Farewell to three icons

This past week, we witnessed perhaps the saddest week in Hollywook history as we said farewell to three icons in Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. The week started off with McMahon's death on Tuesday, June 23. He was perhaps best known as Johnny Carson's sidekick on the Tonight Show. However, I will always remember him as the host of Star Search.

Then, a couple of days later, fans around the world were saddened and heartbroken to hear of the deaths of actress Farrah Fawcett and singer Michael Jackson. I learned of Fawcett's death shortly after hearing the tragic news of Jackson's death. On Tuesday, it was reported she was going to marry Ryan O'Neal, but died only two days later. I'll always remember Fawcett as a talented actress who made guest appearances on shows and a star in Charlie's Angels and Burning Bed. While I never had the opportunity to watch "Charlie's Angels", I remember watching her performance in "Burning Bed" as a youth. Her skills as a battered wife who burns her husband, while passed out in a drunken stupor, were remarkable.

While most people knew of Fawcett's battle with cancer (especially through her final documentary, Farrah's Story), we were blinded by the untimely death of music legend Michael Jackson. Honestly, I still can't believe he's dead. He was only 50 years old. My mother talked of how it seems like she grew up with him as he came to fame as a young child. In fact, my parents told me I was named after Michael's brother, Marlon. I remember watching him perform on a replay of the Ed Sullivan Show when I was 15. His talent for performing was nothing short of God-given. For the past few days, I've been watching his videos. The way he sang and danced is simply unbelievable. I've heard he was influenced by Jackie Wilson and James Brown as a youth. You can see a little bit of both in each dance step he took. In my opinion, Jackson had something most perfomers today lack-talent. His career spanned four decades. His music styles changed with the times, but his voice remained the same. Upon hearing his death, I simply sat on the edge of my bed in shock. My parents have the original "Thriller" and "We Are the World" cassette tapes. Though they're old, they're in pretty good shape.

When learning of sad news as this, as a fan, I feel like a member of my family has passed. I've watched and listened to these three celebrities ever since I was a kid. I remember having the same sad feeling when Don Knotts and Elizabeth Montgomery died. Though we know no one lives forever, in our minds, our heroes will live forever. Thus, providing the sadness and shock by everyone.

I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the McMahon, Fawcett, and Jackson families. On behalf of their fans worldwide, I would like to thank each one for providing joy in the lives of everyone. By watching them perform, they offered temporary relief of our troubles and pains through McMahon's laughter, Fawcett's smile, and Jackson's voice and dances. Though the three are gone, they will live on in spirit. May God rest their souls.

Why the Cleveland Indians will continue to stink part two

Alright. Here's part two of my blog as promised. I feel the organization's lack of baseball knowledge is preventing the club from reaching its' true potential. Every player has been plagued by levels of inconsistency through their tenure with Cleveland in recent years. Take Fausto Carmona, for instance. He was used in the rotation at in the bullpen in 2006. He went 1-10 with a 5.42 ERA. In his sophomore campaign the following season, he went 19-8 with a 3.08 ERA. He struck out 137 and only walked 61. Things have gone downhill for him ever since. Last year he went 8-7 with a 5.22 ERA. This season, he's been worse as noted by his demotion to the Tribe's rookie league affiliate. He's 2-6 with a 7.42 ERA. Even C.C. Sabathia was somewhat marked by inconsistency. In seven full seasons (not including last year when he was traded at midseason), his ERA was over 4 in four season. Brandon Phillips, was the jewel of the Bartolo Colon in 02, but couldn't hit the ball at all in Cleveland. He moves to Cincinnati, and he all of a sudden figures it out. I don't think so. Cleveland obviously doesn't know how to manage and coach their young talent.

