Tagged: Asdrubal Cabrera

There’s a red moon rising on the Cuyahoga River…

I have been taking a small break from blogging recently as you could all probably tell. With work and class and the Indians being uninspiring I have not had much to say and not much time to say it.

Since my last entry I have found a new favorite ballpark… Progressive (Jacobs) Field in Cleveland! I finally got to go to Cleveland and see an Indians home game. Two actually. They won two of three against the Cardinals and that was the end of any salvageable season as we know it. I have said before I do not give up on teams easily but I really do think it is over for the Indians this year. My new goal is to finish above Kansas City in the standings. 
Grady should be back tomorrow according to him and A-Cab is on his way to what will probably be a short rehab assignment in Columbus so things are looking up in that department. However, the bullpen and starting rotation is just too bad to have any hope for a division winning team this year. Cliff Lee has been looking like his Cy Young self but the bullpen still manages to blow seven run leads when he’s pitching which will not get him any more wins. Pavano apparently was suffering from some soreness so they gave him a little rest after two rough starts and we will see how he is on Wednesday. David Huff has been passable, Jeremy Sowers is fine until the fifth inning usually, and Tomo Ohka has been surprisingly good. But the bullpen cannot hold any leads their starters may give them. They manage to find new ways to lose every day and they are incredibly frustrating to watch. I am hoping that the returns of Grady and A-Cab make this team a little more bearable to watch.
So after that downer of a paragraph here are the pictures of my trip to Cleveland!
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This is me in my new A-Cab shirt in front of the Grady picture at the Jake.
It was a good trip and I clearly chose a good time to see them before they completely fell apart against the Brewers.

Is your muffin buttered?

Are you ready for this? I don’t think you are. I am about to go into full rant mode. This means you will have to really try to find sense in the next paragraph or so. Here we go. (To be clear I am in no way yelling at A-Cab or Cliff Lee.)

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What the heck Indians? You call yourselves a baseball team? What baseball teams have you been watching? The Nationals? Even they are better than us (the records may not show that but who would argue?). Seriously Cliff gives you another phenomenal start and again you blow it. What does the poor guy have to do to get a win? Let me tell you what real baseball teams do not do. 1) They do not condone giving up when you are down nine runs. 2) They do not tackle catchers, we are not playing football. Please Luis, do not channel Chris Duncan, that is not okay. 3) They do not give up three run leads in the bottom of the ninth by giving up two consecutive home runs and then an RBI triple and then a sac fly. That is NOT how you win baseball games.
Next, Grady. What is wrong with you? Something is wrong with you. Believe me I know. I watch you and analyze you much more than anyone else ever. You are not right. You are broken and someone needs to fix you. You better not be hurt. The more I see this season the more I think you are. You better not be lying to me. I would not be able to take it. Because I am fairly sure that would mean you have been lying to me for like two months. Not cool. Reasons Grady may be hurt: 1) He is failing. 2) The Indians suspiciously gave him essentially three days off by making him the DH. Since when has Grady needed three days off? He never used to need ANY days off. What is wrong? DO NOT LIE TO ME INDIANS! I CANNOT TAKE IT IF YOU LIE TO ME! YOU ALREADY KILL ME EVERY NIGHT DO NOT BE LYING TO ME TOO! 3) Oh yeah, he is failing.
Please, please, please, please fix this Indians Your fans are begging you and I would hope you are begging yourselves.
I hope that was not too incredibly irrational and that you got something out of that. Just that I am very frustrated. 
Picture:

Are we gonna be creating musical fusion everyday?

The Indians have been creating some- wait for it- baseball fusion recently. Sorry. That was really cheesy but true.

