Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 

No seriously. That’s technically what the name of their team is. Dumb. Anyway, not much of a series. The Indians were reeling coming into this series after having been swept by Detroit in the previous series. As I expected, Detroit is on fire and is running away with the division. It makes sense. On paper they are the best team in the division, if not the league. At this point, the Indians have to be shooting for the wildcard. Anyway, this series almost ended in a sweep, but a miracle last game prevented a complete disaster of a home stand. Unfortunately, it looks like the miracle runs of both Corey Kluber and Scott Kazmir might be over. Kluber might be out for the rest of the season and Kazmir has been bumped from his next start with a “dead arm”. An alarming reason made that much more alarming by his rather sizable injury history. Then again, he won’t be back next year, so maybe it’s time for Trevor Bauer to get a crack at a starting job. 

Angels 5 Indians 2: They really needed a win here. They had the first game against Detroit won until Chris Perez pooped the bed. After that loss, the rest of the series was pretty much a disaster. To keep up in the race, they needed to take two of three from the Angels. The first game was not great. Kazmir had to be pulled after three innings because of ineffectiveness and a potential injury. The offense could only manage homers by Astrubal Cabrera and the ever consistent Michael Brantley. Quite the dud of an opener. The only bright spot was a brilliant five inning turn by Carlos Carrasco out of the bullpen. 

Angels 7 Indians 2: Four errors, a decent start from Ubaldo Jimenez, and one RBI single by Michael Bourn. Terrible follow-up. No reason to go into anymore details than that.

Indians 6 Angels 5: If the Indians somehow make the playoffs this year, this very well might be the game we point to and say, “this is where it all turned around”. A crap start by Masterson looked like it would lead to another sweep. Then homers by Swisher, Mike Aviles, and Carlos Santana tied it. Bourn won it with an RBI single. They needed a win so bad and they finally got one. This year has been full of winning streaks and losing streaks. As soon as a losing streak is broken, it leads to another winning streak. Hopefully this game kicks off a big winning streak. They really need one to stay in the race and hold off the red-hot Royals (never thought I would ever write that phrase). 

Reasons for Optimism

Danny Salazar: He’s in the rotation to stay and I couldn’t be happier. The kid throws hard (he averages 97 on his fastball) and has two well developed off-speed pitches. That is amazing for a young pitcher. Most of them come up and all they can do is throw heat. They have to learn how to pitch later in their careers when they can’t just reach back and fire heat. So, a 23 year old pitcher who knows how to pitch is something you don’t see very often. I don’t want to jump the gun, but this kid reminds me of Pedro Martinez. He can throw heat, but he uses his change-up as his strike-out pitch. People used to be amazed by Pedro’s fastball, but his change-up was the pitch that always impressed me the most. Hopefully Salazar can win a few games this year and solidify a the number two spot behind Justin Masterson. 

The End of Reynolds: Mark Reynolds was the best hitter the Tribe had in April. He started the season off on fire. He was launching home runs and driving in key runs. He wasn’t even striking out all the time like he had his whole career. Fans demanded the Tribe extended his one year contract, but Terry Pluto, the wisest man at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, correctly pointed out that they shouldn’t jump the gun. He just as easily could fall into a major slump. And slump he did. Since April he has been painfully awful to watch. He struck-out all the time and looked terrible doing it. He was finally sent down and released. Too bad. I hoped he would come in and add 30 homers to the line-up, but the strike-outs became too much. I wonder if it was the switch the third base. He was great when he was playing first and DHing, but as soon as they asked him to move back to a position where he wasn’t comfortable, his production crashed and burned. Who knows what might have been if Lonnie Chisenhall hadn’t been sent down. 

Next Season: Even if the Indians don’t make the playoffs this year, I see a bright future for them. A rotation of Masterson, Salazar, Kluber, Bauer, and McCallister will be extremely formidable. If they can add a lefty set-up man and trade Astrubal Cabrera for another starting pitcher (and to clear room for top prospect Francisco Lindor) they will be even better than this year. I would also like to see them move Nick Swisher to right field, Carlos Santana to first, Yan Gomes to catcher, and keep Drew Stubbs as a fourth outfielder (or trade him and give the job to Ryan Raburn).  

