Indians Tidbits (2007 Season)

[tsteele316]

Absolutely. Problem is we've been waiting all season for that to happen. This is a good game to build off of, let's hope this finally gets the bats to wake up.

in a roundabout way, that leg injury may have helped him. since he wasn't driving off that back leg for shit, he finally sped up his hands the last few days. He's hit some balls pretty well. now that the leg is getting better, he is starting to actually drive the ball again. Now, if he can actually sustain this instead of regressing back to captain slow bat, then the offense has some hope.

but, as it stands, the offense will live and die with hafner. the rest of the bunch isn't talented enough to pick up that much slack, save for victor.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

Cleveland wakes up, tops Tigers
Thursday, August 23, 2007
By Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

DETROIT Finally, at least for a night, baseball was fun again for the Indians.

All nine starters contributed at least one hit, and seven drove in runs Wednesday night as the slumbering Cleveland batting order awakened and overpowered Detroit, 11-8, at Comerica Park.

The victory allowed the Indians to extend their Central Division lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games entering this afternoon?s series finale.

?This is exactly how I thought it would be,? closer Joe Borowski said. ?Nobody?s going to run away with it, and it?ll come down to the last week of the season. That makes it exciting.

?The excitement builds each week, each day that goes by. A pennant race brings out the best in everybody.?

Continued....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

INDIANS NOTEBOOK: Wedge runs out of options
Thursday, August 23, 2007
INDIANS NOTEBOOK
ANDY CALL

DETROIT There comes a time when there are simply no more moves to make.

Cleveland Manager Eric Wedge admitted to being nearly at that point with his team?s slumping offense prior to Wednesday?s game at Detroit. The Indians had scored three runs or fewer 16 times in the last 26 games since July 23.

?When you go through something like this, you try everything,? Wedge said. ?Ultimately, (the players) still have to have confidence in each other and in themselves and believe they?re going to come out of this and get it going again.?

Wedge has juggled the batting order, moving Kenny Lofton into the leadoff spot and dropping Grady Sizemore into the No. 3 hole.

He has juggled the starting lineup, sending Josh Barfield to the bench in favor of rookie Asdrubal Cabrera and installing a platoon of Lofton and Jason Michaels in left field.

Continued.....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Gutierrez should win the vote over Nixon, Bud Shaw says


Thursday, August 23, 2007 Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
Detroit- To squelch a rumor, the Indi ans do hold batting practice.
Hopefully, this should put an end to the growing suspicion they spend valuable pre- game time on something else.
Whiffle ball, maybe. Or swimming until their muscles go weak and their lips turn blue.
Fortunately for them, Franklin Gutierrez carried a bat to the cage just after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. He'd done what has become his custom, arriving at the ball park early to check the lineup.
Lo and behold he made it, one night after Eric Wedge sat him against a right-hander he'd homered against last week at home. Gutierrez played then because Trot Nixon had the flu.

Continued....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

INDIANS INSIDER
Carmona's efficiency a rare sight


Thursday, August 23, 2007 Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Detroit- Fausto Carmona knows how to squeeze a lot out of a little.
Carmona used 77 pitches Tuesday night to throw an eight-inning complete game in a 2-1 loss to Detroit at Comerica Park. He's just the second pitcher this season, according to Elias Sports Bureau, to go at least eight innings in 77 or fewer pitches.
Aaron Cook of the Rockies threw a nine-inning, 74-pitch complete game against San Diego on July 25. He won, 10-2.

Continued....

 

[Big Papa]

CPD
Gutierrez should win the vote over Nixon, Bud Shaw says


Thursday, August 23, 2007 Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
Detroit- To squelch a rumor, the Indi ans do hold batting practice.
Hopefully, this should put an end to the growing suspicion they spend valuable pre- game time on something else.
Whiffle ball, maybe. Or swimming until their muscles go weak and their lips turn blue.
Fortunately for them, Franklin Gutierrez carried a bat to the cage just after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. He'd done what has become his custom, arriving at the ball park early to check the lineup.
Lo and behold he made it, one night after Eric Wedge sat him against a right-hander he'd homered against last week at home. Gutierrez played then because Trot Nixon had the flu.

Continued....

I hope Trot has the flu for the rest of the season. There is no excuse for this guy to be out there at any given night, unless it is in garbage time. Franky shows that he deserves to be out there and Nixon is trash. Just another example of Wedge's poor team management. Asshole.

