How Low Can You Go?

Just when you think it can't get worse, out comes Jeremy Sowers with his gas can and torches the place. The game is still in the 6th inning with the Tribe trailing 8-2. More poor at-bats by the Tribe and worse pitching by Sowers, who clearly has lost his luster as a top prospect, marred another ugly evening.

And you thought rock bottom came with the three stooges (David Dellucci, Andy Marte, Jorge Velandia) hitting 7-8-9 on Sunday.

Sowers gave up a three-run pizza in the first to Jim Thome and a grand slam to Nick Swisher in the third. Eight earned in three innings. Not what the Tribe brass is looking for from a their once-prized prospect and first round pick. As for Sowers, here is the bottom line - he is a soft tossing lefty who at best is a fifth starter in this league. He is a mirror image of the team he plays for; a guy with no margin for error who can't seem to get his act together.

His value peaked last year and Mark Shapiro should have dealt him this spring for a bat. Wouldn't Carlos Quenton look good in left for the Red, White, and Blue right now? He was acquired by White Sox GM in the winter for a A ball first basemen who isn't hitting his weight this year. Quinton, a former top power hitting prospect and came into Monday night leading the AL in homers with 19, fourth in RBI with 61, and hitting .285.

Meanwhile, the Indians went into the season with a platoon of Big Dave Dellucci and K-Mike in left, that lasted a month and a half before the K-Mike was dumped and DD was relegated to pinch-hitting duty while the Indians fell out of contention. Since he stole from us on the Marte is the only player with zero RBI line, we will steal right back from a certain fat-man PD columnist, who dropped this gem line about DD - Dellucci was 15 for his last 27 going into the game. That's 15 strikeouts, not -- don't be silly -- hits.

Mark Shapiro has gotten a lot of heat of late for this poorly constructed roster and rightfully so. I mean come on, are Jorge Velandia, Andy Marte, Sal Fasano, Rick Bauer, Edward Mujica, and David Dellucci all really on this roster at the same time? I don't care about the injuries. This is supposed to be a contender!

But Shappy isn't the only one who deserves blame, what about the men who are in charge of the amateur draft? Of the Indians first and second round picks of the last 10 years, only one, Sowers, is on the current major league roster. For deeper info on how brutal these drafts were, read this. That is a sad, pathetic state if affairs. Want to know why the Diamondbacks and Rays are in first place? Look at their drafts. Arizona, in successive years from 03-05, took starters Connor Jackson, Quenton, Stephen Drew, and Justin Upton. Tampa has seen the careers of first rounders B.J. Upton, Delmon Young (who turned into SP Matt Garza), and Evan Longoria all blossom into studs.

That's a far cry from the likes of Corey Smith (00- out of baseball), Dan Denham (01- still in AA), Alan Horne (01 - didn't sign and is now in AAA with the Yankees), Jeremy Guthrie (02 - a one year wonder struggling in Baltimore), and Brad Snyder (03 - can't get above AAA and can't hit). Nice run. No wonder the cupboard is so bare.

This is precisely why the Indians MUST trade C.C. Sabathia and not allow his to walk for two draft picks. Because lord knows what they will do with said picks!

Seriously, we are running out of ways to describe how this season has become a complete and utter disaster. Since Sowers was the first round pick in 04, we figured we'd go that route. Don't fret, I'm sure we will find more things to pick at over the coming weeks.

oh, by the way, isn't it nice watching Brandon Phillips destroy you one day and Jim Thome the next?

Dellucci, Marte, and Velandia

They are in todays lineup and that is all you need to know about this baseball team. The season is now over and watch out, because now that playing the JV is over (National League) it will only get worse. Not that this team can beat anyone from the NL. Pathetic. Someone explain to me why Andy Marte is even on the roster? Dave Dellucci? Explain it to me. Yes, Franky G is bad, but at least he can run a ball down or two in the outfield.

Last Place Rules!

