Out of his Misery

Looks like Hafner is finally headed to the DL. Apparently he has had some shoulder problems that a cortizone shot wasn't able to heal. Since he's not the only weak link in the Indians miserable batting order, this is going to be a good thing for both him and the team. They're hitting a putrid .236 at the plate. That's good enough for worst in baseball. I can't imagine it's too far off of the major league record for worst ever.

The real sad part of this is that the pitching is lights out. From CC in the 1 spot to Laffey in the 5. They've been solid. Especially in the last month. It is a shame that it's all being wasted because they can't get anybody on base.

I think the semifinals of the NBA thing are over. If the Celtics won tonight it's goign to be the Lakers and Celtics in the Finals. I'm sure I won't be tuning in. But this matchup reminds me of the wonderful days of Lakers vs. Celtics on the Sega Genesis. Back in the day when the NBA was watchable. That was such a great game. Such epic battles. Oh the memories.

Back to the Indians. I think they've won 3 games in the last 3 weeks. That includes a 5-4 victory over the Royals tonight. And they're still within earshot of the AL Central leading Sox. Who I think are leading by default. The AL Central, which was supposed to be the best division in baseball, is probably the worst. The Indians and Tigers were supposed to be title contenders. The Tigers, and their $137,290,196 payroll, are 9 games under .500. That's sick. The Indians just suck. Their $78 million payroll is meager in comparison.

Speaking of payrolls, the Yanks are in the top spot, $207,108,489, and bringing up the rear is the Marlins, no surprise there, at just over $22.5 mil. I would also like to add the A-Rod and Giambi are both making more than the entire Marlins roster. Read that again. A-Rod is making $28 mil this year. That is over $4 mil more than the ENTIRE MARLINS ROSTER COMBINED!!!!!

That makes me sick.

I don't even want to get started on Giambi. All I'm going to say is that he's getting paid over $23 mil and he's not even hitting .250 with 27 RBIs. Hope he's enjoying himself.

I guess it's tough to hit when you're off the juice.

It sucks having no time...

I have been real busy lately. Working 2 jobs, getting paid like I'm earning unemployment. So is life. I guess this is becoming a weekly recap of the big stories instead of a daily. Whatever, I don't think there's anybody reading anyhow...

First, the Indians haven't won since late May. I don't think they've scored over 2 runs in a game since early May, so I should consider them lucky. They've got a 3-3 tie against the Sox tonight, and I'm already considering it a loss since they can't seem to score more than 3 in a game. So I'm sure the pen, probably Borowski in his first appearance off the DL, will earn the loss. Should be exciting.

No Hafner in the lineup again. No Garko. The Indians are just wasting good start after good start because they can't get any offense going. I blame Wedge for this. At this point, he has to resign to the fact they have to manufacture some runs. Tonght they have 3 solo homeruns. Victor hit a double. I don't think it's possible for him to hit the ball any further.

Martinez still doesn't have a homerun.

And Jim Thome is still getting booed every time he steps up to the plate. Hopefully he hits a homerun here...

I was gone all day yesterday and when I got home I really wanted to see some highlights. I turned on SportsCenter. All they had were press conferences from the NBA game and hockey highlights. I find nothing more miserable than and interview with Kobe Bryant telling the media what he was thinking when he made that ju mper in the 2nd quarter to cut it to a 2 point deficit. Miserable.

Danica Patrick whined like a little bitch after she got hit on pit row in yesterday's Indianapolis 500. Again the little 5 year old had a hissy fit after something bad happened to her in a race. She tried to go after the guy, I don't even know who it is, that bumped her into the rail and put her out of her misery.

For starters, I'm not a race fan. I do, however, find myself watching the 500 every year. I have done so since I was little. I was always a Bobby Rahal fan, because of course he is from Ohio.
It's a race where cars are going over 200 mph. Things are going to happen. Tony Kanaan got knocked out by one of his teammates. And yes, he was a little salty in the post-race interview. Who wouldn't?? But he didn't go stomping his feet like a 5 year old?? Little Bitch Danica got out of her car and tried to confront the guy that knocked into her.

