DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cleveland Indians Continued ........

I have to say the Tribe is very impressive. What a nice surprise for you guys!

I read that over the weekend they had the 3rd highest walkup crowd, 8,000+, in the history of the Jake.

So, fans are starting to warm to this team....as well as the weather is too.

Once again, I'm PO'd at myself for not watching this team from the beginning of the year. Now, I don't want to watch because I don't want to jinx things. Total fairweather fan.

The other night, I saw that it was tied in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded, no outs, and Choo up to bat. So, I went to flip to the game, but couldn't find the channel.

Finally I found it, and I turned it on just in time to see the windup, the swing, and the grand slam. Pretty good timing, I say.

Keep it up, Tribe!

The most encouraging thing is that different guys step up each game.

Is anyone nervous about Hafner? He torn something in his knee and hasn't played for 4-5 day. I haven't heard anything if they'll DL him.

I think having Sizemore back near the time he went out offset the loss. But we need his bat soon.

He's got a strained tendon in his foot.

It seems like something rest will clear up.

From Saturday's Plain Dealer:

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A needless slide home has caused Travis Hafner -- and his .342 batting average -- to miss at least four games.

Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff said Saturday that Hafner will be out of the lineup through Monday, when he'll have a strained ligament in the middle of his right foot re-examined before the team opens a six-game West Coast trip in Oakland on Tuesday.

The Indians posed for their 2011 team picture before Saturday's game. Hafner was in uniform, but he wore a walking boot on his right foot. Soloff said he has to wear it when he's not at the park.

Hafner injured the ankle when he scored from first on Orlando Cabrera's three-run double in the first inning Wednesday against Kansas City. His teammates told him to slide, which he did, but it wasn't necessary because the throw home was high and late.

Dr. Brian Donley at Cleveland Clinic diagnosed the injury. An MRI confirmed it.

When asked if Hafner could be headed for the disabled list, Soloff said, "At this point, no. ... The fortuitous thing for us is that his job responsibilities for us are as a DH and DH only. He has to hit, run and make left turns. With that in mind, we're optimistic it won't involve much down time."

Manager Manny Acta said Hafner was available to come off the bench before Saturday's game. Asked how available, Acta said, "He's available. That all I can say. Be aware. Big Pronk can come out of there at anytime. All he has to do is take off his boot."

Acta said he will use a combination of players at DH until Hafner returns. Shelley Duncan was in the spot Thursday and Friday, going 3-for-8 with one homer and three RBI. Matt LaPorta DH'd Saturday night and had hits in his first two at-bats.

Thanks YTown and Dave. Good info.

Of course you don't want to mess with whatever mojo Hafner's had going by keeping him out too long, but as long as the team is still getting it done, you can afford to let him rest it a bit more than you might otherwise. Being atop the league like this affords us that.

The Cleveland in me says Hafner will be diagnosed with Lis-Francs Injury to his foot and be out for the next year following surgery. I hope that posting this undoes the negative mojo, and prevents the diagnosis.

Hillis has taken care of that for us, it won't happen.

On the upside, this months TWC bill arrived and in the envelope was a coupon for buy one Indians ticket, get one free. I have this lil sneaky feeling I'll use the coupon.

A nice observation...Indians have given up 99 runs this far (1st AL, 3rd overall). 23 of those were in the first two games. 76 runs given up over the last 25 games...pretty impressive.

usually, i'd be pretty ticked if my team wasn't getting the pub that they deserve, but i honestly don't care with these guys. and i don't think they care either, which is cool.

here's to a fun month of May that will hopefully be as fun as April was.

Everyone is talking about the Indians. The power ranking on CBS.Sportsline has them #1 overall.

How things seem to change overnight,...a year ago we'd be betting that the Cavs would be "first" to a title. Now they're dead last compared to how the Browns are building and The Tribe is playing.

j/c

Choo got busted for a DUI last night.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/03/shin-soo-choo-was-arrested-for-dui-yesterday/

We have scant details as of yet, but Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Shin-Shoo Choo was arrested for drunk driving early yesterday morning in suburban Sheffield Lake, Ohio, west of Cleveland.

Indians GM Chris Antonetti released a statement saying that he and the organization are disappointed and all of the usual stuff you hear at these times.

What needs to happen next, however, are not more quotes about disappointed. What needs to happen is some sort of baseball discipline for players who are doing this. Many players: Choo makes the sixth baseball player to be arrested for DUI this year, joining Miguel Cabrera, Austin Kearns, Adam Kennedy, Coco Crisp and Derek Lowe.

