Comments on: That loud THUD is the Indians

By: larry d.

larry d. — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:39:20 +0000

By the book is right. That's how they seem to do everything, with an eye on the odds and the long grind of the season.

The saber geniuses have brainwashed the Tribe's front office and they now have too little respect for the game's athleticism, emotion and momentum.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:55:21 +0000

I forgot about that one. All the bad bullpen performances are starting to blend together….

By: terje

terje — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:28:11 +0000

kerry wood has been pretty bad this year.

remember this game?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore;_ylt=Ao7M5F.wRyP_eGNTy5xuuje4u7YF?gid=290427105

By: Matt J

Matt J — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:23:16 +0000

Terje, I still don't think it was unreasonable to expect Wood to come in and do his job. As of yesterday, he still hadn't shown that he was as inept as the rest of the bullpen. Next time this situation comes up, though, I would hope Lee stays in the game. Of course by then the season will be a washout anyway, so what's the difference?

That said, I'm with you 110% on the ever-evolving lineup and this absurd notion of having guys play 3 or 4 different positions. Wedge certainly isn't "going by the book" when it comes to that nonsense.

By: sam rubens

sam rubens — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:33:48 +0000

"This is the kind of season that gets people fired. Managers. Players. Even the front office."

hell, this is the kind of season where mcmanamon and pluto may have to worry about their jobs. LOL go tribe. go cavs.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:55:47 +0000

I agree, Wedge seems far too concerned with putting his "closer" (Wickman, Borowski, Wood) in 9th-inning "save" situations to pad their stats, rather than actually WINNING the game. You think Gaylord Perry would've allowed Wedge to pull him after 101 pitches? Maybe it's time for a little old-school common sense, instead of all these by-the-book failures. If there's a critical game-changing moment in the 7th inning, for instance, I'm not opposed to using Wood right then and there. Why wait and lose the game? Wood is not a sure-fire stopper, so let's dispel that thinking right NOW.

By: ClayMatthewsSchoolforLaterals

ClayMatthewsSchoolforLaterals — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:24:56 +0000

Dou you remember how a coach who was fired by the Indians, supposedly stood on the pitchers mound of Municipal Stadium and cursed the team?
This "Cleveland Curse" appearently was so bad that the team brought in a real witch to remove it, remember? Well, when times got better in the 1990's, a reporter thought to go to Florida and ask the coach, himself, about the curse. He said: "Geez, I didn't curse the team. There was no curse. There was just bad mangement." That says it all, people…Just really, really bad management.

By: terje

terje — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:52 +0000

matt, what's more important…a win or an appearance for kerry wood? a cy young winner trumps the $10 million dollar elbow on a string closer.

wedge has been going by-the-book with his pitching substitutions his entire tenure with the team. it's not working. and now he's mixing and matching the line-ups and as a result losing games (see garko in left field misplay the angle and give up a double to a pitcher while derosa plays first).

wedge and shapiro are the main problems with the team. they were the one's who assembled a jack-of-all-trades but master of none line up. they are the ones who's teams start slow and force a fire sale of the best players mid season. they are the ones who keep a guy who killed the 2007 season as a 3rd base coach. they are the ones who canned eddie murray at the first sign of trouble yet derek shelton undisciplined school of hitting overstays it's welcome for over a year.

a once promising franchise has turned into baseball's version of the cleveland browns in less than 2 years. no leadership. no focus. no discipline.

fire shapiro!
fire wedge!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:09:25 +0000

Yeah, all the talk about "versatility" in Spring Training raised some red flags with me. Shoppach is quickly showing last season was a fluke, and he's not worthy of forcing all these position shifts to accommodate his multi-strikeouts each game. Sad thing is, even with a "set" lineup, this group is W.E.A.K. No pop, no average, no consistency, no speed, no small-ball ability…what in the world has Shapiro assembled here?

Don't even get me started on the pitching staff.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:58:56 +0000

Hindsight's always 20-20, Terje. If you're paying a guy 8 figures to pitch the 9th inning, why not use him for that purpose? This one's on Wood, not Wedge.

There's plenty of blame to go around this season. Wedge is certainly part of the problem, but he's not the only problem.