Now, what the fuck was she going to do when she got there??? Seriously??? Was she going to try and pick a fight?? She said in her post-race interview that "...it's a good thing I didn't make it down there..." What??? What was she possibly going to do?? Pick a fight with the guy and his pit crew?? What happens if she tried to throw down and this guy knocks her on her ass?? He's thrown out of Indy, fined, women's groups would be all over him, he would be chastised in the media... I couldn't imagine??

I understand that she was bent out of shape when she got knocked out. I get it. I'd be pretty upset too. But the fact that she got out of the car, started stomping her feet like a 5 year old? Grow the fuck up. Learn how to check your emotions. You look like a fucking loser acting that way. I have a 6 year old daughter. She does not stomp her feet when I tell her that she can't have that plastic crap they sell at Toys R' Us if something doesn't go her way. If she does, she gets a very stern talking to and assures me it will never happen again.

Was she seriously going to throw a punch when she got down there?? Grow up. Bad things happen. And in the words of Denis Leary, "Life sucks, wear a helmet."

Oh wait, I'm watching the Indians offense, there is something on TV more miserable than Kobe talking to the media....

Cabrera just Kd swinging at a ball way out of the zone with guys on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, score tied at 3, in the bottom of the 8th. Hey Wedge, ever hear of a squeeze play?? Or is Asdrubal supposed to hit that 3 run homerun? Figure it out Wedge?????

The LeBrons of Cleveland Blow It Again

The Cavs lost game 7 to the Celtics today. LeBron showed up, put up about 40 points, but threw up a miserable layup try with about 20 seconds to go to seal the deal for the Celtics. Their offensive strategy of everybody standing and hope LeBron has a good game is only going to take them so far. About this far.

Whatever. It's just another Cleveland sports team getting close, but not nearly close enough. I'm actually pretty happy, now I don't have to suffer watching anymore NBA this year. Watching them stand, shoot and miss, and complain after every single fucking play no matter what happens is just painful to watch. I saw more complaining after foul calls in the last 3 games than I think I have seen in the last 10 years of college ball. It's just painful to watch.

And what warrants an "Intentional Foul"??? I saw PJ Brown put his arms around guys more times than you'd see on North Halsted. How the league warrants that not being 2 shots and the ball is WAYYY beyond my brain capacity. All it does is slow the game down to a snail's pace and make it that much more unwatchable.

Not to mention the Boston crowd screaming bullshit after every single call just got old. I'm pretty happy my 6 year old wasn't watching, let alone being at the game! I'm so tired of Boston and their fans.

Enough about that. More good news out of Cleveland. The Reds completed a sweep of the Indians today. Looks like Hafner is more of a mental case than we thought. He only got 2 plate appearances, an RBI base hit on Friday and a walk today. We really need him to get back into the groove. I see that he's raised the average up to .228, but he needs to hit at least .300 the rest of the way to help this team. The pitching has been solid, other than the 3 run jack Kobaishi gave up to Dunn in the 9th on Satruday. The starting pitching has been lights out. We have got to get some hitting!!

And Bill Belichick is still denying any wrong doing in the whole spygate thing. I honestly can't wait for this whole thing to disappear. Apparently now he is saying that he stretched the rules to make it alright to videotape the opposite sideline looking to pick off signs. What a dirtbag.

The Cavs, Indians Pitching, and The Unstoppable Lance Berkman

Well start off with the bad today. The Cavs. I'll be honest and say that I don't watch a whole lot of NBA ball. I just can't get into guys not trying and standing around and horrible jump shooting and the amount or arguing the players do with the refs. But, when the Cavs are in the playoffs I, being from Cleveland, am required to watch.

So I've watched most of the Cavs-Celtics series. Which sometimes means the game was on when I was reading, or the game was on when I was working, or making dinner... You get the picture, I just am not that interested.

But when LeBron James missed as many shots, who am I kidding, I think he took 4 shots in the first 2 games, the rest of the 45 he missed were layups, it is just painful to watch. Not only that, but the offensive strategy of, "...Give LeBron the ball, and the rest of you get out of the way. If he feels like passing the ball, look ready, otherwise, just stand there!" Is just miserable. And now that Daniel Gibson, the only guy that can hit a jumper with some regularity, is out with a shoulder something. I think they're pretty much finished.

