Tribe Down White Sox 10-8 in Exciting Opener

The Indians came out of the gates firing on opening day and thankfully, their fire power was enough to edge out the White Sox.

Martinez Leaves With Injury: Obviously the big story is Victor Martinez leaving his second straight home opener in a row with a hamstring injury.

Vic was advancing to 2nd on a ball that got away from White Sox Catcher A.J. Pierzynski when he pulled up lame and rolled to the ground right in front of the tag.

Word is day to day with right hamstring tightness. Kelly Shoppach should see action for the time being.

Hot Bats Carry Tribe: Before he went out with the injury, Victor got the party started in the 2nd inning with a hit. From there it was bombs away as Garko and Peralta followed up with hits. Asdrubal Cabrera avoided a double play and knocked in a run which would prove to be huge.

Gutierrez juiced one into the left field bleachers that set off the light. A few batters later Grady Sizemore sent one into right field, Jason Michaels coaxed a walk and Travis Hafner brought him in with a double. Hafner would then score on Victor’s 2nd hit of the inning.

The scoring would cease till the bottom of the 8th when Vic’s replacement Kelly Shoppach got on base. Peralta would follow suit, and after outs from Garko and Cabrera, Gutierrez works a walk setting the stage for a Casey Blake double.

CC Struggles: CC Showed his glimpses, but for the most part struggled in his 5 plus innings. The main culprit was Jim Thome who hit a pair of 2 run homers to keep the Sox alive. The funny thing is that Thome was career 0 for against Sabathia.

The bullpen would carry the rest of the game. Jensen Lewis came in a struck out a pair in the 5th, but ended up giving up a pair of runs in the next inning with the aid of Rafael Perez.

The Sox managed to tie it up before Betancourt came in to work 1.2 inning, and Joe Borowski of course made it interesting giving up a homer to Jermaine Dye, walking Pierzynski, but then getting Crede to pop out to end the game.

Star of the Game: Franklin Gutierrez was no doubt the big gun in this one. His three run homer energized the Tribe and put them ahead early, he had two more hits and drew a key walk to load the bases for Casey Blake’s 3 run double in the 8th.

Up Next: The Tribe has an off day on Tuesday before they resume action with the White Sox on Wednesday. Fausto Carmona goes against Javier Vazquez.

[BOXSCORE]

Michaels Batting 2nd Against Lefties

Since today’s first game is against a left handed pitcher, we get a peak at Jason Michaels before we do David Dellucci.

And an interesting decision has come to light with that.

It turns out Eric Wedge will be going with Michaels in the 2 hole rather than Asdrubal Cabrera, who will bat in the 7th spot.

However Cabrera will still bat 2nd against right handed pitchers.

This could be because of 1 of 2 things.

They don’t want to put that much pressure on the young Cabrera.

Or the Indians just like Michaels. I know I do in terms of a left handed hitting role player. Michaels is a scrappy guy and will make those small plays, a guy that will take some pitches and lay down a bunt.

Or it could be a little bit of both.

Opening Pitch is about 5 minutes away, let’s go Tribe!

Web Round Up: Predictions Galore

Here is one of the final web round ups with predictions and other sorts of information. Tomorrow starts the season, with that starts actual baseball talk.

The Cleveland Fan gets a round table together to predict the 2008 Season.

“Your Cleveland Indians are back! When the first pitch is thrown tomorrow around 3:12 PM, the Indians will look to get the bad taste out of their mouths from last years ALCS, and have another stiff challenge ahead of them this season. Not only will the Indians be in a war with Detroit all year to win the division title, but if they make the playoffs there will be several formidable opponents like Boston, New York, Seattle, and others. We got the Roundtable back together to get our writers thoughts on how this season would turn out for the Tribe.” (The Cleveland Fan)

Season Preview From the Plain Dealer, complete with links to multiple stories from PD writers.

“A Tribe team nearly unchanged from 2007 says its focus is not on the ‘next step,’ but on winning the AL Central Division. With so few changes, that means some key players will have to step up.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

A New Edition of Hey Hoynsie! is up at the Plain Dealer. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Akron Beacon Journal Writer Patrick McManamon thinks the future is bright, save for the possibility of losing C.C. Sabathia in the next off-season.