I've heard the team isn't entertaining offers (yet) for Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee. However, if they do decide to rebuild, they must remember their poor decisions in years past. To be fair, John Hart made quite a few lousy trades back in the 90's and early part of this decade, but take these awful deals for example (Note: I vividly remember 95% of these trades and nearly crying when I learned of the trades):

• Acquiring an older Kevin Seitzer from Milwaukee in exchange for Jeromy Burnitz in 1996.
• Trading Steve Kline to Montreal in exchange for Jeff Juden in 1997
• Picking up John Smiley and Jeff Branson from the Reds for Danny Graves, Damian Jackson, Jim Crowell, and Scott Winchester in 1997 (Note: Smiley made only six starts for Cleveland before suffering an arm injury which ended his career)
• Trading Eddie Murray to Baltimore in 1996 for Kent Mercker
• Trading Sean Casey to Cincinnati in 1998 for Dave Burba and Eddie Priest (Priest never pitched an inning for the Tribe)
• "The Trade of All Trades" Trading Marquis Grissom and Jeff Juden to Milwaukee in 1998 for Ben McDonald, Ron Villone, and Mike Fetters. McDonald never pitched for the Indians as his career was cut short due to injury. Mark Watson was ultimately sent in McDonald's place.
• Acquiring Ricardo Rincon from Pittsburgh in 1998 for Brian Giles
• Trading David Bell to Seattle in 1998 for Joey Cora
• Acquiring Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook, and Zach Day from the Yankees for David Justice
• Dealing Steve Karsay and Steve Reed to Atlanta for John Rocker and Troy Cameron in 2000 (who never makes it to the majors)
• Trading Richie Sexson, Paul Rigdon, and Kane Davis to the Brewers for Bob Wickman, Jason Bere, and Steve Woodard in 2000
• Acquiring Brian Jenkins (who never makes it to the majors) from the Mets in 2001 for Justin Speier
• Trading Roberto Alomar, Mike Bascik, and Danny Peoples in exchange for Alex Escobar, Billy Traber, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder, and Matt Lawton in 2001
• Trading Paul Shuey in 2002 to the Dodgers for Terry Mulholland, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Francisco Cruceta
• Dealing Milton Bradley to the Dodgers in 2004 for Franklin Gutierrez and Andrew Brown
• Acquiring Jeriome Robertson from the Astros in 2005 for Luke Scott and Willy Taveras
• Trading Arthur Rhodes to the Phillies for Jason Michaels in 2006
• Trading Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown to the Padres for Josh Barfield in 2006
• Trading Brandon Phillips to the Reds for Jeff Stevens in 2006
• Trading Ronnie Belliard to the Cardinals in 2006 for Hector Luna (a former Indians prospect who was picked up the Cards in the Rule 5 Draft)
• Trading Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard to the Red Sox for Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach, Guillermo Mota, and cash or a player to be named later
• Acquiring Scott Stewart from the Expos in 2003 for Maicer Izturis and Ryan Church

The key term in several of the trades is "never making it to the majors". These examples give further proof of the organization's incompetence. The Indians also acquired Ryan Ludwick in a deal that sent Ricardo Rodriguez to the Rangers, but Cleveland never gave him a fair shot, and failed to try to help him improve as a player. As a result, he's a star in St. Louis.

Granted, the team has made a few solid trades, but the poor trades heavily outweighs the good trades. Here are a few of the good trades the organization made under Hart and Shapiro in the past 10 plus years:

• Shipping the recently acquired Fetters to Oakland for Steve Karsay in 1998
• Trading Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew to Montreal in 2002 for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens
• Picking up Marquis Grissom and David Justice from Atlanta in 1997 for Kenny Lofton and Alan Embree
• Trading Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese to Texas for Travis Hafner and Aaron Myette in 2002
• Trading Chuck Finley to St. Louis for Luis Garcia and Coco Crisp in 2002 (Garcia, not Crisp, was considered a better player, but he failed to make it to the majors)
• Trading Geronimo Berroa to Detroit in 1998 for Dave Roberts and Tim Worrell
• Trading Jacob Cruz to the Rockies for Jody Gerut and Josh Bard in 2002
• Trading Ben Broussard and Eduardo Perez to Seattle in 2006 in seperate trades that brought Shin Soo-Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera to Cleveland

