DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cleveland Indians

Agreed. No real baseball news, no NBA or NFL or NCAAF or NCAAB news.

I rewatched Games 5, 6, & 7 of the Blackhawks/Red Wings series last night. I stopped on the derby for maybe 2 minutes but Berman's voice made me want to hang myself.

I'll probably watch even less of the All Star game tonight. I used to think it was fun, but it's such a circus/popularity contest/lame exhibition now. I watch loads baseball and catch highlights when they're on, but I only care about real games.

And yes, with the NHL, NBA, NFL and NCAA on sleep mode, it's a tough week+. As soon as NFL camps open, it starts getting better.

I don't really like any all star games. The NBA all star game is ok. The weekend activities jumped the shark a few years ago. I do love the 3 point shootout though. That for me never gets old.

The NHL all star game is horrible. The players really don't want to be there, because it's not real hockey. If you ever wondered what men's league hockey looked like, just watch the NHL all star game. Guys half-assing it. Nobody playing defense, nobody backchecking. No hitting. Goalies getting hung out to dry.

The skills competition is awesome though. The players do get into that. The elimination shootout is the best all star event in the world. Players do a 1v1 with the goalie, and basically you're out if you don't score. Last man standing wins. You get to see all the pretty moves that guys like Datsyuk and Kane can do. I can watch that all day.

I would watch the HR derby again if they made it more like a video game setup. Extra points for upper deck. maybe put a gigantic bucket out somewhere where there aren't seats, and if you hit one in there, you get like a 10 pointer.

I don't know how their ratings are, but I was someone who grew up always watching the derby. I went in '97 with my grandfather. The last few years though I haven't watched. I'm also not into MLB as much as I used to be.

Quote:

---

I'll probably watch even less of the All Star game tonight

---

WHAT....NOT WATCH ...With Home Field Advantage for the World Series at stake....

It dosent get any more exciting....Bud Selig out did himself again

Very cool Mariano Rivera moment.

Kipnis with a hit and an RBI in his only at bat. I missed it though.

Masterson didn't get in the game. That's a shame.

Kipnis had himself a nice game. Nothing spectacular but he did his job.

Merit-based for the game, Miggy deserved the MVP (scored the winning run + a whole bunch of put-outs while he was in).

But, a lifetime achievement MVP in an exhibition game isn't a bad thing. Really good allstar game this year.

So the Indians get home field advantage for the fall Classic

You know I was thinking yesterday, with these all star games, the fan voting is great. I think that's cool and all but it's just my opinion, that if you are going to do it that way, then you shouldn't be allowed to use all star appearances or pro bowl appearances as credentials for the hall of fame.

The media does it all the time when arguing for and against players. I'm not sure how much it's truly used when it comes time to make votes.

The all star team is never the best selection of guys, especially in baseball where a deserving player may be left out because every team had to be represented. Teams in bigger cities have more fans, and therefore, those players are going to get voted on more often.

Look, it's not going to ruin my day, but it's an observation that I made.
.
The NFL gets it right for the most part. The NBA selections are always a joke.

The NHL ones are always filled with scorers when most hockey people know there is so much more to the game.

Then why call it a Hall of Fame

I hear you. And I don't really have strong opinions on HoFs save for Modell.

Just thought it ironic that you were trying to cleave off that element.

and "sacred"? sacred and HoF probably don't belong in same sentence

my biggest concern is swisher at the cleanup. he has some of the worst numbers {avg., hits, rbi, and hr's} in both leagues. also he is not that good defensively at 1st base. I have seen him make mistakes that little league kids don't make. he is not a #4, maybe a #6 or #7, but not a #4.

Not a good start. Great pitching by Kazmir, horrible, horrible defense. Ugh.

Yeah, it is a shame that the Indians lost a game like that.

2 errors is really unacceptable, especially when it leads runs for the opponent.

There's a rumor out there that the Cubs want Chisenhall straight up for Garza. If Chisenhall keeps booting balls like he did last night I might be willing to make that deal, even if it is for a 2 month rental.

Bad news: The Indians came out flat last night after a 4 day break and missed an opportunity to close the gap to 1/2 game behind the Tigers.

Good news: McAllister threw his curveball in a rehab start without pain, and is apparently ready to return to the rotation.

No way. There is no system depth at 3B. If you trade Chiz, you're searching for a 3B for at least two years because there is nobody to replace him. You're best option would be Ronny Rodriguez, who is a SS at AA-Akron.

