SB Nation User Blog: ploni

$hame on You, MLB!

ploni — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:55:01 -0000

"Alex Rodriguez makes more this year than his hometown Florida Marlins."

-- Associated Press story, April 1, 2008

This is pathetic, a travesty, a continuing fraud, a mockery, a duplicity, and a deceit.

After steroids, HGH, PEDs, corked bats, Who-Knows-What-Else? and now this, it's time to seriously analyze my MLB loyalties.

This is a shame.

Tribe Signs Casey Blake

ploni — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:40:03 -0000

Here's the Plain Dealer's report:

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2008/02/indians_sign_casey_blake_to_on.html

What I want to add is:

My wish for the Tribe is to be able to pull every bit of talent out of every player as well as they have pulled the talent out of Casey Blake.

Like his RISP numbers or not, you've got to admit that Blake has been a workhorse for the Tribe these past five years, a solid player and a good teammate. He has certainly helped form the gritty complexion of this team and I assume that's what's he's cashing in on with this, his largest contract.

Point by Point: Anderson vs. Quinn

ploni — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:15:36 -0000

What I've seen from Anderson is this:

He has a helluva arm.
He is impulsive in his choice of throws and is poor in his ability to read defensive coverages, particularly the positioning of safeties.
He throws on average more than one interception per game and is especially prone to be intercepted on the road.
He plays poorly early in games and seems often to be motivated by game pressure.
He does not run much or run well.
He lacks finesse; he seems to throw much too hard, inaccurately, and without "touch" to receivers and backs on shorter routes.
He has excellent rapport with teammates, particularly the receivers.
He is young.
In theory, he overall fits well with the team's offensive strategy. In actuality, however, he is lacking in its execution.

Question:

Referring to the above and assuming for a moment that Anderson is either traded, signed away, or injured next season, what might we expect, point by point above, from Brady Quinn as a starter next year?

Jason Grim[sley]

ploni — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:53:25 -0000

Stealing Joey's punked bat. Doping up. Ratting on fellow players.

Jason Grimsley* had some kind of major-league career, didn't he?

* On-Field Antics: W42-L58, 4.77 ERA, 1.55 WHIP

Schilling to Clemens: Give Back Your Cy Youngs, Roger!

ploni — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:37:16 -0000

From 38 Pitches: Curt Schilling's Official Blog:

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. I know both of these men. Roger had a profound effect on my career from a very early point. His `undressing' of me and lecture were a major turning point. I've always respected his career accomplishments and regarded him as the greatest pitcher to ever play the game.

Now I, like every other Yankee, Clemens fan am faced with a dilemma. The two men that fingered multiple players, from my understanding, both testified with immunity, but only if they told the truth. So these guys had every reason in the world to NOT lie. That doesn't mean they didn't, but there is an immense amount of incentive for them to NOT lie when they gave their depositions because lying would have seen them open to legal actions beyond what they are already facing.

So the question to me then becomes this. It's no mystery that Roger and Andy are as close as any two teammates I know of. Andy makes no bones about Rogers influence in his career. Their personal trainer, the trainer Roger took to Toronto, then to NY, has admitted to administering PED's to both men. Andy has admitted he did, and that it was a mistake and he never did it again. Roger has denied every allegation brought to the table. So as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared. If he doesn't do that then there aren't many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using PED's. Just like I stated about Jose, if that is the case with Roger, the 4 Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations.

1898 "Special Instructions to Players"

ploni — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:12:57 -0000

The Web site BoingBoing.net today presents professional baseball's very eye-opening 1898 "Special Instructions to Players" document that's possibly up for auction through the Robert Edward Auctions house.

Self-explanatory, boingboing.net's story can be viewed here and Robert Edward Auctions' link (with viewable image) here.

WARNING: Just make sure small children, grandmothers, and persons with heart conditions aren't present within 20 feet of your monitor.

Yahoo! Sports Writer Picks Tribe Manager

ploni — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:43:30 -0000

Eric Wedge should be the 2007 American League Manager of the Year, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports in a column today.

Justifying his choice, Brown cites Wedge's numerous season-long personnel and strategy moves--including benching infielder Josh Barfield, inserting Rafel Perez in the bullpen, and being "move level" in his own managerial approach--that proved to be the difference in the team's 2007 performance.

As Brown summed it up: In 2007, the "Indians came to play."

Who's Untouchable?

ploni — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:40:07 -0000

It's almost the All-Star break and it'll soon be getting down to the trading deadline. The Tribe is seriously in the race for the Central division. But as we all know, there are some parts of our team that must be fixed.

Acknowledging for a moment that those pieces are going to come through trades, who in the organization is absolutely, positively, without-a-question unavailable . . . that is, untouchable?

Nineteen Ways to Score from Third Base

ploni — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:43:39 -0000

I remember hearing once about the nineteen ways a runner can score from third base: base hit, sacrifice fly, wild pitch, passed ball, stolen base, . . . but I can't seem to recall the others.

I don't remember the source and my search online at baseball-almanac.com and other sites came up short. Is this total correct? Has anyone else heard of this? Can you guys help me finish this list?

Blake named AL Player of the Week

ploni — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:57:51 -0000

Posted on cleveland.com by Paul Hoynes, May 29, 2007 13:53PM

BOSTON -- Indians third baseman Casey Blake is the American League Player of the Week.

Blake hit .347 (8-for-23) with four homers and eight RBI. He scored eight runs and hit three doubles and one triple.

He's hit in 18 of his last 20 games, batting .347 (26-for-75) over that stretch.

The versatile Blake has started five games at first, seven in right field and 33 at third. He's hit second (25 starts), fourth (one), fifth (seven), sixth (six), seventh (one) and eighth (one) in the lineup.

Blake took over third base when Andy Marte was injured in April and has solidified the No.2 spot in manager Eric Wedge's lineup.