Reasons for Cynicism

Au Revoir Corey Kluber: A finger injury might cost him the rest of the season. This is a tragedy because he had finally figured out what to do with all his talent. When he came over a couple years ago, they thought he would move to the bullpen. He could throw hard, but gave up a lot of hits. Then he started pitching inside and became a great pitcher. He’ll be an important cog in the rotation next year. 

Nick Swisher: He just hasn’t hit like he should. I hope this is just a fluke and not some long term problem. He’s on the books for another three years at a very high salary. I know he’s had a shoulder issue, but we really need him to be healthy going forward. Not only is he being paid a lot of money, but signing a guy to a big contract and having it fail might cause the owners to revert back to their policy of not spending money on free agent talent. No one wants to see that era of Tribe baseball make a comeback. Help me, Nick Swisher, you’re my only hope. 

On Diehard Fandom

It’s been a busy week and I haven’t had a chance to post anything. I don’t really want to write a recap on either the Miami or Detroit series. The name “Marlins” immediately takes me back to 1997 and the single worst day of my life and the Detroit series was the worst. Turrible, as Mr. Barkley would say. The Tribe got swept, lost Corey Kluber (my Tribe man crush) for probably the rest of the season, and have fallen seven games behind the Tigers in the race for the division. The WORST!!! Ugh. I don’t even want to talk about it.

Instead, I would like to write about what it means to be a diehard fan and truly love a team. I’ll start with three observations:

1. I have only said “I love you” to one girl in my entire life and I hate the word “love”. Buuuut, I use it all the flippin time when discussing both the Indians as a team and individual players. I cried when Victor Martinez, my all time favorite player who I loved so very much, was traded to the Red Sox in 2009. There I was alone in my car, driving home from work, bawling. 

2. I own more Cleveland Indians’ shirts than pairs of underwear. Seriously. I was packing the other day and noticed this. And it’s not like I’m some gross goober who only owns a few pairs of boxers. I just have a poop ton of Tribe shirts.

3. If the Indians ever win the World Series, it will be the happiest day of my life. It will rank ahead of getting married, having kids, and the time I saw Gatsby the dog fart and burp at the same time.

That is what makes a true fan, this level of commitment and emotional attachment to a sports team. When I get home from work and see the Tribe lost a game, I feel physically ill. When they lost the 2007 ALCS, I spent an entire week in a depressed daze. The night after Game Seven, I lay in bed with tears perpetually in the corner of my eyes. I was too shocked (and perhaps too Irish) to cry. 

I was texting with my old roommate Justin Lee (if you’re an avid reader, this a name to keep an eye out for) the other day about what it is to be a fan. Here is our conversation:

Justin: The A’s suck lately. If Texas wins tonight, it is a tie atop the division. Fuck baseball.

Me: My thoughts exactly. I hate Chris Perez and his stupid face. Tribe is now 5 back.

Justin: Yeah. It is like when I played poker. When the cards go bad, it just aches. Fuckkkkkk.

Me: Sometimes I find myself investing curse words and phrases. It is so dangerously close to speaking in tongues . . .

Justin: Why the fuck do we do this to ourselves?

Me: Because the day they win it all, whenever it comes, will be a euphoric feeling that will have made the journey completely worth it. 

Justin: Yeah. I have put an abnormal amount of energy into the A’s. This still could be the year. I keep telling myself that. 

There is so much truth in the conversation. It does ache when your team loses and we all seem to find ourselves sitting back and wondering why we subject ourselves to such feelings. After all, baseball is but a game, right? Perhaps. But not to those who love it. To us, it is life. It is hope. It is a distraction from all the other bullshit in our lives. That is why we care. Even though it is a whole lot of crazy. 

Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox

Back to back sweeps? Well, this is more like it. This was one of the best series I’ve seen the Tribe play since maybe 2007 (the last year they were legit contenders). They are riding an eight game winning streak and the pitching continues to impress. They have also taken over sole possession of the second wild-card spot. Amazing. I would have liked to see them add one more pitcher at the deadline, but I understand not wanting to break up their farm system. As soon as San Francisco asked for Danny Salazaar in exchange for Javier Lopez, I’m pretty sure GM Chris Antonetti threw up his hands and said, “Nope! No trades this year!” Oh well. I’ll get to the trade deadline later. Let’s get to break downs and analysis. 

Indians 3 White Sox 2: When the Indians signed Jason Giambi, I rolled my eyes. I also told my former roommate and fellow sports nut Justin Lee that, “I hated being a small market fan because of bullshit signings like this!” I didn’t see any difference between signing the 42 year old Giambi and moves last off season for Johnny Damon’s corpse and Casey Kotchman’s amazing batting like a five year old skills. To some degree I was right. Giambi is hovering around the Mendoza line and has had some truly terrible at-bats this year. However, he has brought much needed clubhouse guidance and pinch-hitting prowess. After all, he can still do this:

The White Sox never recovered from this blast. It is such amazing story. This game also featured a very strong start from Zach McCallister. Before he went on the DL, he was becoming a very good number two starter. If he comes back and pitches like this, I feel confident that the Tribe will stay in the race. 

Indians 7 White Sox 4: Scott Kazmir didn’t pitch great and it looked like the White Sox were going to pull this one out. Then, the eighth inning rolled around. A Ryan Raburn single and Yan Gomes doubled turned a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 lead. Chris Perez, who has been on fire since coming off the DL, recorded his 15th save. These are the games that separate the contenders and the pretenders. I know the White Sox are terrible, but they are still a division rival. They also looked like they had this one pretty well wrapped up. Clutch hitting took care of that.

Indians 6 White Sox 5 (10 innings): Another amazing comeback. Corey Kluber dazzled over 8 2/3 innings, but he left with runners on base. Cody Allen couldn’t hold off the White Sox and they took a 5-3 lead into the 9th. Two sac flys from Michael Bourn and Jason Kipnis tied the game. Perez pitched a perfect 10th setting the stage for Carlos Santana. It had been a while since Santana had homered, but he came through with a solo shot to win it. Santana’s power number are lower than I had hoped, so hopefully this gets him rolling again. He was killing the ball at the start of the season, but he hasn’t been the same since an early trip to the DL. If he starts to hit for power, then he might take back to clean-up spot and bring balance to the line-up. 

Indians 6 White Sox 1: No need for late inning drama in the finale. Justin Masterson out pitched another All-Star in Chris Sale. Ryan Raburn homered twice and drove in four runs. Even Mark Reynolds contributed an RBI single. He followed it up with two terrible at bats, but at least he made contact once. Masterson is now 13-7. This was the guy we saw two years ago. I haven’t felt this much confidence in a pitcher since Cliff Lee in 2008. Ultimately, that’s what a true ace does. They inspire confidence every fifth day. 

Reasons for Optimism

The winning streak: Eight games and counting. They are going to Miami to play the Marlins (AH! 1997 memories!!!! No! No Jose Mesa! Back into the repressed part of my brain! Away with you demon!) Anyway, the Marlins suck, so hopefully they can take at least two of the three games. That would give them a lot of momentum heading into a pivotal series against Detroit. 

Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes: Last year the Indians had a starting line-up that featured seven lefties and two switch hitters. They killed righties, but lefties were a huge problem. Raburn and Gomes have provided consistent hitting from the right side of the plate allowing Terry Francona to balance his line-up against lefties. This is perhaps the biggest improvement between this and last years teams. They also provide tremendous depth and versatility which is an absolute necessity in today’s game.

Corey Kluber and Zach McCallister: Two great starts to support a great start from Justin Masterson. It’s hard to believe that these two were acquired for Austin Kearns and a soon to walk away as a free agent Jake Westbrook. Seriously. I have no sympathy for the Yankees plight. You can’t complain when you trade away quality young pitching for a bench player. God, I hate the Yankees. Anyway, these two are pitching out of their minds right now. They both really show how unpredictable scouting really is. Both were considered marginal prospects that would probably have to move to the bullpen, but here they are as mainstays in the rotation. Weird. 