Major League Baseball has suspended coaches in recent days for using Twitter improperly and for acting like jackasses to fans. While we can debate how serious those things are — the Roger McDowell stuff is serious in my view, the Ozzie Guillen stuff not so much — ballplayers getting behind the wheel drunk are endangering lives.

I don’t propose some zero tolerance policy with unthinking, blanket punishment because facts can make a big difference. But there is something wrong with these guys always being in the lineup the next damn day, regardless of the circumstances.

Wonderful,...there I went and jinxed it, talking about overnight(s),....

These are the precious minutes of my time when I cannot stand professional athletes.

Ya know..... I'm going to take a potentially unpopular stance here. I'm not sure that anything needs to be done, at all, ever.


The law will take care of what needs to happen, just as it would for me. I wouldn't get persecuted professionally if I got a DUI, why should he? Because of public opinion?? Give me a break!

The answer lies in that we put professional atheletes and celebrities on a pedestal and demand that they be role models.... the reality is that that is simply what we want them to be, and we really don't have a right to be demanding that. We want so badly for them to be great, that we demand that they adhere to a higher standard than we hold ourselves to... it's really quite hypocritical when you think about it empirically like that.

Then there's the "appearance of condoning"... as in, if the club/team/company doesn't publicly hammer a public persona, then Joe Public makes the genius logical assumption that the team/club/comapny doesn't care and/or condones that type of behavior.... the reality of course being that if not for that sort of stupid public relations garbage that doesn't affect a damned thing, the company/club/team would do precisely what it should do in those cases - nothing. Why? Because they aren't the flippin' Justice System, they are the workplace. The justice/legal system will take care of what needs to happen for violations of the law... that's what they're there for.

braylon didn't get anything for his, i know different states, but chances are nothing will happen other than whatever happens with the judge.

it's disappointing though. choo is better than that.

i don't think it's a pedestal thing either. i do buy your argument for some things, but with a DUI, i would look at them just like i would my friends. i would be very very disappointed. bad judgement man. and i have had friends, like most people, who have done it before.

i have friends who do it all the time and sometimes i wish they'd get caught so that something worse doesn't happen.

Oh, I agree... call them out on it, don't hold back, either. Tell them that they are dumbasses... but leave it at that. You don't run to their bosses and demand public retribution... that's absurd.

The difference, at least for me, is that for you and I, I would have a limo service driving us around at that level of income,....and I cannot help but ask the question, why is this not happening ? Why are we out getting DUI's when it can be economically avoided ? It's NOT about "The Pedestal."

Same answer holds for him as for us... he should have called a cab.

Limo? I think we have a bent perspective on the wealthy. Yes, he could probably afford to have a limo on call 24x7, but seriously, unless your last name is Trump, who the hell lives like that (or would want to)? That's just nuts.... but yes, he should have called a cab.


There's also the very real possibility that he only blew a 0.08 or similar marginal number (correct me if an actual BAC was posted, but I haven't seen one), with which he would likely have felt quite capable of driving. I'm not condoning anything, but I can certainly understand it.


In any case, he doesn't deserve to have anything done to him that wouldn't be done to me (of course, this opinion comes outside of considerations for league/contractual personal conduct obligations). Punishments for legal infractions should be limited to the bounds of the law.

according to Tom Withers of the AP, he blew a .201, well more than twice the legal limit.

he was hammered. that's really really really disappointing.

heh, yeah... that's lit up!

Well, at least now we know why he didn't call a cab... nobody thinks very clearly when they are that hammered.

Quote:

---

But there is something wrong with these guys always being in the lineup the next damn day, regardless of the circumstances.

---

I'm just curious.. if you got a DUI on a Monday night and posted bail, where would you be on Tuesday?

That's a nice big blemish on the face of a team that's otherwise doing everything just about perfectly this year.

No.. where would YOU be? Where would any of us be?

Most of us would be at work the next day... he's at work, why should he NOT be at work?

sorry, read the post but not with the associated context from the previous one. yes, anyone who valued their job would be at work.

how he was processed and posted bail in time to make the team flight though is a bit impressive in the capabilities of the Sheffield PD.

some good news for the out of towners who don't have mlb.tv (it is awesome though if you were wondering)

tonights Indians v. A's game is free on mlb.tv (go to mlb.com)

Choo blows a .2 is a nice headline.

Well, I prefer Brita or Lipton, but I was thinking that Choo got a new sponsor

Man that is really disappointing.

Hopefully they don't implode over something so stupid. I have a feeling that they won't.

They have a tough road trip, followed up with a resurgent Tampa Bay at home. (followed by bottom of the barrel Seattle)

I think that these next 4 series will tell the tale of the season. If they get through this at .500 or above, I think they're definitely for real.