Patrick

. Now, it's going to be stupid cold if you get a Mets vs. Red Sox World Series. ...or a Cubs/Indians World Series. After getting snowed out in Cleveland to open the season, I think that would be a great way to finish the baseball season.

Otto Klemperer Werner Klemperer Robert Clary

Ditto for Paul Byrd's complete game shutout against Chisox. Impressive. That Bucholz curve is nasty! Boy have the Orioles been abused in the last month (the 30 run game, losing nine in a row at home, blowing late inning leads to DRays,...). Last night the Twins starter had a no-hitter broken up in the ninth, tonight Bucholz was successful. Both nights ESPN broke into live coverage of the first week of college football to show the ninth (or parts of it). I like it.

Nice story Al. ...Somehow I don't think one gets the same experience at NFL or NBA contests. Last night's Indians/Mariners game. In the bottom of the ninth inning of a now tied game (blown save #6 for JoeBo!), Seattle has already used Sean Green, George Sherrill, Brendan Morrow out of their pen. Eric O'Flaherty starts the ninth, and after retiring Hafner, puts on Martinez and Garko. At this juncture, the only arms left in the Mariner pen are all-star J.J. Putz, reclamation project Rick White, and lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith. Manager McLaren puts in White who retires Peralta for the second out, but then walks Gutierrez and Lofton for a walkoff walk. Question: your team is in a tied game on the road, do you always save your ace to pitch after you've taken the lead? Hindsight is often 20/20, but I'm a little surprised that McLaren went with White (of the 6+ ERA in limited work) with 2 on and only one out. Putz has pitched more than an inning in other games, Mariners may not get to the next inning (like last night), and if/when Mariners take the lead it may be by more than one run (making the need for your closer less vital). Whaddaya think?

Meanwhile the Tribe is finally on a bit of a roll--five straight (admittedly against KC and Minn, but both of those teams have been scrappy rather than crappy recently), and KC is beating Det. Last night I went to the Sabathia/Santana game at the Jake. 4 Tribe runs in the bottom of the first, didn't score after that. Carmona and Sabathia now have each beaten Santana twice this year (Santana also has a no decision against Cleveland). Sabathia was good, but not great--probably better in all of his previous 4 starts (which earned him 3 losses and a no decision thanks to the MIA offense). Finally a bit of offense (just enough as it turned out)--homers from Asdrubal Cabrera (who has Josh Barfield remaining on the squad only to pinch run) and Victor Martinez. JoeBo put the lead/tying runner on in the ninth, but Martinez made a great diving catch behind the plate, and (the defensively challenged) Ryan Garko started a nice double play to end it. Mariners in town for last makeup game at Jake (last makeup game gets played as part of a doubleheader out in Sea at end of season--how lame is that? Bud Selig is still a knucklehead), and then the White Sox are in town.

Cecil Cooper was a favorite when he was on those bashing Brewers teams (and the Avalon Hill baseball game--he had a great card one of those years). Hopefully he'll have some success in Stroland. Mussina looks like he's hurt. That was brutal tonight. How did the Tribe only manage 2 runs against him in mid-August?

I infrequently listen to the commentary. If I really like the film initially, I sometimes will watch it again the next day and listen to the commentary. The most recent time I did this was for the excellent Breach--Chris Cooper was outstanding as Robert Hanssen. Commentary was provided by director Billy Ray and real life (former) agent Eric O'Neill. Ray spends a lot of time explaining how shots were set up, his tributes to favorite 70s films (like All the President's Men and Kramer v. Kramer), which scenes were reshot months later, etc. O'Neill explains a bit about how things really went down. Quite interesting.

That is what it looks like, esp with Shef on the shelf and Kenny Rogers unlikely to make much of an appearance. At least Granderson got a leadoff double off of Clemens. and now Maggs has gone yard in the first. Unfortunately, the Tribe appears to be right there with the Tigers. Another dreadful game against a weak sister in the AL. Sabathia pitches 8 solid innings against KC, giving up 2 runs. Tribe can only scratch a single run. Greinke gets pulled after 3 innings for some reason (injury?), and Tribe does nothing. It's been a long time since starting pitching has been the bedrock for the Indians and the offense has been so anemic. The collars are really tight around Sizemore, Martinez, Hafner, and all the rest (maybe excluding Garko). Wedge has done everything but call these guys out by name. They claim to have learned from fading in other years, but they are repeating it again. Thank goodness the Tigers are struggling as well. Sheesh. Nice doubleheader for the RedSox today. Beckett started off a bit shakey in the first, but settled down.

