I really don’t even like this team anymore… But I haven’t wrote in awhile and I’m bored, so I figured why the hell not? Today is that 20% chance the Indians have at winning one out of every five games they play. That means Cliff Lee is on the hill. Tonight he opposes Blue Jays rookie lefthander Brett Cecil. I’m not sure what the Indians record is right now, but I can assure you I’m doing them a service by not mentioning it.

Some things that caught my script “I”:

-I had to catch the first inning in the car and thought it was interesting that Tom Hamilton said one thing that’s certain is Marco Scutaro will have a big series since he is a former Indian farmhand, referencing the big series had by Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan in the Seattle series. I thought it was a nice little jab at the Indians inept front office.

-I haven’t wrote in awhile, but Kelly Shoppach still sucks. And Grady Sizemore still can’t get a hit when there is any pressure on him.

-July must be the month of the siesta in Venezuela as Victor Martinez is only hitting .122 this month.

-I’m still amazed at how much of a gamer the am/pm voiceover guy is, continuing to work with laryngitis.

It has always been my opinion that Albert Belle is probably the most undeserving villain in the history of Cleveland sports. He was the catalyst for the rebuilding process that occurred in the early 90's that brought the team out of decade long doldrums. The thing most fans probably forget - or don't know - about Belle is the fact he was probably the easiest autograph of a team of up-and-coming superstars at the stadium, signing for kids long after every other player had departed for the evening. The fans of the city, of course, turned on him after he signed a (much) bigger contract with the Chicago White Sox. I always would defend Belle by saying if some offered you $8 an hour and another company offered $12 for doing exactly the same job which one would you take.

The media was the biggest liability for Belle who took every chance they could to knock the superstar down. Like Steve Carlton, who was vilified by media of Philadelphia for his disdain of beat reporters, Belle was a superstar who hated the scribes but made profound statements on the field amassing huge numbers. That being said, he was hardly saint and his off-the-field antics are too well documented to bring up them up.

The reason I bring Belle up is that he called his former nemesis Paul Hoynes to talk a little Cleveland Indians baseball recently. Belle, who hardly spoke to the Indians beat reporter while he played his final years here, writes:

It just isn't a baseball season unless Albert Belle calls.

Belle, the worst-tempered player and most intimidating hitter I've ever covered, called Monday while I was walking into Busch Stadium to get ready for the home run derby. Belle was frustrated with the Indians' first half and wanted to talk about former teammate Manny Ramirez testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

And continued:

I ventured to say that his temper tantrums could have been interpreted as 'roid rage.

Said Belle, "No, I was just an angry black man."

Regarding the Indians, Belle said, "I hope they don't blame Eric Wedge for all this. You've got to have players to win."

Belle was told Wedge's job was in danger. When asked if he would want to manage the Indians, "Unless they got me a lot of new players, I don't need a headache like that."

I'm sorry to say it, but that's the reality of things. Even if the Indians are able to resign Victor. At this point I'm already thinking of Cliff Lee in terms of being on another team, whether it's before July 31, 2009 or by July 31, 2010 is the only uncertainty as far as he goes. And as far as Victor, I highly doubt he'll be around either. Sure, he's saying all the right things, but the guy wants to win, and money wins over sentiment always, at least in sports, and sadly, in real life for the most part. Plus, remember Jim Thome, and CC, where as CC never did say he wanted to stay, he pretty much said the right things without flat out saying he was leaving. Victor is doing the same thing, just in broken English. The guy deserves better than to stay on this grease fire of a team anyway. He deserves a shot to win while he's still in his prime. I wouldn't blame him one bit if he left.

Some of the biggest sports legends in history will be on hand for the 30th National Sports Collectors Show at the IX Center later this month. The show runs from July 29th-August 2nd this year and features the likes of Bob Feller, Jim Brown, Troy Aikman, Bo Jackson, and Joe Montana who will be participating in autograph signings.

Below you will find all the information on the event including schedule of events and hours of operation.

Show Hours

Wednesday, July 29: 5pm to 9pm
Thursday, July 30 through Saturday, August 1: 10am to 6pm
Sunday, August 2: 10am to 5pm

Admission

Single-day admission tickets are $15 if purchased in advance. Week-long VIP passes are available, starting at $119

Tickets can be purchased by following this link.

Well since I’ve last wrote, Mark Shapiro has said Eric Wedge’s job is safe at least for this year, so I’m not going to continue to beat a dead horse calling for Wedge’s head anymore. What I do think is funny is that a guy who is equally if not more responsible for the unraveling of this team is saying someone else’s job is safe for now, like he isn’t living on borrowed time himself. Sometimes I wonder if Larry Dolan really cares or what kind of trance Shapiro has him under. If he is under one, I’d like to get my hands on some of that elixir Mark has been giving him. Tonight it’s Jeremy Sowers vs. Mark Buehrle in Chicago for the now infamous 8:11 start time.

