Breathe

I thought today I would try to explain my feelings about the Victor Martinez trade. As I mentioned before I am mostly over the disappointment but it still makes me very sad sometimes. Victor really was the heart and soul of this team. He was the type of player who would have accepted a paycut to stay with the Indians forever. And his dedication showed in how he played. Earlier this season he did somethings that I did now agree with but I forgave him and by the time the Trade (as I call it) happened I had pretty much forgotten. The surprising about this trade for me was that Victor was not even one of my top three favorite players on the Indians but I was devastated when they traded him. I mean devastated. I cried as hard as I cry at the end of Finding Neverland. I made a Victor playlist on iTunes. I figured when I could get through the playlist without tearing up I would be mostly over it. That took until about the middle of August and I still can't watch the interview Victor gave the day he left. And his son's hopeful question the morning of the Trade still chokes me up: "Daddy are we still Indians?" One song on that playlist in particular describes my feelings pretty well.

Breathe- Taylor Swift (by the way, Kanye is a jerk, okay moving on)

I see your face in my mind as I drive away
Cause none of us thought it was gonna end that way
People are people and sometimes we change our minds
But it's killing me to see you go after all this time

I don't think anyone could have told you that Victor would be traded this year when the year started. But as the season got worse and it became clearer and clearer that the Indians were not going to the playoffs this year the Front Office realized that this was probably the best time to trade their aging catcher and get something really good for him. Especially with Carlos Santana in the minors Victor did not really have a place with this team in the future for what he deserved to be paid.

Music starts playing lie the end of a sad movie
It's the kind of ending you don't really want to see
Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down
Now I don't what to be without you around.

At first it was very hard to imagine what the team would be without Victor. He embodied this team, it took a long time for me to accept that he was gone and not coming back.

And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one here to save me
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand

I do not think the Front Office would tell you it was easy for them to make this trade and I do not think that would a PR lie either. Victor meant a lot to the organization as a whole and trading him was probably ne of the hardest moves Shapiro has had to make.

And I can't breathe without you 
But I have to
Breathe without you but I have to

Never wanted this never want to see you hurt
Every little bump in the road I tried to swerve
But people are people and sometimes it doesn't work out
Nothing we say is going to save us from the fallout

Victor's interview upon leaving was very sad and emotional. I have not watched it but I know he was very upset about leaving, so upset he was fighting back tears. Unfortunately he could not stay in Cleveland.

And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one here to save me
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand

It's two AM feeling like I just lost a friend
I hope you know it's not easy, easy for me.

It's two AM feeling like I just lost a friend
I hope you know it's not easy, easy for me.


Changes

So I lied last time. I did not stay back. I have been awfully busy and it has been hard to get back into the habit of writing entries. I promise I will try to do better.

Since I've been gone Grady has had two surgeries that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Personally I think this should have happened a long time ago because I don't know what good it was doing to have him keep playing. I know it was not hurtung but it was not necessarily helping. Ocassionally it may have helped the Indians win a game or two but I do not think anyone thought that the Indians had a chance at the playoffs even in July. 
Which brings us to July and the month of trades. The Cliff Lee trade was tough and I was sad but the Victor Martinez was awful. I was in a baseball depression for probably about a month. Sometimes I still have relapses and seeing him in a Red Sox uniform is still tough. I think the last series between the Red Sox and Indians will be very difficult for me to watch. I would not rule out tears. However I love Justin Masterson. He may not have been very impressive in a few of his starts but I have seen some real potential and he is a great guy off the field. 

New in my life: I have decided to stay an Early Childhood Education major. I know some of you were excited about hearing college students shout "Melissa" at college football games but I went to what I thought would be my last ever education class and remembered why I loved Early Childhoos so much. So I am back on track to be a kindergarten/first grade teacher in the inner city. Right now I would like that city to be Cleveland but I would not mind back home in St. Louis or maybe Boston. But even though I don't like the cold I have decided that I could not live in the south, I think I fit in more in the north. I still love the south though, I just think I will be ready for all four seasons again when I graduate. 

Here's a video for everyone's enjoyment about my second favorite team and secodn favorite player:

I'm back with #25!

