WTF Uncle Eric?!?

Eric Wedge, I dub thee Uncle Eric from this point forward.

Now up until this point I have neither been an Eric Wedge supporter nor an Eric Wedge detractor. But last night's inexcusable handling of the pitching staff may be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Let's recap. After being up 3-0 on Atlanta the Indians found themselves tied 3-3 after a number of weak ground balls found holes in the 6th inning. In the bottom of the 8th Casey Blake led of the inning with a solo shot onto the homer run porch at The Jake to put the Indians up 4-3.

And warming up in the bullpen... no one. Now C. C. Sabathia has shown this year to be one of the premier pitchers in MLB. He has shown incredible stamina this season despite his giant stature. And he was coming off back to back 9 inning, shut out performances. But he was coming off back to back 9 inning, shut out performances... Hello, McFly! This is not the 1970's. Pitchers rarely go back to back complete games let alone 3 in a row in the 21st century. I figured Uncle Eric would know this.

Add to that the fact that C. C. was not his overpowering self. He had given up 10 hits. Now they were all singles and most of those were weak flares or ground balls with eyes, but the Braves were still making contact with the big guy. He was well over 100 pitches, not overly dominant and coming off two consecutive 9 inning outings. It was the 4th and 5th time that the Brave hitters had seen him that night. He should NOT have been out there in the 9th inning.

But he was and was subsequently greeted with two absolutely crushed, I mean crushed, doubles off the big green wall in left (sandwiched around an error and a sacrafice bunt) and the Tribe was down 5-4. Game, set, match Bravos.

Now I do not care that Borowski, Betancourt and Perez were all used heavily over the past week and maybe weren't available. I don't care that Cabrera and Mastny have been shaky, and that's being nice, over the month of June. And I don't care that Roberto Hernandez is almost 50 years old. Someone other that C. C. should have been out there to try and finish off the game. Even if the bullpen would have blow it maybe we would have found out something about these "fringe" guys that seem to be lights out one month and garbage the other.

The manager's job is to put the ball club in the best position to win. Uncle Eric didn't do that yesterday. And now instead of being up on the Braves in the series, the Tribe must win the next 2 to take it. The Tigers are back within 1 game in the Central. The Indians can not afford to give game away, but Uncle Eric did that very thing last night.

The Conundrum That is the Cleveland Indians

On Tuesday, the Indians had lost 7 of their last ten games after being shut out 3-0 by the Florida Marlins and pitching powerhouse Scott Olsen. The day before, they let the Mariners jump out to a 7-0 lead, came back and tie it at 7, only to give up the losing run in the top of the 9th. The day before that, They spoiled 9 shut out innings from C. C. Sabathia (who SHOULD be 12-1), and lose a series to the last place Reds, after a 1-0 loss in twelve innings. Earlier that day they optioned the disappointing Jeremy Sowers to AAA Buffalo to hopefully work out his troubles. It looked as if bad baseball, bad managing and Interleague Play had caught up to them as they let a 4 1/2 game lead over the 2nd place Tigers disappear. They were deadlocked at 37-26 with the Tigers atop the AL Central. It looked as if their season may have peaked. Detroit was streaking. Cleveland was slumping. We had reached Defcon 1.

Then they were down 3-0 in Game 2 versus Florida after a piss poor 1st inning by Cliff Lee and nothing that resembled Major League hitting. Then something happened. Cliff Lee hit Miguel Cabrera with a pitch and half way to first base Miggy decided to make the lamest charge of the mound in baseball history. Benches emptied and the fire that had been missing from the Tribe suddenly seemed to rekindle. Could this be the awakening we needed like the series versus Toronto when Jason Phillips got in Josh Barfield's face only to be shoved out of the way by David Dellucci and the Tribe went on to win 6 of their next 8 games???

The Indians stormed back with a 6 run sixth and ended up taking the game 7-3. They followed that up by turning the tables on an opponent by calling up a soft tossing lefty (normally the Indians foil), Jason Stanford, and getting him his first win since 2003 in his first appearance in the big leagues since 2004. It wasn't pretty but the Indians did what they needed to do came away with a 3-2 win, and suddenly were 2 games up on the Tigers once more.

More than any other major professional sport, baseball is a marathon and a war of attrition. Teams are going to go through streaks, good and bad. The key is to maximize the hot streaks and minimize the cold ones. The Indians just went through a cold streak that was pretty bad, but it could have been a lot worse. They are coming home to play 14 of their next 17 at home, where they have the best record in baseball. They take on Atlanta, Philadelphia, Oakland and Tampa Bay (sandwiched around a trip to DC to take on the Nationals). None of whom are baseball powerhouses this year.

Can they step up and remain in first place until the All-Star game? That is the conundrum that is the 2007 Cleveland Indians.

