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Cleveland Indians Roster

pitchers # Pos.
Mike Gosling 20 P
Matt Herges 40 P
David Huff 58 P
Cliff Lee 31 P
Tomo Ohka 16 P
Carl Pavano 44 P
Rafael Perez 53 P
Chris Perez 54 P
Tony Sipp 49 P
Joe Smith 38 P
Jeremy Sowers 45 P
Jose Veras 47 P
Kerry Wood 34 P
catchers # Pos.
Victor Martinez 41 C
Kelly Shoppach 10 C
infielders # Pos.
Asdrubal Cabrera 13 SS
Jamey Carroll 11 2B
Ryan Garko 25 1B
Chris Gimenez 8 1B
Jhonny Peralta 2 3B
Luis Valbuena 1 SS
outfielders # Pos.
Shin-Soo Choo 17 RF
Ben Francisco 12 LF
Grady Sizemore 24 CF
designated hitters # Pos.
Travis Hafner 48 DH

More


bottom of the 8th 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R
Oakland Athletics 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0   3
Cleveland Indians 0 1 3 4 5 1 1   15

Join the Game Thread

Game Thread: July 3, 2009

David Huff gets the start tonight.

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

David Huff gets the start tonight.


Oakland at Cleveland, 7:05 PM

179 comments | 0 recs

Meloan dealt to Rays

wha, wha, whuhhhhhhh!?

comment 1 day ago Dortmunder_l_tiny rolub comment 244 comments 0 recs

Early Weekend 6-Pack (7/2/09)

It is a holiday weekend and I am still living quite a few hours in the future, so this week's edition of Early Weekend 6-Pack will be very early (with appropriately chosen beverage below).

1. Eric Wedge is in Hall of Fame company

In 2007, Eric Wedge coached the Indians to an impressive .593 winning percentage.  Going into Thursday night’s game, the 2009 Indians are winning games at a less impressive .388 clip.  If that .200+ drop-off in win% in a 2-year span seems impressive, that’s because it is.  I looked at managerial records over the past 50 seasons, and it turns out this feat has only been equaled once.  This is obviously a difficult list to get on, because as that gap might suggest, you have to go from coaching a very good team (~.600) to a very bad team (<.400) in a short amount of time.  Given roster sizes and player movement restrictions, even in the era of free agency there tends to be a lot of continuity on a roster from one year to the next, so such a rapid change doesn’t often overcome the forces of inertia. Quite a few managers have come close.  Dusty Baker did it in three years between 1993 (.636) and 1996 (.429) with the Giants.  Phil Garner did it in three with the Astros, 2004 (.649) to 2007 (.443).  Cito Gaston did it in three following the Jays last WS title in 1992.  Tony LaRussa is good enough to have had such a drop over a 3-year time span twice, one with the White Sox in the mid-80s and again with Oakland in the early 90s.  A few others got fired too early in the third season to count (i.e. Gene Lamont, Buddy Bell, Don Zimmer).  But only one other coach has done it in 2-years, and that is HOFer Sparky Anderson, who saw the Tigers go from a .605 team in 1987 to a .364 team by 1989.  So Wedge is truly in the company of legends.  Now there is one coach who has actually topped this, and accomplished the task in just a single season.  I probably don’t need to remind you, but Jim Leyland coached the 1997 Marlins to a .568 record and the eventual World Series title, only to come back in 1998 and coach the AA Marlins to a pathetic .333 record. 

2. But maybe the best is yet to come...

The Indians have over the past two decades had a tendency to be a strong second-half team.  Indeed, 2007 (.595) and 2008 (.588) are the 12th and 13th best back-half W% for the team since WWII.  And 2005 (.622) is actually 7th on that list.  As you go through the years, those ‘80s teams were generally awful, first half and second.  The ‘70s teams were not great, but tended to have decent second halves.  The ‘60s teams, which were better, were strikingly bad late season teams and had a few epic fades (e.g. 1965 - tied for 1st on the 4th of July, 14 games over .500, played below .500 the second half of the season and fell to 5th place).  And the golden era teams, 1948-1954, were just awesome all around. Here’s the complete top 10:

Year Rec W% Year Rec W%
1 1954 55-16 .775 7 2005 46-28 .622
2 1995 54-23 .701 8 1953 44-27 .620
3 1952 51-28 .646 9 1955 43-27 .614
4 1996 47-27 .635 10t 2000 46-30 .605
5 1948 52-30 .634 10t 1950 46-30 .605
6 1951 49-29 .628

 

3. More Matt LaPorta please

Speaking of records – here is the team’s record when different individuals have appeared in the game.  The "best" record goes to Matt LaPorta, who in his brief stint in Cleveland, helped the team to a near .500 (6-7) record.  Way to go Matt! The worst record title is shared by Travis Hafner (10-24) and Josh Barfield (5-12).

Continue reading this post »

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Game 80: White Sox 6, Indians 2

Almost midway through a season's journey....

Almost midway through a season's journey....

The length of its season is what gives baseball a dimension no other sport has. By watching your team on a daily basis, you get to know your team's players intimately, from their great abilities to their most annoying flaws. Each day brings a new game, another chance for victory. Or, when your favorite team stinks, a new and fresh reminder of it each evening.

Tonight was a very humdrum loss. Jeremy Sowers was his predictable self, doing well through the first couple times through the order, then falling apart after Chicago hitters caught on to his strategy. Indian hitters, who seem to have lost interest in working counts, were shut down by Jose Contreras, who was on the verge earlier this season of washing out of baseball entirely. To be fair, Contreras was hitting his spots well, and his last four starts have been markedly better than the six he made before going to the minors. But the Indians could have made his start much more difficult; he threw eight relatively easy inning, getting outs early in counts. And this wasn't the lineup of a couple weeks ago; tonight Grady Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Travis Hafner were all in the lineup together.