There is no way the Cavs should have lost game 1. Same with game 5. This series should be over. But, when LeBron starts missing, the offense just falls apart, because there is no No. 2 option. I don't think there ever was a No. 2 option.

If the Cavs had some sort of offensive strategy, like moving around and trying to find an open shot/lane, Lebron would be averaging his 30 points and probably 15+ assists. Oh yeah, I guess you need one of those guys to be able to hit a regular jumper too.

Learn how to hold a lead guys...

Anyhow, The Indians pitching is unreal! The starters went 44.1 innings without giving up a run! Cleveland completed a 6-1 homestand in which it allowed runs in just four of 64 innings! If the O can start to generate some runs, these guys could be dangerous. Cliff Lee has given up 4 earned runs in his 7 starts. He's 6-0 with an ERA of 0.67. CC has started to really show signs of life pitching real well in his last 4 starts, and Carmona is getting back into the shape he was in last year. If these 3 can rub off a little on Byrd and their 5th starter (Laffey, Sowers, Westbrook) or whoever else it may be, look out. Pitching wins championships...

My one problem I have with Wedge is that he doesn't manufacture runs. I understand that waiting for the 3 run jack is a good way to score some quick runs, but when Hafner is having the problems that he's having, Victor is having trouble hitting for power, and Garko blows, where are you going to get that 3 run bomb at?? Sizemore should steal at least one base everytime he gets on. Maybe this could put some pressure on the pitchter, and get a ball up to one of these guys and they could get back on track. Maybe a hit and run sometime? Put Dellucci in motion with Hafner at the plate, take the decision out of his time at the plate and force him to make contact.

Victor is, or maybe was, leading the league in hitting. As I was sitting at work the other day on my lunch break I was checking out the league leaders. And there's Victor, up at the top, I think he was hitting .344 at the time. But had only scored 9 runs. The next lowest total on that list had scored 17 runs, I don't remember who it was, but that's just horrible. All those times on base have been completely squandered by the guys hitting behind him, Hafner and Garko. Wedge has got to do something to get these 2 back on track.

I did see that Hafner rose his average up to .222. So it looks like he's showing signs of breaking out, but he needs to get Berkman hot in order to get things really turned around.

My solution for the Indians offense? Not that anybody is listening, but they need 1 of 2 things. Either a power hitting outfielder/3rd baseman to hit in the 4 spot after Victor, before Hafner. Or they need a leadoff 2nd baseman. So they could then have fast 2nd baseman/leadoff hitter, Francisco, Sizemore, Victor, Hafner, Garko, Peralta, Blake, (other outfielder insert here).

Which brings me to my final subject. Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones. These guys are hitting out of their mind right now!!! Chipper is hitting .416 right now and Berkman is hitting somthing like .546 over the last month or something!!

I don't even know what to say. This is simply amazing. They just hit. If Chipper can stay healthy, which will be a feat in itself, he has an opportunity to really do soemthing special. And if Berkman can keep this up, he's going to do wonderful things on my fantasy team for the next 3 seasons!

Good Stuff!

Tragedy at PETA

If you haven't been watching the news, seen the paper, logged into the internet, or have been living under a log for the last couple of days, I'm sure you've heard the drama at the Kentucky Derby.

First of all, I'm not into the horses, I will go to Arlington Park a couple times a summer, but I really don't know what horses I'm betting on or what I'm really doing. But it's fun, nice day out in the sun, hopefully the Tribune guy does a good job picking horses because those are the bets I make. And this weekend Eight Belles had be be put down because she broke both of her front ankles after Placing in the Derby. The poor thing was euthanized on the track because of the apparent pain she was in. Very, very sad. Poor animal was just doing it's thing and then, without warning, both ankles break.

Anyhow, the idiots over at PETA have sent a letter to the head of horse racing, or somebody important telling them that they are at fault for this happening, the jockey should be suspended because it was also his fault, and the horses shouldn't be whipped and they should get rid of the whips completey, and all sorts of other BS that they've made up now that they have a legit platform to stand on because of this poor horse.

