Beanpot Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Just a few things as the boys enter the bottom of the 8th in search of their first win. Massie notes that LaPorta was hurt last night. Doesn't sound serious but he wasn't in the lineup today. Clippers lost 5-1 while Brantley, Hodges and Marte each had two hits: LaPorta's injury caps Clippers' tough day Sunday, April 12, 2009 3:26 AM By Jim Massie THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Cleveland Indians dropped the first brick into the organizational pool late Friday by purchasing the contract of Clippers reliever Vinnie Chulk. The ripple effect hit the Clippers during a 5-1, 5-4 doubleheader loss to the Louisville Bats last night at Slugger Field in which outfielder Matt LaPorta left the second game in the fifth inning because of a strain to his right ribcage. "I'm all right," LaPorta said. "The first at-bat of the first game, I just felt a little something. I just tried to play as long as I could. Hopefully, (today) I'll be better." A lingering injury to LaPorta, who tripled, singled and made a diving catch in right field in the first game, would be a tidal wave. As it was, the day had enough disruptions. With Chulk taking the roster spot of injured Indians starter Scott Lewis, a chance might exist for another Clippers pitcher as soon as Lewis' turn in the rotation comes around next week. Then again, the Tribe could plug long reliever Zach Jackson into the rotation. The plan apparently isn't settled. Even so, Aaron Laffey wanted to pitch better than he did in the first game. The last starter cut by the Indians in spring training, Laffey allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings. Manager Torey Lovullo pulled him after the Bats scored four times in the fourth inning. "He was a little erratic with his fastball," Lovullo said. "He's a sinkerball guy that needs to work to the bottom of the zone. For the first outing of the season, I thought he did a real strong job." Bats starter Matt Maloney (1-0) proved a little stronger. He changed speeds and appeared to keep the Clippers off balance while pitching a complete game. Two double plays helped him face the minimum 12 hitters through the first four innings. After LaPorta and Michael Aubrey touched him for back-to-back triples in the fifth inning, Maloney set down the next three hitters to end the threat as well as any chance the Clippers had to come back. "We left a man at third base with no outs there and I think that was a big boost for (Maloney) to come away 5-1 instead of 5-2," Lovullo said. "Then he got rolling. He changed speeds and he throws his fastball downhill. It's really hard to pinpoint that." In the second game, Tomo Ohka came out of the bullpen to give Lovullo six solid innings. He left with the score tied 4-4, but the Clippers couldn't convert scoring opportunities in the fifth and seventh innings. Chris Gimenez was thrown out at the plate in the fifth, and Andy Marte and Gimenez struck out in the seventh with runners on first and second. Wilson Valdez also was picked off twice. "Fundamentally, we broke down a little bit in the second game and that cost us," Lovullo said. "Ohka did a great job. We're very short with Chulk getting called up. Because of that we're happy with what Ohka did." Lovullo probably won't know who will replace Chulk on his roster until today at the earliest. He thinks that his players understand that opportunities to reach Cleveland will come when they come. "I think they realize, at some point, if they're throwing the ball well, they will have an opportunity to go to the big leagues," Lovullo said. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/conte...BM.html?sid=101 Neat story in the PD about opening day: Cleveland Indians' home openers can be unforgettable Opening Day can be unforgettable, even when weather is miserable Saturday, April 11, 2009 Bill Lubinger Plain Dealer Reporter Without fail, said Rick Manning, Indians broad caster and the team's former center fielder, some 60,000 fans flocked to old Municipal Stadium for Opening Day. And the next game would draw 3,000 stragglers. The home opener in Cleveland is about so much more than baseball. "Here comes the spring, here comes the warm weather," he said, "and the soap opera begins." Opening Day marks time. It leaves memories. And it brings people together. The wily veteran They don't make many Indians fans as loyal or durable as Dorothy Maryanski. She buys a 20-game package every year, drives her red '99 Ford Ranger from Parma to the Brookpark Road rapid station, takes the train to Tower City and walks to the ballpark - by herself. She'll be 89 in May. Maryanski goes to games solo, she said, because she doesn't want to have to baby-sit old folks. That and because baseball has always been a huge part of her life. She was 4 or 5 when she first watched her father play pro ball. Dale Gear pitched and played first base for the old Cleveland Spiders in 1896-97. He later played for the Washington Senators and managed and served as president of two minor leagues by the time he was through with baseball. From the sound of it, Maryanski won't ever have her fill of the game. Football? She's got no use for it. Just a bunch of guys running up and down a field, as far as she's concerned. "But