Okay so no one guessed my title from the other day. So it’s still available. Here it is: “Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?” And today’s title is also up for guesses. If you name both title’s I will find a way to mention you in my next two blogs. To review: You have to name the movie that the quote is from. I spend a lot of time watching movies to find good quotes and I work really hard. I know your hearts bleed. haha

WhiteSox/Indians- May 13
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I learned from Rays Renegade that the Rays have never won on May 14. They still have not thanks to the Indians. The Indians are also 20-5 against the Rays in their last 25 games. They just always play the Rays really well. The final score tonight was 11-7. It was 9-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. Fausto lost it in that inning and gave up 3 runs and left with 2 on. Herges promptly gave up a 3-run home run to Zobrist making it 9-6. The Indians tacked on 2 more runs in the eighth, one of which Grady scored. Aaron Laffey came in for 2 innings and gave up only 1 run. A-Cab made a fantastic play which I was very excited to see on Web Gems but unfortunately my mom is for some strange reason very interested in the Bruins/Canes game which is currently in Overtime and forgot to change it to watch Web Gems so I have no idea if it made it (it should have) or how high it was.
UPDATE: I went to ESPN’s website and looked at last night’s Web Gems and A-Cab was #1!
The Gradester
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Despite his issues recently Grady is still in the leadoff spot. He is 2-31 with 4 walks in the first inning this season. Terrible. Tonight he tried to bunt his way on but it was not a very good bunt so he was out. He has apparently forgotten how to bunt for a base hit because he is 0-2 in bunt attempts this year. I appreciate him trying though. Again tonight he hit it hard but Pena robbed him of a base hit and an RBI. Also despite his struggles Grady is on a 6-game hit streak which is something. They are all singles but you have to start somewhere.
I will be taking a break for the weekend because I have Lifeguard Training all weekend. Tomorrow: 6-9 pm Saturday: 9 am-9 pm Sunday: 9 am- 6 pm 
Wish me luck. I am a little worried about not passing because on paper everything seems really harsh. But I was on swim team for all 4 years in High School and some of the lifeguards at my pool, no offense, cannot be better swimmers than me so I figure if they can do it, I can do it.
Pictures:
1) Cleveland Plain Dealer

My Life Would Suck Without You

Dear Indians, 

Nice try. You stayed with arguably the best team in baseball at the moment for 8 innings. You stole 2 bases. Thanks Grady. You listened. Grady made an awesome play in the outfield and then a not so awesome one but he tried. Mark DeRosa got an RBI at a very important time and then Jhonny and Ben Francisco crushed my heart that had already been ripped out by Kerry Wood. Thanks guys. Tonight let’s put it back in. 
My heart has been through a lot this weekend. On Sunday it was stolen by my second favorite lead off guy in baseball who ironically you will be seeing in center field tonight. Then yesterday Grady took it back and then for good measure was awesome last night and showed me he really cares. 
I unfortunately can only say the same for a few of you: Victor, A-Cab, Eric Wedge, and Cliff. Please guys show me you care tonight. Give Anthony some run support. Which means, as scary and impossible as it may seem, you are going to have to hit with runners in scoring position. Boston pitching is not going to let you rely on home runs to score runs so you are going to have to take advantage of any opportunities you are given tonight. 
But as frustrating as you are “we belong together… you got a piece of me, and honestly, my life would suck without you.” And guys, “I know that I’ve got issues but you’re pretty messed up too… [but] I’m nothing without you.” And even though “being with you is so dysfunctional, I really shouldn’t miss you, but I can’t let you go… because we belong together… and honestly my life would suck without you.”
Love, 
Melissa, your forever devoted fan
PS Kelly Clarkson may have helped me out some…
 
