Cleveland Indians

After stealing away game one and the rest of the four game set from the Tampa Bay Rays, the Indians are heading into another four game set. This time, it's against the red-hot New York Yankees.

The Indians are riding a four game winning streak into Progressive Field on Friday night, and look to continue winning against the Yankees.

The Yankees are winners of ten of their last thirteen games. They are looking to continue their good fortune, as they look to move into first place in the AL East.

I was driving a dead road on the northern part of Ohio, and I turned the radio on; the radio host said something interesting.

"We haven't had a championship in this town since, like, the 1800s, I don't know what's up. Maybe there's an Indian buried in Cleveland and we need to dig him up. Something to release this championship dry spell for Cleveland."

So that got me to thinking: Is there really a curse or bad omen in Cleveland?

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 consider whether the Tribe’s fortunes are inextricably linked with those of Grady Sizemore, the dangers of incessantly tinkering with a lineup, and the chances of seeing Pedro Martinez don an Indians uniform.

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

ESPN's Buster Olney has reported that there have been preliminary trade talks between the Boston Red Sox and the Celevaland Indians. The trade would help both teams as their needs will be partially fulfilled.

The trade has shape up so the Indians would trade their top prospect in Matt LaPorta in exchange for one of Boston's young arms being either Michael Bowden, Clay Bucholtz, or Daniel Bard. This would mean that LaPorta would be traded for the second time in two years.

Where do we draw the line?

How do we decide when people are being too easily offended or when someone is being too offensive?

With Major League Baseball's decision to replace Cleveland's July 4th hats last year (pictured above) with a star-spangled "C," it brings to light once more the whole issue with the Indians and their mascot.

Opened as Jacobs Field in 1994, the Indians moved from the massive Cleveland Municipal stadium (you might remember it from such movies as Major League and Major League II).

After 13 years of being named Jacobs Field, the stadium officially changed its name to Progressive Field in 2008 (and yes, pretty much everyone hates it). It was an immediate success and until recently, as it held the major league record for sellouts at 455 (the listed capacity for the stadium is 43,345).

All Times CDT (eat it, East and West Coasters)

7:05 pm—Well, I'm going to try this out to see how it goes. Seeing as though my DVR makes me a demigod, I'll be able to rewind anything I miss while typing. This by no means will be an everyday thing. An undertaking of that enormity would be my undoing. The Royals have taken over my life enough as it stands.

7:09 pm—I've gotta say, Brian Bannister's goatee is getting more and more formidable. If that goatee were an actor from yore, it'd be Lee Marvin.