Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Bullpen coach released after 44 years with Tribe 'Different dynamic' needed, Wedge says. Lee honored by AL
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Oct 01, 2008

CLEVELAND: After 44 years with the Indians, bullpen coach Luis Isaac, 62, has been fired.
''Luis is as loyal as the day is long, and he contributed to this club for a long time,'' said Indians manager Eric Wedge, who made the decision. ''But I thought we needed a different dynamic in that role. It's something I thought about for a long time.''
When asked if the bullpen's inconsistency the past few years was a factor, Wedge said, ''It was more than that.''
Isaac played in the Tribe farm system from 1965-72 and was a player-coach through 1977. After that, he remained with the Indians as a minor-league coach and manager or scout until he was promoted to the big-league staff in 1993.
Isaac was quietly instrumental in helping countless pitchers who came through the organization.
Wedge said he and pitching coach Carl Willis are considering three or four candidates as replacements for Isaac.
Another accolade
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Award season begins early for Tribe's Lee, named AL's comeback player of the year

by Paul Hoynes Tuesday September 30, 2008, 10:07 PM


Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerDominant from start to finish, Cliff Lee was an easy choice as the AL's Comeback Player of the Year on Tuesday. Lee received 24 of 30 first-place votes in balloting of writers on each MLB team's Web site.
Eric Wedge, at his annual end-of-the-season press conference Tuesday, predicted it would be a busy off-season for Cliff Lee. Wedge was talking about Lee hitting the banquet and postseason awards trail. He saw CC Sabathia go through it last year and it's already started for the 30-year-old left-hander.
Lee was named Tuesday the American League's Comeback Player of the Year by Major League Baseball. Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge received the award in the National League.
After going 5-8 last year, Lee made himself the Cy Young favorite this season by going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA. Lee, the Indians' first 20-game winner in 34 years, led the AL in victories and ERA.
Lee missed spring training in 2007 with an abdominal injury. He never righted himself and was sent to Class AAA Buffalo at the end of July. When he returned in September, he was put in the bullpen and didn't make the postseason roster.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Wedge: Tribe expects to contend in 2009

by Paul Hoynes Tuesday September 30, 2008, 7:49 PM


Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerIn looking toward the 2009 season, Indians manager Eric Wedge (right) cited the team's strength at catcher, with Kelly Shoppach (10) and Victor Martinez. Wedge said a trade of one or the other to improve the roster is possible, but the benefit would have to be tremendous.
Eric Wedge doesn't think about what might have happened if the Indians had waited longer to trade CC Sabathia, Casey Blake and Paul Byrd. He's already rolling into next year. Sabathia was the first to go on July 7. The Indians, 37-51 at the time, went 44-30 the rest of the way to finish within 7 1/2 games of first place in the AL Central.
"I never look at what could have been," the Indians manager said Tuesday in his postseason meeting with reporters. "If you do that, you do it your whole life. ... You have to be accountable, realistic about where you are."
Wedge believes the Indians' 40-28 record after the All-Star break will help them regain their contender status in the Central in 2009.
"Our expectations next year are no different than they were coming into this season," said Wedge. "No one is happy we went .500 this year, but there will be no carryover into next season."

The Indians, one game away from the World Series in 2007, were expected to reach the postseason again this year. They finished 81-81, ruined by an injury-filled first half.
"I want to utilize what we learned this year and take it out for a spin in 2009," said Wedge.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Spring's predictions for '08 Tribe were definitely a hit-or-miss proposition --- like the Tribe

by Terry Pluto Tuesday September 30, 2008, 6:41 PM


Looking back at the Tribe season in my rear-view mirror...