Tribe Falls Flat in Battle of Ohio Part 2

Flat is an understatement. Ugly is a better term. Sunday the Tribe squandered nine shut-out innings from ace C. C. Sabathia and managed to lose 1-0 in 12 innings to the Last Place Cincinnati Reds. That left the Tribe with a series loss and a season series split of 3-3 against the hapless Reds.

The Reds were 15 games UNDER .500 when the series started. They have quite possible the WORST bullpen in the National League yet the Indians managed to drop 2 of 3 to them. It just seemed as if something was missing over the weekend. Where as earlier in the season, if the Tribe was down you felt they were gonna come back and win no matter how poorly they were playing. They would fins a way to win.

In Cincinnati, there was a different aura. You never quite got the feeling they were into the series. Dellucci, Hafner and Peralta all struck out in key situations Friday. The Indians got lucky on Saturday but once again a huge strikeout in a key spot as Ryan Garko whiffed with the bases loaded. No clutch hitting whatsoever from the team.

Travis Hafner remains in a funk, get solid contact at times but not finding a hole but looking completely over matched at others. C. C. Sabathia cost himself a victory Sunday by failing to advance to 3rd base on a passed ball that was so far away catcher David Ross he could have skipped to third easily, but no he chose to say put, leaving himself stranded on third after Victor Martinez's single rather than coring the winning run. Jeremy Sowers got a ticket back to Buffalo to sort out his trouble and Matt Miller greeted us with a one pitch cameo to allow the game winning hit.

Not a good start to the meat of the Interleague Play portion of the schedule where the Indians normally thrive. A quick cameo at Jacobs Field for a Snow Game versus Seattle and them off to Florida for 3, site of their last World Series appearance. If they want to make one for the first time in ten years they need to pick it up now, as their lead over Detroit has shrunk to 1 1/2 games.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Indians completed their series with the Royals this afternoon, winning 8-3, to take the series 2-1 and even up the season series against Kansas City 3-3. It truly was a series of some great baseball, some bad baseball and some plays you downright couldn't stomach if you are a Tribe fan.

The Good

• C. C. Sabathia - Wow what an outing on Tuesday. Totally un-hittable. No runner past 2nd base after the second and every hit was a lazy roller or a bloop. No solid contact at all. This from a guy who normally turns it on after the All-Star break. I'm giddy to see how far he can take this.
• Fausto Carmona - Another solid outing. Ground balls, double plays, one run, seven innings. Niiiiiiice!
• Franklin Gutierrez - Is Eric Wedge actually playing a young guy? And he actually hits a couple of dingers? Huh. Too bad he couldn't come through in the 9th on Wednesday.
• Casey Blake - 16 game hitting streak. Actually having some pop in his bat. Delivering with men on base. Who thought a return to third base and hitting int he 2 hole would wake this guy up.

The Bad

• Tom Mastny - This guy is normally so cool, so calm. Recently, so bad. Two more runs in an inning. Yuck. We need him to find his form. He could be a valuable asset in the 7th and 8th is he gets it straight.
• Lack of Late Inning Magic - The Indians left 5 men on base in the last two innings on Wednesday and lost 4-3. And they looked particularly pathetic in doing so.
• The First Time Fear - First time facing Brian Bannister and the second time facing Jorge de la Rosa and the Indians bats wilted away. And all too familiar theme for Tribe fans for over a decade.

The Ugly

• Jhonny Peralta's Limp Wristed Throwing Style - It might have cost us the game Wednesday. If he throws to first or actually side-arms the ball to Barfield the Indians are out of the inning, down only 3-0, and the game maybe goes to extra innings. Instead he decides to do a Lamar from "Revenge of the Nerds" impersonation. Jackass.
• Pinch Running for Travis Hafner - In the eighth inning, when he is the tying run, ON FIRST BASE, with one out. Maybe I can see it if he were the tying run on second with one out but dear lord. Instead of Pronk against a righty in the ninth with the bases loaded, enter Franklin Gutierrez. Kid played well in the series, but he should not have been in that spot. Awful managerial decision, Eric.

Next up for the Tribe, a 3 game set in Cincinnati, followed by snow make-up game #2 at home versus the Mariners.

Who can QB? - Brady Quinn

In my final look at the Browns QB situation we look at rookie first round draft pick, Brady Quinn.

Vitals:

Year: Rookie

Height: 6'-3"

Weight: 226

College: Notre Dame

As a three year starter for the Fighting Irish, shattered 36 school records including career pass attempts, completions, yards, yards per game, touchdown passes, and lowest interception percentage. Won 29 games as a starter which is tied for most in school history. Ranks in the top ten in NCAA Division I history in career pass attempts, passing yards, and touchdown passes. Was selected in the 1st Round of the 2007 NFL Draft (22nd overall) by the Browns.