From the department of redundancy department, the Indians lost last night because they couldn't score runs and couldn't deliver with runners in scoring position. Only the 2008 Tribe, picked to win the World Series by both ESPN's Peter Gammons and Buster Olney, would get completely shut down by Barry Zito, currently the worst starting pitcher in the league.

Consider the following:

-The former Cy Young winner and the reason nobody will give C.C. Sabathia a seven-year deal, came into the game with a sterling 2-11 record and a 6.32 ERA.

-His last outing, he lasted two innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks.

-His previous four starts, he gave up 25 hits and walked 17 hitters in 17 innings.

Yet, the sad sack, pathetic, boring, dull-ass Indians offense watched and flailed away for Six and 2/3 innings, collecting just one run on four hits. ZERO WALKS. Nice approach. The guy couldn't beat the little sisters of the poor, and Eric Wedge's offense only gets on base four times against Zito?

We are running out of ways to describe the lack of offense at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Can it get any worse? Good news Wahoo fans - we haven't reached the half way point in the season and your team resides in LAST PLACE at 35-43. The Indians haven't been in the cellar this late in a season since 1993. What's amazing about it is the starting pitching still ranks 4th in ERA at 3.79.

The highlight of the night was watching Casey Blake play SS in the 9th. Solid showcase move by Eric Wedge. Another thing - we may have to change the name of the site to "Dump Andy Marte." He is beyond worthless. Nice pinch-hitting effort last night.

I'm done for the day. What an embarrassment.

Another Night, Another Bad Loss

I will say this, the pre-game Omar tribute gave me the chills. They gave #13 a beautiful video tribute highlighting his spectacular moments during his 11 years as an Indian, and then I had to sit in my seat, bored to tears, watching a putrid offense barely register a pulse and blow yet another great pitching performance for one of its starters in a 3-2 loss.

Every year it seems like its one pitcher in particular who doesn't get run support. This year, while it seems to be all of them, the biggest loser seems to be lefty Aaron Laffey. In his 11 starts, the Tribe has scored three runs or less seven times. Last night was no different. He left with two outs in the seventh allowing just one run on four hits. Nothing like a 4-4 record with an ERA of 2.83.

Back to the offense. How many more 1-9 with RISP can we take? Kelly Shoppach was especially brutal last night as well. Not only did he K three times, including one with two on and two out in the ninth, but it was his awful throwing error that allowed the game-winning run to score in the eighth. More negatives:

Andy Friggin Marte - Enough with this guy already. I know he has only 50 at bats this season, but he went 0-2 with the bad strikeouts, moving his batting average to .14o. Not to mention the fact that he still hasn't driven in a run the entire year. I can't find the stat, but he has to be the only position player who made an opening day roster who hasn't spent any time on the DL and has yet to have an RBI next to his name.

Shin-Soon Choo - Don't look now, but Choo is in a massive 3-20 slump.

Kelly Shoppach - Is he getting exposed by playing everyday? All of a sudden, his defense has fallen off the table. Said manager Eric Wedge. "He's been erratic. He just needs to dial it in a little more."

Closer, We Need One - I know he looked shaky last night, but did you see the smoke young Giants closer Brian Wilson was throwing last night? Dude was touching 97 regularly in the ninth and picked up his 20th save in 22 chances. Enough with the garbage of the Wickman's and the Borowski's of the world, give me a hard-throwing dude all day long.

At least last night "Little O" got his due. The crowd of over 29,000 gave him several standing ovations, and he made two vintage-Omar plays: he laid down a beautiful suicide squeeze in the ninth to bring home the Giants third run and made a beautiful back-handed stop and jumping throw to second to get the second out in the ninth.

It was a perfect evening for Omar. Jhonny Peralta had to be miserable.

But is it Really Over?

The Tribe takes two of three in LA and the White Sox get swept by their North Side brethren and can't seem to win on the road (that is 9 straight after Sunday night). The Twins are still the Twins and while they are 40-36 and doing it with smoke and mirrors, does anyone really think they will be sticking around come September? Then there are the Motor City Kitties. They have been feasting on that joke of a division that is the NL West. They sit 36-39, five games back of the Chi-Sox.