Dear Indians,
Hey Indians I know looks can be deceiving but I know I saw a lot in you. Of all the girls tossing pillows at the TV set; I’ll be the one watching even when your down by 10 (or more). Hey Indians, boy you might have me believing you could maybe win it all this year. I can’t help it if you play like all stars, can’t help it if I wanna watch you every day and night. Come feel this magic I’ve been feeling since I first saw you, can’t help it there’s no one else, I can’t help myself. Hey Indians I’ve been holding back my feelings so I’ve got some things to say to you. I’d seen it all so I thought that I’d never see nobody fail the way you do. The way you hit (or not), the way you run, the way you play the game, you’re frustrating, even bad sometimes and it’s gotta change. Hey Indians people may be leaving but I think I’ll stick around awhile. Because I can’t help it if when you play like a bad team I still wanna watch watch every day and night. Come feel this magic I’ve been feeling since the season began, I can’t help it if there’s no one else. I can’t help myself. They’re turning the lights on, you’re ready to play, why won’t you try tonight? I’ve waited so long now so come out and try now and shine, shine, shine. Hey Indians, I can give 50 reasons why you should listen to me. Now all those other teams They may be wonderful but would I write a song for them? I can’t help if you play like all stars, can’t help it if I wanna watch you every day and night. Come feel this magic I’ve first saw you, can’t help it if there’s no one else. I can’t help myself.
Love, 
Melissa
PS Taylor Swift helped out a lot on this one.
I hope they watch or say something like this in the locker room before the game tonight:
You know with all the cheesy cliche statements too. I think that is the only thing that will help them at this point.

One Hundred!

This is my 100th Entry everyone! The Indians decided to make sure I got to write it today by beating, no not beating, slaughtering the Yankees 22-4. I wrote a Live Blog but as you can probably imagine it got a little boring just talking about the game. Therefore I talked about silly things and I recommend reading it all because it pretty much exemplifies me. This game features only a few examples of how I watch baseball games. Usually when good things happen I am happy for awhile but then realize that the same thing could happen us the next inning so I shouldn’t get too excited and jinx it. So the first inning really features watching games with Melissa but after that it’s pretty abnormal.

First Inning: Grady strikes out on a ball in the dirt. As
usual he had two strikes got a pitch in the dirt and swung. Told you that’s a
guaranteed strike out.  I yelled,
“Are you kidding me Grady? I hate you!” Wang almost hits DeRosa. Didn’t like
that. DeRosa pops up after having a 3-1 count. Threw a leftover plastic Easter
egg at the TV. Martinez flies out to left. At least he didn’t look like a fool. 

Bottom: Fausto looks pretty good in the first at bat. Jeter grounds out. Fausto
walks Damon. Teixiera hits a home run. The egg is thrown again. I yell
something. I don’t remember what. I’m pretty sure no profanities were involved
though. At least he’s on one of my Fantasy teams. Fausto gets Swisher, who was
hilarious when reading the lineup, to ground out to second and Posada to pop
out. 2-0 Yankees.

