The Tribe was finally able to end their horrific 10-game losing streak last night in a 13-2 beatdown of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Indians needed a game like this, especially after the meltdowns in Detroit. For a while it did look like more of the same as the Rays took a 2-0 lead into the 5th inning. But then the Tribe exploded for 13 runs to give the home crowd something to cheer about at last. My favorite stat line from last night was turned in by Rays reliever Gary Glover in the bottom of the 8th inning. It took him 46 pitches to record two outs and give up 7 runs on six hits and two walks. Ouch. Unfortunately, he probably won't make an appearance out of the Rays 'pen tonight:
My fear after a game like last night's is that the Tribe used up all their runs and I'll be stuck with nothing to see tonight at the Prog. But the good news - Cliff Lee will be on the mound in his final tune-up before the All-Star Game. So that's something to actually look forward to...
Finally something to smile about for the TribeMore Tribe: The Indians did apparently hold a team meeting before yesterday's game. We can only hope it produces similar results to last night's for rest of this season. I'm coming to terms with the rebuilding or re-tooling or whatever you want to call it this year... sometimes these things happen and 2006 may have just prepared the team for a great year last year. Or maybe I'm just forcing myself to be optimistic. Speaking of optimism, Travis Hafner thinks he might be able to play again this year. Remember him?
One final note about the Indians today... well, maybe more of a rant. I've been defending the Dolans for years now. I haven't necessarily agreed with the way a lot of casual fans refer to them as "cheap" and non-caring towards this city. I've occasionally tried to stick up for them here and on message boards that I frequent. I think I have a decent grasp of how MLB is currently set up and I can see that mid-market teams just don't have the cash to compete on a level playing field. I like what the Dolans have done creating STO - basically their own sports network (which is much better than I originally expected), and even selling the naming rights to Jacobs Field (as much as it pains me that it's not 'the Jake' anymore, the name change did generate a lot of cash).
Having said that, there are a couple things have bothered me lately under current ownership:
a) When going to games this year I have noticed a lot of people at the Prog in florescent greenish-yellow shirts. These people spend much of the game going up to fans and asking if they can take their picture. I didn't think much of it at first until I saw how obtrusive they were, even during the games (sometimes in the middle of at-bats). And then I learned that once your picture is taken you can purchase the digital image from the team.
b) I got an e-mail yesterday, supposedly sent out to all season ticket holders. It pointed me in the direction of this page, which allows you an opportunity to get tickets to sit in the visitors' dugout for the post-game fireworks show tonight and tomorrow night. The only catch? You have to pay $50 (on top of the price of your regular game ticket) per person. And only 24 people are allowed for each game. So ownership is now reduced to gimmicky ways to generate an extra $2400 this weekend? It just seems a little bit like panhandling to me, and I'm beginning to understand now why some fans get the impression that the Dolans are "cheap."
Cavs Update: The Cavaliers inked first-round pick J.J. Hickson to a two-year deal yesterday. And we still await word on free-agent forward James Posey's destination of choice.
Gladiators Update: Terry Pluto gives a little insight on the Gladiators as they prepare for the conference championship game on Saturday at 1:00pm in Philadelphia.