Can you imagine what kind of team the Indians could have now with the likes of Ludwick, Phillips, Taveras, Scott, Belliard, Kouzmanoff, and Bradley in the lineup. They had the right ideas in the recent trades of about six or seven years ago. However, the Indians dumped the players because in most cases, thought the players would not be meaningful to a franchise. Also, they don't have anyone who knows how to work with the pitchers and hitters. I do know baseball is a game of adjustments and this franchise has no idea how to adjust. Most people think Carmona's struggles are due to his mechanics. Well, if his mechanics are bad, why won't the Indians force him to watch hours of videos and get him in a gym.

Actually, fitness is another problem with this team. It seems as if most of the injuries are of the "minor" variety such as strains and pulls. Jake Westbrook appears to have the most legit injury by far with him missing parts of two seasons with him having Tommy John surgery. Here are the injuries that may or may not be due to poor conditioning:

• Cabrera is on the 15-day DL with a left shoulder joint sprain
• Rafael Betancourt on the 15-day DL with a strained right groin
• Aaron Laffey on the 15-day DL with a strained right oblique muscle

The players lack athleticism by far. The most athletic players by far are probably Mark DeRosa and Grady Sizemore. Although, Sizemore stole 30 bases last year. They lack the Kenny Lofton type of lead-off hitter who could hit .300 plus and swipe 40-50 bases. I like Sizemore's game, but he's not Kenny Lofton. I don't care if he hits 30 plus homers because quite frankly the steroid era has devalued home runs in my eyes. I would much rather see him draw walks and hit over .300. A few years ago, the Indians thought he was a number three hitter. I think he's best suited for the two or three hole. If the organization knew how to actually scout, then they would've had someone who could be a legitimate base threat. In this year's draft, I would love for the team to draft Brint Hardy out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At one point he led the nation in steals. Although I'm not sure if that is the case at this point. Nonetheless, he could provide some much needed athleticism the team needs.

Finally, I'd like to make one last point before I shut up. Why in the heck is the organization forcing guys to become utility guys when they simply don't have the ability. Take Ryan Garko for instance. Over the past few years, announcers have noted his past as a catcher and his stocky build. Why would the Indians try to move someone with little to no athleticism to the outfield. Josh Barfield, who hit .280 as a rookie in 2006 with San Diego and looks like a lost cause with the Indians (see past points for this reason), is moved around to new positions such as third base and center field. Mark DeRosa doesn't have a home. They move him all around the infield and in the corner outfield positions. Jhonny Peralta is playing third occasionally for the team. Victor Martinez plays first base when he's not catching. I would truly advise the organization to find players with athleticism like they had in the 1990's. Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel turned out to be a nice one-two punch at the top of the order. Lofton hitting .300 plus and Vizquel often flirting with .300 and both guys stealing usually a combined 75-80 bases. This provided RBI opportunities for guys like Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, David Justice, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, and Sandy Alomar, Jr.

I know it sounds like I'm blowing a fuse, but I would like for someone to explain to me why the organization made the moves they've made and why they can't develop talent. As I've said before, I've been a fan for over 15 years. I think I've earned the right to be critical of the organization. I'm not a freeloading fan who will only pack the builing when the team's successful. Case in point, the Cavaliers home games this year and the past couple since the team's run to the Finals in 2007. Also, the bandwagon fans who filled up Jacob's Field in 2007. When I tuned in to watch the Indians-Yankees games in the 2007 ALDS, I hadn't seen that many fans in that stadium since the decade of the 1990's ended. I hate to say it, but until some serious shake-ups are made within the organization, Cleveland will continue to stink.

Why the Cleveland Indians will continue to stink part one

Amidst a 25-34 record and a half game removed from fourth place, the Cleveland Indians enter tonight's game at "the Jake" (I know it's Progressive Field, but more about this in the future blog) threatening to climb out of the AL Central cellar. I've been recently pondering Cleveland's downfall, and I've come to the conclusion the Indians are jinxed and have the worst organization in the majors.

