Tom's Blog

Do you see the same pattern with the Indians and the Browns that I do?

Last year, both the Indians and the Browns had good seasons.  What did both teams do during their off-seasons?  They both figured that they could rest on their previous season laurels and do very little to improve to get to the next level. 

The Indians watched a few players leave and only picked up two players.  Yes, injuries to Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez didn't help, but there was little depth until they were out did we find out that Kelly Shoppich is a very good catcher and Ben Francisco was really ready out of spring training to play with the Indians instead of waiting until late May-early June.  Also, I still feel that if Astrubel Cabrera played every day instead of sending him to Buffalo he could of been this year's Dustin Pedroia instead of making a late season push again to stick with the team for next year. 

As for the Browns, its early yet...but when Donte Stallworth goes down yet again with an injury and you lose a key person in your defensive line and no depth because you didn't pick up anyone that could help.  Well, the Browns need to pick it up now and beat Baltimore on Sunday or it will end up looking like a replay of what the Indians did for their season.

There is one thing that really makes me scratch my head.  That thing is why can't we have term limits for the congress?  If the President is limited to two four year terms, why can't Congress do something useful as to come up with a constitutional amendment that would limit represenatives to six two year terms and senators to two six year terms? 

 At least there would always be new people in the Congress and it would be more of a represenative government rather than a stale body like we have now.  Also, with more turnover, there would be fresh ideas in how to solve problems rather than the same old tax and spend or cut taxes and spend into debt so they can rationalize raising our taxes and spend even more money and increase more debt.

I know there are people that keep re-electing the same old people so that they can bring home more money to the state.  However, when the person has to have every new thing named after him (like Senator Byrd-and West Virginia) that does go too far. 

Why do we need to have people in Washington D.C., stay in congress for 20, 30, 40 or more years until they have to be carried out on a stretcher instead of leaving after 12 years of service for their country? 

By limiting how long a person can serve in congress will go a long way in changing how things can be done in Washington D.C.  I would rather have fresh faces in Washington rather than the same old faces that never fade into the sunset...we just see their recycled ads and their recycled yard signs every time they are up for re-election.

One of the things that some people do is actually go to their class reunions.  I attended my 30th class reunion on the weekend of August 1st-2nd.  It was really good to see my friends from high school again.  The drive out to Ohio was really nice and uneventful as there wasn't a lot of traffic going out during the overnight of July 31st...or coming back driving along Interstate 86/NY State 17 where there is a lot of different scenery and even the Senaca Casino along the Interstate. 

I always enjoy my trips back to where I was born and raised on Ohio, and going to places like Columbus, the Football HOF in Canton, the Rock and Roll HOF in Cleveland, and other places.  I also enjoy hanging out with my aunt and uncle, except they were out of town the weekend I was there.  My mom still lives there all year and my dad is there during the spring and summer, then he goes to Texas to see my sister and half-brother in the winter.

As for the other stuff...isn't it amazing that when Senator Sununu begins his stating facts about Jeanne Shaheen "his attack dogs are out;" however she can attack Senator Sununu about anything she wants? 

How about some candidates that love to complain about negative campaigns, but then they go negative to prove their point?  Isn't that called being a hyprocrite or the old "do as I say not as I do" syndrome?

And don't you love hearing about people that totally ignore tropical storm or hurricane warnings and go out into the storm anyhow?  That would be like people that ignore the blizzard warnings and go out into the storm and get stuck somewhere for hours before someone comes to their rescue.

While all the attention of this season stadium closings is going to Yankee Stadium in New York, there is a gem down in Columbus that is closing too.  That stadium is Cooper Stadium.

I went down to Columbus to see the Clippers play while I was out in Ohio for my class reunion to see the stadium that some of the players that became Cardinals, Pirates, Yankees, and now Nationals baseball players played in.  I was amazed that the condition of the stadium was still in good condition and from where I was sitting was a good seat to watch a game.  I got to look around the stadium concourse and see the banners of a few of the players that played at Cooper Stadium like Mike Lowell, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Butch Hobson, and others that played there. 

