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The Indians this season have been terrible but the only thing saving them is the fact the AL Central has nobody running away with it and it is doubtful that it will happen in the first place. It is fair to say that this team has not been the type of team that can win in the post-season or even make it outside of one time since John Hart left back in 2001.

Mark Shapiro has been the General Manager since the 2002 season. During his tenure, the Indians have a combined record excluding the 2009 season for now at 570-564. That isn't exactly a great record but far from the worst. Only one division title and that year was a playoff appearance seeing the Indians choke in the ALCS after having a 3-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox.


Eric Wedge has been there just a year under Shapiro and has a record of 496-476. Again, it isn't great but not the worst record. It is a far cry from the time Mike Hargrove was the manager of the Indians though his tenure lasted from 1991-1999 seeing five straight division titles, three ALCS appearances, and two AL Pennants being in 1995 and 1997.

It also has become that of a team that would be too conservative when it comes to going out of its way to go for a championship for the particular year and instead is quicker to quit on a season selling off their best players for prospects essentially becoming a farm team for the rest of the league.

Granted, it may not be the biggest market but it is no excuse to not attempt to go for a championship for a team that hasn't won since 1948. The attendance is now just sad how they are barley even getting 50% inside except for other teams coming in like the Cardinals or the Yankees. When the park opened up, you couldn't find a ticket anywhere, now it is just so easy it's sad.


While the players are to blame, Wedge has made some strange decisions that has cost the team some wins. For instance, whenever a starter was doing well and didn't seem fatigue, they would get yanked for a bullpen that just cost them some wins and some series wins.

Shapiro has to be held accountable for his judgment of talent and who he has picked up. If all is known for doing is the Bartolo Colon trade that brought in Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips (now with the Reds), that doesn't say much about him now does it? At the end of the day, the question should be did you do enough to win a championship for the season? Way I see it, anything less than a championship is not going to be good enough.

Would I fire Wedge and Shapiro? If they do not make the playoffs, then yes. The only way their jobs would be safe if they made it and can get to the World Series and actually win it for a change.
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Keys to Cleveland Winning the Division

February 16th 2009 22:33
This year the Cleveland Indians are running on an odd year. Does that mean it is a foregone conclusion that the Indians will do better? Not really but it could happen. Cleveland really needs to rebound big time when it comes to winning it all. The AL Central is going to be perhaps the single most competitive division that exists.

Many questions exist about the rotation and of course the offense. With C.C. gone, it is apparent that now the rotation could be a weakness though they did try to have Carl Pavano take the spot in the rotation with two other guys fighting for a rotation spot. There is Westbrook but can you count on him to stay healthy as well?

As far as the offense goes, there are questions about it. Will Hafner be healthy and produce a decent amount of offense? That's going to be interesting because nobody knows until it happens. If Jhonny Peralta starts hitting well, I think it will be a major benefit for the offense as it does seem like whenever he is hitting well, the Indians are playing well.

Health will be a key player when it comes to Kerry Wood. Cleveland signed him to be the closer but if he does falter or gets injured, Jensen Lewis can step in without a problem filling in the gap in the meantime.

Pavano has had injury problems but the question will be is the risk worth the reward? It could very well be but only time will tell.

Keys for Cleveland For the 2009 Season

They have the talent to win the division but I want to know if they can win it all? That will be for another time.
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Rickey Henderson – One of My Favorite Players, and Now a Hall of Famer

I have enjoyed the game of baseball for most of my life. Back in 1980 I saw Rickey Henderson play for the first time. He had played in 89 games the previous season, but I don’t remember seeing him play that year. After he had 33 stolen bases that first partial season he drew some attention.

His 1980 season was amazing. He wound up with 100 stolen bases. It wasn’t until the 1982 season that he would become a legend, or at least begin to become a legend. In 1982 he stole 130 bases, eclipsing the Major League record for a single season previously held by Lou Brock.

By this point I had already begun to like him. Then in 1985 he became a New York Yankee. That pretty much sealed the deal, put a player I was beginning to like a lot on the team I have loved my entire life and the rest was history.

When I say the rest was history I meant it literally. He led the American League in stolen bases every season from 1980 – 1991 except for 1987. He was voted league MVP in 1990 while with the A’s again. He also played on three World Series teams, twice on the winning team.

By the time his long career came to an end he held the following records; runs scored – 2295, stolen bases – 1406, caught stealing – 335, and another thing he was known for, games led off with a home run – 81. He is also the ONLY player in Major League history to ever have 3,000 hits and 2,000 walks.

He just might be the best to ever play the game. Many sports analysts were surprised he only received 95% of the voting to induct him into the Hall. Regardless of how many votes he got he is now a member of the Hall of Fame with the rest of the games greats. Right where he belongs.
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The Season is Over, and (Almost) All the Awards Are Now Out

A memorable 2008 Major League Baseball season is over and done with now, and most of the awards have been given out.

The Philadelphia Phillies of course won the World Series. It was just the second time in franchise history that they have won it all. They beat out the Tampa Bay Rays who for the first time in franchise history not only had a winning record, but won their division and made the playoffs. They did however come up just one step short. All in all it was an amazing season for both teams.

