All the national draft experts, and some of the local ones too, were fixated by the Cleveland Browns needing a wide receiver.  That position is the current sexy one, outside of quarterback of course, in the NFL. 

They all had either A.J. Green or Julio Jones coming to Cleveland to team with Colt McCoy to become the next lethal passing combination in the league. 

The Browns’ front office didn’t think that way.  They remembered that defense wins in the NFL, especially in the AFC North, were every team, including the Browns and Bengals, have a bruising running game. 

The front office looked at the numbers and here’s what they saw.  They saw a unit that gave up 129.4 yards on the ground last season, ranking 27th in the league.  In 2009, orange and brown defenders allowed 144.6 yards rushing, 28th best out of 32 teams.  Three years ago, the total was 151.9 yards given up, again ranking among the worst in the NFL (28th).

So they decided to do something about it. 

Here are the top five teams against the rush in 2010:  Pittsburgh, Chicago, the Jets, Chargers, and Ravens. 

For the record, that is three teams that played in conference championships and another team that reached the second round of the playoffs. 

See any connection?

The point is this, you simply cannot play good defense in the National Football League without being able to stop the run.  Want more proof?

Here are the leaders from 2009:  Green Bay (11-5), Minnesota (12-4 conference finalist), Pittsburgh (9-7), Dallas (11-5), and Baltimore (9-7).  Beside the Vikings, both Dallas and Baltimore reached the second round of the playoffs, and the Packers lost in the first round.

in 2008, it was the Vikings (10-6), Steelers (12-4 Super Bowl champs), Ravens (11-5 AFC runner-up), Eagles (9-6-1 NFC runner-up), and Bears (9-7) at the top of the list.    

Notice two teams that keep showing up on this list?  Yes, the Browns two division rivals, Pittsburgh and Baltimore can stop the run. 

And they like to run the ball, usually up the middle with guys like Rashard Mendenhall and Ray Rice. 

GM Tom Heckert and new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron looked at these numbers and said this has to end if the Browns are ever going to stop their losing ways.  Several different methods have been tried, but still, since this franchise returned to the NFL in 1999, they haven’t been able to stop teams from running the football effectively.

That’s why Heckert went defense first (and second) and took DT Phil Taylor from Baylor.  Taylor was ranked in several places as the best run stopper in the draft, and together with Ahtyba Rubin should give Jauron a basis to stop teams have shoving the ball down the Browns’ collective throats.

Could Cleveland have used a wide receiver?  Sure, it’s not like they have Jerry Rice and Paul Warfield manning the position now.  But the glaring need for this football team was on the defensive side of the ball.  They addressed the secondary last year, but they needed to take steps to stop the run.  That’s what they addressed.

Good defense will keep you in football games.  That’s what former coordinator Rob Ryan did last season with all his exotic looks and bag of tricks.  Mostly though, that was because the personnel wasn’t there.  If Jauron’s unit can stop the run, it forces teams to throw into the best part of the Browns’ defense, the secondary led by second year pros Joe Haden and T. J. Ward. 

Wide receivers are pretty things to have, and Heckert did take WR Greg Little, big physical receiver (6’3″, 220) with the second pick in round two, after taking a pass rusher (another big need) in Jabaal Sheard at #37. 

Heckert is building this team the right way.  Defense still wins in the NFL, but it’s been several years since the Cleveland Browns had a decent one, so perhaps some people have forgotten that fact.

JD

The Cleveland Indians had a tremendous young talent that burst on the scene as a regular in 2005.  He hit .289 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI’s as a 22-year-old that season.

The following year, he made his first all-star appearance at age 23.  He totalled 92 extra base hits that season, hitting .290 with 28 dingers and 76 RBI’s.  Among those extra base hits were a whopping 53 doubles.  His OPS was 907.

If the Tribe had been in contention that season, instead of starting slowly and finishing 81-81, this 23-year-old OF quite possibly could have been the league MVP.

In the division winning season of 2007, he batted .277 with 24 homers and 77 RBI’s at age 24.  He finished 12th in the MVP voting. 

He batted .268 with 33 home runs and 90 ribbies in 2008.

However, the past two seasons have been filled with injuries, limiting this talented player to just 139 games those two seasons.  And when he was in the lineup, he just wasn’t the same player.

Coming into this season, it seemed like Indian fans forgot how good he was before the injuries. 

Then, Grady Sizemore rejoined the lineup on April 17th, homered in his second at bat, and reminded everyone what a great player he was from 2005-08.

Granted, we are talking about just 37 at bats this year, but already Sizemore has shown he appears to be the same player he was before his injuries.

He has ten extra base hits in those plate appearances, seven doubles and three home runs.  That exceeds his total from last season, in which he had eight in 128 at bats.