I wish I hadn't written ... that the bullpen would be solid, even if Joe Borowski failed. The odds were against another big season from Borowski, and I just assumed one of the Raffys -- Betancourt or Perez -- could fill in as closer. And that the bullpen was deep enough.
I'm glad I wrote ... the left-field platoon of Jason Michaels and Dave Dellucci was destined to fail. Most fans knew it, too. And that I wrote two stories about opening the season without Ben Francisco in left. He finished the season at .266 with 15 HR and 54 RBI. After the All-Star break, Francisco hit only .240 with 6 HR and 18 RBI in 196 at-bats. The Indians believe he simply wore down a bit in his first big league season, but he should only be written in as a starter in pencil.
I'm glad the Indians didn't listen ... when I wrote they should trade Cliff Lee while they could still get something for the lefty. I proposed a deal with the Pirates involving Jason Bay, who had a solid season after being traded to Boston. But I'd hate to think about the rotation without the man who should be the Cy Young winner.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Fired Indians bullpen coach Isaac not bitter after surprise dismissal

by Paul Hoynes Tuesday September 30, 2008, 12:44 PM


AP photoFired Indians bullpen coach Luis Isaac: "I leave with my head up. I don't want people to think I'm sour. The Indians helped raise my family for 44 years."
There was loud music playing when Louie Isaac answered the phone in his home in Carolina, Puerto Rico. "I got fired," said Isaac. "I'm a free agent. I'm in my house right now having a good time."
Manager Eric Wedge fired Isaac as the Indians' bullpen coach Sunday night after the team arrived at Progressive Field from Chicago following the season finale. Wedge is 40. Isaac has worked for the Indians four more years than Wedge has been alive.
Isaac was the longest-tenured employee in the organization. Owners, general managers, managers, coaches and players came and went. Isaac always stayed.
At least until Wedge decided the bullpen needed a different "dynamic." What it needed was a closer and a set-up man from Opening Day, but Joe Borowski was hurt and Rafael Betancourt was AWOL for the first half, all of which was out of Isaac's control.

"Louie was as loyal as the day is long," said Wedge. "He's been a great contributor here to the coaching staff for so many years. Ultimately, we need a different dynamic in the bullpen from that role. It's something I've been thinking about for a while."
The Tribe's pen finished the season at 19-25 with a 5.13 ERA and 31 saves. It ranked 13th in ERA and saves and 12th in victories. The year before, with the same man in charge, it was one of the best pens in the big leagues.
"I was shocked when Wedgie told me, but I said, 'I want to thank you for everything,'" said Isaac, 62. "I didn't ask why. I didn't fight or cry, he'd already made up his mind.
"I want to thank the Cleveland Indians and the fans. I want to say goodbye and thank you for a super 44 years."

Cont...

 

[LitlBuck]

Bullpen coach released after 44 years with Tribe:(

It just won't be the same without old Louie out in the bullpen. You would have least have thought they would have offered him some other position in the organization but just to let him go after 44 years just doesn't seem right. During many of those years, he certainly did not have much to work with.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Isaac's dismissal a stain on Indians' reputation

by Bill Livingston Wednesday October 01, 2008, 6:45 PM



The fall guy for Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro and his bullpen of walking gas cans is apparently coach Luis Isaac.
Isaac was one of the guys fans don't know much about, but he deserved better. It was a small, mean way to dismiss a man who had been part of the Indians' organization for 44 years in the big leagues and the bushes. For the last 15 years, most of them good ones, he would wear the shin guards and the big mitt in the pen at Jacobs/Progressive Field. But the best thing he took out there was his practiced eye.
It seemed like the Tribe would always have Isaac working with the pitchers in the pen, fixing their deliveries and their release points, but he was fired Tuesday. The players had already cleared out, of course, so none could complain. Nor could the Latin players publicly wonder what was up with that.
Isaac might have been a closer confidant of some of the pitchers than Carl Willis, the current pitching coach. Maybe that hurt him. Wedge never seemed insecure when he had Mike Hargrove, one of the most successful managers in Tribe history, looking over his shoulder as a consultant a few years ago.
But this makes him look bad, just as it reflects poorly on Shapiro. Where is the classy attitude Shapiro tries to embody with this dismissal?
Cont...

 

[JCOSU86]

I don't think it was a well thought out firing. Isaacs not only was the bullpen coach, but he was the unofficial liasion between Hispanic players and management.

 

[LitlBuck]

Over the years, I have seen a lot of players, coaches, managers, GM's, and even owners of the Indians but this has to be one of the most classless acts I have witnessed. 44 years of service and the poor guy gets nothing in return. This hurts:!