First of all, let me start off with the annual amateur draft since today is the first day of the 2009 Draft. The Indians have the worst scouts and management in all of baseball. Of 16 first round picks from 2000-2006, only six have suited up for the Tribe. One player (Alan Horne who's pitching with the Yankees Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder) failed to sign with the Tribe. Adam Miller had reconstructive surgery on his finger recently, and it's uncertain if he'll pitch again. Three others are not on any of the minor league baseball rosters. They are either playing overseas, in an independent league, or out of baseball altogether. Eight of the players are playing in either the Double-A or Triple-A affliates of other major league teams.

Here are some of the noticeable first round picks who have played for the Indians:

• Orioles pitcher Jeremy Gutrie, who was taken in the first round in 2002, pitched in cups of coffee with the Indians from 2004-2206, has found his niche with Baltimore after signing with them in 2007.
• Michael Aubrey, the first round pick in 2003, played in a handful of games last year. However, he was removed from the 40 man roster after the end of the season, and is currently in Cleveland's farm system, Triple-A Columbus.
• Jeremy Sowers, the first round pick in 2004, flashed signs of brilliance as a rookie (posting a 7-4 record with a 3.57 ERA in 2006). He's been erratic ever since. His ERA over the past few years has been 6.42, 5.58, and 5.40 (this season). Hey, at least his ERA is going down. But, then again, it has no where else to go but down.
• Trevor Crowe, the 2005 first round choice, made is debut this season, but has been less than spectacluar. He's batting .200 in 50 at-bats and 21 games. He's currently on the 25-man roster in the place of the injured Grady Sizemore.
• David Huff, the first round pick in 2006, made his debut this season. Like Crowe, he's struggled to adjust to life in the majors. He's 1-2 with a 8.71 ERA in five starts. However, he did pick up his first big league win over the White Sox on Sunday.

Only, 12 players drafted in every round of the 2000-2006 drafts have appeared in a game with the Indians. The players who have played one game for the Tribe are:

• Brian Tallet (pitcher, 2nd round in 2000, now with Toronto)
• Joe Inglett (second baseman, 8th round in 2000, now with Toronto)
• Guthrie (see the list above)
• Ben Francisco (outfielder, 5th round in 2002, currently with the Indians)
• Ryan Garko (catcher turned first baseman, 3rd round in 2003, currently with Indians)
• Kevin Kouzmanoff (third baseman, 6th round in 2003, currently with San Diego)
• Aaron Laffey (pitcher, 16th round in 2003, currently on 15-day disabled list)
• Sowers (see above)
• Scott Lewis (pitcher, 3rd round in 2004, currently on 60-day disabled list)
• Chris Gimenez (catcher, 19th round in 2004, currently with Indians)
• Tony Sipp (pitcher, 45th round in 2004, currently with Indians)
• Jensen Lewis (pitcher, 3rd round in 2005, currently with Indians)

That's right ladies and gentlemen. The Indians only have five, one-two-three-four-five players drafted in the draft on their active roster. That's pathetic. It's interesting to note that several talented players in the majors failed to signed with the Indians: Conor Jackson (outfielder/Diamondbacks/ 31st round in 2000), Ryan Church (outfielder/Mets), Brian Wilson (pitcher/Giants), Luke Scott (outfielder/Orioles), and Tim Lincecum (pitcher/Giants/45th round in the 42nd round in 2005). Jackson and reigning 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum failed to sign with the Tribe after getting drafted in the 31st round and 45th round respectively.

I sincerely appologize for having to break this blog into two parts, but I didn't plan on writing the first blog on the Cavs. I sort of went with the flow. Anyway, I'll post part two tomorrow. As for a sneak peek, I'll review several of Cleveland's trades that went awry from the past 12 plus years. Until tomorrow. God bless and take care.