Second Inning: I love Joe Buck. I am so happy he is
announcing although I think it is rude to take him and TIm away from St. Louis
especially during the Cubs series. Hafner gets an infield hit. Is it just me or
is the grass on the infield at the New Stadium really slow? Johnny Damon took a
swim before the game. Funny. Jhonny gets a base hit to left! I literally jumped
up and down. Big League Choo hits a home run! I definitely squealed and clapped
my hands. Lia, my roommate, probably thinks I am insane at this point.
Francisco hits a double. Awesome. Ben scores from second on a base hit up the
middle by Cabrera. This is why Cabby is one of my favorites. Grady’s up. Grady
hits a foul ball but takes awhile deciding whether it’s foul or not and then
decides it isn’t and starts to run. It promptly goes foul. Haha Grady gets a
double down the right field line. That’s more like it Grady. Tim McCarver,
“Another hanger by Wang. Sizemore says uh-uh I’ll handle that Jorge.” LOL literally.
Joe and Tim are talking about how the New Stadium’s ticket prices are not only
leaving seats empty but the people close aren’t just normal fans but business
people who aren’t very loud. I think this is true. So far I haven’t seen the
same fan base that I am used to seeing in New York. It’s weird. DeRosa hits a
double into right. Grady thought Swisher was going to catch it and tagged up at
second and then ran home. Tim says it was a mistake but I think he would have
made it home even if Swisher had made the throw. Then someone was yelling at
Grady in the dugout. Presonally I think they should yell at him every time he
swings at a ball in the dirt to strike out. They apparently don’t though. Wild
Pitch. DeRosa to third.  Martinez
hits a single into right. DeRosa scores. Now we get the Yankees bullpen for the
rest of the game. Wang goes 1 1/3 innings giving up 7 runs. 22 runs allowed in
only 6 innings pitched this season. Wow. Anthony Claggett is on for the
Yankees. He was just called up today. Hafner hits one to left-center that
Gardner almost catches but drops. Martinez and Hafner are one second and third
for Jhonny. Johonny hits a line drive into left-center as well. His double and
second hit of the inning scores Martinez and Hafner. Showing me stats of Cole
Hamels’ awful start last night did not make me happy. He is killing my fantasy
team. A bloop hit by Garko loads the bases. I was actually giving the edge to
the Yankees today despite Wang’s rough start because I figured he was due for a
good one. I guess I was wrong. Francisco strikes out. Two outs. Before
Francisco nine consecutive Indians had reached base safely. A-CAB HITS A GRAND
SLAM!!!!!!! He just made my day. Ninth hitter in the lineup hits grand slam.
Quickly 0-2 on Grady. Loser. haha JK 
Grady just crushed a ball to right. I mean crushed. I take it back, he
isn’t a loser. No doubt about that one. It was gone as soon as it left the bat.
14 runs this inning and ties the record set in 1950. 3 home runs this inning.
DeRosa strikes out to end the half inning. 14-2 Indians. Don’t blow it Fausto. I am so very optimistic. (Sarcasm)

Bottom: Cano hits a ball that just dies in front of home. Martinez throws him
out. Great play by Jhonny to steal a hit from Cabrera (Melky).  Fly ball to left. 1-2-3 inning for
Fausto. Still 14-2.

Third: The Yankees are sticking with Claggett. Martinez pops
out to Gardner. Hafner hits one well into left canter but not hard enough.
Gardner has it. Another hit for Jhonny. He isn’t in any of my lineups because I
was busy all morning and didn’t get a chance to change my lineup after he was
hurt yesterday. Choo walks. Garko hits a line drive into right. Swisher dropped
it so Jhonny scores. Francisco grounds into a fielder’s choice.

Bottom: Ground ball to short. One out. Eric Wedge is talking! He wants Fausto
to be aggressive. Wedge is really boring. He doesn’t ever say a whole lot.
Jeter grounds out to third. DeRosa makes a great play. Fausto is getting a lot
of ground balls which is a good sign for a sinkerball pitcher. Damon strikes
out. 15-2 Indians.

I love the Direct TV commercials with the stupid cable
company. They make me laugh every time. “Two words: Federal bailout. Pick
up  a paper, everyone’s doing it.”
haha

Fourth: They took Jeter out. Cabby is 3-3 today with a
leadoff base hit onto left.  Grady hits
another double. Pitching change! 
DeRosa’s singles to left scoring Cabby. This live blog is pretty boring.
Martinez walks. Brandan Ryan thinks someone should google the record for most
runs scored in an inning to see if the Indians beat the record. So funny. The
Indians have impressed my hometown team. A very nice tribute to Harry Kalas.
Peralta strikes out. Longest at bat ever for Choo. Choo finally after about ten
minutes strikes out.

This commercial isn’t fair. Bobby Mayweather can’t type with
boxing gloves on.

Bottom: They are showing some guy in a suit in the stands
who looks confused. He looks like he has never seen a baseball game in his
life. Nick Swisher cracks me up. He is so silly. Why does every locker in the
Yankees clubhouse have a laptop in it? Seems excessive. Posada hits a single
into right and Choo drops it. Swisher gets to third. Thank you Captain Obvious
Tim McCarver who has just informed us that The Yankees box score looks a lot
different than the Indians box score. Gradner grounds out to the mound to end
the inning and bases loaded threat.