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

D-Man's Ex-Files: October's contenders peppered with former Indians

by Dennis Manoloff Thursday October 02, 2008, 7:38 PM


The MLB playoffs are an Ex-Files bonanza. Here are the notable former Indians involved.
Gene J. Puskar/Associated PressManny Ramirez has certainly been a vision in Dodger Blue, and his bat has helped to carry Los Angeles to a quick playoff edge over the Chicago Cubs.
Manny Ramirez, Dodgers: This summer, the Baby Bull finally got his wish to be traded from Boston. He rewarded his new club with a .396 average, 17 homers and 53 RBI in 53 games. He slugged .743. Ramirez's presence had a ripple effect on the rest of the lineup, and he was embraced by his teammates. He has been on his best behavior for manager Joe Torre, the other half of the oddest of odd couples. Without Ramirez, the Dodgers would not have sniffed the playoffs. Ramirez, who will receive NL MVP votes, combined to hit .332 with 121 RBI with Boston and Los Angeles. He has 527 career homers.
Jim Thome, White Sox: Happy Jack put the White Sox in the playoffs with a homer Tuesday against the Twins in the regular-season finale. It accounted for the game's only run. The home run was Thome's 34th of the season and 541st of his career. Thome, the Tribe's all-time homer king, still is searching for that ring. The closest he came was with the Indians in 1997. He has a decent chance to win it all with manager Ozzie Guillen, who guided the White Sox to a title in 2005. Guillen's crew beat three teams in three days just to reach the postseason and fears no one -- certainly not the greenhorn Tampa Bay Rays.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Between the Lines: Readers respond to Tribe's firing of bullpen coach Isaac

by Bill Livingston Thursday October 02, 2008, 6:46 PM



Thursday's column about the firing of bullpen coach Luis Isaac struck a nerve with the fans. It received a lot of response to have concerned the dismissal of a fairly low-profile coach by the Indians.
I think there are several reasons why this resonated with readers:
1. As a caller who said he was a Browns fan maintained, "It stinks to be fired ... after serving the same company for 44 years."
I think many readers saw this as an example of a lack of corporate loyalty.
"This is what's wrong with this country now," the caller said.

2. It reflected the growing power of manager Eric Wedge, whose teams have made only one playoff appearance in his six years at the helm. Fans have never really taken to Wedge, although he did a good job with all the injuries this year.

3. This is not a good time for Corporate Talk in a country with this economic climate. Both Wedge and his boss, Mark Shapiro, do that quite well. Baseball no longer seems like a pleasant diversion from the troubles of the workplace when everyone sounds like a business administration major and when workplace injustices invade the front office. 4. People want to know what Isaac did that was so terrible if third-base coach Joel "Stop Sign" Skinner still has his job after holding Kenny Lofton when he could have walked home on his hands with the tying run in the seventh game at Boston. Noting that the usually aggressive Skinner has been known for waving plodders Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez into easy outs, one reader said: "I guess Lofton's not as fast as they are."
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[TRON]

CLEVELAND (AP) The Cleveland Indians have acquired a minor league outfielder from the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the CC Sabathia trade.

The Indians announced Friday that they selected Michael Brantley as the player to be named in the July deal.

Continued....Indians complete trade with Brewers | newarkadvocate.com | The Newark Advocate

 

[LitlBuck]

While Brantley is probably the best player, I think the Indians have plenty of young outfielders and should have taken the third baseman.

 

[buckeyemania11]

all I ask in Free Agency

Do not sign anymore Jason Michaels/David Dellucci type players

or any more washed up bullpen guys (Brendan Donelly Jorge Julio Juan Rincon types)

the only thing these guys do is block younger players (who are in most cases better) from playing

 

[tsteele316]

While Brantley is probably the best player, I think the Indians have plenty of young outfielders and should have taken the third baseman.

taylor green < Wes Hodges.

once Cleveland saw that Green was a pure butcher at 2nd base, Brantley was the obvious choice for them.

plus, i'm not convinced that cleveland isn't going to be trading some of the young guys this offseason anyway.