Forest City Fanatics

1 batter and I've already got 4 comments

2008-07-22T22:10:00.003-04:00

1) Announcing a team as having the league's nth ranked defense based solely on the number of errors they have made is insanity. Pure, straight insanity.

2) Grady Sizemore is good. Extra good.

3) Rick Manning needs to stop saying "aggressive," immediately.

3) Matt Underwood doesn't understand probabilities. He just relayed to us viewers that this is only the fourth time that the Angels have had MLB's best record this late in the season. He's like, shocked, by this. The Angels have had an MLB team for 48 seasons now; given roughly 25 teams participating in the game over that time, you'd expect, on average, that they would have had approximately two such seasons. Underwood, for his part, is stunned that California has accomplished this feat a scant 4 times.

FCF baseball roundtable

2008-07-21T08:08:00.002-04:00

Since the Tribe isn't exactly the most fun thing to write about this season, FCF has decided to take the midpoint of the 2008 season to share their opinions on a few facets of today's Major League Baseball. JHH, Andy, and Nick will be taking a look at some of the best watercooler questions for baseball fans, ones that passionate fans and casual observers alike enjoy debating. Onto the writers:

Do you thing Interleague Play is good for baseball?
JHH: Define good. I think it doesn't hurt. Sure it isn't the draw it once was but getting to see NL teams that I wouldn't see in a million years in Cleveland is nice.

Andy: It certainly spikes fan interest and increases revenue, which means that it's not going anywhere, that's for sure. Baseball would be insane to leave that kind of money on the table. I don't feel very strongly about it, but I would prefer to keep the leagues separate, save for the World Series.

Nick: No, no, and no. This is the Wild Card era and these teams aren't playing the other teams in their respective leagues enough. Considering that the unbalanced schedule (emphasizing divisional play) means that teams already aren't playing the teams outside of their divisions very often, interleague play only exacerbates the problem. In my view, interleague play decreases the Wild Card winner's legitimacy. Unfortunately, like the guys have stated above, it makes money and appears to be going nowhere.

Because interleague play is here to stay, baseball's brain trust needs to do a better job exploiting regional match ups. There's no good reason that the Tribe doesn't have a home-and-home with the Pittsburgh Pirates every year. Due to geography and the Browns-Steelers rivalry, a Tribe-Buccos rivalry seems like a no-brainer.

What do you think about the Designated Hitter rule?
JHH: I'm torn. They shouldn't have the DH at any level of play except the majors or should they?

Andy: The DH is in every level of professional baseball, except for the National League. Time to get with the program, boys. Have you watched a MLB pitcher (other than CC Sabathia or Micah Owings) bat lately? It's excruciating. Watching a pitcher walk some turkey hitting #8 intentionally to strike out the pitcher and get out of a jam cheapens the game for me. I used to say that I liked the variety of separate rules for the two major leagues, but no longer.

However, if they are going to insist on keeping the pitcher batting in the NL and continue to have Interleague play, they should use the visiting team's rules so the home team's fans could see the other league's version of baseball. NL fans might like to see all nine spots actually know how to bat for once.

Nick: I used to be all for pitchers hitting, labeling myself a "purist," but I've watched more NL ball this year than I ever have before. Guess what? It's boring. Yes, there's more strategy involved, but there's also a free out every ninth batter, and like Andy said, you often see the number eight hitter (or the last position player before the pitcher) intentionally walked. That's no fun. I want to watch professional hitters, and the DH should be universally adopted.

Should baseball institute Instant Reply for home run calls, as it plans to do before the end of this season?
JHH: Yes, making the right call is the most important thing. Tradition while important is no excuse for stupidity.

Andy: Definitely. I'll fight anyone who says otherwise, and maybe fight Nick even if he agrees, just because. Like JHH says, the most important thing is to make the proper call. A number of home runs have been ruled incorrectly this season (including Ben Francisco's job off the railing during Tribe Weekend) and it would be so simple and painless to correct those errors. Please, ignore the naysayers who say it will lengthen the games (because the current system of umpires discussing HR calls when none of them actually saw it are so efficient) and that replay will make its way virus-like into all aspects of the game (absolutely not true). When was the last time you heard a hockey fan complain about hockey refs calling Toronto and getting their goal calls right?

Nick: I agree with the responses of my colleagues; instant replay has been a long time comin'. The most important thing is getting the call right, not how quickly the call is made.

I do, however, believe that we should limit replays to home runs and fair/foul calls, because they are clearly discernible with replay. It's a home run or it isn't. It's fair or it's foul. If you start allowing replay on all calls, things are going to get messy because there are at least one or two close calls on the base paths in almost every game. All of the sudden you're on a slippery slope. Homers and fair/foul calls lend themselves to replay because they are so easy to call.

I've heard the argument that replay will break up the "flow of the game." Um...no it won't. At least it won't break up the game's "flow" any more than the umpire's huddling for five minutes to decide whether or not a fly ball was a homer slows things down already. Hell, these guys fudge the call more often than not because nobody gets into position to see the ball clearly.

Is the Wild Card good for the game?
JHH: Define good. It doesn't hurt. Actually since Wild Card teams have gone to win the WS and allows good teams playing in a tough division to advance I'm all for the Wild Card.

Andy: I love the Wild Card. It is beautiful. Bud Selig's term as commissioner has featured a number of questionable moves, but this was brilliant. I remember during realignment when self-styled purists (notably, Bob Costas) were up in arms about the playoff expansion, but as of now it's an unquestioned success. Plus, it's not like the playoff floodgates were opened - baseball's postseason remains the most difficult one to qualify for. Football, the next-most-exclusive, allows 50% more teams in than MLB. Most importantly, the WC keeps the excitement of baseball alive for fans of lots of teams (I'd say at least 10 every year) who would otherwise be tuned into NFL training camps by August.

Nick: Like Andy said, this is the best move Bud Selig has made during his tenure. The importance of baseball's regular season was maintained because they still allow a smaller percentage of teams to qualify for the post season than any other sport. The Wild Card adds a ton of drama down the stretch, and an eight team playoff format makes far more sense than six teams.

Fun fact: When the Wild Card was passed in 1993, only one owner voted against it. Who was it? Current President George W Bush of the Texas Rangers. Bush stated, "I made my arguments and went down in flames...history will prove me right." The fact that W passionately lobbied against this concept allows me to give it my most ringing endorsement.

Should the first round series be 5 games or 7?
JHH: 5 games is enough. No one wants a sport's playoffs to continue longer than it needs to. I always love to see the NHL finals wrap up and say to myself "holy crap they were still playing?"

Andy: I didn't like the NBA's decision to lengthen the first-round series from 5 to 7 games. It was a transparent effort to avoid losing high seeds early, which didn't help the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in 2007. Baseball's playoffs are more random than basketball's, however, and considering how difficult it is to even qualify, I feel like teams should get a 7-game first-round shot. This would add three days, tops, to the postseason. I'm not adamant about this one, just a preference.

Nick: Given the 162-game regular season, baseball's playoffs really can't be long enough. The playoffs are too short, and too much of a crap shoot. The problem is that if we start lengthening the playoffs, all of the sudden we're into November and the weather in the northern cities starts to get quite chilly. As much as I'd like to see longer series all around for fairness' sake, there isn't much that can be realistically done aside from altering the first round format and going to seven games, which I would endorse.

Should the All-Star game count for home field?
JHH: No it's stupid. I know we'll all agree that the team with the best record should have home field advantage. Making the All-Star Game count was a stupid over-correction for it once ending in a tie.

Andy: Fuck no.

However, I do not think that the team with the best record necessarily deserves the home field advantage. This is not like hockey or basketball; despite the presence of Interleague play, a wide majority of each team's games are still Intraleague. Consider how dominant the AL has been in recent years; if the World Series came down to a 96-win AL club vs a 97-win NL team, the AL team would have undoubtedly played a superior campaign yet the NL team would get home field. I say go back to alternating years.

Nick: The All-Star game should not count for home field. Have the mascots of the World Series team fight to the death. Have a contest to see which team has the most attractive female fans. Flip a coin. Anything but this. This is another case of Selig doing something simply for the sake of doing something. "Look at me, I'm the Commissioner of Major League Baseball!"

One last All-Star question: how would you handle the election of the players to the AL and NL stars?
JHH: The system in place now is OK. It's results are no better than, say, the Golden Glove awards. I once thought a system that gave the ballots from fans at actual games as more weight was one way of fixing the problem but given the sellouts at place like Fenway and Wrigley I don't think that would actually change much. The players voting in Varitek is equally as stupid as some of the fans selections this year. So the only way to do this is to remove people completely and set up a system that takes the best players based on statistics. Of course eliminating the people voting would remove fan participation, which probable is never a good thing.

