Game 120: Royals 9, Indians 7
by Ryan on Aug 19, 2010 12:45 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
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Dear Andy,
Why do you make things so hard? Wait, before you crumple up this letter and get back to the dominoes, just hear me out.
You've made it this far, outlasting Casey Blake, Eric Wedge, and the waiver wire to get to this point. The two guys that you're competing with for playing time aren't third baseman, and Manny is looking for an upgrade on defense after watching Jhonny all season. So as long as you made the easy plays and mixed in an occasional gem, you could hit .250/.310/.450 and you'd be the guy going into next season. Is the pressure getting to you? I know midweek games in Kansas City are tough ones, what with that annoying organ and all, but just think of the future if you put together a couple of weeks of good baseball: you won't have your Christmas party spoiled with a non-tender, you won't have to worry about latching on as an NRI in January, and if you play your cards right, you mind actually be the starter next season.
Now, about last night. Not good. Allowing a runner to get to third on a grounder to you? Not grabbing a grounder that even Jhonny would get to? Plus, you ticked off Fausto, and if he didn't melt down, you guys would have won. At this rate, you'll be watching Luis Valbuena play third base the rest of the season; that's gotta be a new low even for you. Yeah, you had 2 hits, but think about the ninth: Manny let Matt hit, and then pinch-hit for you. It wasn't because of positional problems, since you play a good first base. No, all he was thinking about were those botched plays, that pick-off last week, and all those dives coming up empty. So instead of you up there tying the game, it was LaPorta and Pronk and Trevor hitting against Soria. Are you going to accept that Trevor Crowe is hitting in the clutch instead of you? I wouldn't.
I bring these things up not to discourage you, but to spur you onto future greatness. It might be the dog days of August, the Indians might suck, but this is your time. ANDY MANUEL MARTE PARTAY TIME. Now get out there and prove me right. If Manny feels like playing you.
Your (only?) fan,
Ryan
P.S. If you have some spare time, you might want to give Hector some pointers.
| Highest WPA | Lowest WPA | ||
| Shin-Soo Choo | .170 | Fausto Carmona | -.106 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | .074 | Matt LaPorta | -.106 |
| Travis Hafner | .069 | Shelley Duncan | -.105 |
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Comments
Please actually mail this letter to Marte. I’m sure he doesn’t get that much fan mail, and hey, maybe he’ll read it and change his life.
In the new Geico commercial, Marte sings "Let me be myself" on Wedge's front lawn (with the cavemen).
A colleague of mine recently wrote a letter to Manny Acta, basically telling him “don’t let the bastards get you down, we like you, this isn’t your fault, good luck” and et cetera. Said colleague was very surprised and pleased when a handwritten reply from Acta appeared in his mailbox thanking him for the positive thoughts a week or two later.
--
"Most players will tell you that even when they're 100%, they're not really 100% ... if that makes sense."
if it does get sent, he should definitely leave in the line about dominoes.
I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me; I always feel that they have not said enough.
by notthatnoise on Aug 19, 2010 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Marte’s fastball probably had more movement than Hector’s.
But anyways—the real reason I just opened up LGT—I’ve caught the past 3 half innings of the LA-COL game—who is this jackass color commentator who keeps bringing us up so he can make clecomesque 1-liners about us? Sutcliffe?
Really? You really didn’t know we still had Fausto? You had to bring up Fatjackass and Phifer because you saw Betancourt, Blake and Belliard? Yet you forgot about Sweet Baboo, who in addition to playing for Cleveland also played for the Rockies.
Sweet Baboo?
In the new Geico commercial, Marte sings "Let me be myself" on Wedge's front lawn (with the cavemen).
by V-Mart Shopper on Aug 19, 2010 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
That’s from one of the our female posters who thought Carroll was “cute”.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Thanks. Wow.
In the new Geico commercial, Marte sings "Let me be myself" on Wedge's front lawn (with the cavemen).
by V-Mart Shopper on Aug 19, 2010 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions
either AngG or Julie. Great nickname.
"Mixed emotions. Rather see him hit PEDroia [with that pitch]. I don’t care if he is in the dugout"
by Gradysmanldy on Aug 19, 2010 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Julie.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Aug 19, 2010 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions
This. They’re more compelling than the games.