In today’s society which focuses on what is happening now, it seems like everyone forgot that his guy is one of the best players in the American League. 

Perhaps it is the woe is me attitude we have in Cleveland, and fans just figured Sizemore would never again get back to the level he showed as late as 2008, or maybe people tried to forget the centerfielder because he figured to be the next star player to be traded before he became a free agent.

Whatever the reason, we are seeing what a healthy Grady Sizemore can do.

And if the front office’s plan was to get him healthy so they could deal him at the trading deadline, the good start by Manny Acta’s crew has thrown a serious wrench into that idea.

There is no way they can make a trade of that magnitude as long as they are playing well.  That is, if they ever want a fan to pay to get inside Progressive Field for a baseball game ever again.

That doesn’t mean Sizemore isn’t the next free agent to be GM Chris Antonetti has to deal with.  He has a club option for 2012, which based on what we are seeing right now will surely be exercised.  But he will be a free agent after next season, which means the trade rumors will be swirling.

We wrote that the best move would have been to talk to Sizemore in spring training about a one or two-year extension to basically make up for the lost years to injury.  It would have been a gamble on the front office’s part, but they may have gotten a reduced price for the centerfielder’s service in 2013 and 2014.

However, if his production continue to resemble the guy who was one of the American League’s best players a few years ago, he will get a huge deal somewhere, probably not in Cleveland.

All that aside, enjoy the return of Grady Sizemore.  He could be the biggest reason the Cleveland Indians are the biggest surprise of the 2011 baseball season.

MW

The Cleveland Indians have hit the first snag in an otherwise good start, losing four of six on a road trip to Kansas City and Minnesota. 

That after they won the first game of the trip.

Except for a 10-3 blowout on Saturday, all of the games were tight and could have gone either way.  In fact, if Chris Perez hadn’t blown a save against the Royals, the Tribe would have split on the road. 

A couple of things that give us cause for concern are the fact that these were division games, and the Indians now have a record of 3-6 within the Central Division. 

If you want to win the division, you have to play well against opponents you will meet 72 times throughout the year.  There are many, many games to go, but they have to play better in the division starting this week, when they take on KC and Detroit.

The other thing that was a problem on the trip was the disappearance of the early game offense.  The Indians have not scored in the first three innings in five straight games, which puts a burden on a very young starting pitching staff.

Certainly, Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana’s early season struggles have something to do with this, but when you add in Asdrubal Cabrera’s recent slump, you are getting nothing out of your 2-3-4 hitters.

And all three of those guys will hit.  They just aren’t right now.

One area that has improved so far is the offense has cut down on the number of strikeouts.  After ranking in the top three or four teams in the AL the past few years, the Indians currently rank 7th, and are also 6th in walks received. 

They currently are 4th in the league in runs scored.

Michael Brantley and Santana have walked more than they’ve fanned, and Matt La Porta is close to even, with 9 walks to go with 11 whiffs.

Another potential problem are the injuries that are starting to occur among the starting pitchers.  Sunday, Carlos Carrasco left the game with tightness in his elbow, joining Mitch Talbot on the shelf with problems in that joint.

This will test the organizational depth.  Southpaw David Huff will probably replace Carrasco in the rotation as the Tribe needs a fifth starter this Saturday against the Tigers.

The next man on the depth chart is probably 2008 first round pick, Alex White, who has a 2.00 ERA in three starts with Columbus, with 20 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.  However, there is no doubt the front office would like to see him get some more AAA innings under his belt.

Also, White is not on the 40 man roster, which means Cleveland would have to release someone to make room for the right-hander.

The Indians need to continue to play solid defense because their pitchers rank second to last in the AL, ahead of only Minnesota,  in strikeouts. 

Unfortunately, the walks are starting to pile up from the staff, as Tribe pitchers rank 6th in the junior circuit in allowing walks.  If you don’t have power arms, you have to be able to throw strikes. 

As a side note, the walk total is partially the result of the umpiring crew in Kansas City’s horrible strike zones, particularly those of Joe West and Angel Hernandez.  And in the interest of fairness, they were bad for Royal pitchers as well.

But why fix the umpiring when you can look at expanding the number of teams in the playoffs?

KM

You know that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig really loves the game of baseball, but sometimes he needs more common sense in terms of making changes.

Interleague play gave the game a boost when it was introduced in 1997.  Now outside of the regional rivalries like the Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Dodgers-Angels, Indians-Reds, etc., it has lost interest for die-hard fans. 

Most people think awarding home field advantage in the World Series for the winner of the All Star game is a knee jerk reaction to the managers running out of pitchers in the 2002 game.  Going back to the alternating format for each league would be a much better system.