Here are some things that caught my script “I”:

-Jeremy Sowers is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball…in the first inning.

-Regardless of what Allcare Dental says, there’s not a person on the earth who can make seeing the dentist easy, at least until those metal hooks are gone for good.

-It’s funny how Wedge usually doesn’t kickstart things on the base paths but tonight, immediately after Rick and Matt said it was near impossible to steal of Buehrle, Wedge sends Francisco and he gets caught up in a run down and thrown out at second.

I thought I would try to watch an Indians game again, well at least more than a couple innings even if it got to the usual 6-1 opponent lead by the third inning. So far as I’m writing this the Indians bats have come alive and they are leading 8-3, but it’s wayyyyyy early. There is still that thing called the bullpen waiting in the wings. I’m guessing win or lose the Indians and A’s players will want to escape from Progressive Field like smooth criminals before the MJ tribute fireworks show starts.

Here are some things that caught my script, and after this season, black and blue “I”:

-There is still some incentive to watch Indians games. STO is giving away Browns tickets during the Oakland series.

-It’s weird to see Jason Giambi on this A’s team. He’s not the star he once was but in my opinion he’s literally and figuratively too big for a small market team like Oakland, he looks out of place.

-To a lesser extent, the same can be said for Nomar Garciaparra.

-Changing gears a bit, good news for Columbus Blue Jackets fans as Rick Nash signed an 8 year, $62.4 million extension to remain in C-Bus earlier today.

-The am/pm and ESPN voice-over guys must be related in some way.

The Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro era in Cleveland can be summed up pretty well from the well-known quotation from Charles Dickens "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". The Cleveland Indians were up 3-1 on the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 ALCS and looked poised to win their first championship since 1948. The Tribe pulled a major league choke job and lost the next 3 games, falling in the series to the eventual World Series Champs. It had at one time looked like the Indians would take the mantle as one of the top American League teams for years to come.

Artwork by Tom Galmarini. Click image to view larger.

Watching the Indians lately is liking going into something knowing in advance it’s going to give you a migraine but you continue with it anyway. With aspirin in hand, I’m ready to watch game three of the “Ohio Cup”. I haven’t heard of a worse cup since the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State. Today is game one without Mark DeRosa, who was acquired from the Cubs in the off season for three pitchers, then later traded to the Cardinals for a pitcher and a player to be named later? Makes sense when pitching has been the weakest part of your club right?

Some things that caught my script “I”:

-Nice to see Asdrubal Cabrera back in the lineup, and he picks up where he left off with a leadoff single.

-This Reds team has one pretty good hitter, an ok 2nd baseman, a supposed “can’t miss” prospect hitting .213 and a bunch of Triple A filler, and yet they hit around Tribe pitching as if they were the Philadelphia Phillies.

-Other than Fill The House for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the other Fill The House dates for charities, I urge fans not to go see this horrendous team until changes are made, let Dolan sit and spin on that.

Interleague foes have led to interleague woes for the Tribe this year. Coming into tonight’s game vs. Cincinnati, the Indians are 4-11 vs. National League opponents. One good thing going into tonight, this Reds lineup doesn’t look the least intimidating on paper, minus Joey Votto, it’s nothing to write home about. Then again, neither is ours!

Some things that caught my script “I” during the game, today, or from recent happenings:

-If you’ve gotten a negative vibe in my writing lately, you’re correct. I really don’t have too much good to say about the Indians and I probably won’t until there are upper and field level management changes, but I will still give credit where credit is due to individual players and I still want to see this team win games.

-Brandon Phillips is on pace for 100 RBI’s this year. (See http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89823427695&ref=ts)

-One commercial that’s gotten on my nerves for awhile now that finally needs mentioning is the Continental Airlines one where they compare adding new planes to their fleet as if they were newborn babies. And not to mention the woman saying it is almost as annoying as Flo from Progressive.

Since I live in the Youngstown television market, I also get FSN Pittsburgh on my cable package, so tonight I’m going to mix things up a bit. Tonight I’m going to watch the game on FSN Pittsburgh and give you a perspective through the eyes of Bob Walk and Tim Neverett, the Pirates tv announcers for tonight’s game. I thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say about the Tribe throughout the game, and what FSN Pittsburgh does a little differently than STO.
Some things that caught my script “I”:

-Bob Walk was pretty complimentary to Grady Sizemore. He said despite the low average this year, he’s a great overall player/athlete when healthy. That’s debatable if you want to factor in average and high strikeouts, but here’s hoping he finds his stroke.

-There was a fan on the right side of home plate wearing a “Irate fan” t-shirt, the t-shirts fans that tried to protest the Pirates losing ways by leaving a game in the 3rd inning a couple years back wore. I almost forgot about that til I saw that shirt.