I think we’re all trying to figure out what it is with this team that keeps many from getting too fired up about them. And maybe that is it. How often do we see them fired up?
When I think of the amount of times these guys have been beaned with a pitch, for example, you would think at least one time it would have struck a nerve, and started a commotion. But nope.
I’m trying to think of how many times there were some very close calls, or bad calls, that in the heat of competition would have started a little commotion. It may have happened a time or two, but damn if it was enough to remember.
I look at these players picks and or moves of players by the Shapiro and Wedgie crew and think, man, there’s got to be a player here and there that has caused a commotion, or two, or three even, with the fans through the years, but I can only think of one, and the one that raised the most hope was for The Mayor, Kenny Lofton. And we’ve had a bunch of players come and go through here.
Yes, a couple have caused some commotion. But not because we received them, but because we’ve let them go.
I’ve been calling Shapiro a ‘ not a fans GM’. His moves for vets don’t ever seem to make the popular meter indicator even twitch. Fans reaction generally are of the “who???” variety. How many times have we acquired someone and you have to rush to your favorite search engine to find out who or where this guy even played?
Or if he’s still playing.
8 years of this is working on the attendance numbers in a bad way. Oh sure, the front office folks will tell you they expect it. They even make it sound like it is ok. But we all know better. Alot better.
A suggestion from us would be easy. Make Popular Moves. Their easy to figure out, thanks to the WWW. Every Indians forum or Indians blogger have been stating them for years, in countless threads and numerous entries.
Now is a good time for the Indians brass to figure it out.
As always, you make fans think and re-think their philosophies of the
game. Baseball is a mental game.
I, for one, have always enjoyed the defensive aspect of baseball. Being
a shortstop, 2nd baseman, I was always checking the signs between
catcher and pitcher, ready to adjust to pitchers adjustments of a
hitter.
Being a Cleveland fan, the topic of managers is a hot one this season.
Here’s a division that seems like it no one wants to win it. The Indians
went deep into the playoffs in 2007, and have high expectations this
year. Detroit has a roster full of All-Stars. Yet these are the teams
that have their managers the hottest, calling out their teams for lack
of good play, and competing for cellar spots.
Consistency. How does one teach it? I think the managers you mentioned
earlier did find consistency with their pitching and defensive
alignments, Scioscia with his use of the offense. I tend to value
consistency at or right at the top of importance.
I also read the bio’s of the managers, and found it interesting, as a
side note, Mauch felt it was insulting to the players to have to
motivate them, and Alston handled some clubhouse turmoil of his own, as
is probably the case for most.
Mauch: “I want everybody to feel he has a chance to get into a game when
he comes to the ballpark,” he said. “I play guys when I want to so
they’ll be ready when I have to. I don’t consider myself a motivator of
players. I think it’s an insult to a ballplayer to have to be
motivated.”
Consistency. Keeping a player at the ready.
We’re seeing daily lineup changes now here as more of a reason to shake
things up. Motivational? To a degree I think, but after so many of
them though I think it loses something.
Love the insights you bring to the discussion. I think it does help make
fans smarter, and to understand the game better. I know it does for me.
Many Thanks!
Mike
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Dear Sir,
I agree with Gene that every position player should come to the park
every day knowing that he may get into the game. This means that every
position player would understand the game circumstance that Gene would
want to use him and what he has to do to succeed in his job.
It is possible for every position player to succeed in his job and
the team still not score more runs than their opponents. By succeeding
in their job, I do not mean that every position player got a hit in
every At Bat. Their job changes with every At Bat.
For example, lead-off batters of every inning have the
responsibility to make the pitcher work to get him out. This means that
unless the lead-off batter gets exactly the pitch he wants to hit in the
first three pitches, such that he has a better than fifty percent chance
of getting a hit, he should work the count for as many pitches as
possible, make the pitcher throw strikes and swing only when the pitch
is the pitch he wants or he has two strikes and has to swing if only to
foul off the pitch to get another pitch. I told whomever lead off each
inning, if you can get five or more pitches in this At Bat and do not
swing at any non-strike pitches, then you have had a successful At Bat.
I told my guys that, even if neither gets on base, if the two
batters in every inning forced the pitcher to throw thirteen pitches,
then we would score runs. If they could get thirteen pitches and one get
on base, then we would score a lot of runs. And, if they could get
thirteen pitches and both get on base, then we would break this game
wide open with a crooked number in this inning. And we could do this
without any extra base hits.
I wanted the extra base hits to come after we fatigued the pitcher
and narrowed him down to having no room on the bases, such that, because
we could correctly anticipate the pitches he would throw, we could put
our base runners in motion.
With every inning, my offensive philosophy was to get a base runner
to third base with less than two out, then do whatever was necessary to
immediately score that base runner. To do this, we need to get free
ninety feet. This means that we either have to steal a base, run and
safely hit a baseball or advance an extra ninety feet on a batted
baseball. If teams want to score runs, they cannot wait for lead-off
doubles.