Middle of last year (while still with Tribe), Wick gave all indications that that would be his last year. It was a challenge for him to come back after his injuries, and he greatly appreciated the chance the Tribe gave him to come back (and all the paychecks he cashed while missing time). Change of scenery to ATL got him to start another year, but it appears that he is out of gas (physically and perhaps mentally). I don't recall any of this type of BS while in Cleveland--where the bullpen he was part of came under a lot of fire.

Jake Westbrook had another great outing for the Tribe in a pitcher's duel against Nate Robertson and the Tigers. Like Sabathia and Carmona he was rewarded with a no decision. In 5 August starts, Westbrook is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA, averaging 7+ innings, 1.2 earned runs, 4.6 hits, 3.8K, 1.4BB per outing (opponents have been NYY, Det, TB, Chi, Tex). The loss was a bad one to NYY--hopefully Jake will continue to pitch well, esp against high quality opponents. This afternoon's was another tough game trying to score runs, but Tribe managed to get 3 in the 10th off of a somewhat erratic Zumaya. JoeBo once again made it real exciting in the bottom of the 10th after getting the first two out (double, single, double), but was able to retire IRod to end it. I wonder if he has more than one 1-2-3 inning for a save, and how often he gives up at least a run (like he did today). Race for the central crown looks like it will go down to the wire. Tribe and Tigers face each other only 3 more times (in mid-September). Their schedules the rest of the way are quite similar. Only differences (ignoring home/away distinctions) are Cle has (4 LAA, 2 Sea, 3 KC) and Det has (4 NYY, 1 Tor, 3 Tex). Yanks are at Detroit. Tribe goes to LA. Degree of difficulty a bit higher for Tribe, but they presently have a 2.5 game lead. Cleveland's penultimate series is 4 games in Seattle--could be very interesting for the Division and the wildcard. [...or maybe less interesting if Det continues to lose series the rest of the way while Tribe finds their misplaced bats ]

I only caught bits and pieces of the game, but at the end Palmer did remind everyone that Baltimore lead 3-0 after 3 innings. So Texas had 30 unanswered runs over the course of 6 innings--averaging FIVE runs an inning, for SIX innings. Wow. 30 - 3, that's not even a close football game...

And Ranger Wes Littleton earns a save in the 30-3 game by pitching 3 scoreless innings. I think even Joe Borowski could have converted that one...

Now 30 - 3. Modern baseball record. Break up the Rangers!!!

And the Tribe managed to get by Edwin Jackson (3-12) and the D-Rays. Got 12 hits but managed only to score two runs. Fortunately, that was enough for Byrd, Perez, Betancourt, and Borowski. And the Tigers lost, so Tribe back in first by a half game. Now if only the Chisox can get after the Mariners... Maybe Gagne should not pitch in the 8th or 9th until he demonstrates some ability to get more guys out than not...

Absolutely. And I will pull for all Yankee opponents once those Tiger games are out of the way.

Dan, I can totally emphasize with the inability to bring home runners in scoring position when there are no out. Manny and company obviously grabbed the blueprints away from Sizemore, Peralta, and company.--Tribe had a similar exercise of futility Tuesday night against Detroit (...and quite a few others since the ASB). At least the Orioles were able to hang on against Yankees. We'll just have to agree to disagree about who should win the upcoming 8 Tiger/Yankee games [Little comfort for you, but at least they can't both win those games...] Tonight was the perfect night of baseball. Fausto was dealing (8 innings, 10K, 1ER, 4H, only 6 balls hit out of the infield). Extra base hits from Sizemore, Blake, Gutierrez and gimpy Hafner. Borowski pitched an uneventful ninth. And every AL team with a better record than the Tribe lost (Det, LAA, Sea, Bos, NY).

Completely disagree. Nice to see Cabrera pitch well against the Skankees (2 hits but a ton of walks), but Joe Borowski needs to be banished to long relief. Another quality outing for Sabathia gets him a no decision. At the break I thought he had a shot at 20 wins, but those days are gone now. After 7 from Sabathia (96 pitches, 2 runs), Betancourt provided two scoreless innings. Borowski then through BP. Wedgie needs to let Betancourt try closing. Interesting lineup with Lofton leading off (and delivering an 0-fer) and Sizemore batting third (2 run homer in the first = all of Tribe offense). Tribe needs to win at least 2/5 against Detroit--currently 0-1. Fausto tomorrow night.