Andy: I'm tired of the fans having any say whatsoever in this, and have been ever since the year Nomar Garciaparra was elected to start despite not having appeared in a game that year. Fans simply are not qualified. I know it's not the most important thing in the world, but if you're going to do it, do it right. I think a panel of managers and coaches could be set up to assemble the best squads, or maybe have the writers of FIRE JOE MORGAN do it. Or, as I recently discussed with a friend (Nick?) with respect to the Hall of Fame, just have Peter Gammons do it himself. I'm only sort of kidding.

Proponents of fan voting fall back on the tired cliche that the game is "for the fans." Well, I'm a fan, and I want to see the best players make it, not the ones that uninformed people vote for, like a certain Yankee infielder with a .729 OPS consistently ranked as one of the poorest defenders at his position.

Nick: All-Star starters should not be chosen by the fans. The fans voted in Shaq O'Neal (Miami version) when he played something like three games during the first half of an NBA season. I'd be all for a panel of writers like the Hall of Fame elections, or a managers/coaches panel like Andy suggested. I'd even be happier if the All-Star teams' respective managers picked the starters. The current system is pretty senseless. Fortunately for me, the only thing I care about less than the All-Star game is Miley Cyrus' latest hit.

A Series Win, I'll Take It

2008-07-20T19:11:00.003-04:00

Ah, the lowly Mariners. Yes, another one of the teams usually thought of at this point as a disappointment. Well we showed them! Strange - among the three starters Laffey, Sowers, and Lee if I would have had to pick the one who would lose I definitely would have went with Sowers. No doubt, having not pitched an Indians win since May 2007 Sowers while occasionally a hard-luck pitcher hasn't shown anything exceptional this year. However, this series was not to be the case. Laffey, my dear readers, was the only starter to give up a loss to the Mariners and watch out, because Sowers is on a roll, picking up his first victory of the year.

Laffey (5-6, 3.61) went only 3.2 innings, giving up 3 earned runs. But one costly mistake by Peralta means Laffey's box score line says he had given up 8 runs. Now I don't want to get into how you give up 8 runs while only 3 are earned, just believe me when I say it usually isn't pretty. The Tribe offense only mustered two runs off of Felix Hernandez who with a 7-6 record must be the shining light in what is a mostly dismal rotation (you'll see here soon). The rest of the game was pitched by Lewis (2.1) and Rincon (2.0) who both left without alowing an earned run.

Saturday's game saw the previously-mentioned Sowers toeing the rubber against Miguel Batista who came into the game with a 4-10 record and left with one more loss. Sowers , on the other hand, now sports a shiny new 1-5 record after going six innings and giving up 4 runs. Not a great performance, but against Batista it was all the Indians needed. Choo had an almost career night against his former team with three RBI on as many hits. The gang of Blake, Peralta, Guiterrez, and Carroll each had two RBI a piece. Toss in a RBI from Francisco and you have the Tribe's 9 runs which was just enough to win 9-6 after Masa gave up two more in the ninth. Who cares? - Tribe wins and so does Sowers! You could argue Sowers' win was because of those awesome retro jerseys.

Today's rubber match between these two teams saw the Mariners draw Cliff Lee four days removed from two scoreless All-Star Game innings while the Tribe's offense would be facing Carlos Silva, he of the 4-11 record coming in to the game. Needless to say Lee pitched a complete game giving up 2 runs, while Silva left after four innings having given up 4. Silva left after giving up a three run shot to Kelly Shoppach who ended the day with four RBI. Dellucci and Blake tacked on a few more runs and 6 was easy enough for the ace of the staff.

The left coast fun continues with a three game series in LA angainst the Angels before the Tribe head home to take on the Twins next weekend.

Game 1: Paul Byrd, RHP (3-10, 5.47) vs. Ervin Santana, RHP (11-3, 3.34)
Game 2: Matt Ginter, RHP (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jered Weaver, RHP (8-8, 4.03)
Game 3: Aaron Laffey, LHP (5-6, 3.61) vs. John Lackey, RHP (7-2, 2.58)

Game 1 will certainly be a test with the Indians facing All-Star Santana while wheeling out 3-10 Byrd. Let's hope a car crash that I can't look away from does not ensue. Game 2 will be interesting just to see Ginter pitch again. And finally let's hope Laffey's previous outing was just a case of too much downtime. This series definitely isn't against the best part of our rotation. Who am I kidding - our rotation is Lee at this point. So to take a few from the Angels would be nice. For those of you hard-working fellows, Wednesday's game is a scheduled day game so if you want to catch it on the East coast tune in at 3:30.

Fausto Carmona will join the team Monday to throw a little Monday and be evaluated, much like a horse would I suppose except he may be asked "how do you feel?" which a horse could never answer, to see when he can be placed back in the rotation. The obvious answer would be "as soon as possible please" but that is easier said then done. A healthy Fausto is the Tribe's number one priority.

Let's hope this road trip ends on a happier note than the last one. Go Tribe!

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

2008 Browns Countdown: Offensive Line

2008-07-15T07:43:00.002-04:00

A year ago the Cavaliers were coming off the most successful season in franchise history, while the Indians were on the way to their first postseason appearance since 2001. What a difference a year makes.

As we sit here in mid-July, the Tribe occupies the Central Division's cellar, and the Cavs are haunted by their inability to (thus far) find LeBron James a suitable running mate. For the first time in a long time, the Browns serve as the light at the end of the tunnel, and a fan base yearning for a winner hope that the Browns can use their surprisingly strong 2007 campaign as a stepping stone to even bigger things in 2008.

Over the next several weeks leading up to the season's kickoff, we'll be dissecting the Browns and projecting the strengths and weaknesses of the team's various positions. Considering that the offensive line was unquestionably the team's strongest position last season, it seems as logical a place as any to begin.

Author's note: Feel free to crank this jam while reading this. I played it on a loop while writing this.

Projected Starters
Left Tackle: Joe Thomas
Left Guard: Eric Steinbach
Center: Hank Fraley
Right Guard: Ryan Tucker / Rex Hadnot
Right Tackle: Kevin Shaffer

Key Reserves: Lennie "Don't Call Me Milton" Friedman, Seth McKinney, Ryan Tucker/Rex Hadnot

Glancing back...
The transformation of the offensive line between the 2006 and 2007 seasons was nothing short of remarkable. In eight seasons since they returned to the NFL, the Browns had difficulty fielding even an average blocking unit in spite of signing several big ticket free agents. For only the second time in the team's last 12 drafts, GM Phil Savage invested a first round pick in an offensive lineman when he selected Wisconsin's Joe Thomas third overall. Savage augmented the addition of Thomas with a premier free agent, Eric Steinbach.

Thomas' addition moved Kevin Shaffer -- coming off of a disappointing 2006 -- to right tackle, where he flourished. Seth McKinney was signed to play right guard, and center Hank Fraley was re-signed to round out the group as the only true hold over from 2006. Even while being routed 34-7 by Pittsburgh in the season opener, the line's improvement was palpable.

Although the Steelers collected six sacks in that contest, we noted here that the line was not the true culprit. Charlie Frye and his sticky fingers were behind five of those six sacks, and although it was an ugly loss, the line had given us a glimpse (even if we had to look extra hard) of the potential that they would realize during the remaining 15 games.

Behind the stellar left side tandem of Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach the line performed at a high level much sooner than anyone anticipated. When Ryan Tucker returned from his four-game suspension for taking that stuff Jose Canseco used, he began to phase out Seth McKinney as the starting right guard, and that's when the blocking unit really gelled. Jamal Lewis averaged 112.7 yards on the ground over the last final 7 games; a good indicator of how the line's performance really spiked during the season's second half.

The performance of a team's skill players is often a fairly direct correlation of the quality of their offensive line, so let's inspect the performances of the Browns' key skill players in 2007. Quarterback Derek Anderson threw for 3787 yards and 29 touchdowns, good for 9th and 5th in the league, respectively. Featured back Jamal Lewis bulldozed for 1304 yards and 9 touchdowns, placing him 5th and 7th (tie), respectively. And star pass catcher Braylon Edwards accumulated 1289 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, finishing 7th and 2nd, respectively.

My intent is not to spark a chicken/egg debate here, but it's usually fair to say that when a team's offensive line thrives, success tends to follow. Consider how the Browns' offensive output exploded in 2007, following a poor showing in 2006.