The main reason why I wanted to go was to see if I could remember some of the games that I watched on tv back in the late 70's and remember what it would of been like to see games in person rather than on tv.  I was really fortunate to be able to see a game at Cooper Stadium before it closes at the end of the season. 

I also drove by where the new ballpark is being built, and if the Blue Jackets make the playoffs, there could be major traffic problems at the Nationwide Arena/Huntington Park area.

I remember telling my wife when the Red Sox got Manny Ramirez from the Indians that I couldn't understand why they want the headaches that Manny would bring.  Two World Series championships later the $64,000 question is has Red Sox Nation finally had enough of Manny's antics?  I guess we can say that Dan Duquette could be a general manager somewhere like in Dodgertown and then acquire him from the Red Sox since he didn't see anything wrong with Manny. 

I remember hearing about all the stuff Manny would do in Cleveland and after a few of those stories, I had enough...and two World Series losses later Manny was in Boston with his stuff.  I was glad that Cleveland got rid of him...but they should of found a closer by now!  Or maybe the Indians could find a better general manager than what they have now.

Since Mark Sharpiro has now traded CC Sabathia and Casey Blake for minor leaguers that only the scouts for the Indians have seen (except for Dan LaPorta which I seen three years ago when he was on the USA baseball select team) how do we know much about these players other than what is on the internet? 

So, that makes me wonder if the Indians have any scouts in the New England area that watches the Cape Cod or the New England Collegiate baseball leagues or the independent baseball in the region?  If they don't have anyone here...I'll volunteer for the job.  I do go to watch Keene play and see scouts there...and the SF Giants must of had a scout watching some Nashua Pride games last year to pick up Olmo Rosario and a pitcher for their organization after the season last year.

Well, there is the NFL season coming soon and hopefully the Browns will build on last season...and hockey is coming soon as I'll go watch Lewiston on September 28th as they will be in their second week of regular season play.  I hope the new players for the Blue Jackets will make them a better team...hopefully Jonathan Sigalet will make the team since he would still be in Providence waiting for a chance in Boston.  At least I have something to look foward to since the Indians are doing auditions for next season.  Why else do they still have Andy Marte and Jhonny Peralta anyhow?

Well, I'm really glad that gasoline prices are going down just in time for my long weekend coming up.  I'll be out in Ohio for my class reunion this coming weekend.  Hopefully the weather will be nice on Thursday when I'll be driving out there, but I could be hitting rain at least half of the way out there. 

I may do some other things while I'm out there, it will depend on what I will be able to do with my budget that I will end up with.

I hope to go to Columbus to watch the Clippers play on Sunday before I come back home just in time to rest and go to work for three days and take off to Connecticut for a wedding the following weekend.

Being in New England now for over 10 years, I have seen some of the most unpredictable weather anywhere...except along Lake Erie. 

Of course, it really doesn't where I have lived in my life, when there is a watch or a warning being posted by the National Weather Service, there is a reason why they do so.  Its not to inconvenience anyone, just the conditions are to where there is a strong possibility for a severe storm.  However, you always have those who end up getting injured or die because they didn't take the necessary steps to protect themselves or others.

I know all the weather people that I have watched over the years do the normal speech to inform the public, but there are always those that don't listen and get hurt or worse.  So please when there is a storm coming, be aware in what you should do so you don't get hurt.

As the Indians have moved to the basement of the AL Central and for all intensive purposes done for the season, they are finally doing something off the field.

The first player to be purged was Joe Borowski on Friday which I don't understand why they got him in the first place.  Now, the winner of the CC Sabathia sweepstakes is...the Milwaukee Brewers for three minor leaguers at least one being on outfielder.  One of my questions to Mark Shapario is why make the deal now instead of next week when maybe you could get a pitcher that could help for the rest of the season?  My other question is why another outfielder when you have Francisco, Gutierrez, Sizemore, Choo, and Dellucci who should be shown the door too. 

