Patrick

69 for Fairfax, Virginia (one of those car-dependent 'burbs). I live within walking distance of Metro (public transit), but Northern Virginia, outside Arlington and Alexandria, doesn't have much in the way of sidewalks, so I think the 69 is a bit overstated.

Yeah that soft tosser Paul Byrd sure ain't no Tim Wakefield!

That was an exciting end to the second set. Each player erasing a triple break point situation. Serena could beat me up, ...easily.

Perhaps an illustration of the high variability of performance by knuckleballers?

happiness SW!!!

Gotta weigh in on Vaughan v. Belle. Obviously I'm biased, and I've argued this before, but I don't think it's even close. 50 HR/52 doubles for Belle--don't think it matters that much who's in the lineup. And those guys had something to prove all season, so there was no coasting. An extremely confident bunch yes, but back in '95 the Tribe was only 47 years into their still current dry spell. A typical Tribe lineup back then was 1. Lofton cf .310, 2. Vizquel ss .266, 3. Baerga 2b .314, 4. Belle lf .317, 5. Murray dh .323, 6. Thome 3b .314, 7. Ramirez rf .308, 8. Sorrento 1b .235, 9. Alomar c .300. Alomar was the All-Star catcher Sandy Jr, not the All-Star 2b. That year, you could make a decent argument that Baerga was a more valuable second baseman than R Alomar (based obviously entirely on his bat). Robbie's time in Cleveland came later--in one of his seasons with the Tribe one could reasonably argue that he and Manny "split MVP votes" so that neither won despite having monster seasons. And I remember Manny getting picked off of first in the World Series against the Braves...

Cliff Lee!!!!! Complete game shutout against Chisox, retiring 21 in a row at one point. Now 20-2 with a league leading 2.32 ERA, and it's only September 1. First 20 game winner for the Tribe since Gaylord Perry in '74 (Sabathia and Carmona each got to 19 last year). He better be the AL Cy Young winner--I don't care how many saves K-Rod records this year. One of the few bright spots during the season from hell in Cleveland (...recently capped off a 10 game winning streak by getting swept at home by the Mariners...).

What more could CC do? Would they even still be in the WC race without him? He's winning, saving the bullpen with every start, swinging the lumber, and packing the house. ...sliding into third, I'm not so sure about.... Some of the ESPN guys doing the game suggested that if he continued to perform at this level for the balance of the season, he should get consideration for NL MVP, recognizing that he won't have enough NL starts to get considered for Cy Young. Not sure if I'd go that far. They mentioned Sutcliffe's partial season with the Cubs (another escapee from Cleveland!*). RS finished 4th in NL MVP voting that year (1984) after going 16-1 and the Cubs won the Division (holy cow!). *Hopefully, Matt LaPorta will be at least as good as Joe Carter was (...and not so much like Mel Hall).

I think BalFour is a great name for a pitcher--perhaps on the Bad News Bears, or the 2008 Mariners or Indians.

Cliff Lee complete game win against the major league best Angels, now 17-2! 8H, 2ER, 2BB, 6K. Benefited from a couple of double plays, but just got it done. The only reason to consider watching Indians games at this point.

I keep seeing people say this, but this year, that has NOT been the case -- check the game-by-game stats at ESPN. Wake, arguably, has been the most consistent starter on this staff. I don't want him as my "ace," but give the man his due -- he's been highly consistent this year. I agree. He's having an excellent year and congrats to him. I find it a bit surprising that he's been so consistent (hence my use of the word mystery). Does this count as a pleasant surprise in Red Sox Nation, or did everyone have Wake pencilled in for for a sub 4.00 ERA and all the consistent starts? I know I didn't, but them I'm not a citizen either [...only an occasional guest worker in the fall]

I'm disappointed to hear that you think that way. Does a guy who gets by on "smoke and mirrors" pitch to age 42 with a career ERA+ of 109? Since the year 2000, Wakefield has had exactly two seasons of a league average ERA, and every other season he beat the league average. Byrd cannot say that, and has a lower career ERA+ as well. there is no chance of a decent prospect. Theo said at the press conference that it would be an "organizational player" i.e. roster fodder from somewhere in the system, or a "small" amount of cash. First, plenty of knuckleballers pitch into their 40s, and you can call it whatever you want. Charlie Hough? Phil Niekro? Maybe I was a little harsh with respect to Wake, but you gotta admit his performance, like most knuckleballers, is highly variable start to start. Some nights it's BP in a big way. Same goes for Byrd. Agree that Wake at his best is better than Byrd. Would you be thrilled with Wake as a #3? I wouldn't be, just as I wasn't with Byrd last year. My comment above is poorly written--did not intend to equate the two, as much as suggest that they are both high anxiety starters. Enjoy the ride--some of your frustrations might migrate from the bullpen to the backend of the rotation.