Points per game
2006: 14.88
2007: 25.13

Passing yards per game / yards per attempt
2006: 181.13 / 5.66
2007: 232.88 / 6.84

Passing TDs / INTs
2006: 15 / 25
2007: 29 / 20

Rushing yards / yards per carry
2006: 1335 / 3.59
2007: 1895 / 4.31

Rushing TDs
2006: 7
2007: 13

Obviously, the offensive line wasn't the only variable in play. For instance, the hiring of Rob Chudzinski as the OC, the acquisition of Jamal Lewis, the installation and development of Derek Anderson as the starter, and the continued evolution of receivers Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow; these were all critical factors in the growth of the offense. That said, it's a pretty safe bet that without the offensive line's unexpected quantum leap, many of the skill players wouldn't have posted such gaudy numbers, and the offense itself would have been no better than average.

Looking forward...
Aside from trotting out two true studs in Steinbach and Thomas, what I love about the state of the line is its depth. Of course, losing LeCharles Bentley was unfortunate. The Browns probably could have made LeChuck feel more welcome, but the bottom line was that Bentley wanted to get paid, and you can't blame him for that. (Insert obligatory "it's a business" cliche here.)

But even without the local boy, the Browns still have excellent depth up front. The Rex Hadnot signing didn't get loads of attention because of the trades for Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers, the Donte Stallworth deal, and the re-signing of Derek Anderson. However, the addition of Hadnot gives the Browns a young (age 26) interior player who can play either guard or center.

Ryan Tucker had hip surgery in May and it is probably unrealistic to expect him to be ready to roll when training camp begins, which would presumably leave Hadnot as the starting right guard. Assuming Tucker makes a full recovery from his surgery, he'll provide excellent depth on the right side of the line if he's unable to crack the starting five. And if Tucker reclaims his starting role, then Hadnot will serve as the number one backup.

Seth McKinney, who, like Hadnot, has experience at guard and center, is also a very capable reserve. Fans won't lose any sleep if injuries force McKinney back into a starting role. Lennie Friedman could start in a pinch at center or guard (preferably guard), but he would definitely be the line's weakest link. Cliff Louis, a 2007 undrafted free agent from Morgan State, is being chatted up as a possible backup tackle, but if the Browns get down to their fourth lineman off the bench then they'll be in serious trouble.

That's one thing that we can't forget: the Browns were lucky to avoid a cataclysmic loss on the line last season (e.g. LeCharles Bentley, Ross Verba, Bob Hallen going AWOL). While the team does now have the depth to absorb a major injury, it would still be awfully difficult to weather the loss of either Joe Thomas or Eric Steinbach, around whom the line has been constructed.

Barring such an unforeseen disaster, there's little reason to believe that the line can't perform as well or better than they did last season, when they elevated their play to become one of the premier blocking units in the league. It's a luxury that the Browns have not had coon's age, but they presently sport not merely a good offensive line, but a great one.

Such a sturdy foundation gives the Browns some serious insurance on offense. If Derek Anderson were to suffer a serious injury, Brady Quinn, even if markedly worse than Anderson, would probably still be successful because he would have such good protection. If Jamal Lewis were sidelined, then Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison could run through the gaping holes that the line was previously opening for J-Lew. That isn't to say that the skill players aren't extremely important, but if quality blocking still exists, even the backups can be successful.

Joe Thomas was not the trendy draft pick in 2007. When Phil Savage inked Rex Hadnot, few fans batted an eye. Hank Fraley isn't dating Jessica Simpson. And for Hank's sake, thank God. She might be hot, but wouldn't you have to talk to that blathering idiot eventually? No thanks. These guys are not on Dancing with the Stars. The closest you'll see to that is Emmy contender Josh's Cribbs, season two. But come September 7th, these guys will be plowing the roads for Jamal Lewis and nullifying the pass rush for Derek Anderson, and they're the biggest reason why the Browns are primed to make a run at the AFC North title this season.

I did some baseball research!

2008-07-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

I'm a fan of baseball statistics, frequently eschewing traditional measures like batting average and RBI in favor of new-guard numbers like OPS+ and OBP, because I have read smart-sounding fellows describe how these metrics better capture players' value. Just for fun, I ran some numbers myself to reach my own conclusions.

I looked at the MLB team batting stats, and graphed each team's runs per game against: OPS+, OBP, and BA. I did this for 2008 (so far) and 2007 in total, for AL, NL, and all MLB. For each, I plotted correlation as an R² value, a measure of correlation between data sets. 1 is perfect (e.g., plotting runs/game against runs/per game), and 0 means random. First, the 2007 numbers (click to enlarge). Red is OBP, blue is OPS+, and green is BA.

OPS+ is the clear winner from the AL at 0.86, followed by OBP (0.64) and, bringing up the rear as it will continue to do, batting average (0.53). The NL is a bit more random - numbers are down across the board, but OPS+ is by far the winner (0.63) over the other two metrics. Maybe this is a result of the NL's different style, with pitchers hitting? When we include both leagues, naturally, the same order remains. Now let's have a look at last year, a larger sample size by about a factor of two:

Check out how OPS+ is still a winner for predicting AL run-scoring (0.83) and how the others have caught up somewhat, especially OBP at 0.78. Get on base, young hitters! Batting average is of some value, we see (0.65), but not nearly as instructive as these other numbers.

Last year's NL numbers are fascinating - OBP is on top! Its 0.73 r-squared value makes it a slightly better predictor than the ever-reliable OPS+ (0.71). I bet someone from SABR knows why this is, but I do not. Yet I do not fear it. Batting average, as usual, lags well behind at 0.45. Adding the two leagues together keeps OBP on top by a small amount - people aren't kidding when they say the most important thing in baseball hitting is not making outs. Some analysts think that, as a component of OPS, it is up to four times more valuable than SLG% (I forget where I read that). Getting on base is important. Walking is important. Extra-base hits are important. A high batting average is not important.

I looked at the numbers for pitching as well, but ERA is obviously a self-fulfilling number when it comes to pitching runs yielded and I lacked a solid angle for analysis. Also: this article is long. I'll defer to the fellows who have discovered Runs Created and the value of WHIP - as correct as they are on batting metrics, I'm willing to trust them when they say these are better indicators of pitching prowess than ERA or, heaven forbid, W-L record.

So there you have it: OPS+ is a very good predictor of runs, which we know is a predictor of wins (though some really anti-stat guys might say something cliched like "all that matters is wins" without understanding how wins happen). OBP is nearly as good, occasionally even better. Batting average: not very good. Weird that me, a professional scientist, did this in some spare time, while I've yet to see a professional sportswriter even do it on an off-day. Get with the program!

Oh, and Go Tribe!

We’re going streaking!

2008-07-13T17:57:00.005-04:00

After taking in these last four games I wondered: a) where did this come from? and b) are the Rays done? They had a good run but now losing seven in a row I think the All-Star break came at a good time for the Rays.

Game 1 of the series saw the Indians offense explode for 13 runs. Again, let me remind you of my “where did this come from?” reaction. Leading the hit parade was Francisco with four RBI and Dellucci and Blake with three each. The first reaction out of most was that at least Blake was showing his worth to the Rays. Casey has done a solid job of hitting these last few months and now sits on a .282 average and 52 RBI at the break. Laffey was the recipient of that run production and went six giving up two runs and evened his record at five and five.

Game 2 saw Cliff Lee taking the mound and leading the team with the help of Perez and Mujica to their MLB-leading (tied with Boston) 10th shutout. Lee’s win gave him twelve and at that point he had 34% of our wins. Yeah, he is important to the fact that the Indians don’t have an even worse record. Peralta chipped in three RBI in the 5-0 victory. Jhonny has actually come around a little over the last few weeks.

Game 3 was all Matt Ginter. Well, he did do a fine job of going five innings and striking out five without giving up a run or a walk. Nothing more could be asked from a guy whose last win was in 2005. It’s also the first callup since Francisco, and to a lesser existent Mujica, that turned out well. I can’t foresee this kind of effort from Ginter in the future but for now I’ll savor this game. Oh, and speaking of callups, Rincon came in for 0.2 innings to toss BP to the Rays to the tune of 4 runs. On the other side of the plate the return of a guy named Garko with 5 RBI is probably newsworthy inasmuch as our first baseman was hitting 8th.