So, curious minds want to know is who's next?  I have some ideas of who should be purged.  Let's see now...the ones that should go is Andy Marte who should of been charged an error that helped contributed to the latest loss, Jhonny Peralta who has not hit for average this year and really not a good shortstop,  Rafael Bettencourt and Paul Byrd who have been awful this year and David Dellucci who really haven't contributed much anyway. 

One other thought...what if Mark Shapario would of signed Tim Lincecum a few years ago instead of watching him become an All-Star for the Giants?  Or better yet, why has he picked up non-contributers like David Dellucci, Andy Marte instead of pitching help? 

Well, its Independence Day again.  My how time flies as it was just a few weeks ago we were talking about the snow and waiting for the baseball season to begin. 

Of course, Independence Day is becoming less important as most people are just glad to get a day off of work to go to watch fireworks or whatever they do.  The main reason why we have this holiday is to celebrate our independence from England and all their taxes.  Prior to our crafting our Declaration of Independence from England, it was more like the people coming over here to farm and mine for minerals and have to pay high taxes to the British Empire.  The Boston Tea Party was the beginning of the revolt which eventually became the Revolutionary War.  After the war, then we wrote the Constitution which became the foundation of how the newly formed country would be formed.  We also added the Bill of Rights and other admendments to the Constitution. 

Now, there has been times where we have to go to war to protect our rights as Americans and we have honored those brave soldiers during the community celebrations across the country.  And we have also had huge groups of people who became American citizens on Independence Day in the past too.  And we have baseball games all over country as well. 

With the freedom we have, there is also the problem of certain groups that are slowly taking away our rights to conform to their world view.  One of the important elections is coming up in which more rights could be taken away if we don't choose wisely. 

As we get closer to Independence Day, the Indians are still not playing the way they should be playing by now.  When the only off-season move you make is picking up Jamey Carroll instead of maybe making changes in the pitching staff, you are going to have problems. 

The starting pitching is slightly better as CC Sabathia is pitching better, but without Fausto Carmona and Paul Byrd pitching very poor...then that's part the problem.  The bullpen for the most part is very awful.  Other than Masahide Kobayashi, which at times has sat around in the bullpen waiting to pitch, the rest of the bullpen has been horrible.

Which brings me to the offense...which has been mostly a mystery of why has it been so lacking considering the talent we have.  Its about time that Travis Hafner was put on the DL a few weeks ago since there has been a problem for a while.  And the other big mystery is with Victor Martinez and no home runs prior to him being put on the disabled list too.  Its pretty bad when your lead off hitter is also one of the team leaders in home runs. Then there is the lack of runners on base which if the management thinks that Josh Barfield is the answer once he comes back from his injury...they are very mistaken.  Maybe the Indians should of done a little more during the off-season, as well as sticking with Astrubel Cabrera longer (surprise... he is hitting in Buffalo) and finally playing Franklin Gutierrez more than they had been from mid-May to Mid-June.  Ben Francisco better start hitting more or he will be sitting too...or be shipped back to Buffalo too.

Hopefully, the Indians will begin to play better and win two or more in a row without losing many more games and get back into the race, or else the line will get longer for the CC Sabathia sweepstakes.

As the New England region had yet another parade for the NBA Champion Boston Celtics, I was listening to a local sports talk show about how the other teams support each other during their seasons.  For example, you had some of the Red Sox and Patriots going to Celtics games, and then there are some Patriots and Celtics players going to Red Sox games...and you know where I'm going with this.  For years, the Bruins have been owned by Jeremy Jacobs from Buffalo.  All of the other major teams (including the Revolution) are owned by local groups.  The Bruins are the only team out of the four major sports that has not won a championship for a long time.  I feel that the fans relate better to teams if there is local ownership and they see players from other teams supporting each other. 

By the way, if anyone else noticed that the Portland Pirates will no longer be the Anaheim AHL team but the Buffalo Sabres will make the Pirates their new AHL team.