A dud of a deadline: The Indians didn’t swing any major deals, but then again neither did the Tigers or Royals. Yes, the Tigers got Jose Veras and Jose Iglesias and the Royals got Justin Maxwell. That makes them better, but not as much as Jonathan Papplebon, Alex Rios, or Giancarlo Stanton would have. It could have been a lot worse. The Tigers are also probably going to lose Johnny Peralta to a steroid suspension. So, yes. They improved, but not so much to sit and back and say, “Holy God, they just jumped light years ahead of the Indians!”

Reasons for Cynicism

The Tigers and Royals, so hot right now: The Tribe have won eight games in a row and have picked up exactly one game on the Tigers. Dumb. The Tigers and Royals are both in the midst of long winning streaks right now, so the Indians have to keep winning to stay competitive. 

Vinnie Pestano: This makes me sad. This past off season I, like many other Indians fans, thought they should have traded closer Chris Perez and promoted Pestano to closer. Then, this year happened. He’s been inconsistent and his velocity is plummeting. He has to be hurt. That’s the only way this makes sense. He’s been sent to the minors for the foreseeable future. A truly terrible turn of events for their best bullpen arm from the last two years. Good luck, Vinnie. I hope we see you again soon. 

Cleveland Indians vs. Texas Rangers

The brilliant Jeff Daniels once said, “You know Lloyd, just when I think you couldn’t get any dumber, you go and do something like this . . .  and TOTALLY redeem yourself!” That’s how I feel about the Tribe this year. Just when I think they’re going to implode, they deliver a dominating sweep against consistent contender Texas (everything’s bigger in Texas). The series featured good offense, better defense, and dominating pitching. After two lackluster series to start the second half, the Tribe needed this. Their next seven games are against the White Sox and Marlins. If they are going to make up ground before their next series against Detroit, now is the time. 

Indians 11 Rangers 8 (11 innings): This game went from virtual lock, to disaster, to dramatic win. It felt like the mid-90’s again. Back when the Indians were a model franchise, these are the wins they were known for. As soon as it looked like they were down and out, they rallied in dramatic fashion. Corey Kluber continued his miracle run with another quality start and the Indians gave him a 7-1 lead thanks to Michael Bourn and his new found ability to drive in runs. Unfortunately, Cody Allen and Joe Smith imploded and the Rangers tied the game 8-8 in the eighth inning. This was particularly concerning because these two have been the most consistent pitchers in an otherwise shaky bullpen. The Indians were able to stop the bleeding until the eleventh when Ryan Raburn came up with two men on. Continuing another miracle season that no one saw coming, he delivered a game winning, three run homer. Amazing. Not a great win because it should have been an easy win, but a momentum building win. Momentum is everything down the stretch in sports. Wins like this have been known to propel teams to the postseason. 

Indians 1 Rangers 0: On the second pitch of the game, Bourn took Yu Darvish deep to right. That was the only run either team would score for the rest of the night (that rhymed, I should be a rapper). Justin Masterson dominated a very dangerous Texas line-up and out dueled their ace and his fellow All-Star. If this is the Justin Masterson we will be seeing down the stretch, this season just became that much more interesting. Two years ago we saw his potential, last year he regressed, and this year he looks like he’s finally figured out how to harness his ability. When he came over from Boston, he was a reliever because the Red Sox thought he couldn’t pitch to lefties. His first couple of years here he proved them right. He was terrible against lefties. Now he finally seems to have figured them out. His slider continues to develop and impress. He went from a ground ball pitcher to a strike out machine in two years. The future is bright at the front of the rotation. 