What does all of this mean for the Indians?

In fourth place at 35-41 and six games back, do they still have a realistic shot to get back into this race? You know "The grinder" himself Eric Wedge thinks so. The same problems remain. To paraphrase GM extraordinaire Shappy: "we are without our #2 and #3 starters, our #3 and #4 hitters, and our bullpen is a mess."

Don't forget about the fact that Jhonny Peralta is a statue at SS barely hitting his weight, Ryan Garko trades months where he is hotter than baked clams one week than colder than my ex-sister in law the next. Second base has gone from Asdrubal Cabrera (fighting to get to the Mendoza line before getting sent down to Buffalo) to Josh Barfield (one game, broken finger) to Jamey Carroll (best used as a utility man, he is 34 after all). Franklin Gutierrez has been a disappointment at the plate and is now in a platoon with Shin-Soo Choo. David Dellucci and Casey Blake are still David Dellucci and Casey Blake.

The point of all of this is that with everything that is going on, the question remains if the Indians are truly out of it. Here is what the plan should be for the next three-four weeks:

1. Play Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Francisco, and Franklyn Gutierrez in the two corner OF spots and leave them there in some sort of rotation. Francisco's bat and Franky G's glove are too valuable, as is the total package Choo is offering. There is ZERO reason for Double Deez to see anything other than pinch hitting duty.

2. Get Jensen Lewis back up here and let him throw in the seventh. Is it just me or do you think the arms of Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, and Masa Kobayashi will fall off by mid-August. Luckily for them, the Indians have had plenty of blow outs in the opponents favor, leaving ample innings for long man Scott Elarton and "No-Dick" Rick Bauer. As Terry Pluto wrote on Sunday "I think we've all seen enough of Edward Mujica." Also, like they did with Jenny last year, give me Jeff Stevens and prepare him in the middle innings. Pluto calls the player to be named later int he Brandon Phillips debacle as "the best reliever to come through Akron since Rafael Betancourt."

3. Get Morgan Ensberg up here, give him starts at 3B and let Fake play some 1B. When Garko is slumping (like he has been for the last week), his at-bats are brutal. Andy Marte is worthless, as is Jorge Velandia. At least we know Ensberg used to have some game.

4.Wait a week, dump Velandia, and bring back AC. Play him four-five days a week at SS, while DH'ing Jhonny Peralta. Cabrera is hitting over .370 in close to two weeks in Buffalo and playing "sensational" defense, according to his current manager Torey Lovullo. This will help both players thrive. Jhonny's range rivals my 94 year old grandmother these days.

5. Consider dumping Paul Byrd for prospects while there is still a market for him and bring up former first round pick David Huff. Lets see what a rotation of five lefties looks like. Remember the days of the five-righty rotation where unless you got spot starts from memorable names like John Smiley, Brian Anderson or Jason Jacome, you wouldn't see a lefty until Paul "The Ass Man" Assenmacher came trotting in form the pen? (I loved the Ass Man, but was more partial to Al Morman.)

Up next is another of the soft-underbelly of the NL West, the San Francisco Giants. This signals the return of one of Cleveland's favorite sons, Omar Vizquel. I will be down at the Jake tonight to give Omar a standing "O." Through all of the big bopper years, Omar may have been the most beloved of the red, white, and blue. He flashed the leather, and his million dollar smile, on a daily basis and never seemed to ruffle any feathers, unless your name is Jose Mesa. It's funny how now people talk about Omar as if he were a God, yet most Tribe fans were pushing him out the door '04for the younger Peralta. Now, all you hear is "Omar would have made that play with ease."

That is the truth. With apologies to Ozzie Smith, Omar is the best defensive shortstop any of us will probably ever see. It was a pleasure to watch him work his magic here for 10 years and it will be a pleasure to see him take the position he owned tonight.

