Comments on: All-Star break

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:40:14 +0000

Dude, you're just too strangely fixated on Sabathia. What's your deal? Are you in love with him, or something? Get a grip, he's one player, not a god. It wasn't that long ago that many fans were calling for him to be traded because he was so worthless as a so-called "ace." Now you've got him on some pedastal with Cy Young, Ryan and Clemens. Good lord, do you think the fans in Oakland go as ballistic when their star pitchers are dealt or walk (and they've had a boatload of them). It happens to all teams. Few, if any, players stay with the same team forever anymore. That's reality. The sense I get from C.C. is that he's going for top-dollar and Southern Cal. That's his right; no one's to blame. Just accept it, and get over it, man.

By: Alan Tucker

Alan Tucker — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:48:32 +0000

You immediately lost all credibility when you actually said the name "Blake."

I'm talking about Cleveland, recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as the poorest city in the country. I'm talking about potential Hall of Famers. I'm talking about Belle, Thome and Ramirez, to name three. I'm talking about guys all raised in the Indians farm system. I'm talking about faces of a franchise. Sabathia is in this rarified air. To let him go without a fight to the death would be a travesty.

By: kevin costigan

kevin costigan — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:39:06 +0000

Hobos? Sizemore, Martinez, Sabathia, Hafner, Peralta, Westbrook and Lee have signed extentions in recent years. Carmona, Blake and Barfield will be here for years. Adam Miller & other young arms and bats are on the way. Mr. Tucker, you have a real distorted view of this team and its ability to sign players. If a person is after the "last dollar," there are always larger markets who can entice any player. But those aren't the kinds of players this franchise is built around. The Tribe will be competitive within reason, but cannot afford to pay 25 players $10-million each. That idiocy is reserved for the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox alone, whose markets, fans, lucrative TV deals, skyrocketing ticket prices, sold-out loges, and deficit-spending make it possible–but still does not assure a World Series appearance.

By: Alan Tucker

Alan Tucker — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:15:29 +0000

What "candid point?" The way Sabathia is pitching, a Hall of Fame career is not outside of the realm of possibility.

There needs to be a face of the franchise. All there is now is a stick attached to a little sack. For good reason, most fans are fed up with all the hobo Cleveland Indians looking to take the first horse out of Dodge whenever somebody waves a $10 bill in their face. Some things are bigger than just the player.

By: kevin costigan

kevin costigan — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:40:05 +0000

Maybe Cleveland should see if Dave Kingman and Gorman Thomas are available, if that's all it takes to excite the Indian bandwagoners. You know, a .200 batting average…but, oh, the home runs! Guess we can live with those 200 strikeouts, too, because…oh, the home runs! I've got the tingles.

By: Tomas

Tomas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:15:57 +0000

Well, know-it-all dude, I'm 46 and have followed the Tribe rather religiously since '74 when Gaylord sparked my interest in MLB. That's nearly 3-1/2 decades of being a solid fan; don't know exactly how much more "perspective" you expect people to have before they can make a candid point.

33 seasons x 25 players = 825. Am I sulking because Eckersley or Thome or Omar weren't lifelong Indians? Get real. Enjoy them when they're here, then find new faves when they move along. Geez, do you even "change" your socks or underwear? Time to go with the flow, bro.

By: Alan Tucker

Alan Tucker — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:13:14 +0000

Sure, people would still be at the arena. You couldn't be more wrong. When you're as successful at selling hope as Gilbert's Cavs and the meek salesman media covering them, wins during the seven-year James era are and will be almost incidental.

And obviously, in light of the fact you're bringing up Martinez and Sizemore, you just don't "get it." You have no perspective whatsoever to be able to *really* understand why hanging on to your very best homegrown athletes is so vital.

I can always tell which guys posting only possess the experience of reading about folks like Gabe Paul. By the way, no, he was not the ex-husband of the gal that makes the fish sticks.

By: Tomas

Tomas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:01:14 +0000

P.S. Last time I checked, Cleveland was ranked either #1 or #2 in the A.L. in home runs and runs scored. So where are the butts in the seats? Or must they all come off the bat of ONE player? Let us know, fans, should he be of Mexican decent and a vegetarian cat-lover, as well? Maybe that one star you crave should always wear blue on Tuesdays? Anything to make y'all happy, cuz it's "all about you."

By: Tomas

Tomas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:51:12 +0000

Gilbert's "game presentation" is what fans c-o-m-p-l-a-i-n about. They don't about confetti, strippers, chasing lights, fat men dancing, deafening music. Fans want wins. Take away the W's, and no one will be at The Q for the strippers, guaranteed.

Indians have quality guys like Sizemore and Victor locked up for awhile. Can't fans hang their hat on them? Or must they just bellyache every time they see the end of a contract approaching 2 or 3 years away (forcing the Tribe to lock up mediocrity like Cliff Lee)? Just enjoy each season and each team. Aren't they giving you more than you've had the last two decades from the Browns?? Who, exactly, are fans hanging their hats on with THAT franchise?

By: Alan Tucker

Alan Tucker — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:16:27 +0000

With respect to Larry's question, I thought there already was a NE Ohio Save our Stadium chapter.

And Robb, it's not about "winning a ring," it's about putting an entertaining product on the field. Dan Gilbert would be the first to tell you it's all about game presentation. The sizzle, not the steak. Gilbert wouldn't give a rat's patootie if the Cavs won 15 games if all the seats were still filled.

In the case of baseball, it's all about the home run. Nothing makes people more excited than home runs. Nothing puts people in the seats than home runs. Do you think people go to a Giants game to see Bonds hit a single?

But even more than the home run, it's not about feeling sorry for Belle, Thome and Ramirez. And very soon, Sabathia. It's about pride and giving the locals something to hang their hat on. Like a Don Mattingly. A great player that both started and finished his career within the same organization. If Mattingly grew up in the Indians farm system, then went on to play for the Indians, you can bet your behind that he would have eventually spent a considerable portion of his career playing elsewhere. And that's the problem.