So I'm back now. Hopefully for awhile. I find it hard to write when i don't have an everyday routine so now that I'm back at Clemson and school is about to start hopefully I can get a routine going to help me stay on track better.
I've had a fairly uneventful summer. I worked, watched baseball, did homework, and just relaxed. I had a lot of fun though and the past two weeks have been eventful enough to fill a whole summer.
I'm an RA this year so I got to Clemosn early for RA Training. I met all of my fellow RA's in Manning Hall and we are like a big family now. I feel like I have known these girls for years. Training was a lot of fun but very tiring. It was filled with late nights and early mornings and full days with no naps. I am now a very big fan of sleep.
Apparently even though I haven't been writing I still made it on the latest leaders list so I will be doing a tribute entry today to get back into the swing of things.
I was number 25 on the Latest Leaders the last time it came out. So today I will be doing a tribute to:
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Andy Marte!
I refuse to do a tribute to Mark McGwire for obvious reasons.
Andy Marte was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 2000. He was traded to the Boston red Sox in 2005 for Edgar Rentaria. Then in the same off season the Red Sox traded Marte and Shoppach and Randy Newsom to the Indians for Coco Crisp, Josh Bard, and David Riske. Marte looked to be a rising star but in 2008 when he was with the Indians he had a very mediocre season. Some say he was mismanaged by Eric Wedge and others say he is not a very good major league baseball player. That remains to be seen as Marte is back with the Indians in 2009 after being given a second chance due to a phenomenal start in Triple-A this year. I have high hopes for Marte but I am unsure of whether or not his future will be with the Indians. I would think that with the players available to the Indians in the next few years either Marte or Peralta will be traded this offseason. We will see what happens.

#15!

Okay everyone so I have not been writing much lately due to an insane amount of homework that I, as usual, put off until the last minute. It was very interesting though. I will try to explain it later.

#15- Jim Edmonds

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In the tradition of MLBlogs my dedication entry today will be about Jim Edmonds. Jim Edmonds was the Cardinals center fielder known for his exciting plays in the outfield. He played for the Cardinals from 2000- 2007. Jim Edmonds began his career with the California Angels (before the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of the World of the Solar System of the Milky Way of the Universe). He was drafted out of high school and debuted in the major leagues in 1993 with the Angels. In his rookie season many did not think he had the makings of a Major League ballplayer because of his easygoing and laid back attitude. After seven years with the Angels, Jim was traded to the Cardinals after butting heads with the new manager. The Cardinals quickly signed him to a contract extension and he stayed there until 2007. He was part of the World Series Championship team in 2006. He was known for spectacular catches and good slugging.

Homework
My homework was all about female sports journalists. I learned a lot including there are not many and men are jerks (just kidding). I learned about all of the horrible things many female sports journalists went through and sometimes still go through. I learned it is a tough job but that most women are still very satisfied with their jobs despite in many cases a lack of ability to advance in the profession. I also learned that the situation has been improving in recent years but that boys are still boys and often sources and colleagues are still very rude and sometimes downright nasty. I will not describe some of the horrors some of these women have endured because children read this and they are truly terrible and inappropriate. This information has not deterred me from goals however. maybe because I am naive or I have too much faith in the world to be a better place but I am not going to give up my dream because some people cannot accept that women can be just as knowledgeable about sports as men.

Picture:
http://www.cobrabrigade.com/images/edmondsisgay.jpg (I had nothing to do with the original title of the picture- Cubs fans...)

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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The famous LeBron billboard. I'm not really a huge LeBron fan but this is kind of a landmark.

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Sorry this is sideways. This is me in front of the Bob Feller statue.

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That's my favorite Cardinal Colby Rasmus stretching with Ryan Ludwick in the foreground.

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Tony! We saw Tony eating in Cleveland's historic Little Italy too. That was fun.

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This is the beginning of Major League which I saw about an hour of an the screen at the Jake.

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The famous Cleveland seagulls in the upper deck stands behind home plate. The fireworks after every half inning seem to be working in warding off the gulls.

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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.

It may be raining, but there's a rainbow above you...

So it's been awhile. I apologize. I've been pretty busy with work and the online class I'm taking this summer.

The Indians have been taking me on an emotional roller coaster again. They lost the series in Minnesota and then won the series in Chicago complete with a three-hit complete game shutout from Carl Pavano. Pavano has been amazing recently and I love it. 

Fausto Carmona, however, has not been amazing unless you mean amazingly bad. He has been sent to rookie ball in Arizona after the Minnesota series to work things out down there. I really hope he figures it out and makes it back up sometime. I do not think we will be seeing him in the near future, or even this season, however.
Another starter who has been getting better and better every start is David Huff who is up in the Majors for the first time in his career and just got his first Major League victory on Sunday. 

The bullpen is still concerning me. They have managed to get out of bad situations with minimal damage recently but for the most part they have put themselves in those situations. It is so bad that when we are leading 8-4 and Kerry Wood walks someone with two outs I assume that the other team just won the game. 

