Patrick

Chilling indeed. I read the story right after listening to the recent Fresh Air episode with Andre Agassi. Much the same story of an overbearing father trying to live his dream through the athletic prowess of his son.

Hats off to Fausto Carmona! Complete game shutout against the Twins, 3H, 1BB, 7K, facing two batters over the minimum, throwing only 108 pitches, and (with the assistance of the anemic Indian offense) finishing nine innings in just 1:57. Ex-Indian Carl Pavano (16-11, 3.47 ERA) takes the loss.

91-year-old Bob Feller, probably the greatest Cleveland athlete ever and arguably the best right hander ever has acute myeloid leukemia. It is treatable, and Feller has been taking a number of chemotherapy shots. The guy has been remarkably vital even in such old age--attending games, doing interviews (...better watch out, Acta may want him for an inning or two out of the pen). PD story

22 year old Hector Rondon, the Indians minor league pitcher of the year in 2009, just had Tommy John surgery. For a team (like the Nats) that is all about the future, kind of tough to see the future dimmed/delayed in this fashion (along with Carlos Santana). Tribe showed a little bit of a pulse after the ASB--started 7-1 against Det and Minn but have been a dreadful 9-21 since then. Magic number (to avoid first 100 lost season since '91) is 12. Can they go at least 12-23 the rest of the way?

No mention of Kurt Elling [...insert quip here]. Is that Bill Charlap accompanying Freddy Cole?

"Bird alone, flying high Flying through a clouded sky Sending mournful soulful sounds Soaring over troubled grounds" You Gotta Pay the Band (Verve, 1991) was my point of entry with Abbey. First checked it out from the Evanston Public Library--many an evening spent listening to this after a grinding grad school day. Thanks Abbey. Keep soaring.

Good news, given the situation. Hopefully, nothing too serious.

Ugh. Just saw the replay of the Santana injury. You know it's bad when the ESPN guys warn you ahead of time. Some folks already groaning about the Cleveland curse and mentioning Ray Fosse. I'm not there yet, but yikes/ouch! I'd be surprised if that thing is not broken or worse. Oh well. Otherwise, Fausto Carmona improves nicely on his 0-2, 40.50 ERA career record at Fenway. And Chris Perez has saved 3 in a row for the Tribe. Anyone need Shelly Duncan? The guy's a beast (...yet likely will clear waivers). Step right up!

Boston may have had a more epic collection of injuries, and Boston and Seattle had much higher expectations at the start of the season, but Cleveland has suffered their fair share of injuries this season: Grady Sizemore for the season, Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo. These are the three best players on a team without a ton of talent. Now Santana. And the backup catcher is hitting about a buck seventy right now. Hopefully nothing too tough for Santana. Otherwise, might have to draft first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. for awhile. Three run blast from Beltre in the 8th. Couldn't possibly have Chris Perez come on with anything more than a one run lead in the ninth.

Tribe has thrown out two Red Sox runners at the plate, lead late in the 7th behind another solid start from Fausto Carmona. Go kids!

Thanks Brownie.

Not that anyone cares outside of Toronto and Cleveland (and possibly not even there), but another nice second career start from an Indians kid (Geanmar Gomez, 5IP, 2ER), and nailbiter save by Chris Perez. Geanmar's debut was 7IP, 2 unearned runs against Detroit. Tribe does okay against the Central and sub-500 teams elsewhere, but otherwise gets their brains beat in. Roster now includes only 2 players over the age of 30 (Travis Hafner and Shelly Duncan).

Nice to see Kerry Wood up to his usual tricks, fortunately not in an Indian uniform...

any chance someone could modify the thread title slightly to reflect AJ's current state? thanks

A bit more on the Jake Westbrook deal from the Plain Dealer: Nice change of pace from another athlete that recently left Cleveland...

Cleveland frequently pays a big chunk in order to get a better player back (eg Casey Blake to LAD for Carlos Santana). Tribe may also be paying part of Westbrook's salary. If Wood trade goes through (and ignoring how much of his $10.5M salary still paid by Tribe), the Indians roster will have a total of 4 players making over $500K a season: Travis Hafner $11.5M (ouch! The spirit of Wayne Garland lives!) Grady Sizemore $5.8M (on DL for the season, so much promise, but...) Fausto Carmona $5.1M Rafael Perez $800K And while the unsuccessful small market teams may look and smell like minor league outfits, that doesn't mean the rich and strong just get to plunder there. You want Kerry Wood (...you do, you really do!), you have to give something up. Chris Perez, for the moment, ain't available.

Looks like cash or player to be named for KWood. Looks like Chris Perez is once again doing his Joe Borowski imitation. Oh well. A nice second start for Josh Tomlin.

Back up the truck. Russell Branyan dealt to Seattle for OF Ezequiel Carrera and SS Juan Diaz. Tribe has had quite a bit of recent success in deals with Mariners. Jhonny Peralta dealt to Detroit for P Giovanni Soto (not much "pure stuff", more deception/command, 19 years old). The end of an era. Peralta has hit more HRs than any Indian in team history. What started off so promising never lived up to his first season. Austin Kearns dealt to NYY for Toby Namtlader (Shapiro claims "prospect with major league value"). And now it appears that Jake Westbrook is headed to StL. And Josh Tomlin may make his second start on only 3 days rest. Why? That means Fausto Carmona stays (...a good thing, I think), and that Kerry Wood is still available. Step right up! Veteran that throws hard, perfect setup guy, never mind the 6+ ERA. He only has 20 innings on his arm this year.

It's clear now. Tony Sipp and Joe Smith are no Mitch Talbot. Yankees continue to catch so many breaks.

Strained back for Talbot. NYY get 7 innings (or more) against the Tribe bullpen.

Which NY team did he announce for?

You forgot Mel Allen. And Jim Kaat. Tony Kubek Obviously different strokes for different folks, but to my mind, there is no frickin' way that Tim McCarver belongs in this conversation. Admittedly, I listen to few if any local NY broadcasts, but that guy is barruttal. Scully, Barber, Allen--much appreciated.

Thanks Jim, Joe, and Randy for all the fun music over the years. You have a great deal to be proud about. Glad I caught you at Twins in DC a few years ago. Too bad I didn't work the tables that night in order to meet mr jazz, Bertrand, weizen, and perhaps some other DC-based O-Board celebrities. ...On the other hand, probably best that such a congregation was not documented on film. Good luck on all the new ventures, and please check in here from time to time. No RIP's. Carpe diem!

All that material on a single (expensive) disc. Wow!

Four game sweep of the Tigers by the Indians! Jeanmar Gomez gives up only a pair of unearned runs over 7 innings in his ML debut (...still headed back to AAA tonight), and Jhonny Peralta hits an inside-the-park homer. Tribe now only 16 games under .500, and a scant 1.5 games behind KC for fourth place in the AL Central.