baseball," she said, sitting down the left-field line in a fuzzy blue winter hat, overcoat and clean, white sneakers, "you've got the pitcher and the batter, and they're trying to figure each other out, and one of them's bound to win. And the next day, it's brand new again." The rookie Brand new, like Kevin Zifchak, who will have to take his parents' word that he attended the 2009 Indians home opener. He's 3 months old, so they're taping the game on the VCR and taking pictures and they intend to save their tickets as proof. "My Dad took me to my first baseball game," said Jeff Zifchak, of Streetsboro, "so I couldn't wait to take my son to his." Kimi Zirchak, attending her first Opening Day, had her baby swaddled in her arms, while her husband clutched 2-year-old Kenzie before heading to their seats. "My mother-in-law wanted to baby-sit him," he said. "I told her, 'Absolutely not.' " The ironmen The streak continues. Hours before the first pitch, Dante Cornachione and his wife, Pat, of Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood, were in their choice seats just to the right of home plate. Again. It was his 44th straight Indians home opener. He hopes to reach 50 in a row - very doable for the 60-year-old. What's so special about Opening Day? Pat smiled from behind her king-size pretzel, echoing the song blaring over the ballpark's speakers. "Because the boys are back in town," she said. The voice Tribe announcer Tom Hamilton, set to broadcast his 20th home opener, pondered which was his most memorable. Was it the debut of Jacobs Field in 1994 when President Clinton threw out the first pitch? How about the snowout of '07? Close, but no. "Nothing tops the first one - that was 1990," he said. A lockout by the owners had delayed spring training and the regular season. But finally, show time. "Good Lord, I was so nervous," he said, "and I couldn't sleep the night before." But his announcing debut didn't last long. By the second inning, a storm blew in off the lake and snowed the game out. Didn't matter. Hamilton was in The Show. "To me, nothing will ever top that," he said, "because [for me] the impossible dream came true." The skipper In fact - surprise, surprise - weather stories and memorable Opening Days in Cleveland go hand in batting glove. "It feels like Opening Day in Cleveland - that's part of it," Indians manager Eric Wedge said in the dugout hours before the game as his team took fielding practice in the chilly rain. "I know that fans have sat out in worse weather than this. I love their passion." Indians President Paul Dolan said the '07 snowout was his most memorable, more for the absurdity than anything. The storm sent his team's home-opening series to Milwaukee that season. And former Indian Pat Tabler, now a Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster, remembers one home opener at Municipal Stadium was so frigid that players were using their sanitary socks to wrap around their ears for warmth. But, mostly, he remembers Opening Day for the promise of the season. "When you knew you played on a good team," he said, "it was special." Numb or not. The kid Twelve-year-old Luke Miller had never been to a real baseball game before, much less an Opening Day. But there he was, all the way from Fremont in northwest Ohio, with his parents, older brother and his black Barry Larkin-autographed mitt. Compared to games on television, "it's a lot more like 3-D," the boy said as his family climbed the stairs to their seats in the bleachers. The Indians were taking batting practice, when, suddenly, a ball rifled up right to where they hovered by the railing. "There you go," said his Dad, flipping the ball to his son. Luke squeezed it, his smile as big as the Jumbotron scoreboard behind him. Another Opening Day memory that will live forever. http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/plaindealer....xml&coll=2 (pause - Pronk just went deep again! YES!) Another nice story: CLEVELAND -- There are a lot of people struggling in this economy but one Indians fan couple has a story and a spirit we can all learn from. Anita Chorich never thought she'd see a rookie season with the Cleveland Indians. She's a long time fan, but the past few years have been really tough on her and her husband Roger. "We couldn't pay anything. Utilities were being shut off, we had to beg and borrow from relatives to get the electric turned back on," Roger recalls. Roger Chorich used to be a postal carrier but a knee infection lead to him losing not one, but both legs in two years. He was forced to quit his job and fight for disability. Meanwhile, Anita, a breast cancer survivor found herself in a new role. "I didn't have a lot of time to even recover before I started taking care of him," Anita remembers. Roger adds, "my wife through all this for the last six years has been my angel she never once complained about taking care of me, never." But money was still tight and the couple was living off their minimal savings. "With no income you can't pay anything so we were just living on what little bit we had. The house was ready to go in foreclosure," Anita says. When people learned of their plight, complete strangers stepped in to help. One family gave them a handicap van with hand controls so Roger could drive