Now it seems that Joe Borowski was hurt, and from what I get from the articles, the Indians knew it.
What is up with that?
Now he is hurt bad enough that he will be out for about a month. Ridiculous.
Most would think that baseball players, especially pitchers, are babied too much. But here is a case where the team needs to be made more important than the individual.
Remember these games and management decisions come September.
By the way, the best way to screw up a bullpen is to have a bunch of poor starts from the rotation. The next way is to put the relievers in roles they aren't used to. For next month or more, that will be the case for the Indians.
The Indians closer blew up again with that 83 mph so-called fastball.
Sheldon Ocker's story had two points worth highlighting. One, the fastball was so slow to Manny Ramirez last night Manny wasn't sure if it was a fastball or change-up. Two, Borowski said he is healthy but that he is going to undergo some sort of tests. If he is hurt and hasn't told anyone, that is not a good situation. But if he isn't hurt, what happened to about 7 mph on his fastball?
Bullpens are a funny thing in baseball. One year great; the next the same guys are awful.
This has to be fixed fast, or no postseason baseball will this year's change-up.
– The TV talk this weekend will center around Tiger Woods and The Masters. This usually signals the beginning of golf season in NE Ohio. With temperatures in the 40s this weekend, maybe the Browns minicamp in May would be a better starting point.
– Is C.C. Sabathia struggling with expectations? Many thought that he turned the corner last season. But the playoffs. The contract talks. The slow start this season. Maybe it is all starting to add up.
– The NHL has to pleased with Alexander Ovechkin being in the playoffs. We get to take a look tonight on Versus and Sunday on NBC.
– I have seen a couple of folks saying Brady Quinn would be the No. 1 pick in this draft. Then how does he not beat out a player who was cut from his first NFL team and another player who becomes the backup with the Seahawks. I think Quinn still needs a lot of work, and obviously the Browns agree.
– Red Sox and Tigers coming to town early next week. We'll get an early indication of what to expect this year in the American League.
– Coming on Ohio.com on Saturday and Sunday, is Patrick McManamon writing about Fausto Carmona, free throw shooting and other random thoughts. Also we'll have coverage of the Masters, the Cavs finish of the season, the Tribe-A's series and a wrapup of the Zips spring football camp.
Does the Tribe's move in signing Fausto Carmona end any chance of bringing C.C. Sabathia back?
Now it can and has been argued — I believe I have written this before — that Sabathia is done here. The Tribe is in no position to sign Sabathia to $160 million for seven seasons. And I beleive that. Just like the Travis Hafner deal was ludicrous. That type of deal for Sabathia should not be on the Tribe's radar. It makes no sense long or short term.
That being said GM Mark Shapiro has said talks with C.C. aren't dead. And later today, he probably will say that again.
But don't believe it. It really doesn't fit into the Tribe's way of thinking to pay a pitcher for that long when he will be in his mid-30s when the deal is complete.
I believe any chance of Sabathia staying with the Indians died today.
The Indians were one of the first teams to sign their youngsters to long-term deals in the late 90s, and that obviously worked well.
They aren't first with signing players after good rookie years to big deals — the Colorado Rockies with Troy Tulowitzki and the Arizona Diamondbacks with Chris Young started the trend — but, in this instance, not being first is OK.
Fausto Carmona is worth risking a seven-year contract on. He has shown to be a tough pitcher and more important he has shown mental toughness.
His disaster as closer two years ago showed that Carmona can bounce back from tough times.
GM Mark Shapiro deserves credit for rolling the dice in this situation.
My favorite playoffs in sports begin tonight — the NHL.
The NHL regular season is too long, and there probably are too many teams in the league. Once the playoffs start, though, the NHL jumps to the top of the heap as far as producing exciting and intense games and series.
Baseball is too slow; football is a one-and-done type of atmosphere; the NBA playoffs are too drawn out … the first round takes nearly three weeks to finish.
So find Versus on your TV dial … it is there somewhere … pick a team (some day the Blue Jackets might make the playoffs) and enjoy.
A side light: NHL Network has produced some funny commercials promoting the league and the channel. Here is the latest one.
I think this shows just how far NASCAR has come with its safety precautions. Michael McDowell, a rookie driver, crashes during qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway, near Dallas.
I love the game of baseball; my boys play, I played and I enjoy talking about it, and maybe it is because I grew up a Pirates fan, but I am down on the sport.
This new habit of taking pitches is killing the game. I understand the reasoning … get to the bullpens.
But here is the result: the Pirates-Cubs game yesterday, it last about 4.5 hours for 12 innings, there was 19 walks, nearly 500 pitches. It worked out to nearly 6.5 pitches per out.
That is ridiculous, but you know what else, it is the normal game.
John Calipari's Memphis team fell apart at the end, by not making their free throws, and Kansas is the best team this season. I still like Calipari as a coach, but Bill Self won the battle last night.
I do have a problem with the end of basketball games. We generally watch 38 minutes of good college basketball and then we play a free-throw, 3-point shooting contest. Heck, we might as well stop the game and vote on a slam dunk contest. In the NBA, shot clock and inbounds rules change the way the game is played in the end.
Change the rule so that after 10 team fouls the team gets two free throws and the ball back.
Playing the regular game, Memphis won last night. But as soon as we stop playing basketball and play the foul (smelling) game, we got a different champion.
Folks want to know why TV ratings are down for NBA and college basketball; all I know is it is pretty unanimous that the end of games make for awful TV.