“Shapiro concedes that there is a frailty to the Indians’ situation every year, especially because of their financial position. The Indians are not the New York Yankees, who have led the major leagues in payroll each of the past seven years. The Indians must be more careful and judicious in the ways they spend money, making their margin of error slim and their challenge that much greater.” (Ohio.com)

Kobayashi: "The guys brought me 50 hot dogs"

A wonderfully humorous article about the saves king Kobayashi being confused with the competitive eating Kobayashi has surfaced.

“My second day of spring training, the guys brought me 50 hot dogs,” Kobayashi told SSNN, through an interpreter. “It was a little weird that they wanted to watch me eat them – all of them.”

Kobayashi quickly discovered that his new teammates had him confused with competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi. Initially he was offended by the mix-up.

“It hurts that they didn’t know who I am,” Kobayashi said. “They do have the internet in Cleveland, right? I was a pretty big deal in Japan – it’d be like me not knowing who Trevor Hoffman or Mariano Rivera is. Stupid Americans.”

It goes on to talk about his 30 pound weight gain being the reasons for his struggles this Spring. It’s very good. But also take in mind it’s very false.

That prompts us to remember that his nickname is The Hot Dog Man. If you call him anything different, you will be forced to eat 20 hot dogs…. WITH BUN

This entire story is fictional… But you can read the entire thing, here

Westbrook finishes perfect spring; Tigers pick up Fultz

Jake Westbrook has been having a pretty dynamite spring on the mound. In his last start he was perfect before giving way to the bullpen, and in his last start before the season he didn’t disappoint.

Perfect Spring: Jake Westbrook ended spring training with a perfect 0.00 ERA.

He capped it off with a 4 inning, 2 hit gem. He struck out 4 batters and walked only one.

Jake has been striking out a lot more batters than usual. Could we see more of that? I personally hope not, because that’s not his game.. But then again sometimes he knows what he has to do to get hitters out.

For instance last year Tampa Bay was swinging all day long at the change up, and it resulted in Jake getting a higher number of punch outs.

Jake pitched in 18 scoreless innings this spring, spreading them out over 5 starts. Let’s see how much longer he can go!

Game ends in 7: Jensen Lewis and Jorge Julio followed Westbrook with two perfect innings a piece before Masahide Kobayashi came in to give up 5 runs.

Only one run was earned though, as a pair of Indians errors effectively ended the game as rain started to fall.

The runs came from the bottom of the lineup as Casey Blake, Franklin Gutierrez, and Jamey Carroll all knocked in a run.

CNN Anchor Steps up to the Plate: CNN Anchor Robin Meade, an Ohio native and former Miss Ohio took batting practice with the Tribe today in Atlanta.

[Meade] showed some skill with the bat while waiting for the Indians to finish hitting, flipping it around like a baton, leading her mentor to say, “I’ll teach you how to hit if you teach me how to do that.”

Meade, donning an Indians batting-practice jersey, then dug in against Willis. After fouling off a couple of pitches, Willis lost the plate. (Indians.com)

Read the whole story over at the Indians website. Meade is a Tribe fan so we like her. She took some BP from Carl Willis and Willis got razzed for the easy throwing to her. She put a ball in fair territory which is more than LeBron James could say. Mwahahaha

Manager of the Year Stays in 07: Eric Wedge is keeping that 2007 Award with 2007.

“Winning Manager of the Year doesn’t mean anything to me,” Wedge said prior to the Indians’ 2008 Spring Training finale. “Regardless of what happens, the consistency with the players and the back-and-forth should always be the same. It’s no different this year than it was last year.

“What matters to them is that we all take care of each other as teammates and play the game the right way. That’s what they should worry about. If they look at me differently now than last year, then I’m doing something wrong. That’s as blunt as I can put it.” (Indians.com)

While it doesn’t really rub me the wrong way.. Of course it means something to you Wedge. It shows that your team really came together strong. It says a lot. Everything else you said though, is right.

Fultz Signs With Tigers: After getting dropped by the Tribe, Aaron Fultz has latched on with the enemy.

He won’t be there right away though. Fultz signed a minor league deal with the Tigers today and will report to Triple A Toledo. This was actually a decent signing for the Tigers considering they don’t have many lefties in their pen or in their system that are close to contributing.

But then again we all know it is Aaron Fultz.

Carmona In Control; Julio Looks For Role; Marte Ready

The big parts came up big for the Tribe in their first Exhibition game at Turner field on Friday.