Game 4 had Sowers on the mound for the Tribe and resulted in a win. Of course Sowers didn’t get credit so he still sports a 0-5 record. Scott Kazmir gave up 5 runs to the Tribe in six innings and Mastny got his first win of the season for going two scoreless innings. Mujica followed with 1.1 and Perez with 0.2 and finally Kobayashi earned his fifth save with a scoreless ninth. If you add that up or just watched the game you’ll see Sowers only went four innings in giving up 2 runs. Luckily for the bullpen the All-Star Break brings a reprise. Jhonny had another three RBI game. Have I mentioned his mini-turnaround yet?

So what to make of this series? It comes after a disastrous ten-game losing streak on the road against intradivision rivals and basically sealed the fate of this team this season. However, the Rays now head into the All Star break after being swept in New York and Cleveland. During the highlights for Saturday’s game I saw a guy with a Crawford jersey in the stands when Garko hit his homerun. I wonder how many excited Rays fans went home sad this weekend. To answer my own earlier question I think on the offensive side the Indians are showing a little life. Unfortunately this team has in the past depended on small contributions from everyone and a healthy Victor and Hafner doing their part. With those two guys sidelined those people making small contributions were in a collective slump making it hard for this team to win those close games they did all last season. Not to be left out, the bullpen did a fine this series job outside of Rincon’s blowup. It may be obvious but again those losses in the final innings by the bullpen are a momentum killer. If you didn’t notice Betancourt only made one appearance and pitched 2 shutout innings in Saturday’s Ginter game. The Circle of Trust is dead and I’m glad guys like Mastny and Mujica are getting some time on the mound.

In other news, CC got traded. Prospect Matt LaPorta, who the Indians got back from the Brewers in the deal, had one of three hits by team U.S. in the futures game today, which saw the World win 3-0. I imagine that’s a good thing. If you care, CC won today on a nine-inning 3-2 over the Reds and he also hit a solo homerun.

Coming up we have the All-Star break and game. Sizemore is participating in the derby tomorrow. Lee is probably starting the game Tuesday, or at least he should. After that, the Tribe doesn’t play until Friday in Seattle. This is where I usually go over the pitching matchups for the upcoming series. However I got nothing with the long break. So enjoy the first picture I’ve ever taken that has been posted on the FCF. It’s the Indians-decorated Statue of Liberty on 58th St in New York.

Go Tribe!

Sizemore & Gutierrez Photo REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk

Not cool

2008-07-11T08:19:00.001-04:00

In the never-ending battle sportswriters are waging to see who can craft the worst article possible, I think SI's Phil Taylor might have struck a decisive blow.

The article's title, "The Day Cool Died," is a pretty big tip-off that this is going to be a poor piece, and it doesn't disappoint. Taylor's central thesis is that players celebrate more on the field than they used to (because of money and fans, of course), and thus, nothing is cool anymore. It's kind of similar to an article he wrote six years ago that he has either forgotten about or never stopped thinking about. It's misguided, yet ridiculous, with a nice veneer of inaccuracy. In fact, browsing Taylor's archives, I find few things I agree with him on, but let's focus.

Taylor's first example of "cool"'s "death" is recent NBA champion Kevin Garnett, whose victory yelp of "Anything is possible!" after winning the NBA Finals apparently represented the death of coolness in Taylor's eyes. It did not represent the giddy exuberance of a player who plays as hard and intense as any other, one of the sport's all-time greats, a fellow who toiled on subpar teams for years, finally achieving a dream he's worked basically all his life for. Nope, it's just: not cool.

Taylor then criticizes easy targets like Joba Chamberlain, Vince Carter, and Chad Johnson for their antics. Here I'll give him some credit - there are definitely guys who do more showing off than is warranted, and I certainly respect players who handle victory with grace. But you can easily go to any era of sport and find guys whose on-field demeanors you didn't care for. Man-o-War, for one, was a total showboat. I refuse to be one of those fuddy-duddies picking on guys for getting excited during sports. You know why? Because I play sports, and not even at a high level, and sometimes I get pretty fucking excited. Am I "not cool" because I pumped my fist when I threw a game-winner in dodgeball last week? No. I am not cool for various other reasons, but not because I get a kick out of winning and sometimes express that. Why else would I play? And why do we expect these ultra-competitive guys to be such robots? I'll never understand this.

Where Taylor really loses me is some of the counterexamples he cites: Michael Jordan and Walt "Clyde" (or is it Clyde "Walt"? Or are they separate individuals?) Frazier, to name two. I'm not knocking Jordan as a player or leader, but if you're writing an article narrowly defining the word "cool" as "not celebrating athletic accomplishments," you can't have Jordan on your side. Consider his wild fist-pumping after that dumb shot he made against the Cavs, or his defiantly standing and yelling over two fallen Knicks in a playoff game. I'm not ripping on those displays - those were damn exciting moments and I would have been jacked up as well - I'm ripping on Taylor for just kinda glossing over well-known examples of this paragon of cool acting, what should be in Taylor's eyes, very uncool.

As for Frazier, have you seen that "Just for Men" ad he does with Keith Hernandez and Emmitt Smith? That's probably the least cool thing I've ever seen on television. In fact, drop the last two words from that previous sentence.

Later, he cites Magic Johnson's bear hug of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1980 as the beginning of the end for his weird definition of cool. OK, Phil, if you're using Kareem, owner of the dorkiest Rec-Specs in league history and, as Bill Simmons is fond of saying, a total "ninny," you've lost. You're done (though I enjoyed his work in Airplane). And you claim that of late "Cool became confused with Bland and Uninterested"? Please.

Taylor continues his quickly fading metaphor for a few more paragraphs (Ichiro is cool?), including an exaggeration about players who "feel the need to punctuate every accomplishment with an over-the-top celebration." Ugh.

It's also weird how sports is the only realm in which cool is allowed to exist. Aren't the Beastie Boys cool? Doesn't The Dark Knight look kinda cool? I hear Batman spikes the ball every time he scores a touchdown. Sorry, Phil Taylor, I'm just making fun now. But really, buddy, things are still cool. Sports are still cool, players are still cool, you and me are still cool. Let the boys have some fun.

Bonus SI feature! Responding to an article about soccer, some dude writes in and says that the reason the US doesn't care about soccer is that we're not very good internationally at it. Thus:

The US is not good at soccer
THEREFORE
US people do not like soccer

I would encourage this gentleman to look up "causation" and "correlation" in the dictionary or perhaps Wikipedia. In fact, we're not good precisely because we don't care! Ergo:

US people do not like soccer
THEREFORE
Not a lot of us play it
THEREFORE
The US is not good at soccer

(Wait, didn't we have some good World Cup showings? Didn't we topple Portugal and Mexico and make the quarters? Damn, if only I cared.)

The reason we don't care is that we have four way-better games (baseball, football, basketball, and hockey) that all our youth gravitiate to once they turn like eight, siphoning away all the soccer talent. Trust me, dude, if we cared, we'd be right up there.

Wanna know something weird? I cancelled my SI subscription like two months ago but it keeps coming, perhaps solely for blog fodder.

Givin' up

2008-07-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

The headline of the indians.com recap of tonight's Tribe game: "Lead disappears."

Basically, "Fuck it, no one's reading about these guys anymore."

All-stars past and present

2008-07-07T13:26:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to congratulate Cleveland Indians Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee for their election to the American League All-Star team. Taking into account both Cleveland's bottom-dwelling status in the standings, as well as fans' insatiable desire for electing red socks and yankees to the starting lineup, this is quite an achievement for Grady and Clifton. Go Tribe!

I'd also like to take a minute to appreciate the fine Cleveland career of CC Sabathia, who will be pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers for the remainder of 2008 and who-knows-where in 2009 and beyond. Sabathia was arguably the best Indians starting pitcher of my lifetime, giving the club a ton of high-quality innings during each of his eight seasons in a Tribe uniform. CC holds the team record for K/BB rate and has a career ERA+ of 115, including stellar back-to-back seasons of 140 and 143, the second of which netted him the 2007 AL Cy Young Award.

CC was also one of our guys, and even though production and value are the bottom line, you always tend to feel a little more strongly about players who were on your team for a long while. Along with a little-used bullpen extra man named Jake Westbrook, CC was the only Indian to appear on both the 2001 and 2007 playoff squads (Victor Martinez made his debut in 2002), posting an inflated 17-5 mark during his rookie season (with an ERA+ of just 102 - now that's run support!) and notching what would prove to be the Tribe's final postseason win until 2007 when...CC Sabathia earned another one against the NY Yankees.

