Cleveland Indians

A casual Cleveland Indians fan flipping through the sports section would let his face fall if he noticed Justin Masterson's numbers so far this year.

At 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA, his basic stats are bad enough to make Joe Six-Pack put down his coffee, stare into space, and mumble something about the good old days.

After surrendering seven runs in four innings Sunday against Oakland, even diehard Tribe fan Samantha Bunten was compelled to ask, "What on earth is wrong with Justin Masterson?"

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Tribe fans weigh in on the ups and downs of the Indians each week throughout the season.

This week, we devise strategies for defeating Minnesota and Oakland, discuss the best and worst stadiums in the American League, and just this once, we cut Mark Shapiro a break.

I would like to thank this week's participants Dale Thomas, Scott Miles, and Jon Sladek for their contributions. This discussion is open to all, so please feel free to comment below and pitch in your thoughts on the questions we're addressing this week.

We realize the season is just two weeks old, but one can't help but imagine what kind of start the Indians would be off to if they had managed any hitting at all to this point.

The casual observer may realize the Tribe offense has been poor, but just how poor is pretty unbelievable.

As a team, the Indians are dead last in baseball, hitting a pathetic, embarrassing .214 on the year.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Clevelanders love to complain.

We certainly have just cause: with rampant unemployment and poverty, miserable weather, and heartbreaking sports teams, Forbes recently named us the most miserable city in America.

But as I listened to the increasingly drunk fans sitting behind me at Progressive Field the other night (they were pretty loud, it was kind of hard not to), I realized that some of their beefs really didn't hold water.

Some of their complaints were about things that were preventable, others were hypocritical, and the rest were simply stupid.

Here's

After allowing just two walks all spring, it took Fausto Carmona two hitters to equal that number in his first start of 2010.

Collectively Cleveland sighed and exclaimed, "Oh boy, here we go again!"

He isn't fixed; he's still the same old rattled head case that can't throw strikes. This year is going to be even worse than we imagined. How could anyone put a single strand of hope into this enigma of a pitcher?

Carlos Quentin would eventually fly out and Paul Konerko would bring home the game's first run with a sacrifice fly. Remarkably, the damage was limited.

Considering the Cleveland Indians got off to a 4-8 start last year, a 6-6 start this year seems pretty good. Then again, anytime a team from the miserable sports city in America is .500 or better, I guess the people from Cleveland are happy.

Let’s see what else is going on with the Indians.

Last night, I had the great pleasure of going to Progressive Field for the first time this year.

I saw a great game from great seats ($17 for front-row bleacher seats, thank you StubHub) with great weather (despite an ominous forecast).

However, as I strolled to my seat, I began to notice that many parts of the stadium were not how I remembered them.

For those Tribe fans who have not yet made a pilgrimage to the Prog, here's a list of what to expect.

ERA calculator has been fixed

Who are these guys?

     - Fan, Major League

Every Cleveland Indians fan can recite every line from Major League by heart and with a twinkle in their eye.

Mitch Talbot is the personification of the team assembled in the movie because, as this season opens, no one outside hardcore Indians fans knew who this guy was.

Welcome to Tribe Talk, where Bleacher Report's Tribe fans weigh in on the ups and downs of the Indians each week throughout the season.

This week, we rate Manny Acta's performance as an in-game strategist, debate the merits and drawbacks of chewing out individual players publicly for their mistakes, and wonder if Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner will ever again be, well, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner.

Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Chicago White Sox' Opening Day crowd was in a frenzy.

The Sox were trailing the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, but that wasn't the story. Twenty-one-year-old Bob Feller had not allowed a hit.

Feller had walked four batters and struck out eight going into the ninth.