Indians 6 Rangers 0: Two years ago, almost to the day, the Indians traded their best two pitching prospects to Colorado for their struggling ace, Ubaldo Jimenez. To say they were disappointed with what they got back would be an understatement of Biblical proportions (seriously). For a while it looked like the only saving grace of the trade was the fact that those prospects (Alex White and Drew Pomeranz) have been the wooooorst. Seriously. We dodged a bullet there. They stink. Anyway, this season Ubaldo has been better. Yesterday, he was dominating. Eight shut-out innings? Be still my heart. This was the 1-2 punch the Tribe thought they were getting two years ago. Offensively, clutch hitting and more Bourn magic propelled the Tribe to their league leading 14th shut-out this season. What? Doesn’t seem possible. 

Reasons for Optimism

The starting pitching: Three games, three quality/dominating starts. At the start of the season everyone said, quite correctly, that the Tribe would only go as far their pitching carried them. Well, here were are eight games over .500 and three games out of the division lead. Masterson, Kluber, Jimenez, and Scott Kazmir have exceeded all of my wildest dreams. I thought they might be alright. I did not see dominating on the horizon. So long as they can keep this going, the Tribe will stay in the race. 

Michael Bourn: I thought the Tribe was done signing players after the Nick Swisher deal and the Shin-Soo Choo trade. Then, just before camp opened, Mr. Bourn came to Cleveland. He was a top free agent and those guys usually avoid Cleveland like the plague. This is why:

Ugh. The worst. Who would want to live here? No one! I digress. When he finally signed, it came out of nowhere. Many commentators were critical, but I was excited. This is the first real lead-off guy they’ve had since Kenny Lofton. That’s right. Not Grady Sizemore. Don’t get me wrong, he was great, but he was a power hitter who could run. That’s the only reason he hit first. Bourn has had a great season. He gets on base and has even been driving in runs. He doesn’t have nearly as many steals as he has had in the past, but he was a National League guy his whole life. The lack of a DH gives the National League a drastically different style of play. I have been impressed. 

Nick Swisher and Astrubal Cabrera: They switched spots in the order and it has been paying off so far. Swisher just isn’t a clean-up hitter. He excels as a second hitter protected by bigger bats behind him. That’s where most of his success came in New York. He’s finally starting to hit. Hopefully he is also finally getting healthy. As for Cabrera, he isn’t really a clean-up hitter either, but he’ll do for now. I wish Carlos Santana would take over the spot full time. Maybe next year. Cabrera is finally starting to hit and we really need it. 

Reasons for Cynicism

Jose Veras: The Tigers got their closer. For those of you who have been following this blog since I started it, you know how much I’ve been fearing this. If they have a decent bullpen down the stretch, they will win the division. The only saving grace here is how bad Veras can be. He once pitched in Cleveland and was the worst. He’s been great in Houston, but with no pressure. They stink. We’ll see how he does when he is thrown into a pennant race. Hopefully it’s an Eric Gagne to the 2007 Red Sox situation where a guy who has been pitching well on a bad team pitches poorly on a good team. Keep your fingers crossed . . . or don’t. It’s a free country. 

The Roaring Royals: They have won six in a row, are back to .500, and are only seven games behind Detroit. The Royals were a dark horse pick to win the division and they certainly have the talent. We really need a cliche Royals Hidenburg impression right now. They are a very scary team lingering in third place. 

Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners

Two more games of little to no offense squandering two good starts and a blow out win supporting an amazing start. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Concerns about a second half cliff dive are very real right now. I know it is harder to win on the road than it is at home, but a 2-4 road trip against Minnesota and Seattle isn’t going to cut it. They have to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat to have any shot at the playoffs. Ugh. This is making me angry. Let’s get to the recaps.

Overview

Mariners 2 Indians 1: Home runs by Kendrys Morales and Mike “I’m a person?” Zunino sunk an otherwise decent start by Ubaldo Jimenez. Still, he only made it 5 2/3 innings, throwing 110 pitches. He’s been doing this all season. Six innings makes a quality start, but he never makes it six innings. Even when he’s pitching well, his pitch counts jump to borderline shenanigans. Seriously. He’s going to single handedly kill the bullpen. As for the “offense”, a first inning Nick Swisher homer is all they could muster against Aaron Harang (I thought he retired five years ago). Swisher was finally moved out of the clean-up spot and moved to second in the order. That’s never a good sign. 

