DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cleveland Indians - somehow hanging onto hope

Sorry, I meant "vs" Buffalo. :P

JK

I haven't read the last 2 pages of posts. I just wanted to chime in and say great season and thank the guys for a fun summer and the wonderful fall baseball. We appreciate you guys and look forward to more great baseball in years to come.

I don't want to be a wet blanket, because I do think there's reason for optimism in the future. But you can't assume that what happened this year necessarily provides the base for even more progress next year. The thing is, we had a window this year and we failed to take advantage of it. So yeah, good year, thanks for the memories ... blah-blah-blah. But I'm not quite ready to be philosophical about it. Maybe next week.

Hats off to Tito and his team. It was a fun year.

I think what he was able to do with this group is nothing short of amazing.

However, this front office, if they are truly serious about going deep into October, needs to improve this lineup. You can't win with a bunch of sub .300 hitters. They almost pulled it off, but if you look back at their record against the really good teams, especially the Tigers, it just isn't going to be good enough. You will never top the Tigers until this lineup is more legitimate.

I understand they aren't going to throw 200+ million at Robinson Cano, so don't jump all over me. They need to get creative though.

I thought Salazar and the bullpen did a nice job. The moment wasn't too big for him. You're going to give up runs in the playoffs. I thought the moment was a little too big for 1-3 in the lineup. The saddest part is how good the bottom of the lineup was. They are the ones that gave you a chance.

I think the Rays are going to get smoked. They aren't shutting down the Red Sox lineup.

amazing reading the general vibe of this thread.

first, Salazar pitched well. not great, but well. he really out-pitched Cobb (not Salazar's fault that we couldn't come up with the breakthrough hit).

second, the season as a whole was phenomenal. perhaps if you only paid attention lately, then it was more frustrating, but our pitching was great (after April) and we ended up scoring the 5th most runs in MLB . We did it through team speed and OBP and "doubles power" but we moved people around and scored a bunch of runs. Given our budget, it's a smart strategy (TB and Oakland have similar offensive philosophies).

note: our main issue this season on offense was SO% and we were much, much better against LHP (Raburn and Gomes a big piece of that puzzle). So, if you throw out a strikeout ace RHP, we were befuddled pretty easily and didn't really have the HR guys to make those types of pitchers pay.

anyway, major kudos to Mickey Callaway, Francona, and really, the whole team as everyone did major things getting a 94 loss team to turnaround to a 92 win team in 1 season.

I watched part of the game last night, stopped after the 6th. I was getting frustrated, of course. The only problem I saw was hitting with men in scoring position (duh).

It completely sucks but remember, this team lost 96 games last year. Again, LOST 96 games. We added a few pieces and turned into a 92 win team that qualified by winning 10 in a row and needed every single one of those wins (they didn't back in by losing less than the other teams).

I know nobody wants to hear "next year" comments. But I'm proud of this team and city. The Indians got into the playoffs, the Browns could be turning the corner, and the Cavs are probably on the verge of contending for the low seed in the playoffs. Look, I don't see a title any time soon, but having teams in contention is a lot more fun than what we've had recently.

Sports are supposed to be entertaining, there are no guarantees of winning. I accept that and try to enjoy them.

Maybe I'm still happy with my Blackhawks hangover.

I really think making this playoff game was a good step forward in repairing the relationship between ownership and fans.

A lot of people tried saying that the team had spent money and still aren't showing up, but this thing wasn't getting fixed in a year.

Hiring a legitimate big time manager was the first step. Using the money that came off the books on good players (despite the fact that they came up short last night) was also a good step. I think they have a golden opportunity to take a giant leap if they can go out and improve this team. Nobody is asking for a top 5 payroll, but if they stand pat, the attendance numbers aren't going to spike.

The fact that TV numbers are so good, yet attendance numbers were horrible shows that a lot of these fans have it out for the Dolans, and in many cases, rightfully so. It's my opinion, that I think the fans should have taken a stance where you show up when they're contending, and stay home when they're trading players for prospects. They didn't see it the same was as me. Attendance should have been better, especially in the last 2-3 months.

I think the Indians lost the game yesterday when they started handing out towels to wave. We are NOT pittsburgh.

The attendance discussion is a goofy thing. You can't really compare the late 90's era to now. The Browns were gone, the Cavs were nothing, had a new stadium, the were good for the first time in many peoples lives, they had players that people wanted to see...it was a perfect storm of attention.

I think we're missing a "Puig", a "Bell" or a "Thome". A guy that forces people to come see him along with them being a contending team. As good as we were this year, I don't think we have that guy. Swisher is good, but he won't spike the attendence.

As for the rest of the playoffs, I guess I'm pulling for the A's in the AL and the Dodgers or Cards in the NL. Being in Chicago, I see a lot of Cardinals games with the Cubs in the same division. Man, those guys are how I want the Indians to play.

I gotta get over to the NHL thread, but it's so early. Kind of hard to get amped up for such a long season. I like the shortened season last year.

I think fans don't want to get attached to guys that are just going to get dealt away. That probably plays into it. It's a million different things.

I can't speak for everyone else, but I used to really be into baseball and MLB, and over the years, I've really grown away from it. I only care about what the Indians do. I don't watch the playoffs/WS any more.

I know some people argue against the fact that the league has an unfair playing level, and they do make a few nice points, but overall, I'm probably never going to care until they put in a hard salary cap like the NFL has, and that is never going to happen in my lifetime.

It is a turn off to see other teams load up on talent, and we have to make it work with rubber bands and duct tape.

I am excited about the future for the Tribe though, because I think Tito isn't going to be happy just getting there, and with some of the quotes I read last night and today from the players, that has already filtered down.

I think he's the perfect guy for the team and for the city. It's amazing that he had this team where they were, and even last night, they were in position to win that game many times. Just think if he could have a little bit better of a team.

I agree that the Indians are lacking a big name player to draw fans..

As for the playoffs, I'm going to have to dust off some of my old Pirates stuff... I'm pretty sure I have an authentic Roberto Clemente jersey at home somewhere.

Most teams are a bunch of sub .300 hitters. There were only 13 qualifying hitters in the American League with a .300 or higher average. That's it.

I don't know if Tampa has more talent in their lineup, nor that they were better this year. We were pretty on par with them in that we had a couple guys at the top (Kipnis/Santana) a few midlevel guys (Swisher/Brantley/Raburn-Gomes) and a bunch of depth. Kipnis going cold down the stretch hurt us, but our best lineup being so much better against LHP made us an easier matchup play in a 1game set.

I am not making any assumptions for the future. Just being hopeful.

I want to thank the guys for a fun season in which they played hard. And yes I am disappointed that they lost the WC game but I am thrilled that they made the playoffs.