Patrick

"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.

often times

You may be right about Dolan. I can honestly say that I've never researched it, but at the time of the purchase from Jacobs, there was no cheering in the streets that the Indians had a new sugar daddy owner. I think the general consensus at the time was that the owner was a tightwad. The wiki biography on Larry reports that he went to high school in Cleveland (the powerhouse St. Ignatius), got a law degree at Notre Dame, served for a bit in the Marines, worked in the prosecutor's office in Geagua County (NE Ohio), before going into private practice in Chardon, Ohio. How much did he inherit? Yes, Carlos Santana is now the best player on the Indians. And they only had to trade the beard (Casey Blake) to get him. Some chatter that he should be in the ROY discussion. LaPorta has started hitting after being sent down once (or twice). He's also been battling some injuries. I try not to get too excited or too scared (Travis Hafner, anyone?). Mitch Talbot, acquired from the Rays for Kelly Shoppach, has also been a pleasant surprise. Add Jhonny Peralta to the long list of names to be shipped elsewhere (or in his case, option not exercised for next season). Santana, however, is the only one that appears to be contributing right away. Patience.

Prior owner of the Indians, Dick Jacobs, was willing to spend a fair amount. He overpaid young guys to get them to stay a bit longer (starting with Nagy and S Alomar)--trading some dollar security for an extra year of two. But no Indians players ever signed the gonzo free agency contracts, they all left or were traded. But at least Jacobs was willing to spend some. And the stars aligned for a glorious run (...sadly sans world championship) in the late 90s. At least they helped the Braves win one. How may of those guys will end up in hall of fame (Thome, Ramirez, Vizquel)? Jacobs bought Tribe for $35M in 1986 and sold it for $323M in 2000--perhaps not quite Steinbrennerian. Current owner is Larry Dolan, uncle of the guy that owns the Knicks and NY Rangers. Don't know how much money Larry has, but he's definitely not spending it. I suspect that he doesn't actually have that much. Everyone in town wishes that Dan Gilbert, the Cavs owner/gilted LeBron lover, would buy the Indians, and the Browns for that matter. At least Gilbert is willing to spend his own money to improve facilities and (try to) attract talent. I believe Cavs were a top 5 payroll team (...until about a week ago). I was always disgusted by Steinbrenner, primarily for style reasons. What an arrogant SOB. But hey George, RIP.

Actually I think Jesse had nothing to do with the fine. Stern rebuked JJ as well. I hadn't realized that Gilbert and Mark Cuban are fairly close--it's starting to fit together...

Mike Redmond is now available.* He's been credited with helping turn around all-star Fausto Carmona. His .206 BA should not be too shocking to the system. *So are Austin Kearns, Kerry Wood, Jhonny Peralta, Jake Westbrook.