Now, the commish is considering adding teams to baseball’s post-season.  NOOOOOOOOO!

Several people have come out in favor of the plan to add two teams to the playoffs in the future, and most of those people have a stake in expansion. 

First, the managers.  Both Terry Francona and Manny Acta have said they support Selig’s plan.  Of course they do.  It’s a job saver.  Most franchises aren’t going to jettison a skipper who just made a post-season appearance in the last couple of years.

It’s the same reason that college basketball coaches always come out in favor of expansion of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  The more teams that get in, the more coaches that can say they guided a team to the tournament. 

These guys don’t have a big stake in preserving the integrity of the post-season, they have a huge stake in staying employed.

The other people who have supported adding two teams are sports media people.  These guys have cash to gain from Selig’s plan, at least for their networks.  More games equal more advertising revenue to be charged.  That’s the standpoint they are coming from. 

Baseball plays 162 games to determine which teams make the playoffs, not 16 like the NFL, which allows six teams from each conference to make the playoffs.  At the end of that many games, do we really need to have 35.7% of American League teams getting a chance to make the World Series?  Of course not.

Look at the NBA playoffs, which is as bloated a system as you can find.  How many eight seeds have defeated a top seed in the first round in the last twenty years?  Two, Denver beat Seattle and Golden State beat Dallas.  Neither of those teams was very good.  The Nuggets were 42-40 when they beat the Sonics three out of five in the first round, and the Warriors had the same record in 2004. 

Do .500 teams belong in the playoffs without winning a division?  It’s opening the door for mediocrity.

Even with eight teams qualifying for the title in baseball, the game in the playoffs is much different from the regular season.  You don’t need five starters, you don’t need a bench, and you only need two or three solid relief guys to win because of all the off days.  The Yankees won those titles from 1996-2000 because they were perfectly set up for the post-season.

Remember 1987 when the Minnesota Twins, arguably the worst team to win the Series, did it basically on the arms of two pitchers, Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven.  On the eight games won by the Twins that playoff year, seven were started by those two hurlers. 

Who’s to say that can’t happen again when the second wild card in either league cashes in on a championship. 

Of course, if it was the Tribe, we would all be thrilled.  However, in spite of that, baseball should keep the system the way it is.  The number of teams in the playoffs isn’t the reason baseball is losing fans.  If that were true then all the teams making the playoffs would sell out, right Bud?

MW

The Cleveland Indians are off to a rousing start, winning 13 of their first 18 games, and currently have the best record in the American League.  Who would have imagined that?

Certainly not us.  We projected a fourth place finish for the Tribe.

However, if you look at the way the rest of the division has started off, it is very feasible that the Indians can be a contender in 2011.

The thing you have to look at is how many wins will it take to win the division.  Based on the way the teams that were favored (White Sox, Twins, and Tigers) have started, you have to figure that no one will win more than 90 games in the AL Central.

That means if the Tribe play over .500 ball this year, they are going to be in the mix after the all star break.  You couldn’t have asked for more than that going into the season.

It’s also quite a difference from the last few seasons, when the season was basically over at the end of May.

While it is still early in the season, remember that if Cleveland wins just two of their next ten games, they will have a 15-12 record for the first 27 games, which is one-sixth of the season.  That would be a pace to win 90 games.

Obviously, a number of things have to go right for that to happen over a full season just like many things have gone their way to get off to this kind of start.

On the other hand, the Indians have received virtually no production from two guys they were counting on heavily coming out of training camp:  Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.

Choo is hitting just .215 with 2 HR and 8 RBI, and has struck out an alarming 19 times in 17 games.  Santana has a .203 batting average with 2 dingers and 9 RBI’s.  You have to figure both players numbers will improve as the season goes on, especially Choo, who has a longer track record.

Contention is predicated on the team staying relatively healthy (the loss of Mitch Talbot for awhile isn’t a huge blow by itself).

The starting pitching also has to hold up.  Realize that Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin will not continue with their current ERA’s (1.33 and 2.75, respectively), but as long as the starters can continue to keep the team in games, the team will be okay.

That’s because the bullpen looks to be a strength, led by closer Chris Perez.  Tony Sipp has settled in as the eighth inning guy, and rookie Vinnie Pestano looks like a good right-handed option late in games. 

Having Rafael Perez as the second southpaw in your bullpen shows the strength of the relief corps.

When Orlando Cabrera was signed over the winter, there was a mixed reaction here.  We loved his experience, especially playing on winning teams the last few years, but his decline at the plate was concerning.

However, he seems to have taken on a leadership role with the ballclub, which he figured to do.  And right now, he has done okay at the plate.  The latter probably won’t continue in the long run, but his winning attitude has definitely rubbed off on his teammates.