Season's Over- Time For Thomas

A few years ago at Thanksgiving at my uncle's house, many members of the family joined together in the basement to play with the kids. My son was very enthralled with Thomas the tank engine at the time; Thomas is a big blue fictional locomotive that lives on the Island of Sodor and kids just are infatuated with him. Anyways, he was playing pinball and when he got done he turned to me and my brother and said "Game's over it's time for Thomas". Now we can all say together that it applies to our Tribe, cuz it is time for Thomas.

The Indians were swept in Colorado yet again. They were swept on the road in interleague yet again. They are now 33-40 and 8 and a half games back of first place Chicago. The season is over. Read the quotes from Mark Shapiro in todays Monolith: "We do understand the reality," said Shapiro. "We are without our No. 2 [Carmona] and No. 3 [Westbrook] starters. We don't have our No. 3 [Hafner] and No. 4 [Martinez] hitters. It is what it is."

Last night exposed the Tribe. No speed, yet the Rocks have it with Willy Taveras (whom the tribe dealt to Houston for basically nobody). Brutal defense up in the middle, led by ski-boot wearin Jhonny Peralta at SS, a lollipop armed CF in Grady Sizemore, and a backup catcher turned regular right now who is a passed-ball machine and cannot throw anyone out in Kelly Shoppach. No true cleanup hitter. It is not Travis Hafner, healthy or not, neither is it Victor Martinez nor Ryan Garko, whose at-bats in Colorado this week were very lame.

Thank goodness Mr. Clutch himself, Casey Blake, is heating up. His 3 for 4 night last night including a solo thin slice will only up his trade value. I cannot wait until he is dealt to a contender soon.

Summer has not yet officially started and our boys are already done. Bring up Wes Hodges, because no matter what-- I will still watch every game.

On a side note, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer agrees with us in his morning column. In big bold print in the middle of today's PD it says "A Season Beyond Repair - 08 Tribe is Done." Terry knows what's up

Back to Reality?

Is this the real Cleveland Indians we are watching and was the last 4-2 homestand the aberration? One would think going out to Colorado would only enhance the Tribe's offensive upswing. Oh contrare, mon frair (no clue how to spell that). The Wahoos went back to what they do best; forgetting to come through in the clutch. Rally's seem to die with a whimper, and after another 4-2 loss, the Indians now sit in fourth place, 7.5 games out of first. I feel like I sound like a broken record when I say "does this team EVER get a big hit?"

With two on and nobody in the 7th and Jason Grilli on the hill, Eric Wedge went to the bench and lefty David Dellucci in the pitcher's spot. Good move. Unless that pinch-hitter is a scrub dog like Dellucci who K'd badly without swinging at the two pitches that were right down the middle, yet checking on the 2-2 pitch that was way out of the strike zone. Naturally, the only run the Indians could manufacturer in the 7th was on a passed ball and a Shin-Soo Choo sacrifice fly. Heaven forbid someone would drive one to the gap.

Meanwhile, the Indians lack of speed on both sides of showed of the ball yet again last night. While former Tribe prospect Willy Tavares was wreaking havoc on the basepaths (his infield single, stolen bases, etc) and with running down seemingly every fly ball hit in the spacious gaps of the Coors outfield, Wedge's boys continue to be a station to station club with zero speed; not to mention Jhonny Peralta's lack of range at shortstop continues to frustrate everyone.

You can live with Jhon's porous defense as long as he is hitting. After taking the collar again last night, Peralta sits at .231. He came to the plate in the 6th with two on and two out, and flied out. He is now hitting .188 with runners in scoring position. Who does he think he is, Fake? That was one run right there. On the other side, with two out in the 6th and noted Tribe killer (this series at least) Jeff Baker on second, Omar Quintanilla blooped one to short which 95% of the major league shortstops get too, but not Jhonny. The ball went over his head and a key run was pushed across. What about the 7th - Tavares' leadoff infield single? Jhonny's slow feet getting to the ball allowed the speedster to get on base. He eventually scored. (SIDE NOTE - it's not like they are getting beaten by Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Todd Helton - it's Tavarez, Baker, and Quintanilla).