 

[Mac]

I hope Trot has the flu for the rest of the season. There is no excuse for this guy to be out there at any given night, unless it is in garbage time. Franky shows that he deserves to be out there and Nixon is trash. Just another example of Wedge's poor team management. Asshole.

Agreed.

 

[NFBuck]

Well, I must admit I'm suprised they were able to get 2/3 in Detroit. Shit for offense again, so maybe last night was just a fluke. Either way, I'm thrilled with the way Jake has been pitching the past couple weeks. Thank God the Tigers are in shittier shape than us right now. We may just win this division by default. All bets are off if we get to the postseason. St. Louis was an average team until they gelled in October, so just get there. Then again, they have Tony LaRussa, we have Eric Wedge...

 

[Mac]

I'm hoping what doesn't happen is the sticks start to come around and start pounding the ball and the pitching goes south...

 

[tsteele316]

I'm hoping what doesn't happen is the sticks start to come around and start pounding the ball and the pitching goes south...

fortunately enough, even when CC and Carmona have an "off" night, they still do well enough that a team with a marginal offense can still have a good shot at winning.

taking 2/3 from the Tigs shouldn't make anyone feel good, especially because of the manner of the wins. Yesterday this team still had terrible AB's, especially with guys in scoring position.

Wednesday night, they did a good job of making Verlander come in the strike zone, and hitting their pitches. Then, they start hacking at anything marginally close yesterday against robertson.

i am willing to wager they were told to be aggressive and get on Robertson early. that means don't take first pitch fastballs down the middle, not flail wildly at anything within reach. just piss-poor approaches at the plate all the way around.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Indians make a statement
Cleveland starting to click when it counts most
Friday, August 24, 2007 3:32 AM
By Scott Priestle


The Columbus Dispatch

Julian H. GonzalezMcClatchy Tribune
The Tigers' Magglio Ordonez steals second base in the sixth inning as the ball eludes the Indians' Jhonny Peralta.

Julian H. GonzalezMcClatchy Tribune
Cleveland got more encouraging results from starter Jake Westbrook with eight scoreless innings.



DETROIT -- There was a fly ball that hooked just a few feet foul of being a game-ending home run. The shortstop bobbled a double-play grounder. A dribbler up the middle eluded every infielder.
With that thin margin, the Cleveland Indians escaped Detroit yesterday with a 3-1 win over the Tigers in 10 innings, a two-games-to-one series win and a 2 1/2 -game lead in the American League Central.
All three games ended with the potential tying run on base or at the plate. Momentum shifted often, particularly in the final innings yesterday. It was difficult to determine which team was best, only which team is ahead: the Indians, by any measure.

Continued...

 

[LitlBuck]

Blakey and bullpen

I know this will never happen but I would like Wedge to sit down Blake and let G?mez play third and see how he hits playing full-time. Blake is only hitting around .170 with risp. It can only be a temporary move just to see how G?mez performs but I think it would be well worth a try.

They also need to find one more try for the bullpen. P?rez usually is only good for one inning. It seems like when he comes out for a second inning be doesn't have the same stuff as he did when the first got in the game. They really only have three relievers now with Joe and the two Rafies. I don't think September 1 can come soon enough for the bullpen. If they are going to use Lee as a starter why not put him in the bullpen and see what he can do.

 

[NFBuck]

i am willing to wager they were told to be aggressive and get on Robertson early. that means don't take first pitch fastballs down the middle, not flail wildly at anything within reach. just piss-poor approaches at the plate all the way around.

This is precisley why I lay much of the blame at the feet of Derek Shelton. As a hitting "coach" you need to get these guys heads straight, but it seems like he just sits back and watches them, terrible at-bat after terrible at-bat. His ass should have been in the unemployment line weeks ago. This offense will not improve on a consistent basis until that hack is shitcanned.

 

[Big Papa]

This is precisley why I lay much of the blame at the feet of Derek Shelton. As a hitting "coach" you need to get these guys heads straight, but it seems like he just sits back and watches them, terrible at-bat after terrible at-bat. His ass should have been in the unemployment line weeks ago. This offense will not improve on a consistent basis until that hack is shitcanned.

For fuck sake if we could just get one guy hot, then some others might catch on too. Has this team had a good hitting instructor since Charlie Manuel? Eddie Murray was worthless. Can we just coax Grover into coming back to coaching and get Wedgie the hell outta there?

 

[Mac]

CC gets the shaft YET again...8th/9th innings Indians had someone in scoring position with 1 out and couldn't get a run in...I don't even care anymore