The season's been over for a couple weeks now, but recently this team has descended to a new level. There's enough talent on this team, especially offensively, to make things at least respectable on a daily basis, but even that isn't happening.

290701105_whitesox_indians_133129888_lbig_medium

via www.fangraphs.com


Highest WPA Lowest WPA
Ben Francisco .076 Jeremy Sowers -.246
Jose Veras .007 Asdrubal Cabrera -.114
Kerry Wood .004 Jhonny Peralta -.079

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Game Thread 2: July 1, 2009


Top of the eighth, Chicago up 6-2.

266 comments | 0 recs

Game Thread: July 1, 2009

[Insert Major League reference here]

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

[Insert Major League reference here]


Chicago at Cleveland, 7:05 PM

 


452 comments | 0 recs

Dysfunction At The Bat: A Short Play

[Lights up on interior of baseball clubhouse. PLAYERS are seated in front of lockers, ringing the room. WEDGE stands in middle, visibly shaken.]

WEDGE
I really thought that ball that the Garkster hit was foul! I swear it was foul! Did anybody else see it?

[Silence. PLAYERS are each lost in their own worlds. Finally, SIZEMORE speaks.]

SIZEMORE
I couldn't really tell. But it definitely could've been foul. Or fair. I don't know. Does anyone want to talk about my cars?

WEDGE
Oh, c'mon Gradester! It was foul! Did no one else see this?

[PERALTA is offering advice to a younger player, VALBUENA]

PERALTA
So, what I try to do is do the same thing, every day. No matter what.

VALBUENA
So, for a curveball, a real good curve, what do you?

PERALTA
I try to hit it.

VALBUENA
And with a fastball?

PERALTA
Try to hit it. Same swing.

VALBUENA
And a slider?

PERALTA
Also try to hit it. Just swing the bat the same way and put it in play.

VALBUENA
You swing the bat the same way? This works?

PERALTA
Sometimes. One time it worked for a whole year. I am trying to "run into one." That's what the man shouting all the time wants. For me to "run into one."

VALBUENA
What man? Wedge? He's the manager, Jhonny.

PERALTA
He wants me to "run into one." So I am trying to do that. I do not know who he is.

WEDGE
Datz! Didn't you think it was foul?!?

Continue reading this post »

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Game 79: White Sox 11, Indians 4 (7 innings)

This picture is too reminiscent of a time that I miss for me to not use it.

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

This picture is too reminiscent of a time that I miss for me to not use it.


After an extended rain delay, the game today was finally called final with the Indians suffering yet another loss. Today's loss was out of the ordinary in that it involved an abysmal Cliff Lee performance. For whatever reason, Lee just didn't have it today and managed to to give up 7 runs on 11 hits over just 3 innings. He was relieved by this Mike Gosling character who has proven that he is in no way a better option than Greg Aquino, Vinnie Chulk, or any other waiver wire fodder the Indians can get their hands on.

The slow death march of 2009 continues and it's hard to know what to focus on; Lee wasn't ever going to repeat as Cy Young winner on a team like this but his performance ballooned his ERA to 3.39, nearly a half point higher than it was coming into today. On top of that, Lee's record is now 4-7 which means nothing except that he'll probably get even less votes, if you're into that sort of thing.

The Indians did get a homerun out of Travis Hafner today, who now has 8 jacks in 107 ABs. That works out to one round tripper for every 13.375 at-bats. For reference, in 2006 he hit one out every 10.8 at-bats, in 2005 he did it every 14.72 at bats and in 2008 it was every 39.6. Pronk is even ahead of his 2007 pace, when the number was 22.7. In an extremely surreal season, it's become clear that Hafner's power is still present and accounted for when he's healthy which can only be seen as a good thing.

290630105_whitesox_indians_133007418_lbig_medium


 

The Indians will play again tomorrow, with Jeremy Sowers facing Jose Contreras at 7:05.

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Sweet Baboo, now with glitter

Featured Poll

Poll
Biggest 2009 Breakout
Asdrubal Cabrera
84 votes
Jhonny Peralta
63 votes
Anthony Reyes
51 votes
Jensen Lewis
4 votes
Matt LaPorta
70 votes
David Huff
25 votes
Scott Lewis
14 votes
Aaron Laffey
12 votes
Tony Sipp
13 votes
Ben Francisco
28 votes
Travis Hafner
96 votes

460 votes | Poll has closed

31 - 49

13

Lost 5

82

AL Central Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 43 35 .551 0 Lost 1
Chicago 41 38 .518 2.5 Won 6
Minnesota 41 39 .512 3 Won 2
Kansas City 33 45 .423 10 Lost 3
Cleveland 31 49 .387 13 Lost 5

(updated 7.3.2009 at 9:53 PM EDT)

BUY THE BOOK

Indians Annual 2009 from Maple Street Press

FanShots

Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.

Recent FanShots

View From the Booth: Carmona to the Clippers
Meloan dealt to Rays
Newsflash: Zombie Marte Sighted by Fangraphs
Nyjer Morgan is a Valuable Asset...
Indians international prospect ages three years overnight
DeRosa to Have Tests on Wrist
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Akron vs Bowie, Carmona Starts
Postseason Surgery Likely for Grady
Barfield to Columbus, Perez added to roster

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