Cleveland choked, Cleveland choked, Cleveland c-c-choked

Before I start my next lengthy blog on the pitiful Cleveland Indians, I thought I share a few thoughts on the Cleveland Cavaliers. First, I knew the Cavs basketball team would fail. It's in the town's blood. Every team in the city blows it in the big game. The media put them on a pedestal despite the team's many flaws of being too old, too streaky, overrated defense, etc. This win is in a long line of failures for Ohio teams over Florida teams in recent years. Let's see, we've got 1) the Marlins 4-3 over the Indians in the 1997 World Series 2) the Florida Gators 41-14 win over Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship 3) the Gators 84-75 win in the 2007 Men's Basketball NCAA championship 4) the Magic beating the Cavs 4-2 and in the process ruining the "dream" final of Kobe vs. LeBron. To be fair, Ohio State did knock off Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. However, as a Gator fan, I was thrilled to watch Miami's 34 game winning streak come to a screeching halt.

Second, Orlando outmanned them and proved they were in fact a better team. Even without All-Star Jameer Nelson, Orlando's starting five of Alston, Lee, Lewis, Turkoglu, and Howard by far exceeds Williams, West, James, Varejao, and Ilgauskas. Even Orlando's bench has the major edge on Cleveland's bench. For a team with the MVP and Coach of the Year, they were flat out beaten.

Cleveland proved they had the best player in the series, but Orlando showed they were the best team. No ifs, ands, or buts. Orlando won 4-2 despite the referees awful pro-LeBron officiating. As of now, LeBron James will have his picture alongside every other athlete who failed to bring to the city hungry for a championship.

Lastly, LeBron and the other Cavs players who refused to shake hands were disgraceful to sports. The team showboated all season long with by posing for bogus pictures, and pointing after dunks. As it turns out, the biggest joke was...Cleveland themselves. To not have the class to congratulate someone on a hard fought series is pathetic. The team clearly needs to grow up, and not have MVP's at high schools. In case you didn't notice, all of you are playing in the NBA, and not simply dunking on some no-named 6'1" Kobe immitator. Orlando is not a dirty team. They simply went out and did their jobs. Although, I'm not a Magic fan, I have the utmost respect for Orlando's team and organization. They simply go out and do their jobs. They don't need to disrespect their opponents like some teams do.

For the record, I'm not surprised by LeBron walking out. The "face of Cleveland" actually had the nerve to show up to Jacobs Field sporting a Yankees hat in game one of the 2007 ALDS. This was the Tribe's first postseason game since 2001 (losing in five to the Mariners in the ALDS). He knew that a championship in any sport would've made them happy. If he really cared about the people who help put money in his pocket, he would've at least pretended to be on their side. He could've worn a neutral shirt or a Cavs shirt. In classless fashion, he cowardly left the game in either the fifth or sixth inning during the blowout. The Indians won the game 12-3.

By the way, I think the comparisons to Kobe can end at the end of the series. True, Kobe lost in six games to the Celtics last year, but at least they made it to the Finals. Kobe now has the team fired up to win as they are only two games from winning the World Championship. LeBron's Cavs fell in six in the Eastern Conference Finals."The Mamba" has the class to shake hands and handle interviews like a man. Kobe, unlike LeBron, comes through in the clutch. No one, and I mean no one, fears LeBron in the clutch like everyone fears Kobe. For instance, in game two, four of Orlando's five players were surrounding Kobe as he attempted the game winner at the end of the fourth quarter in game two of the World Championship Series. LeBron's winner in game two clearly extended the season because without the shot, Cleveland goes fishing as Orlando sweeps them out of the playoffs. In addition to this, I failed to mention Kobe has three rings (and might add four with a series win over Orlando) to LeBron's zero. "The King" couldn't take the Spurs to five in the 2007 Finals. Instead of listening to the obnoxious "Cleveland Rocks" (which is a cheap, rip-off version of "I Love L.A."), I'll be singing "Cleveland choked, Cleveland choked, Cleveland c-c-choked".