Cleveland Indians

I miss Bill Veeck...from Larry Doby, to Satchel Paige, to Max Patkin, the shorts, exploding scoreboards, adding the surnames to jerseys, to having Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", to "Disco Demolition Night"...MLB stole his ideas...but lost sight of the fun that was supposed to accompany it.

Cleveland Indians

Baseball Musings Team Offense
Baseball America Top 10 Prospects

Lineup
Grady Sizemore CF
Mark DeRosa 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Victor Martinez C

Masa Kobayashi should not be breaking camp with the Cleveland Indians, but Wedge and Co. have already given indications that he'll be in the bullpen come April 6.

Signed to a two-year deal in the 2008 off-season by Mark Shapiro, Kobayashi has done little to earn the paycheck.  Most likely, he was purchased as a cheap insurance option in the likely event that Joe Borowski couldn't skate through the majors another year by throwing an 85 mph fastball.

The Indians, who do not respond well to preseason accolades, are back in the shadows for 2009.

This makes them dangerous and capable of winning the AL Central. They filled a big hole with the signing of closer Kerry Wood, while a healthy Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner will make a good offense better.

The biggest question will be the starting rotation, where the Indians have produced two straight Cy Young winners in CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Sabathia is gone, but Lee is back, followed by a long line of suspect and untested starters.

In a move to add some depth to the bullpen, the Indians claimed Korean right hander Jae Kuk Ryu off of waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Ryu was pretty bad in Cactus League play, posting an ERA above 10. To make room, the club placed Jake Westbrook on the 60-day disabled list.

In the past two seasons, Cleveland Indians pitching coach Carl Willis has seen two of his pitchers win the Cy Young Award. CC Sabathia won it in 2007, and Cliff Lee won it in 2008.

So, can Willis work his magic a third time?

As of right now, the Indians have two contenders: Lee and Fausto Carmona.

It is unlikely that Cliff will repeat, but anything is possible.

Carmona, on the other hand, is a very good bet, and for many reasons.

It seems to be a two man race for the final spot in the rotation, as lefty Jeremy Sowers was optioned to Triple A Columbus.

The Vanderbilt grad pitched alright, posting a 4.91 ERA in 14 2/3 innings of work. Sowers will most definitely re-surface sometime in 2009.

The last remaining spot is down to Scott Lewis and Aaron Laffey. Shapiro had glowing things to say about Lewis yesterday, so don't be surprised to see Scotty in the No. 5 spot in the rotation to start the season.

The Cleveland Indians, I predict, will finish third in the AL Central this year. They will have to ride the shoulders of Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore if they want to finish second of first in their division. Cliff Lee will have to have more wins as well.

Keep and Eye on: Kerry Wood, RP

On June 4, 1974, the Cleveland Indians held "Ten Cent Beer Night."

The club intended to offer as much eight-ounce Stroh's beer as fans could drink—and for only 10 cents a pop.

Now some background from before the Indians played the Texas Rangers that night.

Six days earlier there was a bench-clearing brawl between the two teams at Arlington Stadium in Texas.

Since the Indians will still not be on STO for another three weeks, I found some clips of the Wigwammers in action.

This first clip is of the Mar. 3 game against the Royals, first inning (Trevor Crowe, Jamey Carroll, Jhonny Peralta, and Ryan Garko).