"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter
by Denver Tribe Fan on Aug 19, 2010 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions
And by the way, how great was it to hear Acta actually use the word “stopgap” when referring to the Marte/Nix/Valbuena situation?
Bargaining is the third stage of the Death of Andy Marte.
Steel Nick
by nickjs21 on Aug 19, 2010 9:31 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
This is absolutely fantastic and for as obvious as this situation looks ripe for Marte to succeed, he just keeps having nights like last night that call into question if he can even be considered a worthy stop-gap in a sea of unworthy stop-gaps.
Thank you – this site’s writers have an innate knack for putting in concise, readable fashion what all of its readers then read and say “yeah, I was kinda thinking that”. This piece made me realize that I actually feel betrayed by Andy as I’ve been clamoring for him to get a shot on teams that are/were otherwise going nowhere. Hell, I thought that giving his a-bats to “a lesser extent” last year constituted one of the grounds for Wedge having to go. Now he gets a shot and makes Wedge look right and me very wrong. Hey Andy, I’m quite capable of looking like a dumbass on my own without you helping!
by stuart dean on Aug 19, 2010 10:56 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Play him. Play him, play him, play him. Let him get into some kind of groove. He’s OPSing 857 since JP’s been gone. SSS, but play him. Play him. Let him kick away a win here and there, who cares? Play him.
by YoDaddyWags on Aug 19, 2010 11:58 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Right. Even my dad, who definitely has some cle.com tendencies, e-mailed me the other day wondering why Marte doesn’t just play out the season at the third. The strategy with this guy, over the course of two managers, just doesn’t seem to make any sense. Nix and Valbie at third at any point between now and Oct. 3 doesn’t seem helpful.
My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts.
Play him at third. Third. Third base. Just play him at third. Innings at third! Innings! At third!
by YoDaddyWags on Aug 19, 2010 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
The future is now for Mr. Marte.
And I think MaTola is going to be a fine first baseman.
by YoDaddyWags on Aug 19, 2010 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions
They just need to spray his locker with HuntingtonFieldFreshScent™ every now and then.
by YoDaddyWags on Aug 19, 2010 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I’ll all for this and playing Crowe in center and bring Sowers up to start and bunting with two outs and a guy on first.
Two years of this should get us a coupla good draft picks.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
by mauichuck on Aug 19, 2010 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yes, yes you would, but six years into my reign you’d be standing on the corner of 9th and Euclid watching the World Series victory parade.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Get to it then. Put your money where your mouth is since you are a baseball genius. Leave Hawaii behind, stop pontificating from the relative safety of one of millions of IP addresses, and get find that job opportunity that puts you on the path of baseball management greatness.
Hurry. Don’t dawdle. We’ve waited 62 years … I fear we cannot wait much longer.
by emd2k3 on Aug 19, 2010 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
relative safety of one of millions of IP addresses
You know of course that my email address is in my LGT poster profile. If Antonetti needs any help he know where to find me.
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
Maybe you’ll be surprised to find out that your strategy is actually what Antonetti has been waiting for years to implement and now it’s finally his turn.
In the new Geico commercial, Marte sings "Let me be myself" on Wedge's front lawn (with the cavemen).
by V-Mart Shopper on Aug 20, 2010 1:31 AM EDT up reply actions
Two years of this and the only noise in the stands will be crickets.
"If Brown is the answer, then you’re asking the wrong question." - Ryan
by woodsmeister on Aug 19, 2010 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Tell you what Woody, I should be in Cleveland sometime before the end of the season. I’ll bet we’ll be able to walk up to the ticket window 15 minutes before game time and get a block of 10 tickets on the third base side two rows back from the rail.
In other words: how would that be any different from now?
Resident LGT results-oriented boob.
What’s the opposite of having nude photos of front office members? Getting caught trying to take them? I bet that’s what Marte did.
Steel Nick
by nickjs21 on Aug 19, 2010 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
Nice work, Ryan. There are a lot of reasons why Marte has never gotten the long, consistent run that has been discussed to death here. But one overlooked reason are games like this (and the one with the back-to-back errors that knocked them out of that game). Andy Marte has done one thing very well in his Tribe tenure – not inspire confidence from his manager. And for that, he can look in the mirror.
I’d just as soon see him play, as he has the tools to be very good defensively there. But stuff like this kills him.
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