If you are scoring at home, that is two runs Jhonny cost the Indians on defense alone.

One can only wonder how much longer they can leave Asdrubal Cabrera in Buffalo and Jhonny as the everyday SS. When AC plays short, it really made you realize just how bad Peralta's range truly is. As we stated before, you can live with it when Jhonny is hitting .280 with power. But its getting real late, early, and the time for re-evaluation of everything may soon be upon us.

We are setting the over/under on how many more days C.C. Sabathia is wearing Tribe Red, White, and Blue at 30.

Grady's Back

Great to see the Wahoos take back to back series against teams they should beat at home. The Indians are not dead yet and neither is Grady Sizemore. DCB took a swipe or two at "the greatest player of our generation" a few weeks back and with Travis Hafner and Vic Martinez on the shelf, Grady has had to step up and he has. Sizemore with 9 homers in his last 16 games. He is hitting 317 over his last ten games and has four multi-hit performances during that span. His 17 jacks rank his second in the AL behind Josh "alright" Hamilton of the Rangers.

It is not an easy task to ask Grady to see pitches and try and get on-base as opposed to what he really is: a run producer who tends to strikeout. MSM'ers are debating whether or not Sizemore should stay in the leadoff spot or not and my opinion is he should stay where he is-- for now. This club needs a true leadoff man, but it is obvious that person is not on the roster currently or even down on the farm. Jose Reyes would be perfect, but as si.com's Jon Heyman wrote if the Tribe wants to deal for the five-tool SS, they would have to send Grady to the Metropolitains.

One other note as pointed out by my homey Warren Bremerton: No Dave Dellucci= Wins. Big Dave is 7 for his last 31 with 7 K's. Keep him on the bench.

Now What?

The Tribe bats go off for 12 runs and a season-high 18 hits. Aaron Laffey pitched six strong innings, but there is a lot of doom and gloom in the Wahoo Nation. With the news that Catcher Victor Martinez will miss the next 6-8 weeks after having surgery to clean out his elbow, the Indians probably picked the worst time to have to make a run. The White Sox were just swept by the Tigers and the Indians have taken won three of four with a favorable schedule of NL West teams and the Cincinnati Reds ahead of them.

They have to make the run now, and they will have to do it without their captain. He's been giving his all, playing hurt with hamstring and shoulder injuries all year, but clearly Victor was not the same guy. "He wasn't hurting every single day, every single at-bat, every single throw," said Wedge. "It was here and there. . . . Until it becomes a daily thing, and the guy is strong enough to go out and play, you want him to go out and play. And he wants to do that.

"He knows we're better as a ball club with him at 80 percent, especially when you have other injuries to other key players." The good news is this means more AB's for the best backup catcher in baseball, Kelly Shoppach. The bad news is that Yamid Haad currently sits on a roster that already possesses Jorge Velandia and Andy Marte. Nice bench!

Now we are looking at an everyday lineup essentially without you #3 and #4 hitters (Travis Hafner, or whoever that guy is who wears #48 these days also sits on the DL). With Jhonny Peralta barely hitting his weight (.225), where does this team go for offense? Ben Francisco has to keep mashing the way he has since he has come up from Buffalo. Last night's four-hit game was a clinic in line-drive hitting, something Travis Hafner hasn't done all year. Ryan Garko will continue to bat cleanup and will have to continue this hot streak. Believe it or not, Casey Blake becomes that more important to this offense, which has shown some signs of life in the past few weeks. Another man to watch is on-coming OF Shin-Soo Choo (three-run pizza last night), who like Francisco, has done nothing but rake since being activated from the DL.

The reality? This season is cooked. Without your main cogs in the lineup, on a team which has such a small margin for error, is missing 40% of its starting rotation, and has a bullpen in shambles, the time is now to trade C.C. Sabathia. Start the bidding. The earlier you deal him, the better the offers will be.