I don't know how anybody can take these people seriously. Believe me, I'm as much for animal rights as the next person. I'm the proud owner of a bad ass cat named Manny. And I'd be devastated if anything were to happen to him. But getting rid of the whips? Blaming the poor jockey for doing his job? Trying to play the blame game and destroying the lives of everybody involved for a freak occurrence? I don't understand the affection some people have with fur coats. I think they're very tacky and ridiculous expensive for an ugly coat. I didn't agree with the way the cougar was killed by police in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago.

You know what, it happened, it's a horrible thing. I can honestly say that I have no idea who won the race, who showed, or any other horse in the field. But I know for certain what happened after the race and who it happened to.

These people at PETA are just ridiculous. Like I said, I really feel bad for this horse and the people that trained/owned/rode her. But what they're trying to do should just be laughed at. Steak is real good. I survive on chicken. Breakfast sausage is outstanding. Listening to these PETA people makes me want to get sick, and then eat more sausage and another steak.

In other news. The Cavs are tied with the Celts with a minute to go in game 1. LeBron has 2 field goals and 10 turnovers. He has also missed about 25 layups. There is no possible way the Cavs should lose this game. Way to step up LeBron. 2-17 I was just informed. So I guess he didn't miss 25 layups, it just felt like it.

The Indians beat the Yanks tonight. Interesting lineup. Andy Marte, Ben Francisco, Jamey Carrol, Kelly Shoppach all in the starting lineup. Delucci had a pinch hit 3 run jack to put the Indians up 2 runs. Carmona pitched 5 solid innings and Betancourt got the save. I can't believe that Borowski is going to be put back in the closers role when he gets healthy.

Makes me want to go out and buy a fur coat.

Four God Damn Hits?? Is that all we got??

Yep, that's all the Indians could muster up against the Cy Young caliber Gil Meche today. The Cy Young thing was meant to be a joke. But the four hits sadly is not. No runs either. This is just sad... I apparently can't cut and paste the Indians side of the box score but I can sum it up pretty easily.

THE INDIANS ARE FUCKING HORRIBLE

Excuse the language, but they are. They're fucking horrible! They can't hit. They can't field. They can't pitch. And that's pretty much all you do in baseball. Soooo.

Looks like Manager Wedge has decided to try and shake things up by changing the lineup a bit by placing Gutierrez in the 2 spot, followed by Dellucci. Yes, you read that right. David f'n Dellucci is now hitting in the 3 spot for a major league team. Hafner has been dropped to the 6 spot, Garko to the 7th. Hafner has really responded well by going 2 for his last 10 including 2 straight games without a hit.

Earlier this season I was contemplating getting the MLB package so I could watch the Indians every night. Am I glad I opted to not spend the money.

I don't know what they can do? They should have good pitching. They should have good hitting. Victor is leading the league in hitting right now, but when you hit singles with nobody on base, what's the point? He's got 6 extra base hits and no homers. Awesome!

CC is starting to get things figured out. But when Gutierrez can't catch a fly ball and the O only scores 2 runs a game, not many pitchers are going to be good. He's now 1-5. Maybe you should have signed that deal in the off-season, eh CC??

A couple of weeks ago, I thought they needed another bat in the outfield to hit behind Victor, in front of Garko. Now, the only thing another outfielder is going to do for them is suck up payroll.

Asdrubal Cabrera?? Seriously? Is this really the best you can do?

These guys are struggling to hit .200!

Alright, I suppose I should have something good to say. Cliff Lee is having a good season. And the future on the mound should look bright with Carmona, Laffey, who pitched real well today, and Sowers.

Enough flowers and puppies. As I look at this lineup I see their 5-9 guys. Peralta, Hafner, Garko, Blake, and Cabrera. They're hitting .216, .209, .242, .202, .191. Not going to win very many baseball games with a lineup like that.

Makes me sick. You know what else makes me sick? Roger Clemens. Now it has come out that he was sticking John Daly's ex-wife on the side too. I'm sure he's sitting in a lawyers' office denying that one too.

I hope everybody watched last weeks' episode of The Real World. It was simply amazing.

I also read that Wedge is planning on putting Borowski back into the closer's role when he gets healthy. I guess it doesn't really matter if you can't score any runs, huh???