Lou Piniella was named National League Manager of the Year for the job he did with the Chicago Cubs. Joe Maddon who replaced Piniella as manager of the Rays won the award in the American League. It was really no surprise that these two won. They both had amazing seasons, and showed that they should be successful for years to come.

In other “no brainer” news – the Rookies of the Year also came from the Cubs and Rays. These races had been locked up sometime near the All-Star break, a game in which they both played.

In the N.L. Cubs catcher Geovany Soto won in a landslide, receiving all but one first place vote (31 of 32). He finished with 158 points. Joey Votto received the other first place vote and finished in second with 76 points, while Jair Jurrjens of the Braves was a distant third with just 34 points.

In the A.L. Rays third baseman Evan Longoria was the unanimous winner. He received all 28 first place votes for 140 total points. In second places was White Sox star of the future (and present) Alexei Ramirez with 59 points. Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox came in a distant third with just 26 points.

San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum took home the N.L. Cy Young award. He received 23 of 32 first place votes and a total of 137 points. Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks got 4 first place votes while finishing second with 73 points. New York Mets aceJohan Santana also had 4 first place votes, but just 55 points. For those doing the math that leaves one first place vote. It went to C.C. Sabathia who joined the league halfway through the season. He had 17 starts for the Brewers while going 11-2. He finished in fifth behind Phillies closer Brad Lidge.

The A.L. Cy Young winner was also pretty obvious. Cliff Lee of theIndians got 24 first place votes and 132 points. His next closest competitor was Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays with 4 first place votes, and just 71 points. Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez came in third with 32 points. An honorable mention goes to Mike Mussina of the Yankees who actually finished 6th in the voting.

The only awards left to hand out are the league M.V.P. awards. They come out early this week.
N.L. M.V.P Awarded on Monday, November 17th
A.L. M.V.P. Awarded on Tuesday, November 18th

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies
My picks for those awards are Albert Pujols in the N.L. Although I have a hunch voters will give it to Ryan Howard again because he played for a winning team. Seeing how everything shaped up I will now say Manny Ramirez will probably come in about 4th in the voting.

In the A.L. I am a bit more confused. I originally picked Francisco Rodriguez, but he was only good enough for third place in the Cy Young vote it might not bode well for him in MVP voting. I say he might now also be third in MVP voting too. The A.L. MVP will be either Dustin Pedroia, or Josh Hamilton. Miguel Cabrera should finish in the running too. I also wouldn’t be surprised if A-Rod still does pretty good in the voting.

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From 2004 up to this very point, the World Series has lacked a level of excitement. Sure, the Boston Red Sox won in 2004 for the 1st time since 1918 but yet it was rather effortlessly over the Cardinals in a sweep. Now, wouldn't a struggle actually be a bit better than just seeing it end just like that? Even if the Indians had won the World Series without much of a challenge, it would still have that same feeling. The Red Sox drought ended that year and we are seeing Boston emerge as a power team in the AL East.

The following year saw the Chicago White Sox become the 1st AL Central team to win a World Series and for that franchise, it's 1st title since 1917. Of course, Chicago hasn't exactly been very successful in the division as they would have liked to have been. That series also ended in a sweep over the Houston Astros


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Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees List (Last
Updated: October 9, 2008)

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Predicting the Playoffs in the LCS

October 9th 2008 01:31
This is going to be very hard at this point with the LCS. What I'm going to do is pick who I want to win the series and who I think will win. Why will I do it this way? Well, just because and there's nothing else I can go into the matter.

ALCS: Rays vs. Red Sox


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The Cubs Can't Seem to Catch A Break

October 5th 2008 22:30
As if things couldn't be any worse for the Cubs, they lost yet another series in the form of a sweep to the Dodgers. Ever since the Bartman incident in 2003, Karma has hit this team like no other before. The streak of losing post-season games has risen up to nine games. This series with the LA Dodgers had to prove to be one of the most pathetic efforts I had seen from a team hyped up so much with the 100 year drought that this was going to be the year.

I think they will become dangerous as a team with a long losing streak can beat anyone senseless no matter who it is. Cubs fan will be crying their eyes out as their team lost because of poor play all around. If you want to blame someone, blame the entire cast for forgetting how to hit, pitch, and play defense. The Cubs crewed the Cubs


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Ah, yes the playoffs have officially begun. The legends in baseball are just that, legends. You see teams that struggle for many years but yet you wonder why. You've seen things break with the Red Sox breaking their curse and so did the White Sox the past two seasons. Currently, the Cleveland Indians hold the record for the longest drought in the American League without a World Series victory. The Chicago Cubs this season have a chance to break the drought but I would not put them as easy favorites.

Urban Legends in Baseball
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Who Am I No. 4

September 29th 2008 05:02
Yes the answer to last week's Who Am I was indeed Bob Welch. Welch had a remarkable season and a decent career overall. He chronicles his battles off the field in his book "Five O'Clock Comes Easy."
Bob Welch book
Bob Welch, who once won 27 games in a season, chronicled his bout with alcohol in his autobiography


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