CC Shows Off

Not a bad performance from the ace last night huh? CC Sabathia just flexes in a complete game, five hit shutout of the Twins last night 1-0. It is both cool and sad at the same time. Cool that the Indians triumphed and actually won two in a row for the first time since mid-May; sad because it may be one of the final times we see this from CC in a red-white- and blue uniform.

"I don't know what his record says this year," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, "but I think the home-plate umpire [Joe West] made the statement saying that's the best he's seen him throw this year or the last two years. That says a lot, because he did win a Cy last year."

I am one of those Wahoo fans that is always thinking positive and hopes somehow, some way, that CC can remain here. But lets be real, he's gone and likely will have to be traded before the deadline.

When CC is on his game it is extremely fun to watch. He is the leader of our team and has always represented Cleveland very well. It must have eaten at him throughout the game that his teammates continue to strand runners and pop out weakly to the Twins outfielders. The Tribe is a strikeout/weak flyout squad. I saw it first hand in Detroit on Monday. We do not make a lot of loud outs, that is for sure.

One dude that needs to get some love is Ryan Garko. 436 average over his last 10 games and 15 RBI. His at-bats are tremendous and he no longer looks like he is trying to pull the ball every time up. He needs to play everyday as does Shin-Soo-Choo. This race is not over yet, but the Tribe is definitely teetering on the brink of big trouble. One run on nine hits is unacceptable. Bad hammy or not, Victor Martinez has got to start delivering hits with RISP.

Its Getting Downright Embarrassing

Seriously, what more can we say? You know it's bad when the best thing that happened during Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Tigers is Scott Elarton's three scoreless innings of relief. It was just good enough to keep the Indians in the game, well of course, if your offense wasn't so moribund and pathetic.

Take the 8th inning for example. With one out, Franklin Gutierrez walked, Victor Martinez singled, and Ryan Garko was hit by a pitch. So the bases are now loaded. Here is their shot to get back in it. So what happens? Natually Jhonny Peralta, who is putting the "R" in regressing this season, K'd on a 3-2 meatball right down the center of the plate from that noted stopper Freddy Dolsi. Next was Ben Francisco who pulled a Peralta and struck out as well. End of rally. End of game.

More importantly, its time to face facts peeps - this is the end of the season. This team doesn't have the talent to win, on top of the fact that the pitching staff is essentially in shambles thanks to injuries to the rotation and the complete disaster of a bullpen. Just look at what's going on right now:

-Jake Westbrook needs Tommy John Surgery and is out for the rest of the year.

-Fausto Carmona has been out for a month with a hip injury.

-Rafael Betancourt has turned into a gas can who cannot get anyone out, yet still has to pitch in key situations because the majority of the pen is now littered with 4A journeymen like Rick Bauer, Edward Mujica, and Elarton.

-Victor Martinez has as many homer runs as Elvis, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls, JFK, JFK jr, Bobby Kennedy, High Pitch Eric, and George Takei do combined.

-Travis Hafner is on the DL and is a complete shell of himself.

-Asdrubal Cabrera his hitting .184.

-Peralta is hitting .232, Casey Blake .239, and David Dellucci .232. These three guys continue to play every single day.

All of this adds up to a 28-35 record and an eight and a half game deficit from the red-hot Chicago White Sox who are 10 games over .500. It's not to early for this front office to face reality, especially with Westbrook now gone for the year and a lineup that shows no signs of snapping out of its funk when runners are in scoring position. (SIDE NOTE - does this team EVER get any hits that aren't singles? Do they ever drive a ball to the gap and run with it? Nothing like a station to station team with no speed!)

The reality of the situation is that the time to start the C.C. Sabathia bidding is now. He isn't staying here and the Tribe isn't contending for a World Series, let alone the AL Central at this point. Here is what I do if I'm Mark Shapiro:

I go to Boston's Theo Epstein and the Yankees Brian Cashman and say "give me your best offer. You are one of the teams that can actually afford C.C. in free agency, he comes to you, helps get you to a World Series, and stays for big money. It's that simple. Wouldn't you want a leg up on your competition?" Think about it, if you are Theo Epstein, wouldn't you salivate at a postseason rotation of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, C.C. Sabathia, and your choice of Jon Lester or Curt Schilling as your #4? With that lineup, how can you lose? Well worth a steep price of say Jacoby Ellsbury and RHP Justin Masterson.