Next up the Indians have the Royals who are in the midst of a bit of a free fall. The Royals have lost  nine of their last ten and are now only a half game ahead of the Indians in the standings. Whoever loses this series is in last place in the AL Central. This is a key series for the Tribe. I am to the point where if they lose this series I may say the season's over for them. They need to beat the struggling Royals. A sweep would be great but I'll take two out of three. The pitching matchup for tonight is Bannister and Lee. If Cliff can pitch like he has been recently and the offense can score runs for him like last time we should win this game. However the offense seems to not care that much when Cliff pitches and decide that he can win even if they do not score. They have been scoring a little more recently so hopefully they can keep that up. Wednesday's matchup is Meche versus Pavano. As I said Carl has been pitching very well recently and he leads the team in wins with six. Again we should probably win this game on paper but as everyone knows things do not always turn out that way especially for the Indians. Thursday is when Carmona's spot in the rotation would come up normally but because of the offday mlb.com is saying that Sowers is the likely pitcher for Thursday night's game against Grienke. Grienke was far from impressive his last outing but maybe that was just a fluke. If it was the Indians need to do their best to work Grienke hard. Sowers has been much better recently and hopefully he can continue that. He does not have an easy opponent to try to continue that with though. Overall this series is very interesting and very important for both teams.

Every word you say, say something sweet...

The Indians stomped the Twins last night. Amazingly the Indians scored runs behind Cliff Lee. Not just some runs though: ten runs. TEN RUNS. They only needed two. Then Kerry Wood would have gotten a rare save opportunity but, hey, we won and everyone else in teh AL Central lost. It was good day for the Tribe. Also Asdrubal Cabrera's shoulder injury is not as bad as originally thought and he will probably be back in 2-4 weeks. A very good day for the Tribe.

Also Cliff Lee and Carlos Gomez got into it again. Early in the game Carlos Gomez bunted with two strikes and it went foul so he was out. This was a stupid move on his part and he looked a little bit like a fool and a bit cocky too. Cliff Lee did not like this move so later when Gomez flew out he said something to him. Rick Manning and Jim Rosenhaus (filling in for Matt Underwood, more on that later) thought he said something like "Should have bunted." Carlos Gomez did not like that so he charged the mound when Cliff Lee's back was turned (low) and Victor martinez, being awesome as usual, ran interference. The benches semi-cleared shortly and it seemed over. 

The next inning Ryan Garko was hit by a pitch in the first at bat. I do not think this was intentional. Then one batter later Kelly Shoppach gets hit. Still not intentional in my opinion. The umpire agreed with me and did not issue any warnings or anything. Later Kelly Shoppach was hit again. I still do not think this was intentional I just like the fact that we have something we are good at. We are now leading the Majors in hit by pitches at 39. Kelly Shoppach leads the league with ten. We call him the Ball Magnet.

Matt Underwood, the Indians play-by-play announcer is back in Cleveland with his mom who is very ill. So please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

My Baby is Hurt

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That's right everyone Grady is officially too hurt to play at all. He was placed on the fifteen day DL this morning. I am very sad but I hope he gets better soon. The Indians say that the MRI they did revealed no structural damage so that is good but with their track record on injuries and what they reveal I can only be so hopeful. This news kind of killed my day. The poor Indians cannot catch a break this year. Please get better Grady. I will be waiting.

Carl Pavano
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Carl Pavano has been absolutely amazing recently. He leads the team with five wins and would have had number six today if the Indians' bullpen had not reverted back to its old ways. Today for example he pitched 7 1/3 innings walking no one and striking out four. He gave up seven hits and three runs. That is less than a hit per inning pitched. He did not give anyone a free trip on base and when Wedge took him out he was not happy about it. I love how he is pitching and competing right now. The other night STO did an interview with him and it was probably one of the best interviews STO has ever done. I am really liking him more and more as the season goes on. I love it even more when he dominates the Yankees.

Pictures:
1) Cleveland Plain Dealer
2) http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/b82fc556-befa-49a8-9e0d-2d2c792a4a31.jpg

Between the Lines

Last night's game is not really worth recapping. It was probably one of the most boring games I have ever seen. Usually the Indians winning or losing has no bearing on whether or not I find he game entertaining so I really don't know why this game was so boring. Basically same old story for poor Cliff. He could not catch a break and the Tribe decided that last night was not an important night to score runs so we lost 3-1.

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This is the pose Grady uses when he is disappointed or sad. So like all this year.

