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Never Forget 31-0
ABJ
6/18/06
ABJ
6/18/06
6/18/06
Broussard, Hafner take
<!-- begin body-content -->MILWAUKEE - turns playing first base
Ben Broussard returned to first base for the Indians on Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, one day after designated hitter Travis Hafner took his place.
Manager Eric Wedge thought that he would keep Hafner's bat in the lineup by using him two nights in a row at first (the DH is not permitted at National League ballparks), but reconsidered.
``The Brewers are throwing a left-hander tomorrow, and the (Chicago) Cubs have switched to a lefty on Monday,'' Wedge said. ``If Ben doesn't play tonight, he'll have to sit four days in a row, and I don't want him to do that.''
Moreover, because Jake Westbrook coaxes batters to hit ground balls, Wedge wanted Broussard, the more polished first baseman, in the game Saturday.
And there was one other thing: Broussard was 3-for-6 lifetime against Brewers starter Dave Bush; Hafner was 1-for-6.
Hafner probably will play first today.
WHO'S SECOND? -- With Casey Blake on the disabled list and Jason Michaels sidelined, the Tribe lineup is in a state of flux.
On Friday night, Ronnie Belliard batted second instead of Michaels. Saturday, Aaron Boone was in the second slot.
``It doesn't seem like Ronnie is comfortable up there,'' Wedge said. ``I thought we'd try Boone, and he's done it before.''
HELP! -- So far, there is no indication that General Manager Mark Shapiro is close to a deal to right the ship.
``Mark's not happy about what's going on,'' Wedge said. ``He's doing everything he can to get it turned around. I still feel like our guys are hanging in with their attitude and approach, but winning is a collective effort and losing is, too.''
Wedge said that Shapiro has not written off the season.
``Mark's not pleased, and well he shouldn't be,'' Wedge said. ``He's always looking for help to make us better, but that's easier said than done. His focus is still on this year, as well it should be.''
MICHAELS CLOSE -- Michaels tested his sprained ankle Saturday and decided that he was almost ready to play.
``I can pinch hit tonight,'' he said. ``And hopefully I can play tomorrow. The strength in my ankle is much better today. It's still sore, but that's something you just have to deal with.''
Michaels sprained the ankle trying to make a play in left field Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
FUNDRAISER -- The Indians Wives Association will sponsor the second annual Mystery Ball Fund-raiser July 6 at Jacobs Field.
All fans attending the game against the New York Yankees that day can buy a Mystery Ball ticket for $30 and take home an autographed baseball signed by a prominent athlete. The balls will be sealed to hide the identity of the sports figure.
Among the players who have signed balls are Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Wayne Gretzky, C.C. Sabathia, Buck O'Neil, David Ortiz, Ichiro Suzuki, Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Jim Thome, Tony Perez and Victor Martinez. Last year, 500 baseballs sold out in 15 minutes.
There also will be a silent auction that day of various Tribe items.
FARM FACTS -- Andy Marte hit his eighth home run of the year and drove in two runs, as Buffalo beat Durham 6-1 in Class AAA.... Joe Ness (6-2, 2.42 ERA) pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits in Kinston's 2-1 win over Myrtle Beach in Class A
ABJ
6/18/06
Ocker on the Indians
Things not going GM Shapiro's way
Some of Tribe's woes are his fault, but injuries, player slumps contribute
By Sheldon Ocker
<!-- begin body-content -->MILWAUKEE - Mark Shapiro is facing his most challenging season.
For the first time since becoming Indians general manager in November 2001, the team is not performing to his or the public's expectations.
Moreover, there is every indication that the Tribe will not magically snap out of its malaise and execute a Sherman-like march through the second half of the schedule to win a spot in the playoffs.
To make matters worse for Shapiro, some of the team's defects are a consequence of moves he made last winter.
Against all logic, Shapiro recruited Jason Johnson as the No. 5 starter rather than re-sign Scott Elarton, perhaps the most competent fifth starter with the Indians since at least the early '80s.
For unknown reasons, Shapiro seemed bent on giving the setup position to Guillermo Mota from the day he was acquired from the Boston Red Sox, rather than making him earn the job.