It's true that Sabathia took longer than expected to fully develop into an ace - 2002 saw him post similar pitching numbers but the W-L naturally regressed to the mean as the Tribe embarked on a rebuilding campaign, while 2003 was a breakout season for C-Bath on a subpar club. The 2004-2005 seasons saw the big guy with the great stuff produce good-not-great numbers and a sometimes frustrating inability to string together consistent starts. He was very good, but Tribe fans knew he could be better.

And, in 2006 and 2007, he was indeed better, posting the aforementioned 140 and 143 ERA+ numbers and establishing himself as one of the AL's truly dominant pitchers. More than that, he produced an astounding number of puns and nicknames stemming from his generous build (The Hefty Lefty), punctuated first name (aCCe, CCy), and penchant for wearing his Chief Wahoo hat tilted to the side (the Crooked Cap).

So, FCF says goodbye to CC Sabathia and wishes him the best of luck in Milwaukee. The good news for Mr. Sabathia, in addition to gaining a real shot at this year's postseason: CC will now get to bat each time he takes the mound. Sabathia is well-known as a good-hitting pitcher and relishes his few opportunities in NL parks during Interleague each year; now he'll get to take his hacks every 5th day. Watch out, NL pitchers.

CC Sabathia career stats:
8 seasons
W-L 106-71
ERA+ 115
ERA 3.83
1.265 WHIP
19 complete games
7 shutouts
1527 2/3 innings
1265 strikeouts

(Batting stats, just for fun):
OPS+ 107
2 very long home runs

The beers of Progressive Field

2008-07-04T08:52:00.006-04:00

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

In honor of a great holiday during which to have a beer, I thought I'd unveil a little project of mine, where I've identified the locations of all the alcoholic beverages sold at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. Sure, a beer is always good at a ball game, but considering how the Indians' season has gone so far it may prove to be an essential for surviving games as the Tribe plays out the string.

I've collected data for the lower bowl (100 sections) and upper deck (500) sections - those of you Richie Riches who sit in the club seats are going to have to find your own white zinfandel and three-olive martini stands. Note also that the upper-deck information (500 sections) was taken from a weeknight game, and that none of the concession stands for sections <533 and >559 were open. Incidentally, this means quite a trek for Friends of the Feather in Section 504, but considering that they paid $8 to see a major-league baseball game, they shouldn't protest a little walk.

Beer prices
Pay attention here, because this is important. Beer is sold in three formats: 16 oz draft, 16 oz can, and 12 oz bottle. The price for a "domestic" draft (which is always Bud or Miller Light/Lite) is $6.75; the price for a "premium" draft (somehow this includes things like Labatt but also genuine premiums like Dortmunder) is $7.25. When you consider how far superior a beer like Dortmunder is to one of the American Lights (do they sell National Light in the NL?), not to mention the higher alcohol percentage, you're making a mistake getting a light draft unless you're in rehab or something.

Bottles follow a similar pricing scheme ($5 domestic, $5.75 premium), while all cans are watery, domestic beer, at $6.75 a pop, just like a draught.

Wine and mixed drinks are each $7 a piece - I can't vouch for the size because I sort of shuffled right past those places. Daiquiris are the park's priciest item at $9 a cocktail. No word on whether you get a little Chief Wahoo umbrella with them.

Beers by Section: the lites
Seriously, if you can't find Bud Light or Miller Lite in Progressive Field, there is something really wrong with you. Perhaps you're a Yankee fan. This section is mostly here for completeness' sake. A "c" means 16 oz can and "b" means 12 oz bottle - otherwise, we're talking draft beer. BE is the Batter's Eye bar in centerfield.

Miller Lite: BE, 108, 113c, 116b, 120, 134, 151, 154, 154, 158, 163, 172, 180, 186, 533, 546, 550c, 554, 559
Bud Light: BE, Gate C, 108, 108 (yep, twice), 116b, 155, 158, 162, 170, 172, 182, 541, 550c, 556

Oddly, I typed "186" here and by MGD in red text and I have no idea why. Ironically, I wasn't drinking either night I compiled these.

Beers by Section: actual beer
Amstel Light: BE, 113b
Beck’s: Gate C, 113b, 129, 170
Budweiser: BE, Gate C, 113c, 129, 550c
Coors Light (hey, I said actual beer - how'd you get here?): BEc, 185, 550c
Corona: BEb, 113b, 550b
Corona Light: 113b
Foster's: 113b, 550b
Great Lakes Dortmunder: BE, 116b, 163, 546, 550b
Great Lakes Eliot Ness, Burning River, Holy Moses: BE, 116b
Guinness: 113b
Heineken: BE, 113b, 550b
Honey Brown: 131, 164, 552
Labatt Blue: BEc, 113c, 131, 164, 172, 550c, 552
Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat: 158, 170
Leinenkugel Summer Shandy: 108
MGD: 186, 546
Molson: BE, 113b, 550b
Pabst Blue Ribbon, the greatest beer ever: Sadly, nowhere. Though recently when I went to a game, I had one in the elevator on my way down and dropped it off in my apartment complex's mailroom trash, where I gleefully discovered at least three other residents had already done the same.
Sun Dog: Gate C

Daiquiri: BE, 153
Mixed Drink: BE, 153
Wine: BE, 153

You may have noticed a couple of hot spots areound the park. We have, of course, the Batter's Eye Bar in centerfield, offering the widest selection of beverages in the park. There's also the Beers of the World stands in sections 113 and 550 and the Great Lakes microbrew in section 116. Of course, let's not forget Ladies' Night over in section 153. Don't even think twice about where to look for the fun-loving single girls in Progressive Field!

Enjoy the game, and always remember to drink responsibly, unless you're me and you live within walking distance of the stadium, in which case, drink until the Indians look like a good team.

Go Tribe!

Indians Break, Go America!

2008-07-03T22:53:00.005-04:00

Instead of my rambling on about the Indians season so far and their most recent disastrous series I want to wish you a happy 4th of July.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

As a small tidbit to tide you over, Mr. Sizemore now leads the league in HRs and is having a hell of a season. His absence from the All-Star Game will only be warranted because they weigh stupid fans' entries equally. I would hope the only 20/20 guy in the majors so far this year, hitting on this kind of team, would be recognized.

Go Tribe!

It's our first time broadcasting the Arena League

2008-06-30T21:42:00.002-04:00

I'm watching the Gladiators in their first-round playoff shootout with the Orlando Predators, which at the moment looks like a battle to see who ends up with the final possession, and had two comments about the broadcast:

1) A lot of the players and coaches are mic'ed - they have the game on a delay but ESPN's already looking at a substantial fine from the FCC if anyone's watching. Um...you know pro athletes are going to drop a lot of F-bombs, right?

2) Was that really necessary to show that montage of Cleveland teams losing in the playoffs? What was the point of that? I hate you, ESPN.

Boy these series just fly by

2008-06-30T19:41:00.003-04:00

We're not yet to the dog days of summer. Sure, the Indians aren't playing for much right now except my occasional enjoyment. The Browns' camp has started yet. The LeBron to the New Jersey Nets talk has started but I don't write about basketball. So we're left with what the Erie Warriors give us. Unfortunately that was another miserable series against the Reds.

Now a lot of Indians fans may not like the Reds. This isn't Chicago where the two team are separated by a mere eight miles; this is two cities barely in the same state at a distance of 281 miles. I've never really hated the Reds. Actually I've thought of them as my NL team really. I know what you're think. Until recently I looked at the hapless Reds and thought how cute it was that they kept trying so hard. In the days of the horribly stupid Jim Bowden (now guiding the always-hapless Nationals) I thought this team was doomed. As soon as they got a new owner I thought things would change. Well that hasn't happened completely yet, but the Reds certainly had our number this year.

So what do we have to show for the three-game series at home against the last place team in the NL Central? A 6-0 win courtesy of C.C. "I'm still pitching so my grandkids can enjoy their autumn years" Sabathia and Grady "How long will I need to carry this team" Sizemore. An 0-5 loss that obviously made up for the previous game's lopsidedness. And finally, a 5-9 beat-down that obviously wasn't Laffey's finest outing of the year.

So what's on the horizon for the Tribe? Well, Mastny got called up after a nice time in AAA. I suspect he'll see more time on the mound this time around now that any resemblance of a Circle of Trust does not exist. Oh and the Tribe are about to start a series in Swirling Garbage Field. If you've never been there I don't recommend it. This road trip has the Indians visiting the Pale Hoes, the Twinkies, and the Motor City Kitties. Now despite those names, all of these teams are playing better baseball than the Tribe right now. The feeling is that if this road trip is a disaster, and it very well could be, then the calls about a certain large left handed pitcher will be taken much more seriously.