himself. "The phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to help it was amazing total strangers were calling us dropping over with gifts," Anita says. This past January Anita applied for a job with the Cleveland Indians. She thought her age would work against her but she was wrong. "It was a big vote a confidence that they think I'm capable of doing the job." The Indians also had no idea about Anita's situation. She'll be taking care of the Loge seating this season and she can't wait for Opening Day. "Knowing I have an income and just being in that whole atmosphere, just being down there for the training and there's nobody even in the stands yet it was so exciting." She also says it feels like a new start. Luck has turned around for the Chorich's and maybe it will rub off on the Indians this season. http://www.wkyc.com/print.aspx?storyid=111155 The ever-controversial Chief: Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo logo left off team's ballpark, training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. Sunday, April 12, 2009 Observant visitors to spring training this year to see the Indians in their new complex in Goodyear, Ariz., may have noticed something missing. Outside of the Indians' uniforms, caps and the bustling gift shop at Goodyear Ballpark, Chief Wahoo, the longtime symbol of the team, was absent from the facility. The script 'I' is the only logo outside the Indians' player development complex. On the scoreboard at the 10,133-seat Goodyear Ballpark, only the script 'I' and script 'Indians' are displayed along with the logo of the Cincinnati Reds, who will join the Indians in Goodyear next year. The Indians players wore the script 'I' on the front of their spring training jerseys with Chief Wahoo on their caps. Team President Paul Dolan said, "I know there was some sensitivity involved on the outside of the complex," regarding the use of the script 'I' as opposed to Chief Wahoo. Arizona, according to the 2004 U.S. census, contains the third-largest population of Native Americans in the United States (322,200). California had the largest population (687,400) followed by Oklahoma (398,200). Twenty-one tribes live in Arizona. Native Americans, through reservations or tribal communities, live on more than a quarter of the state's land. As for Goodyear Ballpark, Dolan said: "It's not our ballpark. I would expect some sensitivity was involved, but ultimately it's the city's ballpark." A city spokesperson said they followed the Indians' marketing lead. Since the team used the script 'I' as its main "identifier" by putting it in front of the player development complex, the city followed suit at the ballpark. The spokesperson said there have been no protests from Native American groups since Goodyear struck a deal with the team to bring them back to Arizona after at 16-year absence. They trained in Tucson, Ariz., from 1947 to '92. Chief Wahoo has attracted protests in the past from Native Americans and others. Former Cleveland Mayor Mike White once threatened to have it removed from all public property. Many believe the logo is racist. "We aren't phasing Chief Wahoo out," said Dolan. "We are introducing alternative trademarks - the script 'I', script 'Indians' and the block 'C'. They may have had a diluting effect on Chief Wahoo, but we have no plans in place to eliminate Wahoo." In the Goodyear Ballpark gift shop, Chief Wahoo was a hot seller. The Chief was on everything from shirts, hats and shorts to baby's bibs, key chains and flip-flops. Slider is the team's mascot, and Slider dolls wearing Chief Wahoo caps were on sale. There was even an old-school Chief Wahoo bobblehead doll from the original Walter Goldbach 1946 design. It cost $18. For the home opener at Progressive Field on Friday afternoon, Chief Wahoo's only visible presence as part of the park's signage was above the party center in right field. Chief Wahoo still appears on the sleeves of all four current Indians uniforms. He appears on the team's home and road hats. The Indians have an alternative road hat featuring the script 'I' that they wear when they wear blue jerseys. They have an alternative home hat featuring the red block 'C' that they wear with cream-colored uniforms on weekends and holidays. The Indians started wearing Chief Wahoo on their uniforms in the mid-1940s. The exact date is unclear, but it was the brainchild of then-owner Bill Veeck, who asked the 17-year-old Goldbach to draw a team mascot. The Indians were wearing it when they won their most recent World Series title in 1948. It has gone through many redesigns over the years to try and appease protesters. Tribe outfield prospect Nick Weglarz, born in Canada, has Native American ancestors. When the Indians drafted him as a 17-year-old in 2005, his mother, Cheryl, excitedly told her father, Rick Marriott, "Dad, Nick is an Indian." Said Marriott, as reported by Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, "He already is one." Weglarz, who worked out with the big-league club in spring training, said he hadn't noticed the absence of Chief Wahoo at the Goodyear complex. "I have no problem with Chief Wahoo," he said. "[Neither] does my grandfather [Marriott]." http://www.cleveland.com/mlb/plaindealer/i...