Daily Tribe News: October 25, 2011

by Ryan on Oct 25, 2011 7:05 AM EDT in News

Cleveland Indians' Jim Thome to City Club: 'I want to keep playing' | cleveland.com
Jim Thome and Tom Hamilton spoke in front of the City Club yesterday, the first active baseball player to do so since Babe Ruth. He talked about both past and future:

"I want to keep playing," said Thome, a 41-year-old free agent designated hitter, when asked about his future. "And I'll keep playing. I just have to have teams that call me, and we'll see how the process goes."

Playing somewhere close to home isn't as important as suiting up for a contender, he said afterwards.

"I think the team is an issue to me," he said, "getting the chance to win."

The complete audio of the event is available at the link.

Joe Posnanski " Posts Baseball on Fox "
Joe Posnanski writes about several things, including about the World Series broadcasters. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver have been doing the World Series since 1998, and to me it's high time a new team takes over. Posnanski puts into words why McCarver is no longer an effective color commentator.

Expert poring over long-lost Philadelphia A's records - Philly.com
A treasure trove of records from the Philadelphia Athletics era has come to light, and how it was acquired was as interesting as the documents and films themselves:

The material had been salvaged from an Oakland Coliseum Dumpster decades ago by a ballpark employee who had kept it all in his garage until selling it at a flea market recently for less than $200.

The flea-market purchaser quickly auctioned the lot on eBay early in 2011 and that's where Rob Rodriguez, a sports-memorabilia dealer in Reno, Nev., bought it all for $4,000.

"I was just flipping through eBay's sports-memorabilia section when I noticed this stuff," said Rodriguez, 54. "I said, 'Wow, this looks great.' "

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Hammy gets a call out in the suggestions for a Buck/McCarver replacement. That would be awesome.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 25, 2011 1:42 PM EDT reply actions

I think the main takeaway from the Posnanski article is that McCarver is not only awful, he’s so awful that the good points he makes are totally obscured by his awfulness. I’m so inclined to doubt or flat out not believe what comes out of his mouth that the factual points he makes are completely diminished. It’s past time for him to go.

by Joel D on Oct 25, 2011 9:17 PM EDT reply actions

The problem is that a lot of casual fans tune in for the World Series. They hear McCarver, assume he knows what he is talking about, and then we have another population of the woefully misinformed.

Formerly fwembt, now co-moderator of Banners on the Parkway

by Brad D on Oct 26, 2011 12:49 AM EDT up reply actions

That seems like the worst part. Then I have to deal with people regurgitating his words to me later.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 26, 2011 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually, a lot of casual fans DON’T tune in for the World Series. And it’s time to face up to that fact and make a whole host of strategic decisions accordingly.

by Jay on Oct 26, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Ooh. I like this. HIRE LEVIN FOX

by westbrook on Oct 26, 2011 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Heh, thankyouverymuch and all, but that’s not exactly what I was getting at.

I don’t think McCarver is the reason that there aren’t high ratings. I think there aren’t high ratings because baseball is popular nationally in the aggregate, but it isn’t the national pastime anymore. People in Cleveland don’t care what happens in St. Louis.

So they can either do dumb things to try, pointlessly I believe, to drum up national TV revenue, or they can focus on the long-term health of the game by serving local fans as best as possible in their own local markets. That’s where the real wealth of the game lies, in every respect. And they have, in many ways, been crapping on it.

Getting back to McCarver, maybe he is appealing to the casual fan, but so what? Drawing casual fans to the World Series is simply not an important strategic goal for MLB.

by Jay on Oct 27, 2011 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I don’t have enough zest right now to figure out if we’re on the same page here.

But I wasn’t really seriously nominating you for the job… they should go further towards Levin though in finding a replacement for McCarver.

by westbrook on Oct 27, 2011 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I wonder what it would look like to have the home team select the broadcasting group. That might net us Hamilton/Underwood, though, which would be devastating.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 27, 2011 1:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Interesting. You could have the home play-by-play guy and a national analyst. Then again, it’s the national analysts we seem to hate the most.

by Jay on Oct 28, 2011 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I don’t think it is the solution, but it might be the start of a good discussion.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 28, 2011 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

or they can focus on the long-term health of the game

And when was the last time the nimrods running MLB did that?

Our best players wear suits.

by mauichuck on Oct 27, 2011 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions

they can focus on the long-term health of the game

And when pray tell was the last time they did that?

Our best players wear suits.

by mauichuck on Oct 27, 2011 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions

What made you back off the “nimrods” assertion?

by Jay on Oct 28, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

The problem is that he’s insanely annoying to me. Other problems can get in line behind that.

by Joel D on Oct 26, 2011 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Here’s an idea: why not turn off the sound on the TV and then you can either turn on the radio or leave ’em both off.

Our best players wear suits.

by mauichuck on Oct 27, 2011 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions

Us younger people require more stimulation than that. Blame MTV.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 27, 2011 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Then listen to your Ipod like most of us older folks do when ever you whippersnappers think you’ve got something to say.

Our best players wear suits.

by mauichuck on Oct 27, 2011 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Dripping with irony.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 28, 2011 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

You could put on Coldplay.

by Jay on Oct 28, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Not emo enough.

Matt LaPorta is the bane of my existence.

by USSChoo on Oct 28, 2011 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I do turn the sound off on the TV, but that’s not the point. Fox should want an announcing team that enhances the experience, not one that detracts from it. I love the ambient noise of the stadium, but muting the game deprives me of that simple joy.

by Joel D on Oct 27, 2011 12:35 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I tried to give McCarver another chance but sometime in Game 4, I forget exactly when, he said “Boy, I bet Tony LaRussa wishes he could have taken a few runs from last night and used them tonight.”

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Oct 26, 2011 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Thome should have gone with the high socks

by APV on Oct 26, 2011 3:02 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs

JoePo likes Costas? Oof.

by JulioBernazard on Oct 26, 2011 6:53 PM EDT reply actions

Why do we keep talking about retaining players like Shelley Duncan, Grady Sizemore and Fausto Carmona? I’m tired of hearing what the Indians can’t afford. The Tigers are a small-market team, yet they go out and get Miguel Cabrera and Delmon Young. Let’s get a big-time hitter in here so the Tribe can turn this thing around.
— Joseph D., New York

I did not fabricate this myself.

by westbrook on Oct 26, 2011 10:29 PM EDT reply actions

I saw this and almost screamed while sitting in my cubicle. Then decided that banging my head on my desk was more appropriate. Sad, sad, sad. I really feel for Bastian, who has to answer these morons without being able to swear.

Fear the Fedora.

by MooneysRebellion on Oct 27, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

I don’t normally click to this sort of stuff but I made a rare MLBTR visit, and there was an Indians-related post, so I clicked it.

I already asked Bastian if these were the best ?s he got, and he just said that I should send him some then.

But when I have questions of the sort, I can just bring it up here or (gosh people who bother with emailing Bastian) think about it for a couple minutes.

by westbrook on Oct 27, 2011 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, who would have known a person would be willing to actually go through a dumpster in hopes of gaining possession of baseball memorabilia? The fact that these items sold for hundreds of dollars shows that someone did know what they were looking for.

Halloween

by Carlos Martinez on Oct 27, 2011 12:31 AM EDT reply actions