Not even going to pun on the name "Uggla"

2008-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

I read an article in Sports Illustrated about Dan Uggla, the free-swinging Marlins 2nd-baseman who, according to the article, is a pretty easygoing country boy who doesn't put too much stock in overanalyzing the game - he sort of just goes out there and hits. Kind of like Manny Ramirez, only perhaps less wackier. This, I have no problem with. Go Dan Uggla!

But the SI author, Michael Farber, somehow conflates Uggla's personality and approach to the game with the whole modern-stats-analysis vs. old-time-baseball-wisdom argument. He writes that Uggla is "a dinosaur in this age of IsoP and the rest of the sabermetric alphabet" and that Uggla's "see-the-ball-hit-the-ball" approach should "delight non-seamheads." Ugh. I could see this out of some hack blogger, but you're writing a feature piece for America's flagship sports magazine, Mike! How can you know this little about statistics and the men who love them?

First off, why are so many traditional media writers so afraid of numbers that require more than one operation to calculate? You're professionals - adapt to the new knowledge, incorporate it, retain your old salty wisdom and writing skills, and you'll be an even better writer who won't have to say silly things like "sabermetric alphabet." It's fascinating to me how professional baseball writers have, almost to a man, fled from this Sabermetric Godzilla.

Second, Uggla's non-cerebral approach at the plate (though he continues to improve his walk rate, which the article completely glosses over) is irrelevant to those who look at numbers. You think Baseball Prospectus' crew looks at Manny Ramirez's career OPS+ of 154 and gives a fuck that he's a goofball on and off the field? It's more the traditional fan who cares about that stuff. Likewise, a non-stats-valuing fan is more likely to undervalue Uggla, a player who strikes out a lot and hits a lot of home runs, and overvalue some guy with no power who doesn't walk but hits .310 and can be described as "scrappy." It's actually the sabermetricians who first tapped into the hidden value of slugging percentage and the not-so-badness of the K.

Finally, and most importantly, even if you had never once even seen baseball and didn't know anything about the players Uggla is supposedly a throwback to, you could look at his baseball-reference page for like five seconds and conclude that he is, in fact awesome. The dude ranks 4th in the league in OPS and is slugging .632, AND plays second base! That's phenomenal! Your average "seamhead" doesn't care at all that he strikes out a lot, or is absent-minded, or whatever. He's just a great hitter, and this is lazy writing by Farber by somehow inferring that baseball fans who look deep into the numbers wouldn't love this guy. He seems pretty cool to me both as a fun guy to watch and a really productive hitter, even though I despise the Marlins. Come on, Mikey, if you're going to take shots at us fancy-pants numbers guys, at least try to understand instead of churning out this silliness.

Ouch!

2008-06-27T18:48:00.005-04:00

If you haven't heard your Cleveland Indians are mired in last place. Yes, the team I had hoped would win 99 games is in last place in the AL Central. At least we're currently tied with the KC Royals.

The Indians look nothing like the team from last season. You realize with a bullpen that has imploded, Victor on the DL, and Fausto still nursing a sore hip, this team has lost something. Not only have I personally closed the book on this season, but you have to start questioning the Tribe's future.

But we'll have all off-season to do that so let's just live in the now. OK, maybe not the now, but how about the near future.

The Tribe dropped two of three at home to the San Francisco Omar's. Unfortunately one of those losses was to 11-game loser Barry Zito. Either way the Tribe didn't do a heck of a lot. Now we could discuss such plans like actually playing Andy Marte or sitting Garko, but the Tribe management is going to do whatever they feel is right. Remember down the stretch last year how it seemed like everything Wedge did was right? Well, nothing the man does is either surprising or seemingly effective right now. That's not to say he hasn't tried or that he has a lot to work with. Anyway Lee pitched his 11th win yesterday, imagine where this team would be without him this year.

Anyway, the Reds are in town. After being swept in the 'Nati the other Ohio team graces the North Shore for a three-game set. The Reds come to town with one more loss than the Tribe but the same number of wins, if you don't know how many I don't want to tell you.

C.C. takes the hill today in what could be his last start in a Tribe uniform. Well, I could probably write that about every start from here to July 31 or until he actually gets traded. Supposedly the Tribe is going to make one more push to sign him even though he didn't want to talk mid-season. Now all the Tribe can do is wait if two 1st round picks are worth more than the prospects offered by the buyers.

Hey, there is a lot of Tribe baseball left to play.

Go Tribe!

The games I'd most like to attend

2008-06-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

I've seen a few articles recently where writers have selected the best games ever, the best they've personally viewed, or the historical games they would most like to attend if time travel was possible other than via relativistic speeds. The first I saw was Bill Simmons picking his top three a while back - I can't find the link, but I remember one of them was a boxing match so, thanks for the good idea at least, I guess. Sports Illustrated's writers have been recapping the best game each of them ever saw (more on this in a future article), and The Hornless Rhino of the Cleveland Fan recently brought it home, picking his top three Cleveland sports moments. Am I going to do the same? You bet. I'd like to extend an offer to my co-writers to add theirs as well, and readers can include their picks via comments. I'm actually going to make two lists: 1) three general, historical games, and 2) one game each from the four major Ohio teams we cover here on the site.

As an aside, since the Pittsburgh Penguins are an important team to me, I'd put their instant-classic triple-overtime win over Detroit in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals on my personal teams' list if it were appropriate for this blog, just a shade ahead of the Darius Kasparaitis game-winner to topple Buffalo in OT in 2001.

Neither list is in any particular order, and both focus on more recent years because I'm a more recent person. here we go!

The Ohio sports games I'd most like to attend

Indians: 1995 ALDS, Game 1, vs Boston
I'm going to go with the Tony Pena game in '95, a 5-4 victory over Boston where the Tribe catcher won the Indians' first playoff game in 41 years with a 13th-inning home run. The Tribe had some other great playoff moments in the '90s (Sandy Alomar's HR, Kenny Lofton scoring from 2nd on a passed ball) as well as some regular-season magic (most notably, The Impossible Return) but this one announced that this was a franchise reborn that had fully realized their return to prominence. It had everything - Roger Clemens vs Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez on the mound, a three-run Tribe rally to take the lead in the 6th, Boston battling back in the 8th, and the Socks taking the lead in the 11th but Albert Belle tying it right back up with a solo shot. And of course, extra-inning walk-off HR's are always a beautiful thing, even from a team that made them routine like the '95 Tribe did. As a younger fellow with high school to attend the next day, I did not see the end of this game - given the chance to be at the game in person, I most certainly would.

Cavs: 2007 East Finals, Game 5, at Detroit
Without question the greatest moment in Cavs franchise history took place just over a year ago, as the Cavs rode LeBron James' 48 points to a 109-107 double-OT win in Detroit. This is the best individual performance I've ever seen in any sport, as LeBron scored the Cavaliers' final 25 points and 29 of their last 30 on an array of dazzling and often flatly ridiculous shots. What's more, it put the Cavs on top in the East Finals for good, as they clinched their first and only trip to the NBA Finals at home in the next game, courtesy of Detroit's total meltdown. Game 5 was a thrilling win and a superlative performance by the King - I would love to have been there slack-jawed with the rest of the crowd watching LeBron take the vaunted Pistons D 1-on-5 time and time again.

Ohio State: 2002 Fiesta Bowl, vs Miami
I guess I have a thing for double-overtime games. I know this game took place in 2003, but it was the 2002 season, so I'm marking it as such. The undefeated, #2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes went down to Arizona and knocked off the heavily-favored, undefeated, #1-ranked Miami Hurricanes to claim the national title in one of the best college football games ever played, a 31-24, double-OT decision in favor of the Buckeyes. So much to like in this one - Maurice Clarett's strip of Sean Taylor, Miami's last-second game-tying FG, QB Craig Krenzel's sneak into the end zone, the correctly officiated pass interference call, Kellen Winslow's unstoppability, the see-saw battle, and Cie Grant (a New Philadelphian like JHH and I, though his stupid Wikipedia entry says Dover because that's where our hospital is. Extended digression: I would edit my own Wiki if I was famous to remove any mention of Dover. OK, done.) harassing Ken Dorsey into throwing the ball away on the game's final play.

On a personal note, I watched this at JHH's place where we had a musical salsa-dispensing container (it's the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, remember?) and enough beer to last four quarters, thus necessitating an overtime raid of his dad's fridge for Beast Light. Tremendous.