Mariners 4 Indians 3: Welcome back, Zach McCallister! He looked a little rusty, but it could have been worse. That bum Zunino singled home the winning run in the third and then both teams forgot how to hit and the game ended 4-3. The offense managed eleven hits, but only the three runs. No bueno. 

Indians 10 Mariners 1: The bats woke up! Michael Bourn delivered his first career grand slam, Carlos Santana had two RBI doubles, and Astrubal Cabrera scored four runs and drove in three. Scott Kazmir pitched eight innings allowing only one unearned run! He looked great for the second straight start. He sat around 95 mph on his fastball the whole day. He continues to be an amazing story and the surprise of all surprises. He looks like a pitcher who finally figured out how to pitch. When he was an All-Star in Tampa, he pretty much just threw hard. Very hard. Now many of his strike-outs come with his slider instead of his fastball. When a pitcher learns how to make outs with his other pitches, he ascends to a an entirely new level of awesome. 

Reasons for Optimism 

Scott Kazmir: Pretty much said what I had to say above. If he can continue pitching like this, the Indians will stay in the race. The big question now is: Is he for real, or is this a mirage? Looking ahead to next season, there are many question marks in the rotation. It is unlikely Ubaldo will be brought back and eventually Danny Salazaar and Trevor Bauer will be expected to take spots in the rotation. So, do they bring back Kazmir knowing his history with injuries? It is hard to say. What will likely happen is some big market team will offer him a ridiculous contract that the Indians won’t match. Hopefully that ends up being a Jaret Wright/Carl Pavano to the Yankees situation. Hopefully. 

Yan Gomes: Is he ready to be an everyday catcher? The Indians seem to think so. I think so. So, where do we go from here? Carlos Santana is the catcher right now and he’s a great player. Where does Gomes fit in? If it were me, I would rotate the two of them between catcher and DH . Get Jason Giambi’s corpse out of the line-up and split the starts between these two. Plus, both can play first base to give Swisher a day off. I think Gomes is going to be a big time player. Now we need to find him a permanent spot. Boy, this Esmil Rodgers for Gomes and Mike Aviles trade is looking like a major rip-off pulled by GM Chris Antonetti. Well played, sir. Well played.

Astrubal Cabrera: He’s finally showing some life out there. The past two seasons strong first halves made him an All-Star. This season he had far more valleys than peaks. If he can get it going and solidify the clean-up spot, than good things will happen. If he struggles, they have to move him down in the line-up and Michael Brantley takes the clean-up spot? I love Brantley, but he’s not a middle of the order hitter. God speed, Astrubal. 

Reasons for Cynicism

Struggles with runners in scoring position: The two games they won on this road trip, they hit with runners in scoring positions. The games they lost, they didn’t. Even Jim Bowden could see that pattern and he’s the worst. This is why I keep harping on the clean-up spot needing to be . . . cleaned up (Ha! That’s funny. I’m funny). They need someone to step up and drive in runs. Their line-up is so much better than last year, but they’re still missing the guy who can drive in runs when they really need them. I hoped that would be Swisher, but he just hasn’t adapted to that role. 

The ever changing line-up: Every day I go to ESPN to see what line-up Terry Francona has drawn up. It is never, literally never, the same two days in a row. I understand he has to get at-bats for everyone, but he needs to be more consistent. Guys need to know their role in the order. People who have never played baseball probably don’t understand the difference between hitting second and sixth, but they are monumentally different. A more consistent line-up should lead to more consistent results. 

Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins

At the onset of starting this blog I thought it would be good to post after every game. However, I work three jobs, so, you know, c’est impossible. Not sure how I overlooked that one. With that in mind, I’ve decided that posting after each series is the way to go. Sure, I’ll throw some other posts in the mix from time to time, but I will definitely be posting after each series. Now enough set up, let’s get to the first series of the second half  . . .