Fifth: DeRosa hits a 3-run home run. My fantasy teams are
killing on offense today. Days like this and Thursday make me look like a
genius. I guess I can’t speak for the other teams yet but Thursday all of my
offensive players did something. It was awesome. Martinez hits a home run. I
told you he was all the way back. Hey if we get another home run today we will
break the record for home runs in the New Yankee Stadium hit by one team. That
record, of course, was set yesterday. This all happened with two outs. We broke
the twenties. Hafner strikes out to end the inning. 

Bottom: They took out Grady
but I didn’t know that and Trevor Crowe just made a Grady worthy play and I
definitely thought it was Grady until they showed his face.  Then I had a blond moment and was
confused for a second. Teixiera grounds out.  20-2 Indians.

Sixth: Ben Francisco almost killed the umpire on a foul ball
off of his mask. He broke the mask and the umpire had to borrow one of Jose
Molina’s masks. I love the Molinas. They are my favorite baseball family. 

Bottom: Ed Hickox was joking with Victor Martinez the inning after he hit his
home run. It was pretty funny. I always wonder what they talk about down there.
Especially when they are at first and are just chatting away. What do they say?
It bothers me that I don’t know. Home run for Cabrera (M). They showed a video
of Cody Ransom jumping 5 feet and said he could jump over Ken Rosenthal. It
was pretty funny. Ken was offended because apparently he is really 5’41/2″.
Which is so much better. (sarcasm)

eventh: Bottom: Kobayashi caught a ball in between his legs
and turned a double play without ever putting his glove on it. haha

Eighth: Ed Hickox is done for the day after being hit in
the head. They have replaced him with Edwards. Thank God not Phil Cuzzi, they
said he was an option. We would have never had a reliable strike zone again if
that had happened. TRAVIS HAFNER HITS A HOME RUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Well our problem
is not offense. 

Bottom: Kobayashi makes another awesome play on the mound. This
is probably his best performance all year.

Ninth: Francisco hits a double. Cabby hits a single. Marte
just doesn’t have it. I have said that so many times; about another Marte, of
course, but still it just rolls off the tongue. Trevor Crowe gets an RBI.
Hafner almost hits another grand slam. But it’s caught by Cabrera (M). 

Bottom:
Chulk is coming in. How about we avoid another breakdown Vinnie. He did.

Thank you everyone for getting me to 100 entries. 

 

Crazy Dreams

I think the Indians should listen to this song right about now. They clearly need some help.

Crazy Dreams- Carrie Underwood
Hello you long shots, you dark horse runners
Hair brush singers, dashboard drummers
Hello you wild magnolias just waiting to bloom.
There’s a little bit of all that inside of me and you.
Thank God even crazy dreams come true.

At this point I think most people would say the Indians are long shots. It may be too early to say that but I still think people will. But they can dream can’t they?

I’ve stood at the bottom of some walls I thought I couldn’t climb
Felt like Cinderella at the ball just running out of time.
So I know how it feels to be afraid
And think that it’s all gonna slip away
Hold on, hold on.

I’m sure a lot of Indians fans think their hopes of a successful have slipped away but I think there is still hope.

Here’s to you free souls, you firefly chasers.

Tree climbers, porch swingers, air guitar players

Here’s to you fearless dancers shaking walls in your bedrooms.
There’s a lot of wonder left inside of me and you,
Thank God even crazy dreams come true.
Never let a bad day (or five) be enough to go and talk you into to giving up.
Sometimes everybody feels like you, oh feels like you, just like you.

The Indians cannot let these bad games cause them to give up. They have to keep fighting and remember that every team goes through five game losing streaks just usually not right away.

