Indians Tidbits (2007 Season)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Indians report
Grady celebrates at plate
Sizemore, as DH, again hits well on his birthday
By Sheldon Ocker Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Aug 03, 2007
CLEVELAND: Grady Sizemore played a major role in the Indians' 5-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday with two singles, a sacrifice fly and two RBI.
Afterward, he said: ''I've felt old for years.''
That comment had nothing to do with the rigors of playing baseball. Thursday was Sizemore's 25th birthday, as noted by many fans who held up signs at Jacobs Field.
''I didn't get any gifts, so it's rough,'' Sizemore joked. ''Nobody in here knew it was my birthday, but they started to figure it out when they saw the signs out there.''
Sizemore's birthday has been a boon to his career. Since arriving in the big leagues in 2004, he has batted .375 (6-for-16) with a double, triple, stolen base and three RBI on his birthday.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

INDIANS INSIDER
Bridge disaster has Cleveland Indians in somber mood


Friday, August 03, 2007 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Indians left Jacobs Field on Thursday afternoon for a four-game series against the Twins in Minneapolis not knowing what to expect following Wednesday's collapse of a bridge spanning the Mississippi River near the Metrodome.
The Twins postponed Thursday's game against Kansas City following the collapse that left at least four dead, 79 injured and as many as 30 people still reported missing. Twins officials were considering postponing tonight's game, but informed the Indians on Thursday that the series would be played as scheduled.
"It's a horrific scene," said manager Eric Wedge. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Minneapolis. But for us, I think everything is moving forward as scheduled."

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Indians sign Scott Elarton to minor league deal

Posted by [URL="http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/about.html"]jmorona[/URL] August 03, 2007 13:39PM

Categories: Indians

Scott Elarton is back in the Indians organization.

The right-handed pitcher signed a minor league deal and will pitch out of the bullpen at Triple-A Buffalo.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Indians 5 | Twins 2
A chance for city to forget
Baseball resumes after bridge tragedy
Saturday, August 4, 2007 6:54 AM
By Dave Campbell


ASSOCIATED PRESS

Andy King | Associated Press photos
An Interstate 35W emblem is shown on the Metrodome wall to honor the victims of the bridge collapse.

Grady Sizemore follows through on a fifth-inning single that scored Franklin Gutierrez.


MINNEAPOLIS -- The Interstate 35W bridge provided an eye-catching view of downtown Minneapolis as it snaked through the city and over the river, framing the Metrodome's white, puffy roof in front of the glittering skyscrapers.

Manager Ron Gardenhire and thousands of his team's fans drove that stretch of freeway every time the Twins had a home game, until yesterday. The bridge's fatal collapse two days earlier erased a major access point to the area around the stadium, one of many ways this catastrophe has affected life for Minnesotans.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Struggling Indians still have time to contribute

Saturday, August 4, 2007 3:28 AM
By Scott Priestle


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

CLEVELAND -- Jake Westbrook watched with pride and excitement as the Indians played their way into a pennant race. He has a chance to reach the postseason for the first time in his career. But in the back of his mind is the regret all injured players face:

I haven't helped. They've done it without me.
After averaging 15 wins the past three seasons, Westbrook will be hard-pressed to win half as many this season. He is 2-6 with a 5.40 ERA.
"I've been really disappointed in myself and to the team," he said. "Now it's about finding the consistency I had here the last two or three years and finishing strong. That's my job -- contribute the next two months."

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

INDIANS INSIDER
Edward Mujica has up-and-down season with Cleveland Indians


Saturday, August 04, 2007

Mujica having an up-and-down season

Edward Mujica shouldn't pitch for a living -- he should run an elevator. He's the Indians' up-and-down man.
Four times this season, Mujica has been promoted from Class AAA Buffalo. The right-hander has been sent down three times but is staying on the top floor a little longer. Mujica caught a break when left-hander Jason Stanford was designated for assignment Friday to make room for left-hander Aaron Laffey, who was promoted to make his first big-league start.
"The ups and downs don't bother me," said Mujica, from Valencia, Venezuela. "I'm keeping my mind the right way."
Mujica, 23, spends a lot of time in the bullpen talking to fellow Venezuelan Rafael Betancourt.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

INDIANS NOTEBOOK Elarton signs deal, joins Buff...
Published on Saturday, Aug 04, 2007
INDIANS NOTEBOOK Elarton signs deal, joins Buffalo bullpen
MINNEAPOLIS: The Indians signed right-hander Scott Elarton to a minor-league contract Friday and assigned him toTriple-A Buffalo, where he will pitch in the bullpen.
Elarton was 2-4 with a 10.46 ERA in nine starts for the Kansas City Royals. He spent time on the disabled list with ankle and shoulder injuries, then was released last week.
In 2004, Elarton made a few starts for the Tribe after recovering from surgery, and the next year he became the club's No. 5 starter.
''You know how strong we feel about Scott,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''He also wanted to come back. He's starting out in the bullpen, and we'll go from there.''

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Twins 3 Indians 2
Twins bullpen finishes off Tribe

Sunday, August 5, 2007 3:57 AM
By Dave Campbell


ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins' bullpen picked up Matt Garza after a thorny start. Michael Cuddyer provided some relief from right field, too.