Don't think the Yankees wouldn't die for C.C. now and in the future. Put him at the top of the rotation with Chien-Ming Wang and the suddenly rejuvinated Mike Mussina and your in business. Not to mention you have the playoff tested Andy Pettitte as your #4. Now you don't have to count on guys like Ian Kennedy and Darrell Rasner as much.

What about the Chicago Cubs? Wouldn't they just love to fill that hole in their rotation left by the ineffective Rich Hill with the big left-hander? Put C.C. with Carlos Zambrano and the best team in the NL just got that much better. A team like the Los Angeles Dodgers has gobs of young talent to throw at the Tribe (they have two young third basemen in Blake Dewitt and Andy Laroche, as well as young stud OF's Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier) and lacks and the ace to take them to the next level.

Just thinking out loud here. You know they won't pull the plug on the season until it's long been too late. Why you ask? It's easy: the Dolan's have to sell tickets. The Indians didn't draw last year when they were winning. How many people do you think we be coming out in August and September when the Indians are 15 games out of first and Browns mania is running wild in the city? They'll be lucky to get to two million fans.

Trading C.C. as early as possible is the smart move organizationally, but the dumb move from a financial standpoint if you are the owners. This shows you are giving up on the season. Sometimes, you have to give up on today and have the dividends pay off tomorrow.

This season is flat-lining and we all know it. It's time the front office takes the appropriate steps towards 2009 and beyond.

It's Alive!

Could this be the end of the drought? Let it be the first time we say this all year, the Tribe bats are sizzling! Don't think we actually though that would occur, but another night of double digit scoring in that joke of a bandbox in Arlington has given the Indians sagging offense life.

Benny Francisco's five-hit night paced a 17 hit attack. Ryan Garko, who is having a huge series, went 4-5 with 6 RBI in the 15-9 win. Garks is up to .260 now and seems to have taken a liking to the cleanup spot. I've said this a million times but it bears repeating, how could this organization have kept Francisco in AAA as long as they did, while keeping the lame LF platoon of the since-departed K-Mike and David Dellucci? Benny is hitting .343 and leads the team in doubles. Quite the feat for someone who has played in just 29 of the teams 59 games.

The Tribe now goes for a series win tonight with C.C. Sabathia on the hill, before heading to Detroit for the big four game set against the hated Tigers. The Kitties catch a major break as they will miss C.C., Fausto Carmona (DL), and Jake Westbrook (DL). Hopefully, the bats will be able to pick up the slack.

Quick Notes:

Brian "I'm no Heathcliff" Slocum and Rick Bauer are up replacing Jenson Lewis and Tom Mastny in the bullpen. Slocum will be the long man and probably just be up long enough to be replaced by Jeremy Sowers when his turn in the rotation comes up Sunday. Bauer was having a nice season in AAA (1.54 ERA, 14 saves) but is clearly a 4A special. He got work last night in the ninth and promptly gave up three earned runs.

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Cliff Lee did a five and fly last night, but he was getting squeezed big time by home plate umpire Tim Timmons. Cliff looked as though he was ready to rip his head off after twice he threw two-strike pitches right down the middle of the plate and were called balls in the 5th. Milton Bradley actually began walking towards the dugout on his two-strike "ball." He was later seen in the dugout punching the water cooler.

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Remember when the Tribe was looking into acquiring Jason Bay all winter long? Have you seen his hot streak of late? Bay is hitting .290 with 13 HR's and 29 RBI. Reminds me a lot of the K-Mike/Dellucci platoon numbers.

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Is it just me, or do you NOT miss Travis Hafner one bit?