I’ve met some go getters, difference makers,

My Favorite Indians

I have nothing of any importance to say today. I am feeling like the Indians are apparently feeling now at the end of Spring Training; a little lethargic and apathetic. That does not mean I do not care about YOU, I just have no motivation. So here is a list of my favorite Indians of all time. The of all time is used loosely because I actually do not know that many Indians not playing now so it is mostly favorite Indians playing right now.

Cliff Lee
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Aren’t they a cute family? I love the little girl, Maci, with the bow!
Rick Vaughn 
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Yes he so counts!
Rick Manning
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haha Look at his hair! Awesome.
Jake Taylor
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We already discussed this: he counts! There apparently are no good pictures of him. Which is sad.
Asdrubal Cabrera
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Oh Cabby.
Trevor Crowe (my project)
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I hope he blows the Indians away and permanently replaces David Dellucci. Dellucci is a nice guy but Trevor is just a better fit for playing on this team. And maybe I have not all the way forgiven him for the alligator stunt earlier.
Mark DeRosa
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Apparently all you have to do to become one of my favorite players is be amazing in the WBC, be hilarious, and say that Grady is the best leadoff man in the game.
And of course…
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just one more… humor me.
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Um… Probably my favorite Grday picture ever. If you can rock the backwards baseball hat, you’ve got me.
Pictures:
5)http://letsgotribe.mlblogs.com/photos/uncategorized/825f1fad73c44513ba416382ebade5da_1.jpg
6) Cleveland Plain Dealer

Lucky #13!

That’s me! I’m lucky #13 this week! Thanks everyone! I am pretty sure this is the highest ranking so far for me! Today you will get a nice lesson on one of the Indians younger players.

Asdrubal Cabrera
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Asdrubal will be starting his third year in the majors this year. He is the Indians starting second baseman although he is a natural shortstop. In his rookie year with the Indians he had a fantastic last seven weeks of the 2007 season and earned the position as starting second baseman and the second spot in the order behind this guy:
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Sorry couldn’t resist.
Back to “Cabby” as his teammates call him. Cabrera batted .283 when batting from the second spot. He made o1 error in his 220 chances in all of his starts at second, third, and short. Cabrera had what some call the sophomore slump in 2008 and had to go back down to the minors. In Buffalo he had a very good attitude and worked out his offensive issues with a great work ethic the coaches said. He left the majors with a .189 batting average and when he returned he managed to raise it to .259, 70 points. His defense was never a concern but he had a hard time with his offense in the beginning of the year.He managed to fix his offensive slump and in the month of September batted .416, highest in the American League. Also last year he turned an unassisted triple play against the Toronto Blue Jays. This was only the 14th unassisted triple play in the Majors. He is just the third Indian to turn one. Interestingly the two earliest triple plays in the American League were also turned by Indians.
I like Asdrubal Cabrera even if his name is ridiculous. He is from Venezuela and lives there with his wife and son. Cabby is only 24 years old and is already showing a lot of resilience and dedication. He should have a great future ahead of him.
The Indians lost today. Many said they looked apathetic and slow. Cliff Lee had a rough start and gave up 5 runs. He says he was not locating his pitches like he wanted and was hoping for much better results. Well I should hope so. Anyway I hope he figures this out before the season starts.
Good News: Jhonny Peralta hit a home run to continue his monster spring. And although he was 1-5 today Grady’s 1 hit was a bunt single. If you recall your favorite Clemson Girl (I assume I’m your favorite, I’m the only one that I know of in the top 5o Fan Blogs) said Grady needed to bunt for more base hits. He listened y’all. Orangebird must be right; Grady reads my blog. That is the only possible explanation. And he stole a base. Always a good sign.
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I never mentioned how much I enjoyed hearing Rick Manning and Matt Underwood again yesterday. I now have to wait until Monday for their next broadcast but I do not miss them quite as much.
Oh and if you have not had a chance to check out my finalized speech go here.
Cabrera Bio: mlb.com and Baseball Almanac
Pictures:
3) Cleveland Plain Dealer website