While We’re Waiting… Thoughts on Haden, Calipari Rumors and Bryce Harper
May 6, 2010No Magic Buttons For Mike Brown
May 6, 2010And you thought a walk-off bunt was a strange way to lose a game……
Yesterday had all the makings of a positive experience for our young Cleveland Indians.
- It was an absolutely gorgeous 75 degree, sunny afternoon at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
- Yours truly, with my three year old son in tow (playing hookie from work/pre-school – already teaching my son the values of being a true Cleveland sports fan).
- Fausto Carmona pitched into the seventh inning.
- Travis Hafner actually hit a home run (a solo shot of course, but I’ll try to be nice).
- Shin-Soo Choo made a home run-robbing catch at the right field wall.
- Tony Sipp came in to escape a seventh inning potential jam.
- Luis Valbuena delivered an eight inning key insurance run to put the Tribe ahead 4-2.
- Manny Acta made a smart move by going to his closer Chris Perez for a five out save.
Then, in true Tribe fashion, the bottom completely dropped out. I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. With two outs and a man on second base, Valbuena, filling in for the injured (day to day) shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera booted an easy game-winning Aaron Hill groundout right between his legs which allowed the game to continue.
As if we didn’t know what was coming next.
DH Adam Lind, who had just one hit in the series at the time, hit a Perez high fastball the other way for a two-run homer, crushing the spirit of the 12,000 plus that were in attendance (hey, its an improvement over the weeknight crowds we’ve seen lately) and giving the Jays a 5-4 win.
Now, the quotes from the offenders:
“It’s a routine groundball. I don’t have an excuse for that. If I make a play, the game is over. Now we lose.” – Luis Valbuena
“I’m totally to blame for this. It’s easy to try to blame it on Valbuena. But the truth is, I didn’t make pitches when I needed to. It’s totally my fault. Luis didn’t make those pitches. I did.” – Chris Perez
“A groundball is a groundball. He played enough shortstop here last year, he just made an error at the wrong time. You feel bad for the kid, but we win as a team and we lose as a team.” – Manny Acta on Valbuena
“Tough series, tough homestand so far. Nothing is more discouraging in this game than battling so hard for 8 2/3 innings and then not winning.” – Acta
It is truly amazing to watch a young team shoot themselves in the foot seemingly day after day. “Sour” Luis (readers of WFNY know I have coined Valbuena “Sweet Luis,” but it doesn’t apply today) is rapidly playing his way down to Columbus. He has filled in at shortstop the last two days and has made three errors, two of them were key cogs in the Tribe losses. You can live with physical mistakes if he was hitting, but he isn’t.
Valbuena is currently sitting at .175 with eight RBIs, even with his RBI double in the eighth. Half of his RBIs came with on a grand slam in Detroit. With SS/2B Jason Donald (.323 ) breathing down his neck in AAA, Valbuena is doing himself no favors with his play. Acta seems to be sticking with Luis for now judging from his comments after the game.
“You don’t make a decision after one good play or one bad play,” Acta said. “I wasn’t going to put him in the Hall of Fame after he hit that two-out RBI double in the eighth to put us ahead by two. That’s why in baseball you sit back, you don’t react to a game like this. That’s why we’re not sending guys down after 20, 30 at-bats. These guys need a good opportunity, a certain amount of games, a certain amount of at-bats. Then you can make a decision. We can’t be reacting after every good game or bad game.”
At this point, I’m almost at a loss for words with this team. Acta seems to be very patient and he is trying his best to change the culture, but the losses keep mounting. Little seems to have changed from the final year of “The Grind” other than the fact that Acta plays guys in the positions they actually play. The truth is that this teams lacks talent. But that’s another story for another post.
Amen for the day off. I need it, and so does the team.
11 Comments
“Little seems to have changed from the final year of “The Grind” other than the fact that Acta plays guys in the positions they actually play.”
Nothing trueer has been spoken. Too bad the results are the same.
I do like Acta’s patience w/ the young kids. Hopefully they will reward him in the long run.
The lack of talent on this team is truly disappointing. Who in the world are we going to give a way in a completely one-sided trade this year?
Fausto Carmona for 2 Single A catchers.
I must say I am very happy to see Chris Perez taking responsibility. Each blown save before this he was blaming either the defense or calling the tactics of the other team stupid. I am not saying he has matured overnight but this at least is a step in the right direction. Hopefully Wood comes back and is effective, giving Perez time to regroup and continue to mature. He definitely has the stuff to close.
I miss Jamey Carroll. Guess he was too pricey for the Dolans.
When you field minor league talent, these things are going to happen. LaPorta dropped a ball in left that led to a run, and that should have been scored an error too. I heard a lot of people saying 100 losses this season and didn’t think it could happen. But this team is turning me into a believer.
It was a beautiful day down at the ballpark yesterday. Too bad the Indians didn’t think so. Though they were actually going to pull out a win what with two outs top of the ninth no one on and a two run lead.
@5 – Que Journey..’DON’T STOP BELIEVIN!!’
Omar I was thinking the same thing about Perez. I wondered if he would throw Valb. under the bus.
Hey, TD –> Luis Valbuena delivered an eight inning key insurance run to put the Tribe ahead 4-2.
“eight” s/b “eighth”
[…] Love him or hate him, STO’s Bruce Drennan is certainly passionate about Cleveland sports. Don’t believe me? Don’t miss the absolute CLASSIC reaction after yesterday’s 5-4 stunner of an Indians loss. […]
How about this for a 2010 team motto: “The Cleveland Indians, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at all costs!”