Browns: 1993, vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The only regular-season game on the list is at least partially a reflection of the Browns' lack of playoff success over the past 40 years. I could have gone with the playoff win over Buffalo, as the Hornless Rhino did, or one of the Tim Couch miracles I wrote about before, but I chose Eric Metcalf's two punt returns to beat the Steelers in Cleveland, 28-23, back in '93.

This game evoked shades of the Browns' absurd first win in Pittsburgh during the '99 expansion year, with the Browns seriously outgained and outplayed but pulling out the win nonetheless. (It also evokes the 2007 Browns-Steelers game in Pittsburgh, replacing Metcalf with Cribbs and the win with another fucking loss.) Metcalf had already taken a punt back 90 yards earlier, so the Steelers wisely kicked to him again in Billickesque fashion. Metcalf streaked up the sidelines 75 yards and with two minutes remaining the Browns had a lead they wouldn't relinquish. I remember watching this as a little kid and perhaps not realizing how amazing the feat was - today's version surely would appreciate its glory.

General sports
I think for inclusion on any fan's list, a game should have some historical importance (sometime later I'll quibble with some of the weaker SI writer picks on this basis), and we all know the only way to measure that is by whether or not it has a Wikipedia entry. In my case, the first two both do, under their popular nickname. The third sort-of does, but it also has a YouTube video where a guy reconstructed it using RBI Baseball as well as a Seinfeld where it figures in the plot, both of which I would argue are of greater significance. On to the list.

1980 Olympic Hockey Semifinals, US vs USSR
You might know this one better as the Miracle on Ice, perhaps? Everyone knows the name of the game and the teams who played - fewer know that the final was 4-3 in favor of the good guys and that it was not, in fact, the gold medal game (the US claimed gold in their next game, a win over Sweden). What you do know is that the US was a gigantic underdog against the semi-pro Russian Hockey Machine, that coach Kurt Russell pulled together a bunch of scrappy amateurs to fill out his rosters, and that Al Michaels's famous end-of-game call will show up in every Great-Moments-in-Sports montage until the end of time. USA! USA! USA!

1993 AFC Wild-Card game, Buffalo vs Houston
Some call this "The Comeback" - I like to call it "The Frank Reich Game" - whatever you want to call it, this is one of the most intriguing and unusual games in NFL history. I picked in in part simply because it's a great game and Reich's career-defining relief appearance makes for a great story, but also because I like to imagine actually being there, which is part of my selection criteria. I saw this recently on TV, and the game and the crowd's reaction to it gave me goosebumps.

You watch the first half, and you notice that the Bills look totaly outclassed by the Oilers, falling behind 35-3 early in the 3rd quarter. The fans are almost totally silent, stunned, yet none of them leave.

Finally, Buffalo finally gets a third-quarter TD, and the fans take some solace in that. ("Hey, at least we're not getting totally embarrassed.")

Reich throws a TD pass - a little warmth spreads through the crowd. ("We're making things respectable at lease")

Reich throws another TD pass. ("Hey, are you guys watching this? We're only down 11!")

Reich throws another TD pass - fans are crazy at this point. I've never seen such electricity in a crowd. ("We're fucking winning this game, I'm telling you man.")

Reich throws his 4th and final score with 3:08 left, and the fans go berserk. ("I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU!!!") The greatest comeback in history is completed...

Except it's not, as Warren Moon emerges from his coma to lead the Oilers to a game-tying FG to send it to OT. A Buffalo interception in the extra stanza and a short drive led to Steve Christie's field goal and secured the 41-38 win for the Bills and etched their name in football history. Listen to me talk about this game like I'm some fan - I don't even like the Buffaloes!

1986 World Series, Game 6, New York Mets vs Boston Red Sox
The previous two entries featured great crowds almost unable to believe what they were seeing, and this thrilling 6-5 come-from-behind victory (I like comebacks as much as I like extra innings/overtime) is no exception - listen how the fans get increasingly excited behind Vin Scully's call on the RBI Baseball video (linked above). It's amazing how many things had to go right for the Mets to pull this out - sure, everyone remembers Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's weak ground ball, but it shouldn't have even come to that.

Consider: the socks (who, oddly, appear in this post twice) led by two runs in the 10th inning and the first two Met batters were quickly retired. How often would any team win such a scenario? 1 in 250, maybe? Yet the Mets strung together three straight singles, tied the game on a wild pitch (listen to that crowd!), and won improbably on the famous Buckner play. What a game. That they would go on to take Game 7 seems now like a foregone conclusion, as asking the red socks to recover from such a devastating loss was just too much, though they did manage a 3-0 lead in Game 7 before losing.

So, there you have the games I would most like to attend, given a time machine and absolutely no sense of priority or responsibility on how to best use it other than attend sporting events. Your thoughts?

It might be a little early but...

2008-06-24T16:32:00.007-04:00

I can't stop thinking about the upcoming football season. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball. But (especially with the Tribe slipping out of contention) nothing compares to the gridiron. I'll let our resident Dawg Pound experts take care of the Brownies, I'm here to talk college with a Buckeye preview.

Last Season
Last year's outstanding 11-2, Big Ten-winning season ended on an uber down note with a 38-24 thumping at the hands of LSU in the BCS National Championship...again.

Off-season
At the end of the season, with the bitter taste of defeat still in the mouths of Buckeye players, things looked like they were going from bad to worse. Two-time All American Linebacker James Laurinaitis, monster DE Vernon Gholston, LB Marcus Freeman, big-play wideout Brian Robiskie, and shutdown corner Malcolm Jenkins were all thinking of going pro. In a move that shocked just about everybody, Laurinaitis decided to return, and Freeman, Jenkins and Robiskie followed suit. Gholston was the only one that went to the NFL, and although his loss certainly hurts OSU, they have a lot of depth at that position. Oh yeah, and we also picked up a guy named Terrelle Pryor, who appeared to be bound for Ann Arbor (she's still a whore) after Rich Rodriguez came aboard. Pryor decided differently, however, making the right choice and coming to the Buckeye state. Ohio St also landed two top OL's, Michael Brewster (6'5, 300) and Mike Adams (6'8, 310).

This Season
Ohio St appears to be one of the most loaded teams in the nation, returning 18 starters, pre-season Heisman candidate Chris Wells, and reigning Butkus award winner Laurinaitis. Looking at the schedule, the obvious game that jumps out at you is the Sept. 13 showdown at USC. Most pre-season polls have both OSU and USC in their top 5. It's not a stretch to think that this could be a #1 vs #2 match up, something Ohio St is certainly no stranger to (games versus Texas, Florida, Michigan, and LSU in the last two years). If Ohio St can notch a W in that contest, we could yet again be BCS Championship bound. No other non-conference opponents (Youngstown St, Ohio, Troy) pose a threat, and the Big Ten has seen better days. With Michigan in a somewhat rebuilding stage, a date in Camp Randall against rival Wisconsin on Oct. 4 is certainly the toughest test. Iowa is not on the schedule, and Penn St comes to the Shoe, so not too much to worry about there. At Illinois on Nov. 15 is the only other scare, but the Bucks will have revenge on their minds in that one. Lets take a look at how the OSU roster is shaping up.

Offense
Apparently an All Big Ten season from Todd Boeckman wasn't enough for some fans, as many are calling for Pryor to start. I'm gonna settle this once and for all, and not talk about it again. TODD BOECKMAN IS OHIO STATE'S QUARTERBACK. The man threw 25 touchdowns last year - give the guy a break. He does make some bad decisions, and will need to cut back on those and learn to take a sack here and there, Craig Krenzel style. Boeckman will certainly have weapons, as every player that caught more than 3 passes from last year's team are coming back, including pre-season All Big Ten Brian Robiskie. Brian Hartline, Ray Small, and Dane Sanzenbacher are all solid options, as are dual TE threats Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard. The line should be one of the nation's best. Alex Boone is a possible All American, and Steve Rehring, Jim Cordle, and Ben Person are all returning starters from a line that was very good last year. And of course lets not forget Erie's own McDowell grad Kyle Mitchum, still buried on the bench five years later. Here's to hoping for some PT this year for Mitch. Of course the highlight of the offense is Heisman candidate Chris "Beanie" Wells, who rushed for 1,600 yards and 15 TDs last season. Veterans Maurice Wells and Brandon (in)Saine are solid backups and good change of pace backs. The enigma of the offense will center around newcomer Pryor. No, he will not start, but he will certainly see the field. I would like to see him used Tim Tebow-ish like Florida did two years ago. Even better, Pryor is more versatile then Tebow. We can put him in the slot or in the backfield with Boeckman. Watching Pryor this season will be interesting, and I'm anxious to see how Tressel plays his wild card.