&thispage=2 While he's in the pen ready to enter the game in a non-save situation, here a look at Kerry Wood from the state of Texas: Kerry Wood getting comfortable as closer in Cleveland ANTHONY ANDRO aandro@star-telegram.com Give Kerry Wood credit for being able to adapt. Wood, who honed his craft leading Grand Prairie to the baseball state tournament in 1995, has made the transition from being an All-Star starter to being an All-Star closer. This year, the right-hander is making another transition, that from being in the spotlight for the Chicago Cubs to pitching for the smaller-market Cleveland Indians. Wood, 31, has liked the way things have gone so far. "It’s been nice to come in and get ready for the season and worry about baseball stuff," said Wood. "You’re not forced to worry about other stuff. It’s been very low-key from what I’m used to and I’m just looking forward to concentrating on the game." The new Cleveland closer had nothing against his time with Chicago, where he won the National League rookie of the year award in 1998. Wood played 10 seasons for the Cubs, overcoming several arm injuries along the way. The arm issues were the main reason the Cubs converted Wood into a reliever. He made the All-Star team last year in his first season as a closer, saving 34 games. Despite his success with Chicago, Wood signed a two-year deal with the Indians in December for $20.5 million with an option for 2011. "Obviously there are different faces and it’s a new team," Wood said. "But these guys are great and they welcomed me to the organization. It’s made it real easy for me to come in and get ready for the season." Wood likes the approach the Indians take to the game. While the Cubs had stars such as Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee and manager Lou Piniella, things with the Indians are a lot more low-key. "It’s just a different thing that I’ve enjoyed so far," said Wood, who pitched at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the first time in his career Thursday. When the Cubs played against the Rangers in Arlington in 2007, Wood missed the series because he was on the disabled list. A solid year for Wood would give the Indians stability at the closer role they didn’t have in 2008. Jensen Lewis, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and Masahide Kobayashi all took turns trying to close games for the Indians. The results weren’t good either, as Cleveland had just 31 saves, which ranked last among all American League teams. Wood believes he can turn that around. He didn’t get the Chicago closer’s job until last spring training. But he went into this spring knowing what his role was with the Indians, "Last year when I started the season I didn’t even know what to expect," said Wood, who had 15 to 18 tickets for each game of the series against the Rangers as his father and brother still live in the area. "It took me a couple of three weeks to get adapted to the role. Preparations stayed the same, but having a year under your belt, you know how your body responds to two days in a row, three days in a row, four days in a row. You figure out things." http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/1312455.html Beanpot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldcrow1945 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Wood strikes out the side for his first save! Boy, his stuff looked nasty! Let's hope the starting staff will give him plenty of chances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanpot Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Let's hope the starting staff will give him plenty of chances! A-freaking-men. He looked awesome today. Beanpot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIMO. Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 How about Lewis stranding two runners and going through Rios-Wells-Lind in the 8th? It looks like every lead going into the 8th is now a lock. Once Perez bounces back this bullpen is going to be huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanpot Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 How about Lewis stranding two runners and going through Rios-Wells-Lind in the 8th? It looks like every lead going into the 8th is now a lock. Once Perez bounces back this bullpen is going to be huge. So agreed. Everything is in place at the rear end, we just need to cover the first six innings. And speaking of coverage, how about A-Rey! The .143 OpBA isn't going to last but that's gold from your 3-4 starter. We need 1 and 2 to step up. Beanpot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldcrow1945 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 How about Lewis stranding two runners and going through Rios-Wells-Lind in the 8th? It looks like every lead going into the 8th is now a lock. Once Perez bounces back this bullpen is going to be huge. I like everything about Jensen Lewis....The guy is a gamer and has the perfect attitude to be in the pen. He was a Tribe fan back in his school days in Cincy and took a lot of grief for it....That guy is ok in my book! Hey guys, I think it is almost safe to say....Pronk is back. What a shot that was today. Line drive screamer that got out in about a second Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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