Pros: Just like Charlie Frye, Quinn is Cleveland born and Cleveland bred so he too lives, dies and bleeds orange and brown. Perfect college pedigree after studying under offensive guru Charlie Weis his last two years at Notre Dame. Played in an NFL style system under Weis and thrived in it. Extremely intelligent as he graduated from ND with a double major in Finance and Political Science and was one of the highest scorers on the pre-draft Wonderlic Test given to every draft prospect. Prototypical size for NFL QB, very athletic and calm in the pocket. May have a chip on his shoulder after 21 other teams passed on him in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Cons: Seems to lack accuracy at times on throws to the sideline or down the field. Wears his emotions on his sleeve at times which some consider to be a lack of confidence and leadership. Many of his statistics in college came versus what many believe to be sub-par talent due to the weak schedule Notre Dame carried as an independent program. Suffers from a supposed big game stigma as he failed to win a Bowl Game or a game against a top ranked program during his entire college career. A work out freak, which some consider to be a bad trait for quarterbacks as they need more arm and shoulder flexibility and less muscle mass.

Prognosis: Brady Quinn seems to be the national media whipping boy. From his demeanor at the NFL Draft to his hair style it seems everyone loves to hate Brady... He is not in the same league as JaMarcus Russell... He played against inferior talent... He can't win the big game...

But isn't this the guy who was the consensus #1 pick if he would have come out after his Junior year in 2006? Isn't this the same guy who would have beaten USC if Reggie Bush hadn't illegally pushed Matt Leinart into the end zone in 2006? Isn't this the same guy who has put up monster numbers against top college level talent only to have his defense give up 40+ points and lose?

I'm not saying Brady Quinn is the next Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer or Tom Brady. But I don't think he's the next Akili Smith, Ryan Leaf or Tim Couch. I do think that he will be a more than solid NFL QB for years to come due to his work ethic, determination and desire to prove his doubters wrong.

Now despite all his tools and talent, the NFL game is a totally different speed that the NCAA. Unless he just plays like gang busters in training camp he should not start the season as QB1. Even though the Browns have improved their O-Line and have weapons that neither Tim Couch or Charlie Frye had in their rookie seasons, I get the vibe that Quinn will need some time to adjust to the NFL game (a la Carson Plamer or Steve McNair).

The last thing the Browns need to do is ruin another rookie QB like Couch or Frye, especially one that actually has a ton of talent. Quinn needs to learn for a year or so. Play here or there in 2007 when the situation allow it and build for launch in 2008. The 2007 Cleveland Browns do not have a large chance to be a factor in the NFL. The 2008 Cleveland Browns do. Especially now that they have their "Franchise QB" on their roster.

And for those who say the Browns gave up too much for him with the 2008 1st round draft pick... the only two "top tier" QBs coming out in 2008 are Brian Brohm of Louisville and Colt Brennan of Hawaii. I will take Brady Quinn over them in a heartbeat.

Who Can QB? - Charlie Frye

In my second look at the Browns QB situation we look at third year pro, and incumbent starter, Charlie Frye.

Vitals:
Year: 3
Height: 6'-4"
Weight: 218
College: Akron

Holds 54 of Akron's career passing and total offense records. Four year starter. One of 16 QBs to throw for over 2,000 yards in 4 different seasons in NCAA Division I history. Won the 2004 Mid American Conference award for top player in the conference.

Pros: Cleveland born and Cleveland bred. Lives, dies and bleeds orange and brown. Gritty, tough, fierce competitor who hates to lose. Incredible durability despite the insane number of hits he's taken in two years in the NFL. Great athlete. Able to avoid the rush with his legs, make plays in the running game and cause the defense nightmares with his mobility.

Cons: Lacks the prototypical NFL arm strength as his balls seems to float as the distance of the throw increases. His mobility often causes more harm than good as he often runs into sacks, out of the designated play and into trouble. Seems to have happy feat due to the amount of punishment he has incurred. Questionable leadership skills as rumblings were that last season he did not have the "huddle presence" to shut up some of the other voices on the team.

Prognosis: Charlie Frye is going to start the 2007 season opener barring an amazing camp by either DA or the Golden Boy. He finally has an NFL caliber offensive line in front of him and it will be interesting to see how he responds to it. Will he respond by getting his confidence back, taking the QB job and start showing the intangibles that made scouts drool when he was in college? Or has he been too beaten up, just like Tim Couch was, to the point that his psyche is beyond repair? Frye still has the ability to be an NFL caliber starting quarterback but will it be in Cleveland? Sometimes it's tough to come home. I hope he makes it, and something tells me he will, but something tells me that it will be with another NFL team. I hope the added competition and the steadily improving talent makes it happen in Cleveland.