Joe Nathan finished off five scoreless innings by the bullpen and Cuddyer drove in two runs, leading the Twins over the Cleveland Indians 3-2 yesterday.
It was Cuddyer's leaping catch against the tall blue wall in right, though, that really saved the game and served as one of the best and most important defensive plays in Minnesota's so-far middling, frustrating season.
The Twins moved 5 1/2 games behind the Indians, who began the day in first place in the American League Central.
"It was an exciting win," said Cuddyer, who came off the disabled list and had two hits Friday.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

INDIANS INSIDER
Cleveland Indians Grady Sizemore hitting left-handers well


Sunday, August 05, 2007 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Minneapolis- Grady Sizemore doesn't look at numbers. He goes by feel.
If that is the case, he must be feeling good when it comes to facing left-handers. Last year Sizemore hit .214 (47-for-220) against left-handers and .329 (143-for-435) against right-handers.
This year he's hitting .283 (43-for-152) against lefties and .283 (80-for-283) against right-handers.
"I don't feel anything different," Sizemore said. "You're always trying to make adjustments, trying something new. I just try to have good at-bats regardless of whether they're against right-handers or left-handers.

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[NFBuck]

Just checking in...yep still pathetic. Might be time to take a close look at Derek Shelton as a "hitting" coach. They make mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young candidates.

 

[tsteele316]

Just checking in...yep still pathetic. Might be time to take a close look at Derek Shelton as a "hitting" coach. They make mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young candidates.

the peralta bunt attempt is indicative of this team's troubles. this is the only team in baseball that can score as many runs as they do, yet continually lose games 1-0. there are too many johnny-come-latelys on this team that only have "clutch" offensive performances when cleveland is up by 5 runs.

the fact of the matter is that hafner is in a season long slump. Victor is struggling right now. blake is always useless save for an unimportant single every now and again. nixon needs sent to the glue factory. peralta is absolutely pathetic. barfield is a joke at the plate.

shelton should be on the hotseat. this team still cannot bunt. they don't move runners over, and they're piss-poor with men on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Cleveland's BA with RISP is one of the worst in the league. If there was some kind of split where you can see what that average is when the team is ahead vs. when they are trailing, cleveland would likely be dead last in the latter.

All of this has been the case for nigh on 3 seasons now, albeit eddie murray was hitting coach for part of one of those.

 

[LitlBuck]

the peralta bunt attempt is indicative of this team's troubles. this is the only team in baseball that can score as many runs as they do, yet continually lose games 1-0. there are too many johnny-come-latelys on this team that only have "clutch" offensive performances when cleveland is up by 5 runs..

If Wedgie wanted to bunt so badly in that situation my question is why didn't he send someone up rather than JP to bunt? Probably next to Hafner or Martinez JP is probably the worst bunter on the team. I cannot believe that he let him bunt with 2 strikes. Who was going to get Michaels home from 2nd? Certainly not Barfield the way he has been hitting lately. It was a dumb move by the manager.

I don't see them getting rid of Shelton. Wedgie has his favorites and no matter how bad things get he sticks with him. Shapiro would have to make that call. It bothers me that they signed Wedgie to that contract extension when he hasn't won a division title in a while. They better get their act back fast with the Tigers and Yankees coming up or else we will see another late-season swoon.

 

[NFBuck]

I don't see them getting rid of Shelton. Wedgie has his favorites and no matter how bad things get he sticks with him. Shapiro would have to make that call. It bothers me that they signed Wedgie to that contract extension when he hasn't won a division title in a while. They better get their act back fast with the Tigers and Yankees coming up or else we will see another late-season swoon.

You can go back and check this thread for any excitement I showed when Wedge got the extension, but I'll save ya the time...there was none. His teams have been consistently bad fundamentally, and quite frankly IMHO, he's bush-league at managing his bullpen and in game adjustments/substitutions. Why this team kept Rpberto Bloody Hernandez and Cabrera as long as they did, not to mention Mike Rouse(.118 last I checked) who is still on the roster, is beyond me. I know Shapiro has final say on these issues, but why doesn't Wedge campaign harder to get them off the damn roster? Nope, he continued to trot them out there and watched them get shellacked. I hate that extension. In all honesty, I think he should have been on the hotseat if this team fails to reach the postseason. If this team had been playing just average ball the past 2-3 weeks, we could be 4-5 games up on Detroit right now. Watch out for Minny now too.

Shelton needs to go post haste. He's the Maurice Carthon of the Cleveland Indians, and I just hope Wedge can improve his overall managerial skills, because this team is awful right now, and there's too much talent for that. Frustrating as fuck. Is Pat Corrales or Doc Edwards still alive?

 

[goodguy]

Some good posts lately. Nixon being sent to the glue factory is hilarious.

Agreed about nobody being excited about Wedge getting a contract extension. A bit premature in my opinion.

Give Barfield time guys, he's still young.

As for Peralta, his time with Indians is coming to an end. It would not surprise me if they toss/trade him during the off season. Or move him to third.... That fucker is to big to play SS.

Guitterez needs to play more, he's a keeper.

Is Loften a free agent after the season?

Can Garko play outfield? Shoppach needs to play more and Victor and Garko need places to go.

I love Kronk, but paying a DH as much as Shapiro signed him to was iffy.

 

[NFBuck]

Well, Tribe gets a win tonight, of course on a night that both the tigers and yankees win. Bats are still less than impressive. Byrd pitched a beauty (CG, 4 hit shutout) and has very quietly gone 10-4 this season.