and power. He stole bases. He played defense as if he invented the concept.
Was he a diva? Certainly. He's still the only player I've seen who caused a clubhouse ruckus because he didn't feel his pitcher hit a Cincinnati batter as hard as he'd been hit by a Cincinnati pitcher. Still, to watch Alomar and Omar Vizquel play the middle of the diamond for three years negated a lot of pettiness.
Drama and Alomar were never far apart. There was the spitting incident with plate umpire John Hirschbeck. When the Indians traded him to the Mets after the 2001 season, his drop in production was startling. Then came a lawsuit by a former girlfriend that he had AIDS.
These things may have cost Alomar votes, but they won't keep him out of Cooperstown. He missed by only seven votes this year.
BBWAA writers with 10 years experience are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. They can vote for as many as 10 players on the ballot. Here's mine:
• Alomar: He could have won the AL MVP in any of the three years he played in Cleveland.
• Blyleven: I don't understand why he's had to wait so long.
• Harold Baines: Career .289 hitter with 2,866 hits. He would have been an automatic Hall of Famer with 134 more hits.
• Andre Dawson: The Hawk was the only player elected by the writers this year. The late Hall of Fame baseball writer Jerome Holtzman told me Dawson was one of the few players he'd ever covered who could inspire a bad team to be better than they were. Eight Gold Gloves, 438 homers, 1,591 RBI and 314 steals helped the cause.
• Barry Larkin: Shortstop with good power. He hit .353 in the 1990 World Series when the Reds upset Oakland.
• Edgar Martinez: Has there ever been a hitter who has scared more Indians fans than Martinez?
• Jack Morris: Like Blyleven, I can't understand why Morris wasn't elected a long time ago. Critics say his ERA is too high. All I know is he was the winningest pitcher in the 1980s. That means he dominated his craft for 10 years.
• Tim Raines: I missed his prime years with the Expos. The stats say he's the best leadoff hitter this side of Rickey Henderson.
• Alan Trammell: I was voting for Trammell before Larkin came on the ballot this year. Quality player for a long time.
• Lee Smith: Before Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, there was Lee Smith and his 478 saves.
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