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Beside the Point: The Blog by Patrick McManamon

From the monthly archives:

July 2009

How it feels

July 31, 2009
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Goodbye Victor Martinez

July 31, 2009

As bad as the Cliff Lee trade looked and felt, this one looks and feels worse. Victor Martinez spent too many years with the Indians and was too good a player and valuable a teammate for it not to be bad.
Boston acquired one heck of a good hitter, and the Indians have traded away two [...]

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On Shaq being Shaq

July 31, 2009

AOL's David Whitley has an interesting take on Shaquille O'Neal: "Cavs fans are going to discover what people in Orlando, LA , Miami and Phoenix already knew. Shaq is far more interested in being Shaq than being a basketball player.Being Shaq means pursuing every whim, indulging every desire and getting motivated when he darned well [...]

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Another baseball juicer takes a fall

July 31, 2009

David Ortiz becomes the latest star and denier of wrongdoing to show up on the 2003 steroid list. He joins Manny Ramirez. What does this do to the Red Sox World Series championships? That's not hard to figure. It pretty much makes them laughable. The cornerstones of those teams were juicing.
There's a list of 103 from [...]

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Key to Indians moves with Lee and (possibly) Martinez? Follow the money

July 31, 2009

Peter Gammons wrote about the possible Victor Martinez trade in his Insider column for ESPN, and he wrote as if it was a fait accompli. Gammons also examined the Cliff Lee trade, and when Gammons examines a trade it's worth listening because he is the premier baseball writer of our generation. I'll link to it [...]

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Do we say goodbye to Victor Martinez today?

July 31, 2009

Sounds like Victor Martinez is the next Indian who could be traded. Jayson Stark has him going to Boston in a three-way deal that would bring pitcher Clay Buchholz to the Indians along with … hold your breath … take a deep breath … cringe … close your eyes … more … PROSPECTS.

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How did the Cliff Lee trade play in Peoria

July 30, 2009

Here's some national takes on the Indians trade of Cliff Lee.
General consensus is that though the Indians got some talent, they didn't get enough for the reigning Cy Young winner, whom they traded for the second year in a row.  Ahem.
SI was positive about the trade. "Those four players should quickly help the depleted Indians [...]

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Mark Shapiro explains the Cliff Lee trade

July 29, 2009

Indians GM Mark Shapiro addressed the media this evening, and there were a few buzzwords in his discussion of the Cliff Lee trade.
First, though, let me state there are very few people in sports who can verbalize a team's plan and vision the way Shapiro can. He is a man with a message, and he [...]

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The Indians trade Cliff Lee

July 29, 2009

Just got back from running my 93-year-old mother to a few stores and I learn the Indians have agreed to trade Cliff Lee for four prospects — one a catcher, none in the major leagues, none named Kyle or Drabek.
Good luck to the Indians selling this one.
Oh … and Ben Francisco is going to Philadelphia [...]

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A glittering beginning for Braylon Edwards

July 29, 2009

Braylon Edwards is off to a great start in training camp.
Next thing you know he'll race a teammate and get spiked and miss a month. Nah … not even Edwards would be nuts enough to do that, would he?
Keep in mind that Edwards' being placed on the non-football injury list means that he hurt himself [...]

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Time to get the cash out of the mattress

July 29, 2009

Finally … a use for that extra quarter-mil we all have sitting around.

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Will they or won't they?

July 29, 2009

Will they make a trade or won't they? Various reports have the Indians all over the board in possibly dealing Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez. ESPN said the Indians have been very "aggressive" in trade talks about the two. SI says the chances for trading Lee and Victor Martinez have risen. Others have the Indians [...]

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Personal question

July 29, 2009

It's vacation time of year again folks, and after Sunday I'll be off for two weeks. Taking my daughters someplace very special.
So I ask … and please respond in the spirit of the question … do you the kind readers of this drog care to be updated on the trip? Sights, sounds, ins, outs, castles, [...]

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This is a surprise

July 28, 2009

Who expected this? Certainly not me.

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Time's up

July 28, 2009

The Roy Halladay trade rumors have taken on a Francisco-Franco-is-dead-the-British-are-still-sailing-to-the-Falklands quality. It's time for it to end so we can all get on with our life without the seven daily and breathless Halladay updates.

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Some things are just wrong

July 28, 2009

The NCAA has 120 FBS coaches (FBS is the new name for what used to be Division I-A … it stands for Football Bowl Subdivision, not football something else … though that something else applies to this topic … or anything to do with the NCAA for that matter). Seven of them are African-American. That's just [...]

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The NFL's six weeks of torture

July 28, 2009

Former Brown and present SI writer Ross Tucker wrote how refreshing it is that Redskins coach Jim Zorn is allowing four-year-and-up veterans to stay at home during training camp. Tucker describes camp as " … the brutality of multiple padded practices, the monotony of the daily meetings, and the grind of working from 6 a.m. [...]

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Plan your schedules accordingly

July 28, 2009

This arrived in the e-mailbox today … time to change the vacation plans:
The 10th annual Motorsports Marketing Forum Moves to Las Vegas
For the first time in its 10-year history, the Motorsports Marketing Forum (MMF) will be headed west!

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Where does it end?

July 28, 2009

The Raiders have a marketing deal with a Malaysian Airlines that does not even fly to the United States. Planes are decorated in Raider logos, Raider scenes and … yes … Raiderettes.

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Let Marte play every day (please)

July 28, 2009

Andy Marte's numbers in Columbus were staggering in their improvement. He hit .327 with 18 home runs and 66 RBI in 82 games. His OPS was an outstanding .963 and his on-base percentage was .369. Marte was not included on the Indians 40-man roster at the end of last season and chose to come back to Cleveland. [...]

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Some Big Ten media day nuggets

July 28, 2009

I wasn't there, and I don't know why long and rambling answers to questions are called "nuggets," but this is some of what Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had to say at the Big Ten media day on Monday:
An overall view:
"We most certainly have to mature quickly because our September is an extraordinary one. We're [...]

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Vick's "conditional reinstatement"

July 28, 2009

All this angst about a guy who killed dogs. Sheesh, you'd have thought in reading this that Roger Goodell had banshed Michael Vick to the Browns or somethin (ba-dum-bum).
Here's the bottom line about Vick: He will sign somewhere, and he'll play at some point this season. But name me the last NFL player to miss [...]

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More on the Ryan Garko trade

July 28, 2009

Ah, perception.
The Giants, naturally, said they were happy to acquire Ryan Garko from the Indians. "This guy can drive in a run, he can hit the three-run home run," Giants GM Brian Sabean said. Added manager Bruch Bochy: "You don't acquire a guy like this to sit him." 
Nor do you get him to play left [...]

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Ryan Garko the latest Indian to be traded

July 28, 2009

The Indians clearly did not think as highly of Ryan Garko as many of the media did. The general consensus with Garko from whatever estate we've become now was that he was a pretty good run producer when given the chance to play regularly. He did a good job two years ago, then last season [...]

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For your Saturday entertainment …

July 25, 2009

A near-total change of pace (as T-Bomb still gets no love for Van Morrison) …

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