He has been better since coming back from Columbus, but some might argue that there's no system depth with Chisenhall either. His swing alone makes me want to keep him, but he needs to start producing some runs - a pretty swing doesn't mean jack if you can't make contact. He'll never be confused with Brooks Robinson defensively, but he has to make the routine play, which he failed to do last night. Makes me miss Casey Blake.

Forgot my original point about depth at 3B - the Indians future at third could be Asdrubal Cabrera.

Asdrubal will be traded this offseason, I'd pretty much guarantee it. He'd be a free agent the year after and the Indians are not going to pay him $8-9 mill per year for that type of productivity, let alone at 3B.

as I stated before swisher is not a major league type player. once again 0-4 at the plate and a bad error late in the game. we may have been better keeping kotchman. at least he can catch a routine throw from another infielder. how many #4 hitters are hitting .235 with 7 homers and only 27 rbi's. we need to trade him for Garza. straight up.

Swisher has been disappointing. I never expected huge numbers, but 20HR, 80RBIs, and .275 doesn't seem like too much to ask, since its what he's produced in the past. I would do Swisher for Garza, if you could sign Garza for Swisher-money ... but that isn't going to happen, imo. I'm really not interested in renting someone for August and September at the price the Cubs are asking. I think the Cubs are overvaluing the amount of leverage they have. They might need to settle for a couple marginal prospects if they really expect to move Garza.

Swisher comes to Cleveland, and of course, gets hurt. Doesn't that always seem to be the way for us?

Hopefully he'll get healthy and back to swinging the bat well. If not then Francona has to look at giving him more time off, and working in Aviles and even Reynolds into the equation a little more.

I don't know the extent of Swisher's physical issues right now, but maybe a little rest will help him.

Even with all of the issues we've had, we are 6th in all of baseball in runs scored. It sure doesn't seem like it though. That's probably because we'll erupt for 12 runs in one game, then get shut out the next. We definitely need to work on timely hitting.

If he's hurt he should be on the DL. I don't want him "gutting it out" and ending up needing rotator cuff surgery (or whatever his injury is). The truth is that the heart of our lineup is killling us right now, with Cabrera, Swisher, and Reynolds all sucking canal water at the same time. Kipnis can't do it all.

It may sound silly, but I wonder if Swisher's issues stem at all from having a two-month-old baby at home.

You might expect that his contract would alleviate much of the stresses involved with having a newborn, but it is a major life change. Anything's possible, but I might be more likely to think that if he's gripping, its because of wanting to live up to what he's being paid. Its the first time in his career when he was expected to be the straw that stirs the drink. It could be that Tito needs to sit him down and say "just be Nick Swisher".

We all gotta remember how this team is still learning to win.

It's a roster that wasn't capable of winning at all two years ago. We're still learning, but what is nice is that the youth of the roster is in the right places. The core is really young.

Kipnis, Masterson, Kluber even, Chisenhall, Bourn, Brantley...the guys who are getting it done are young. It just takes some time, the light is on for Kipnis, its been a good year for Bourn n Brantley. Santana has been pretty good, Cabrera is healthy again.

Give it a little more time. Tito will help em put it all together in time. The positive, if they can find role players (Swisher, Kazmir (who isn't old himself), Giambi, Reynolds, etc...) that fit what we need...it'll come

j/c
Masterson must have taken his All-Star snub (didn't get to play) to heart today. Seven innings, one earned run and 8 K's. Not a bad way to come back from the break.

he's having a really good season.

Kipnis is on some sort of tear right now too

He's only got 64 RBIs though...compared to guys like Cabrera his numbers don't match up for MVP discussion yet.

That being said, in terms of value to a team, he is definitely at the very top. But for some reason, MVP doesn't always do that.

I don't think he should win it (at least based on year-to-date), but merely that he should be in the discussion. He is clearly behind the year that Miggy is putting out there (and, his improved defense definitely factors into it as well as his ridiculous bat).

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=330721103

moneyball continues with bartolo colon and coco crisp.. maybe we should have gotten those guys.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9501040/miguel-cabrera-detroit-tigers-leaves-injury

Ok, I never cheer for an opponent to suffer an injury and I always like both teams to be at full strength when they battle it out.

However, I would be lieing if I said that this news on Miggy didn't give me some added optimism to the Indians chances (even if he plays, hip fluxor issues can really mess with a player's swing).