Mission accomplished for the Tribe. They traded away Sabathia, Blake, and Byrd, and got stuff in return. None of these guys were likely to return next year, and they got something of value for them (at least for CC and Casey). Time will tell how valuable any of it turns out to be. Byrd can be a reasonable #4 or 5 starter. Last year, with the injuries to Lee and Westbrook, he spent much of the season in the #3 slot and had an excellent season. He is, however, all smoke and mirrors, and like Wakefield, completely unreliable because he is all smoke and mirrors. [it's a mystery to me that Wake has pitched as well as he has this year--not quite as mysterious as Moose--but...call me a non-believer] Byrd attributes his recent success to an unprompted phone call from HoFer Bert Blyleven who suggested a change in his mechanics. Maybe he'll be able to ride it out and give the BSox some quality innings from a #4-5 starter. Or not. Presumably, there was some competition for Byrd given his recent successes, so maybe there's a chance at a decent prospect. Given that the alternative is cash, maybe not. Will Byrd not get punked by George Mitchell and friends before a postseason start this year? Bigger news to me is that the Yankees didn't try to improve their staff. White flag time?

Usually I only find out about this post-mortem. Any chance you can archive these shows, at least for a week or two?

Big shoutout for Cliff Lee, now 16-2! Lowered his ERA to a league leading 2.45. 104 pitches, 83 for strikes, only one Blue Jay batter got to a 3 ball count. If Lee had been half this good last year (and Carmona and Sabathia had been at least 2/3 of their regular season selves), the Tribe would have had the best record in AL, taken the Yankees, BSox, and been World Champs! All the stars have to be in alignment. Didn't happen for the Tribe last year. Maybe it won't for big payroll teams in the AL East this year. Instead, Sabathia is now the best starter in the NL, Westbrook is gone for the season, Hafner and Victor Martinez miss most of the season--a season from Hell along the North Coast. At least Joe Borowski is no longer in Cleveland. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. ...what else do you think about with teams that have a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs.

or for the Indians can't miss asshat, Jeremy Sowers?

Complete game win for Paul Byrd and the Tribe against Roy Halladay and the Jays! A lineup that features Kelly Shoppach, Jhonny Peralta, and Shin-Soo Choo in the 3, 4, 5 slots striking terror north of the border. Cliff Lee going for #16 and a sweep in Toronto. [...How does Mussina have 15 wins? I try not to pay too close attention this year.] ...Now if only the Royals would lose a little more frequently. At this point in his career, Lofton will only play for a team that has a legit post-season chance and will pay him more than he is worth. So whichever contender, with a large enough checkbook, that is most desperate for a singles hitter with a little bit of speed left. Hopefully it will be some team other than Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, WSox, Cubs, SF, Texas, Pittsburgh, Philly, NYY, or LAD--he really needs another jersey to hang in his rec room. Rays? BSox? Brew Crew?

...and not much else, this season.

Not to mention that the dismal Tribe remains undefeated against the Rays this season. Cliff Lee wins his 15th, though really struggled to get through 7, and Rafael Perez earned a 2 inning save. All that with a lineup that has Jhonny Peralta batting cleanup (should be 6th or 7th) and Kelly Shoppach batting fifth (should be 7th or 8th).

Happy Birthday Shawn

Happy Birthday Lon! Sounds like life may be on the upswing.

French gin--remind me not to do that again.

And for the bit I've caught on ESPN, they appear obsessed with CC Sabathia, even though he's sitting on the bench chewing seeds (...or somethin').

Well, so far I may be a bit premature but Nady does not at all resemble a .330 hitter. Granted, he's facing pitchers he hasn't seen before, but I've yet to see him display smart pitch selection when swinging the bat (unlike Abreu who is rumored to be gone after this season in favor of the "X" man). The 0 for 7 against the Sox doesn't bother me so much as the fact that he did not hit one ball hard, and when he came to the plate in last night's game with the bases loaded and only one out, and had a hitter's count 2-0, he then swung at a high ball 3 fastball, popping up a lazy fly to short center, not deep enough to score the man at third. Time will tell, but so far, a bust when under the intense scrutiny engendered by a Yank-Red Sox series. Hey, Nady hit a home run tonight, he's the next Babe Ruth! or Shane Spencer?

Paul Byrd, 7 2/3 shutout innings against Detroit tonight, is still available. Playoff experience. Yours for a AA prospect with reasonable high ceiling. Tribe will even pay his salary like they did with Blake (provided the prospect is high enough quality). Anyone in Dodgerland have opinions about the prospects that were surrendered for Casey Blake--catcher Carlos Santana (insert your own quip here) and pitcher Jon Meloan? Blake is having a career year, and has a high BA with RISP. But he causes much frustration--he's not nearly as clutch as the stats suggest. Still, he'll be better in LA than that chump Jeff Kent was in Cleveland (way back when). And he's got the best beard in MLB.