Indeed. 5 of next 8 are against Detroit--the most important games left on their schedule (Following this, teams meet just one more time in mid-September). Sabathia and Carmona are starting tonight and tomorrow. Tigers will get Carmona a second time, but not Sabathia. Brutal against the Yanks. A-Rod has had their number all season. Yesterday's was perhaps the toughest to deal with. Westbrook did not pitch well (though it has been much worse), but the Tribe got to Rivera in the ninth. Trailing by 3, the bottom of the order starts the inning goes single, single, double [Gagne-like? ], so its second and third, a run in, no out. With the tying run in scoring position, Cabrera (recent callup) and Sizemore strike out. Blake (why is he batting second??) flies out to end the game. A couple of reasonably deep fly balls or even a single likely would have tied it, but no. Just six runs scored in the three game series (against Hughes, Mussina, Pettite). Tribe bats appear to slumber their way out of the postseason.

While I do not listen to it that often, I enjoy Brilliant Corners (Muse, 1988). Your mileage may vary.

No idea about the Carmona day/night splits, or how he performs in domes (which presumably are lit the same way day or night). If the Tribe makes it to the postseason, hopefully they'll play more than the customary one (or zero) day game in the first round.

Oops, missed Mosaic as I was assembling a large Newbury order. Looking forward to Bearcat. Fan of Cliff Craft, Plays Leadbelly, and Blowing in from Chicago.

Yeah, I watched the end of Bos/Bal, and is Gagne the weak link in that excellent bullpen? On the one batter he did retire on a dribbler in front of the mound, he was fortunate that it was Millar huffin and puffin down the line (and the play was still close). Bedard and Dice K pitched well, though I think Dice K may have had only two 1-2-3 innings and quite a few walks. Meanwhile the anemic Tribe offense turns Hughes into Cy Young. Carmona had a bad outing. ...At least the Tigers and Mariners also lost.

I think Tribe does a pretty good job of taking walks--they spent quite a bit of time in the Chisox bullpen (and should have swept on the road). And as bad as Hafner has been, he's still a league leader in walks. After the 3 game series against NYY, Tribe will be done with both Bos and NYY for the regular season.

It has in fact been a brutal month for the Tribe. Very little to be happy about, beyond still being in/near first in the Central (though this leads to thoughts that they should really have a huge division lead right now--similar thoughts in Tiger Nation I'm sure). Beginning of the year could make a strong case that the AL Central was the beast division, but with Minn and ChiSox not performing well, and now Cle and Det following a similar course... What's bad: team is in a collective batting slump, even MVP candidate Victor Martinez wasn't getting hits. Hafner has been brutal most of the year, and now he has a knee injury. Sizemore has had a bit of surge, but should be batting better. Josh Barfield, while not being counted on to lead the offense, appears overmatched in the AL--hopefully he'll figure something out. Lots of errors (which one can live with if the offense is humming along). Borowski shaky as closer (been the case all year, and not a big surprise, but tough to stomach when little margin for error). Much of the rest of the pen has also been underwhelming. Fourth and fifth spots in the rotation should be open mike night. Team is about 1/3 of the way through a stretch that has 16 of 21 games on the road (5 home games are against NYY and Det). What's good: Carmona and Sabathia, provided they don't sue for non-support, continue to pitch extremely well. Fausto goes against Hughes tonight, Sabathia throws next against Tigers. Paul Byrd continues to pitch well, if not spectacularly. Rafael relievers Betancourt and Perez have been solid (though Betancourt lost an 8th inning lead against Chisox before Borowski lost the regained lead again in extras...ugh) Kenny Lofton has added a slight lift to the offense. Jake Westbrook has put together a couple of quality starts--hopefully he is back on track (Was the Cliff Lee demotion a wakeup call of sorts?). Matchup lefty reliever Aaron Fultz has been activated. Cup of coffee rookie lefty Aaron Laffey beat Mark Buehrle Thursday night (...and then was sent down). Reports suggest that Jeremy Sowers and Cliff Lee are pitching well at Buffalo (though it doesn't appear that obvious to me). Team likely to go with 4 man rotation for a couple of weeks due to offdays. And finally, Tribe signed Russel Branyan to a minor league contract. Some were suggesting that this means they have given up on Andy Marte as future third baseman. Not an unreasonable view to have about the underwhelming Marte (great glove, no bat), but completely crazy to think that Branyan is any type of answer. So Branyan's first game for Bisons is an 0-4 with 3 K's (ahhh, the Russell of old...). Phillies then acquire him from the Tribe for cash considerations. Why didn't Philly just sign the guy themselves? Branyan did pick up the tab for the postgame spread during his brief revisit to Buffalo...

Haywood Workman Spencer Haywood John Spencer