Fausto Dazzles: Fausto Carmona in his final tuneup before the 2008 season threw 6 solid innings of 4 hit-1 run baseball.. He struckout a pair before giving way to the three headed bullpen monster, Raffy Dos and Borowski, which combined for 3 innings, only 2 hits and 4 strikeouts.

“The powerful 24-year-old righty pitched through the sixth inning for the second straight start. He threw 99 pitches, including 59 for strikes, as he raised his spring record to 3-1. Most important, he finished the six innings at the pitch limit Wedge had set for him.

Carmona, who limited opponents to three runs or fewer in 27 of his 32 starts last season, didn’t allow more than three runs in any of his five spring starts and enters the regular season with a four-start unbeaten streak. He considers the spring a success, having accomplished the goals he’d set for himself.” (Indians.com)

Offense Clicking: Going into the season here the offense has been on some sort of a role.

Friday it was the big guns coming through for the Tribe.

Travis Hafner went 2-4 with a couple of RBIs, while Ryan Garko also went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Kelly Shoppach came in for Victor Martinez to knock in a run, and Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore both hit triples. Blake’s scored 2 runs and Grady went 2-2 before being replaced by Constanza.

Marte Ready: Andy Marte got an At-Bat last night and could probably play more in the final warm up before the season starts on Monday.

“Now before questioning the wisdom of promoting Marte based solely on the .208 batting average he carried into the final two games of Spring Training, consider that his 11 hits have accounted for 28 total bases (tied with Asdrubal Cabrera for second on the club), he has a team-high-tying five home runs and drove in 13 runs (second on the team).

That productivity has hitting coach Derek Shelton convinced that Marte, although still a work in progress, definitely has been making progress.” (Indians.com)

Jorge Julio Searching for a Role: Jorge Julio has made the final roster, but he is now searching for a role.

“I have no idea what my role is right now,” he said. “It’s the decision for the manager and pitching coach. I’m looking for any opportunity the manager gives me.”

Julio, 29, doesn’t know exactly where he fits because Wedge doesn’t. “I think we can use him for whatever is needed — whether it’s middle or later,” Wedge said. “It will depend where everyone else is and how they’re doing. I don’t see a specific role right now.” (Plain Dealer)

It will be interesting to see how they use him. It’s almost like a luxury to have such an experienced guy in the pen. Jorge will probably be mostly a situational guy or someone who comes in if a starter is getting pounded. But it’s nice to have someone like him.

If someone like Betancourt needs a break, then someone as experienced as Julio could step right in for a game. This is the type of luxury the Indians didn’t have last year and it might have been a reason in that ALCS that Raffy Dos looked a little shaky. They did work a lot of innings that year.

Web Round Up: Tribe Eyes Fast Start; Rays Hire Brian Anderson

In the normal edition of the Web Round up, here are some interesting articles around the internet concerning the Tribe.

Anthony Castrovince gives a little bit of a season primer with his Opening Day Outlook.

“What’s expected this year is a dogfight with the Tigers for AL Central superiority. An improved performance from Hafner, in particular, could go a long way toward the Indians winning that fight.” (Indians.com)

Anthony Castrovince again gives his first game preview of the year with a little bit of extra flare, saying the Tribe must get off to a hot start in the division.

“The Indians will be relieved if they can even play Monday’s 3:05 p.m. ET season and home opener against the White Sox at Progressive Field without the aid of snow shovels. Whoever decided to schedule an outdoor ballgame in Cleveland on the last day of March was obviously taunting Mother Nature, especially in light of the blizzard that turned last year’s home opener into an aborted mess.” (Indians.com)

Dennis Manoloff talks to the heads grounds keeper Brandon Koehhnke about the rain that has hit Progressive Field.

“The help must come from above. Every minute without rain or snow is cause for celebration in Koehnke’s world. Unfortunately, the forecast for the days leading up to the opener call for clouds and rain, with the exception of partial sunshine on Saturday.” (Indians.com)

With Thursday’s visit from the Rays, it gave us the chance to see our Tribe Reporters catch up with Brian Anderson. Anderson was hired as the assistant to pitching coach with the Rays. His comeback was abruptly ended early in Spring when he re-tore the elbow in his pitching arm.