Defense/Special Teams
The defense is absolutely stacked, returning nine starters from a team that held opponents to 83 yards on the ground and 2.5 yards per carry last season. Gholston left school early, but three starters return on the line, and Lawrence Wilson was slotted to start last season but was sidelined for the year with an injury. The linebackers will be outstanding, led by Laurinaitis and Freeman. Senior Curtis Terry will fill in for the graduated Larry Grant. The secondary has all four starters back, with Malcolm Jenkins sure to take home some hardware at seasons end. Both 29-year-old Kicker Ryan Pretorious and Punter A.J. Trapasso are back after solid Junior seasons.

Outlook
This team has a ton of talent, star power, and one of the best coaches in the game. I obviously expect big things. If the past is any indicator, we're looking at a great regular season, a Big Ten title, and an embarrassing show in the Championship to an SEC team (I hear Georgia's supposed to be good this year, maybe it'll be their turn). I would like to say there's no way Tressel would let something like that happen again, but I also said that last year. I guess only time will tell...

Baby Steps

2008-06-24T14:30:00.000-04:00

The NBA Draft is this Thursday, and the Cavaliers hold the 19th overall pick. Naturally, there has been a fair amount of speculation as to who the Cavs should choose with said selection. Should Danny Ferry draft a center like Roy Hibbert, a wing player like Brandon Rush, or look for that elusive point guard in a player like Mario Chalmers or Ty Lawson? Then again, the Cavs could just draft the best player available, if a player they hold in high regard really starts to slide.

As the owners of an aging front court and a club still faced with the absence of a second scorer, the Cavs obviously won't be able to plug every hole with that 19th pick. That said, they want to do their best to plug one of them. To get a relative feel for the kind of talent that may be available when the Cavaliers are on the clock, let's take a look at picks 18-20 in the last 5 drafts.

2003: David West (18), Sasha Pavlovic (19), Dahntay Jones (20)

2004: JR Smith, Dorell Wright, Jameer Nelson

2005: Gerald Green, Hakim Warrick, Julius Hodge

2006: Oleksiy Pecherov, Quincy Douby, Renaldo Balkman

2007: Marco Belinelli, Javaris Crittenton, Jason Smith

That's an awfully mixed bag. The standout of the bunch is clearly David West, who along with Chris Paul fueled the New Orleans Hornets' return to prominence this season, but there aren't any stars outside of West. Jameer Nelson is a solid starter, JR Smith and Hakim Warrick have been productive, and Cleveland's Sasha Pavlovic hasn't proven to be more than a depth player.

While we need to acknowledge that all of these players are still young enough for their figurative lights to turn on, it's also clear that the recent success rate of players in the vicinity of where the Cavs are drafting (middle-late first round) has hardly been overwhelming. Then again, that's the nature of the NBA draft: it's often very hit-or-miss. The teams who are able to strike gold with late picks tend to compete for a long time (e.g. Spurs). As LeBron James' contract year inches ever closer, the stakes are heightened; win now, or risk the gut-wrenching exodus of King James.

The Cavaliers' draft problems are well-documented, and with the exceptions of a no-brainer first overall pick (the aforementioned LBJ) and a couple of second round gems (Daniel Gibson, Utah's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named), the Cavs have been magnificently impotent in recent drafts. Granted, Danny Ferry has had only one first round pick (former Cavalier Shannon Brown) in spite of overseeing three drafts -- thank you, Jim Paxson. As we've established, the draft alone can't alleviate all of the Cavaliers' deficiences, which is where the club's roughly eleventy billion dollars in expiring contracts come into play. In a way, the Cavaliers' expected yield from that expiring cash may dictate their draft strategy.

As TCF writer Benjamin Cox expertly outlined back in April, the possibility of a trade to lasso LeBron a legitimate running mate is very real. With so much expiring money, the Cavs can try to follow the Lakers' example by acquiring something (in this case, Pau Gasol) for nothing (Kwame Brown's expiring contract).

The possibility of an off-season trade could affect Danny Ferry's draft strategy. These playoffs made one thing clear: above all else, the Cavaliers need an infusion of talent. Although they fought valiantly and, quite frankly, overachieved, anyone who thought the Cavs really had the horses to beat a team like Boston was kidding themselves. Danny Ferry's goal should be to wrangle the most talented player available, not make a need-based selection. When Cleveland goes on the clock, Ferry should aim to draft the best player available if there is one player the Cavs consider clearly superior to the available alternatives. However, if no player is unmistakably above the rest, Ferry's decision becomes more taxing.

A summer trade of some capacity appears imminent, and the Cavs need to decide whether a trade for a low post presence or a guard/wing player appears more likely. If Ferry and company believe it to be most likely that they can land a scoring guard like Michael Redd, then they should spend their draft pick on a big man like Roy Hibbert or Kosta Koufos. If it seems more likely that a big man like Elton Brand or Jermaine O'Neal will end up in Wine & Gold, then the Cavs should go the guard/wing player route on draft day. Stated bluntly, if there is no clear "best player available," then the Cavs should attempt to plug as many holes as possible.

As someone who doesn't watch oodles of college hoops (sure, I try to catch the Buckeyes when they're nationally broadcast, but beyond that, wake me up for the tournament), I try to be wary of too much armchair general managing (is there such a thing?) on draft day. With that in mind, I am still a bit wary of the center/power forward options that may be available with that number 19 pick. Rookie big men tend to be very raw, and even a singular talent like Dwight Howard took time to develop his offensive game. With such a low pick, the Cavs would not be drafting a polished post player, and it's likely that they would be drafting a project. With the task of "win now to keep LeBron" so evident, the Cavs may hesitate to commit the time that will be necessary to properly develop a young center or power forward.

Then again, the majority of the Cleveland front court will be eligible for AARP membership in the not-so-distant future. Zydrunas Ilgauskas has a player option for the '09-'10 season and may soon retire, and Joe Smith is in the last year of his deal and makes enough money that his expiring contract may be traded. Ben Wallace will be 34 when the season begins, has chronic back problems, and will likely be dealt before or during the '09-'10 season when he will account for $14 million worth of expiring money. Sure, Anderson Varejao is young, but he essentially has an expiring contract worth nearly $6 million, and I'm willing to bet an appendage (my left leg, so I can get a peg leg if I lose the wager) he will decline his '09-'10 player option. A/V is a non-factor on offense, and is not on the best terms with the front office, making it entirely plausible that Varejao could be traded this off-season. If he isn't traded this summer, it would be shocking to see A/V wear Wine & Gold past next February's trade deadline. Sooner or later, the Cavs will have to get younger up front.

This off-season and the next two seasons leading into LeBron James' option year will be a crucial journey. Regardless of the choice he makes, Danny Ferry won't be able to cure what ails the Cavaliers through this draft alone. But even if the 19th pick isn't a magic potion, nabbing a solid contributor would make Ferry's job much easier down the road, and it would be a solid first step in what the Cavs surely hope will be a defining off-season. While such a low pick is less likely to yield a quality player than it is a fizzle -- NBA drafts are always chock full of them -- the teams that stay competitive for the long-term tend to find solid contributors outside of the lottery picks. If the Cavs are to succeed in their goals of staying consistently competitive, retaining LeBron James, and ultimately bringing home the Larry O'Brien Trophy, a quality draft pick would be a great first step.

Playoff time for the Gladiators

2008-06-23T09:03:00.001-04:00

Congratulations are in order for the AFL's Cleveland Gladiators, who clinched a playoff spot in their first season in the league with a 47-35 win over in-state rival Columbus on Saturday night.

After a disastrous 2-14 campaign last year in Las Vegas, the franchise relocated to Cleveland under new management (including Cleveland hero Bernie Kosar) and with some new key players, including free agents QB Raymond Philyaw and WR Otis Amey. Drawing solid crowds and playing exciting, high-scoring football, Cleveland notched a 9-7 record in the far superior National Conference (American Conference teams went 6-10 and qualified for the playoffs) and secured a playoff berth. Even better is that the club got some help this weekend; losses by intraconference rivals New Orleans and New York mean that the Gladiators will open the postseason at home, where they are 6-2 on the year.

FCF tips its cap to the Gladiators and wishes them luck in the playoffs. Their divisional playoff game is Monday, June 30, at the Q.