Mota went from almost killing the deal one day because of a dubious physical exam to becoming the heir to Bobby Howry two days later. And it's not as if there weren't alternatives. Rafael Betancourt, who became setup man when Mota failed repeatedly, seemed like the logical choice to succeed Howry all along.
Then there was the obsession with acquiring Andy Marte. The hotshot third-base prospect was nurtured in the farm system of the Atlanta Braves, made a brief stop with the Red Sox and landed with the Tribe, along with Mota, in exchange for Coco Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard.
When Shapiro made the ill-advised acquisitions of Matt Lawton and Ricky Gutierrez before the 2002 season, he learned the difficulty of achieving two almost mutually exclusive objectives -- continuing to contend and building for the future -- at the same time.
But the GM did it again by trading Crisp, who could help win now, for Marte, a player who might give the team a leg up in seasons to come.
After the Indians won 93 games to finish one game behind the wild-card Boston Red Sox last year, Shapiro should have narrowed his focus to qualifying for the postseason. Period.
So Shapiro made mistakes. I have never heard of a general manager whose every move was picture perfect. But up until this year, Shapiro had not made errors in judgment that affected the upward progress of the team in any meaningful way.
Maybe it was about time that happened. It seems that there is no substitute for experience. It doesn't hurt to be a prodigy, but seldom does anyone emerge as a mature executive until he has experienced success and failure in a variety of situations.
In other words, it would be stupid to throw Shapiro under the bus because he had one bad offseason. And don't blame owners Larry and Paul Dolan for failing to provide sufficient financial resources. As Shapiro said, there were few free agents available worthy of being overpaid.
And that includes Kevin Millwood. If the Texas Rangers wanted to live on the edge by giving him a five-year, $60 million contract, so be it. There was no reason for Shapiro to follow them to the edge of the cliff and maybe fall into the abyss.
Howry's contract with the Chicago Cubs is somewhat more debatable, but Shapiro's position certainly is defensible. That is, he did not think giving Howry a $12 million deal (over three years) was wise unless he was being hired as the closer, which was not the case.
Not all of the team's problems can be blamed on Shapiro. He is not responsible for the season-ending injury to reliever Matt Miller, the strained abdominal muscle that cost ace C.C. Sabathia the first month of the schedule or the abdominal muscle strain that will sideline right fielder Casey Blake for an undetermined number of weeks.
It is not the GM's fault that shortstop Jhonny Peralta slipped into a two-month slump, nor did Shapiro induce second baseman Ronnie Belliard and catcher Victor Martinez to underachieve for several weeks.
And don't blame Shapiro for Scott Sauerbeck's failure to function efficiently in the bullpen.
Should anyone take a hit for these deficiencies, aside from the players themselves? When the Tribe was in New York last week, two veteran members of the media suggested that manager Eric Wedge had ``lost the team.''
The arrest of Sauerbeck, hiding in the bushes with a female companion, and the near fight between Bob Wickman and Paul Byrd could be signs of a club that is falling into disarray.
Early in the season, Wedge refused to bench Peralta for twice failing to hustle, though he publicly chastised him and presumably laid down the law in the privacy of the manager's officer.
This kind of sketchy evidence doesn't necessarily add up to a team turning off the manager. In fact, the Indians continue to play hard, and there is no outward indication that players are trying to shift responsibility for their own shortcomings to Wedge.
Learning from experience applies to Wedge, too. He became a big-league manager in 2003, and though he no longer is a raw rookie, it's going to be a while before he has seen it all.
Wedge has not lived through a season in which the best-laid plans continually have gone awry. Unexplainable slumps, injuries, poor decisions on personnel and just bad luck are a routine part of baseball. This is the first time on Wedge's watch that every time the ball has taken an odd bounce, the manager has gotten whacked in the teeth.
Has Wedge contributed to the Tribe's backsliding? Possibly, but there is little evidence to suggest he should not continue to lead the team on the field.
Unhappily for the Dolans, this is a worst-case scenario. Just when the fans were beginning to feel a need to visit Jacobs Field, the team executed a U-turn.
Maybe that won't put a fatal crimp in next year's budget and create another obstacle to winning. But in Cleveland, the worst-case scenario has become commonplace, almost expected.
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