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Speaking of Pronk, both he and Jake Westbrook got long-term big money deals last season. So far, the Dolan's can't be too happy with their investments. While Jake is a rock and worth every penny, he has been on the DL now three times since signing the three-year, $33 million contract and the Indians are being very coy with this latest injury to his elbow. Rumors are swirling that he may need Tommy John Surgery, which could put him out a full year. Pronk in the meantime looks like a former Steroid/HGH user who can't get his act together. His shoulder is hurt and he literally hasn't driven the ball all year. The slump can no longer be called a slump because it spans more than a full season. At least the Indians didn't give him $16 million a year for four years....Oh yeah, they did.

It's Time to Get Nasty

With Jake Westbrook placed on the DL with a sore elbow and Jeremy Sowers starting two days ago in Buffalo, the Indians literally had no other option for tonight's game against Texas. So the Tribe is going to give The Nasty One, Tom Mastny a spot start in his home state. The Ft. Worth native gets the call in front of family and friends and hopefully can give the Tribe 3-4 good innings. We expect to see Edward Mujica for a few innings as well. Hopefully these two can give the Tribe six innings to get to the back end of the pen.

Last year, DCB spent a weekend of Tribe ball in Dallas. Took in two games, went to the JFK Boo depository museum, and took in some other "scenes" in the Metroplex. The Saturday night game was started by Cliff Lee, who was chased early. The Tribe bats made the comeback, nd were trailing by a run. During the game, we realized we were sitting next to Mastny's entire family. Of course, he was brought in with two on and two out in the 7th. His family was so excited, and of course, some drunken buffoon female Ranger fan was taunting them the whole time. Marlon Byrd then lined a bases clearing double to seal the game for the Rangers. The poor Mastny's looked as though someone had shot their dog. King Diesel himself went over to console the Mastny's. It was a classic moment, that was caught on film by yours truly.

Lets hope tonight works out a little better for the Nasty One, seen above polishing off the Red Sox 3-4-5 hitters in the 10th inning of the epic game two in Fenway last October.

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Yes, last night the great Casey Blake had seven RBI in the first four innings and they were all badly needed. But lets not get too excited. I know he leads the team in RBI with 36, but dif you know that 19 of the 36 were in four games? Which means that in the other 46 games he has played, he has 17 RBI. He is still also hitting .236.

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I know he hit a two run jack last night, but I have to agree my brother here - enough with David Dellucci. How many more DP's can DD hit into? You love how he K'd with the bases loaded and one out last night as well. With Shin-Soo Choo now up, its time to play the future in a three-man platoon in the corners - Choo, Franklin Gutierrez, and Ben Francisco. DD is treated as if he has some great track record and will turn it around. Dude is 34 years old and never had a prime to begin with. Rewind three years back - The Indians passed on giving Bob Howry a three-year, $12 million deal, he then signed with the Cubs. Howry has been great this year and solid in his first two. That same money, was given to DD a year later. Can you say Ricky Gutierrez? Cut bait NOW Shappy!

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Vintage that it takes going to Texas for the Indians to exploder offensively. is there a worse pitching staff in the majors? Did you see that trash they trotted out to the hill last night? You know you are bad when the Tribe scores 13 on you. That said, the Rangers are one game under .500, while the Tribe is still five games under. Shows you just how bad the Tribe bats truly are.

Marte and Dellucci Are Chumps

It is time for our fine front office to realize what we all realize: Dave Dellucci and Andy Marte SUCK. Cut bait and remove them from the roster. Now. What is the point for keeping these two worthless losers on the team? There is a reason why DD has played for six, thats right, SIX different teams in ten years. The guy lucked into a 29 HR season in 2005 for Texas and the Wahoos bought into it hook-line-and sinker. I'm done with him.

Marte cannot play at this level. When he goes to movies, he exclusively attends the 4A Cineplex. If John Schuerholz and Cantor Theo Epstein did not want him, then why should we? In four big league seasons (all short stints) he is hitting 197. Sweet Dude. 197? 69 K's and 62 hits. I've seen better numbers in a kindergarten class on the chalkboard. Goodbye.

These two were in the lineup today as the Tribe got spanked by KC. That should be the last time.