Therefore, instead of my position players just feeling as though
they were going play in every game, I wanted them to take pride and feel
successful when they contributed to the team’s ability to score runs,
whether the box score showed that they got any hits.
In other words, I strongly believe that victory is in the quality of
the competition, not the final score. This means that if every batter
does his job in every At Bat as best that he could, then the team will
get the best result that it could have. However, when batters care only
about their individual statistics, such as lead-off batters swinging at
the first pitch, teams suffer.
I had to refresh myself with the managers you mentioned. Gene Mauch
sounds like he demanded only the best.
Judging the role of a manager on certain teams has to be one of the
toughest things to do. How do you tell someone the manager got all,
more, or maybe only half of the wins out of a team that the team was capable of
winning.
With the introduction of B. James into the baseball world, many of the
saber community here seems to think a manager is only responsible for a
lowly 2-3 games difference a season.
And what about development of the team? Can a manager take a team,
average at best, and develop them into an above average team, not in
what they have achieved, but in their physical and mental skills also?
For example, a Mike Scioscia team may be considered a ’small ball’ team,
when in actuality, his team may be also called a complete team, skilled
in most all aspects of offensive baseball.
Take Care,
Mike
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Dear Sir,
Mike Scioscia is an example of a manager with a clear offensive
baseball philosophy. It disagrees with Earl Weaver’s offensive baseball
philosophy, but that does not matter. Only after years of use will we,
without regard for the quality of the players on the teams, be able to
determine which philosophy enables teams to win more games.
To me, the weakness in major league baseball is the defensive
philosophy they use.
When I played for Gene Mauch, we worked very closely on blending my
pitch sequencing strategy with defensive alignment. In 1972, this
philosophy worked to the tune that I gave up a home run every 38 1/3
innings with a 1.78 earned run average. From 1972 through 1981, I
averaged giving up a home run every 20 1/3 innings. What do you think
would happen if an entire major league pitching staff did that?
On occassion, when we come acrossed a pretty hot topic around the web’s baseball community, we shoot an email to Mike Marshall. Cy Young winner, amongst many other fine achievements in baseball, Dr. Mike now has a doctorate in exercise physiology, and focuses his efforts on saving pitchers arms with his pitching techniques, not yet caught on to by the MLB. He also spent some time managing at the college level. He offers his advice and training cheaply, mainly to cover the expenses of his website and training camp, roughly $10 bucks a day. View Mike’s site here.
Mike will answer all emails, whether it concerns your youngsters pitching, or questions you have concerning the MLB.
So we asked Mike about managers. We have included 1 of 3 emails to him on the subject. I think you might find them interesting!
Hello Mr. Marshall,
I hope all is well with you.
We’ve been debating the importance of a manager (mainly at the MLB
level). It seems to be a hot topic these days.
In your opinion, just how important is the manager during the course of
a season? How many games can you credit or discredit for winning or
losing, a guestimation, of course.
How influential is his use or misuse of the pitching staff?
We tend to look at our current team as fundamentally weak. Poor bunting,
base stealing, base running skills. Hit and runs aren’t there. We are a
station to station team. But our pitchers have acquired improved skills
at holding runners.
Does development of players at the mlb level always come down to the
players?
How important is the manager of the team?
Thanks again, for your time.
Mike
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Dear Sir,
Managers should clearly identify the game strategy that he wants
every member of his offensive team and defensive teams to follow with
every At Bat in a game. His offensive team should understand what he
wants each batter and base runner to do with every At Bat in every
offensive situation. His defensive team should understand what he wants
each pitcher and position player to do with every At Bat in every
defensive situation.
During my major league career, only Gene Mauch and Walter Alston
satisfied these requirements. All my other managers would agree with
what their teams did when they won and disagreed with what their teams
did when the lost, even when the team did exactly the same things in
both situations. I felt that Gene and Walt won every game that the
quality of their teams determined that their teams should win.
”I’m sick and tired of us giving away at bats like we’re doing,” said Wedge. ”I’m tired of talking about it. They need to toughen up and go out and play. If they’ve got to be mad at me, so be it. But I’m tired of seeing the same thing day after day. They need to be better than this. This is the big leagues.
”I hate talking like this, but we’ve got to do better than this. We’ve got to snap out of this.”
Uhoh….Its getting serious.
Wedge on edge: Wedge has been bombarded all season with questions concerning the offense. He has done his best to handle it, but there is only so much he can take.
“I’m tired of talking about it, but I have to talk about it,” Wedge said after Sunday’s loss. “Potentially, we are looking at everything right now. There could be multiple moves. I’m not afraid to look at anything. [The players] need to figure it out or we have to make changes.”
Multiple moves! Ok, look out! You guys can’t play at a consistantly high level, then you asked for it! Lineup changes! Bumps back and forth to the minors! Platooning!
That’ learn ya! Ha Haaaaaaa.
We’re in Dire Straits here. More to come. Meanwhile, we need some Heavy Fuel.
There’s not much that Wedge can do at this point. He has shaken up the lineup. He has infused some young players. He has doled out off-days. The manager’s only weapon in one of these teamwide nuclear slumps is tried-and-true cliches. Not that they help, but Wedge, at least, has a full stock.