Overview

Game One Twins 3 Indians 2: The bats came out of the box flat. Michael Bourn had two hits and the only two RBI’s. Outside of that, the Indians could only muster two other hits (one each from Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall). Scott Kazmir had a great start. Six innings, two runs. He remains the surprise of the season. The only mistake he made was giving up a two run single to Trevor Plouffe. I have no idea who this goofball is, but he is slowly but surely turning into a thrown in the Indians side. The funny thing about baseball is that some guys always seem to perform against certain teams. Terry Steinbach killed the Indians for most of his career in Oakland. Somehow, some way, he always seemed to drive a dagger into their hearts. Anyway, a Joe Mauer single in the eighth off Joe Smith gave the Twins the first win of the series. 

Game Two Twins 3 Indians 2 (not a typo): Another great start wasted. Corey Kluber delivered five solid innings, striking out seven, before leaving with an injury. That’s not good. However, it seems to be a minor injury. He might miss a start, which isn’t that bad considering it might give us another look at pitching prospect Danny Salazaar. A Jason Kipnis home run was the only offense the Indians could muster. Then a Chisenhall error and Rich Hill’s presence doomed the Indians to a second straight loss. Seriously. Why the hell is Rich Hill allowed to pitch? He has a 6.75 ERA and he’s the only lefty reliever we have? No bueno. I know Terry Francona loves him, but apparently the baseball gods hate him. Please, please go get Oliver Perez.

Game Three Indians 7 Twins 1: A win! Thank God. Getting swept by the Twins would have been a nightmare start to the second half. Justin Masterson was brilliant! He had a perfect game through six innings and recorded his eleventh win of the season, equalling his win total from last season. Kipnis had another home run and Brantley delivered a clutch three run triple. If the Indians are going to make a push to the postseason, they will need Masterson and Kipnis to carry them there. Last year they tanked when these two started to slump. While the team is better than it was a year ago, a major league team can only go as far as their best players take them. 

Reasons for Optimism

The starting pitching was brilliant in this series: Now that Zach McCallister is off the DL, we’ll finally get to see the best the Indians have to offer in the second half. If Kluber and Kazmir can pitch like this down the stretch, the Indians will be in the race until the end. Even the great Indians teams in the mid to late 90’s didn’t have consistent pitching from the back of the rotation. Guys like Chad Ogea, Mark Clark, and Dave Burba won a lot of games, but the offense also scored billions of runs. I could have won ten games pitching on those teams. Since the Great Rebuild of 2002, the front office has put much more emphasis on pitching over offense. While there are still so many question marks, I feel a little better going forward if these are the guys who are rounding out the rotation. Still, we’ll see what the second half has in store. 

Jason Kipnis: He struggled mightily down the stretch last year as the Indians plummeted down the standings. A good start to the second half is needed especially given the struggles of some of the other top hitters (what’s the deal Astrubal Cabrera?). Coming off a great at-bat in the All Star Game, Kipnis turned in a solid series. Now that he has an elite table-setter ahead of him in Michael Bourn, I expect great things from Kipnis is the second half. 

The second half schedule: They end the season with 20 games agains the Royals, White Sox, Astros, and Twins. They only have to play seven more games against the Tigers. There is not excuse to fall out of contention this year. Unfortunately, it’s the Indians. The impossible is not only possible, but likely. Alas. Such is life.

Reasons to be Cynical

The law firm of Swisher and Reynolds: I know Mark Reynolds strikes out a lot. I knew he would at the start of the season. I thought he would hit more homers. He started the season off so well, but he looks lost at the plate. Ugh. He is the WORST. At any moment he could either hit a moon shot or strike out on a pitch that Mr. Magoo would know was out of the strike zone. As for Swisher? He must be hurt. It’s too bad. I’m sure the pressure of signing the largest contract in team history is also weighing on him. He has brought some much need swag to the clubhouse, but we need him to be more than the Jean Ralphio of Cleveland. 

Rich Hill: I feel for him. He thought he was coming into to be a lefty specialist, but he’s now the only lefty option out of the pen. Still, he stinks. They need to trade for another reliever and only let Hill pitch when they’re ahead or behind by at least five runs. 