“Just as Anderson was making plans to go back to law school and work with STO again, the Rays offered him a job as an assistant to pitching coach Jim Hickey. He’ll help out at Rays home games, do some scouting and video work, and, when the team is on the road, assist in the front office.” (Indians.com)

I wrote an article at Bleacher Report about Anderson and his failed comeback.

“Brian Anderson never won a Cy Young Award, and didn’t really win many games to begin with. But he won me over with his desire to never quit and his risky move to give it one more chance.” (Bleacher Report)

Indians Prospect Guru Tony Lastoria at the Cleveland Fan says Jeff Stevens is ready to make an impact.

“Stevens has certainly found his calling as a reliever. While he has been a starter for most of his professional career, he has had some experience in college and in the pros pitching out of the bullpen.” (The Cleveland Fan)

Magazine Alert: C.C. Sabathia

For all you ESPN Magazine Subscribers, C.C. Sabathia is on the cover of it’s annual baseball preview issue. Go pick it up at newsstands now!

There is also a story up on the Indians website about C.C. and his motivation for 2008.

“Not that he’ll discuss it much, but Sabathia has other motivation to pick up where he left off in ‘07, when he went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 34 regular-season starts. His free-agent clock is ticking, and big bucks are looming as long as he stays healthy and keeps performing like the ace he’s become.” – Anthony Castrovince (Indians.com)

C.C. is going to be a big story just not within the Tribe, but on a national scale. He is not only a reigning Cy Young award winner but the biggest free agent to be for the off-season. So don’t be surprised every time a series with New York rolls around there will be tons of attention on CC in the every day media.

Just in spring training there was a big deal made about him, so you can imagine a lot of eyes will be centered on C.C.

I’m on record of saying I think he returns and the Indians give him an extra year. A lot of people think I’m crazy and I might be, but if C.C. values winning, and if this team does something special, I think he is the right person to be taking winning and Cleveland over Money and his home state.

Indians Ask About Garcia; Salcedo’s Age In Question?

Freddy Garcia: MLBTradeRumors linked a story to SI.com that says the Indians have asked about free agent starter Freddy Garcia.

“The Indians are the latest to inquire about Freddy Garcia, who will wait until he regains full health before deciding where to pitch. By the time he’s ready — perhaps June — just about anyone will be able to use him.” – Jon Heyman (SI.com)

That’s real interesting. Perhaps if Lee isn’t cutting the mustard down the road and everyone else doesn’t look appealing, they bring in an absolute horse of a pitcher for the second half? Everyone who remembers him from when he was with the Sox remembers he can do some damage.

Edward Salcedo: The Indians are considered the leaders in the race to sign 16 year old dominican prospect Edward Salcedo.

But also from MLBTradeRumors, it turns out that there is some questions concerning his real age. What the heck is this guy younger than 16? How do we know how good he is?

CC Goes 7; Bats Heating Up

CC Sabathia and the Indians went to work on Wednesday in their second to last spring training game in the state of Florida. They defeated the Astros 7-6.

CC Goes 7, K’s 6: CC Sabathia in his final outing before opening day on Monday had the strikeout pitch working.

Carsten struck out 6 in 7 innings whil giving up 3 Earned Runs and earning a victory.

The good news is he walked no one, like he usually does, which hints that his control should be in good shape for the opener.

Vic Leads Charge: Last year’s team offensive MVP Victor Martinez was once again leading the pack. Vic went 2 for 5 in the game, bringin his average to .345.

But he also knocked in 3 runs, bringing his spring total to 7.

Dellucci went 3-5 with a couple of runs scored and batted in.

Franklin Gutierrez the Indians Spring leader in Average(aside from a few others who are no longer on the team), collected two more hits in the leadoff spot, as did Asdrubal Cabrera who also went deep.

Ryan Garko also added two hits and a run batted in.

Speaking of Guit: Guit was the center of a Terry Pluto article.

Guit has been the quiet star of the Indians this spring. Fully supporting my claim that he is going to “Break the hell out” this year.

“It was four years ago at this Osceola County Stadium that Milton
Bradley exploded and out of the rubble came Franklin Gutierrez. Bradley didn’t
run out a pop-up, and manager Eric Wedge mentioned it. He was not happy. Bradley
was furious, believing he was being picked on. He stormed off the field, changed
his clothes and took a cab ($64) back to the Tribe’s spring base in Winter
Haven, Fla. “- Terry Pluto (CPD)