“This is where the toughness has to stand out,” Wedge says. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We can’t drop our heads. You’ve got to stand up and take it and look in the mirror and face it head on and keep fighting. You can’t give in to it. We’ve been here before and the last thing you can do is give in to it. You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to dig deep. We’ve got to find a way to work through this.”
(I count nine cliches there.)
So there ya go.
We could add a couple concerning our hitting woes, so why not.
“The sun was in his eyes.”
“It took a bad hop.”
Might as well throw these in, from John Belushi and the Blues Brothers.
“I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! It wasn’t my fault, I swear to God!”
We consider ourselves defensive specialists here at Tribe Town. Since the infield defense of our Tribe has been improved with the addition of “Kid Droobs”, we started wondering, What If? What if we had built our team with defense to supplement our pitching.
What If we had built this lineup instead…from players who has come and gone.
Centerfield
Grady Sizemore. We all know Grady’s D. And he does provide some nice offense. ‘Nuff said.
Left Field
Coco Crisp. Yeah, we know, he slid when he went to Boston. Big Whoop. New team, new position, injuries didn’t help . But Crisp’s D is undeniable, and as Wedgie himself stated when Crisp was our left fielder, “he is the best in the league”.
Right Field
Franky and Ben. Their young, they got some nice arms, they can cover the ground. And they can provide some bang on offense.
1st Base
Garko. Not a superb defensive 1st baseman. But he’s game, he gives the effort, and he’s the best we’ve had.
Short Stop
Kid Droobs. If you haven’t been watching the past week or so, you better start. The Kid has star power.
2nd Base
Brandon Phillips.Yeah, he’s got attitude. And he plays like it.
3rd Base
Casey Blake. He’s the only 3rd baseman we’ve seen. When he hits, he picks the team up. Defensively, on occassion, he’ll make the play.
Catcher
Victor and Kelly.A nice combo. Vic “The Hitman” and Kelly Shopvac can provide decent D, nail some runners, and provide some long ball to the offense.
Utility Infield
JMac. The best utility we’ve seen. The Defensive specialist.
DH
Pronk. Let’s hope the power returns.
The Lineup
Grady
Coco
Phillips
Pronk
Vic
Garko
Blake
Franky-Ben
Kid Droobs
Pitching + Defense= Wins.
What a defense. Droobs-Phillips-Grady up the middle.
Crisp-Ben-Franky in the corners.
Speed to burn. Offensive weaponry out the bunghole.
First off, Hey Wedgie! Way to acknowledge your young, talented SS/2nd baseman on a feat done only 14 times now, an un-assisted triple play. Nice. Way to encourage these kids!
We’re not amused.
Asdrubal will show the fans of Cleveland just how far our defense has dipped with these big hitters we’ve amassed. He’s range and then some. Glove flips, diving stops, and a very smooth and quick turn at 2nd base. Oh! Don’t forget the triple play!
We’re tossing around an idea to gather as many members from all the Indians forums and sites found on the web for a kind of World Series of Forums.
The idea is to put all our favorite things, Indians, Forums, and some friendly competition together, and have alittle fun, discussing current and old Indians topics, to see which forum handles itself the best.
Of course sportsmanship will be the rule.
We’re setting up a site here, The Indians Nation , to put the event together. With it’s capability to buy another member a beer, and tons of other features not found anywhere, the possibilities are there.
Give us some of your thoughts, ideas, or suggestions on how we can make this work.
We’ve been reading up on the various forums concerning Ben Francisco and Andy Marte. When it comes to these guys like Marte or Ben, ya gotta wonder if it’s become the same old shit to them, after this length of time.
I think every person I ever heard mention something along these lines, of moving back and forth to the minors, has echoed the sentiment Carlos Baerga stated with Manning and Souvenir City Underwood.
Carlos, with emphasis (not a quote):”NO ONE wants to go back to the minors. No one. You don’t want to move backwards, or go down. You want to move UP, and to get a chance to keep moving up.”
I was going through the League Leaders and posted them here, testing out the new software, and something seemed to stand out.
Bunts, Sacs. These guys are our team leaders in these categories.
Asdrubal, Franky, Marte.
Are these guys successful bunting because Wedgie isn’t comfortable with their bats, or is it because he’s comfortable with their abilities there and is also confident they will produce? Or is both assumptions right, and, because no one else is hitting . A Safe conclusion?
Or does he just see the need? A need this team, or every team has to have?
D. All of the above.
Franky, Asdrubal’s defense is pretty good and they bring some added dimension to the team. They can cover some ground. And, on the offensive side, they provide small ball abilities to the team…not to mention speed. They need to feel like a part of the team and some maturity before I think we see their numbers improve. I think most can look at these guys and tell, they know how to hit.
When/If, (Strike IF) When they get the hitting averages up, these guys will provide alot of offensive abilities/ added strategies, and plenty of defense. It will almost put them in an elite category on this team. Except for Grady, there’s no one else capable of everything these kids can provide.