Time to tell me the truth, to burden your mouth for what you say
No pieces of paper in the way...
My memory is cruel, the queen of attention to details
Defending intentions if he fails, until now.
He told me her name, it sounded familiar in a way
And I could have sworn I heard him say it
Ten thousand times, Oh if only I had been listening
Leave unsaid unspoken, Eyes wide shut unopened
You and me, always between the lines.
-Sara Bareilles

What I am really concerned about is Grady's "sore" elbow. Apparently it has been bothering him all year and only when he throws. All year? Really. They could have put him on the DL so much earlier and he maybe would have been back and all better by now. Instead we have hurt Grady who is now hitting better but apparently cannot throw and Travis is coming back meaning Grady has to play the outfield or nothing at all. I wish I just knew the truth about what was happening right now. I have no idea how bad the elbow is. Grady says he hopes it does not become a DL situation but Grady even mentioning the DL makes it seem pretty serious. The sad part is since he is starting to hit better if he goes on the DL I am afraid he will come back rusty and all of this progress he has made recently will mean nothing. I said from the beginning that something seemed off with him and apparently I was right. I just hope they can fix it without sending him to the DL. I would be really sad if he was not playing when I go to the Jake in June.


 
Here is Sara's whole song if you are interested.

Picture: http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/ballhype/story_large/2009/04/13/grady_sizemore.jpg

AL All-Star Voting

2009 MLB All-Star Balloting : American League
1st Base
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Kevin YoukilisRed Sox414,693
2.Miguel CabreraTigers299,597
3.Mark TeixeiraYankees295,798
4.Justin MorneauTwins275,990
5.Chris DavisRangers217,166
2nd Base
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Ian KinslerRangers514,645
2.Dustin PedroiaRed Sox426,127
3.Aaron HillBlue Jays273,039
4.Robinson CanoYankees257,695
5.Brian RobertsOrioles185,728
3rd Base
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Evan LongoriaRays664,060
2.Michael YoungRangers296,025
3.Alex RodriguezYankees245,414
4.Scott RolenBlue Jays227,650
5.Mike LowellRed Sox215,945
Shortstop
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Derek JeterYankees664,630
2.Marco ScutaroBlue Jays273,589
3.Elvis AndrusRangers258,243
4.Jason BartlettRays233,482
5.Alexei RamirezWhite Sox129,086
Catcher
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Joe MauerTwins381,443
2.Victor MartinezIndians284,988
3.Jason VaritekRed Sox281,549
4.Jorge PosadaYankees277,849
5.Jarrod SaltalamacchiaRangers272,830
Outfield
RANKPLAYER NAMEAL TEAMTOTAL VOTES
1.Jason BayRed Sox446,183
2.Josh HamiltonRangers442,553
3.Ichiro SuzukiMariners306,453
4.Ken Griffey Jr.Mariners305,046
5.Nick MarkakisOrioles294,343
6.Carl CrawfordRays260,325
7.Nelson CruzRangers253,456
8.Grady SizemoreIndians252,231
9.Jacoby EllsburyRed Sox244,004
10.Torii HunterAngels242,712
11.Johnny DamonYankees235,104
12.Andruw JonesRangers215,294
13.J.D. DrewRed Sox206,507
14.Vernon WellsBlue Jays194,294
15.Curtis GrandersonTigers186,040
There you have the American League All Star Voting so far. I will give you my thoughts on each position.
First Base: I have been voting for Justin Morneau. I still have over 100 votes to go so they will make very little difference. That being said Youkiis is not a bad choice. But it should be between him and Morneau in my opinion.
Second Base: I love Dustin Pedroia but I love Ian Kinsler more so I am very pleased with this position. Kinsler has been having a great year and definitely deserves to be at the game if not starting.
Third Base: Evan Longoria is definitely the best choice here. I do not think there is much more I can say about this position it seems pretty cut and dry to me.
Shortstop: DEREK JETER????? Have you seen him play defense? Jhonny Peralta is a better option. Overrated. There is my rant. I can not say I am surprised but I am disappointed. I have been voting for either Jason Bartlett, who is now hurt. This year shortstop is not a very strong position though so it is pretty much over there I think.
Catcher: Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez my two favorite catchers in the AL are leading this position. It has been so hard for me to pick between the two of these players. When I was mad at Victor I voted for Mauer and at other times I have just been splitting votes. Both deserve to be there and both deserve to start but obviously only one of them will so I will be happy with whoever it is.
Outfield: Despite his slow start Grady is still eighth in outfielders. Good job Indian fans and me. The top three are not bad but obviously I think Grady should be there every year. Objectively though, I think the outfield is pretty close to right except for Nelson Cruz seems really high and Curtis Granderson (as much as this pains me) seems pretty low. Johnny Damon is too high but I do not really expect him to drop any being a Yankee and all. I am happy with Ellsbury's position too. he has had a great year and deserves to be right up there with everyone else.

There you have it. My thoughts on All Star Voting so far.

Here is my vote for the starting lineup:
First: Justin Morneau, Twins
Second: Ian Kinsler, Rangers
Third: Evan Longoria, Rays
Shortstop: Jason Bartlett, Rays
Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins/Victor Martinez, Indians
Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Rangers Nick Markakis, Orioles Grady Sizemore, Indians (Incredibly biased pick there, leave me alone)
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