All is quiet on the trade front: I haven’t seen much of the Indians in the rumors lately. Except for Jim Bowden’s insistence that they should trade Cabrera to the Cardinals. Seriously, Jim. Shut up. They are in contention, why would they trade a key player for prospects? Francisco Lindor is at least another year away from the majors. You are the Matt Millen of baseball. If you’re so smart, then why did you get fired as GM from both the Reds and Nationals? And why on is the “Controversy” section of your Wikipedia page so much longer than the “General Manager” section? Oops. Went off on a rant there. It happens. Lost my place. Oh, right, it’s lame that I haven’t heard much about the Indians making trades. That’s all I really wanted to say here. 

The Deadline Looms

One summer I was glued to the TV for two straight days. Randy Johnson, arguably the greatest pitcher of the 90’s, was going to be traded. The Indians were a team that kept popping up in the rumor mill. This was long before I discovered the beauty of ESPN’s Rumor Central, so TV and newspaper (remember those?) was all I had. The deadline came and went with Johnson being traded to Houston. Too bad. The 1998 Indians really could have used him. They pushed the ’98 Yankees (one of the greatest teams ever assembled) to six games in the ALCS. Imagine if they had Johnson starting twice in that series instead of Chad Ogea. Alas. It was not to be. Both the ’98 Indians and Johnson were doomed to watch the World Series from home that year. All things considered though, it was fun to sit at the TV and watch the entire trade deadline. It is a feeling that all baseball fans can relate to. If they can’t, they aren’t really fans. Ugh. Here I go getting all mushy. What the hell happened to me? I blame my time on the west coast for all these nostalgic feelings. The worst. Anyway, here are some trades I would consider.

1. Jose Ramirez and Luigi Rodriquez for Oliver Perez: Two prospects full of potential for a top lefty reliever. Ramirez is a second baseman and Rodriquez is a centerfielder. Jason Kipnis is currently the Indians best player and Michael Bourn just signed on for four years, the Indians are pretty set at those positions going forward. In Perez they would get the lefty set-up man they have so desperately needed since Rafael Perez forgot how to pitch. While they probably need a starter more, I would be fine with them shoring up the bullpen. 

2. Ronny Rodriquez, Tyler Naquin, and Mitch Brown for Bud Norris: They really need a starter. Scott Kazmir looked good last night, but how long can it really last? In Norris they would be getting an immediate upgrade in the number three spot in the rotation for more than just this year. His numbers have never been very good, but he’s played on some truly terrible Astros teams. Nolan Ryan couldn’t win with these chuckleheads the Astros are marching out there. Naquin was our top draft pick a year ago, but he figures to be a centerfielder. Bourn has that locked down. He also is a lefty and we have plenty of those up and down the line-up. Top prospect Francisco Lindor is one of the highest rated prospects and a shortstop, so no need for Rodriquez. And Brown? He’s an 18 year-old pitcher. Who the hell really knows his upside? 

3. Tyler Naquin, Ronny Rodriquez, Dorssys Paulino, and Luigi Rodriquez for Matt Garza and James Russell: This would fill two key needs in the rotation and bullpen. Garza would probably be a rental player (there’s no way they have the money to lock him up long term), but he would come in and immediately add tremendous depth in the rotation. He has playoff experience and spent most of his career in the AL East (the best division for the last ten years). Russell would be the lefty reliever needed to round out the bullpen. The only hesitation here would be Paulino. He can play 3rd base and who knows if Lonnie Chisenhall will every realize his potential. Then again, his first name is pretty silly, so . . . you know . . . there’s that. 

4. Every prospect we have and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Cliff Lee: This could only work if Philly agreed to swallow a chunk of his contract. There’s no way they would, but man it would be sweet to see him back in Cleveland uniform. Only the Indians would trade a pitcher away the year after he won the Cy Young Award and trade him they did back in 2009. He would come in and immediately be the ace of the staff. A one-two punch of Lee and Masterson would elevate the Indians to World Series contenders. Too bad it will never happen. Stupid Phillies.