Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians mascot Slider has done a lot for his favorite team over the years. 

He's boogied to the radio hits of the day on the roof of the team's bullpen while wearing crutches.

He's sent foil-wrapped hot-dogs from slingshots into the stands.

He's cheered through unbearable heat, torrential rain, and yes, in this Rustbelt town, even swirling snow.

But one thing he hasn't done for this proud franchise is bring home a winner. And some of the teams' players and management are starting to take notice.

The news in Cleveland has fans going crazy right now!

The Cleveland Cavaliers have just traded for Shaquille O'Neal!

Across the street from Quicken Loans Arena is Progressive Field, and the home of the Cleveland Indians, and there is a completely different story, but one that Indians fans are all too familiar with.

The Indians are in the midst of losing seven out of their last eight games for a record of 30 wins and 43 losses. They are also 11 games out of first place and own the worst record in the American League.

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 revisit our past discussion on the fate of manager Eric Wedge, ponder the value of a manager calling out a player in a public forum, and address a few more of the Tribe’s many pitching woes.  

I would like to thank this week's participants Nino Colla, Dave Wiley, and The Coop for their contributions.

If the Cleveland Indians were a company on Wall Street, they would be looking for a bail out.

In business, as your company approaches the end of a quarter and earnings are set to report, often times you take an opportunity to perform a SWOT analysis.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. 

This is a continuous improvement exercise. I don't think anyone would argue that after two and a half months, the Indians are desperately in need of improvement.

Filed:June 21st, 2009

(Source: Cubbie Nation)

Filed:June 19th, 2009

Ryan Theriot is mauled by teammates after his game-winning single (Cubbie Nation)

Click here for the photo gallery of Friday's game.

The A.L. Central, like its Western-division brethren and the entire National League, is full of bad teams. The division’s first-place Detroit Tigers enter Tuesday’s games with a run differential that would rank fifth in the A.L. East.

The Minnesota Twins, meanwhile, have ridden Joe Mauer’s Ted Williams impression and a pitching staff that has decided against issuing walks this season into second place, a mere three games out, and are the only other team in the division to have outscored its opponents thus far.

It has been a long time since I have contributed to this site; I've been busy with work and school.  But I have run across a headline that I knew I had to write about and share my thoughts.  The headline involved former Cleveland Indians owner and multi-millionaire, Dick Jacobs.

Dick Jacobs passed away on Friday, and I knew it would be inappropriate not to mention his legacy in the city of Cleveland.

Mr. Jacobs bought the Indians in 1986 when they were the laughing-stock of baseball, media, and movies.

The 2009 season has not gone at all as planned for the Cleveland Indians.

They have struggled, at one point or another, in every aspect of the game, losing because of starting pitching, the bullpen, blown saves, bad defense, bad managing, a lack of situational hitting, a lack of hitting period, and even some blown calls (when a fan reaches over the fence to snatch a ball away from a fielder it's interference, not a go ahead home run, even for the Yankees, but I digress).

The biggest topic of debate for Milwaukee Brewer fans lately has been whether or not the team should trade for Jake Peavy.

While the majority of fans seem to be against the trade, there are many that would love nothing more to see Peavy suit up for the Brewers. I fall on the side of staying away from Peavy, but I do have a thought on which pitcher the Brewers should bring in.