The point is it isn’t too early to re-evaluate this team based on the starts of the other teams in the AL Central. 

It also isn’t too early to enjoy this if you are a baseball fan in northeastern Ohio.  You’d be ticked off if the Indians were 5-13 to start the season, so enjoy the early success.

KM

Two weeks from now, the NFL Draft will be over and the pundits will analyze how everyone did, assigning them grades, based on how well the teams addressed their needs.

Most people think the Cleveland Browns’ biggest need is at the wide receivers position, where currently the starting wide outs are third year players Mohammad Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie. 

These people feel that for Colt McCoy to progress at QB, he needs a game changing receiver, and that may be true.  However, with a new defensive coordinator in Dick Jauron, a switch from the 3-4 set up to a 4-3 alignment, and a lot of age on last year’s unit, the Browns need to rebuild that side of the ball.

No matter what anyone tells you.  The defense is the primary need of this football team.  All you have to do is watch the games to see that.

Since the Browns have the sixth pick, no one knows who will be available when their selection comes up.  However, if LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson is there, Cleveland should snap him up.

Peterson is regarded the safest pick for stardom of anyone in this year’s draft, and the Browns can’t afford to have a pick bust at this time.

He plays defense, which is definitely an area of need.  A lot of people would say since he doesn’t play in the front seven, the Browns don’t need him.  But it’s not like Cleveland has a dominant secondary right now.  They have a solid corner in Joe Haden and a pretty good safety in T. J. Ward, both of whom were drafted last year. 

If you watched games last season, the team still has a weakness at other spots in the secondary with Sheldon Brown and Abe Elam, although the latter came on as the season progressed last year. 

They could still use some help back there and Peterson would definitely upgrade that area.

Adding Peterson to the defensive backfield could quite possibly make the secondary one of the NFL’s elite units.  For a team seeking a defensive identity, why not have at least one part of the unit being considered elite? 

And the more time receivers are covered, that’s extra time the defensive front has to get to the passer.  Also, have two solid cover corners would allow Jauron to dial-up some blitzes to put pressure on quarterbacks.

Besides, improving the defensive unit means the Browns would be in more games, and the more games you are in, the more you might be able to pull out a victory. 

In fact, outside of a couple of draft choices spent on a wide receiver and another offensive lineman, it would not be a surprise if GM Tom Heckert goes heavy on the defensive side of the ball again this year.

Last year’s defense had a lot of age on it, and already many of the players brought in by former coach Eric Mangini have been let go. 

That means Heckert needs to bring in some bodies, preferably younger guys to complement veterans like Scott Fujita, Ahtyba Rubin, and Brown. 

There are far more holes on the defensive side of the ball than on offense, because it is possible the front office believes the wide receivers would be more productive with a better passer manning the controls.

Whatever the so-called draft experts say, if Patrick Peterson is not taken in the first five picks, he should be a Cleveland Brown as of next Thursday night.  He fills a need, has the talent, and may just be the best player in the draft.

JD

How many people would have thought that two weeks into the baseball season, the Cleveland Indians would be tied for first place in the AL Central with a 10-4 record, and heading to Kansas City for an early showdown series.  Not even the biggest drinker of the kool-aid would have imagined that.

Yet here they are, playing very good fundamental baseball, fielding very well, and running the bases excellently for the most part.  You put those things together with the tremendous starting pitching the Tribe is getting, and well, you’ll have that kind of record. 

Still, the pitching still has to be a question mark.  Today, Mitch Talbot went on the disabled list with an elbow problem, and will probably miss 3-4 starts.  That means Jeanmar Gomez may get the start against the Royals on Tuesday, because the other candidate, David Huff, is scheduled to pitch today for Columbus.

The hurler that concerns me most is Josh Tomlin, who ran his record to 3-0 on the young season yesterday against Baltimore.  Tomlin’s ERA is 2.75, but the stat that jumps out on you is his hits allowed.  He’s allowed just 11 hits in 23-2/3 innings.  If that were a young Nolan Ryan, perhaps you wouldn’t blink an eye, but Tomlin is not an overpowering guy.

What is means is there are a few, 5 innings pitched, 10 hits allowed outings coming in the young right-hander’s future.

Justin Masterson’s start is encouraging, especially after last season when it was thought he might be more effective as a relief pitcher.  The big righty finished strong last season, and can get it to the plate at 95 MPH+, but he’s allowed just 15 hits in 20-1/3 frames.  He has an ERA of 1.33, which is definitely going to rise as the season continues. 

Talbot will miss some time now, but it’s difficult to believe he can pitch better than he did in his last start, when he threw eight scoreless innings against Los Angeles.  Remember, he struggled in all months not named April and September last season.

That doesn’t mean these two guys cannot continue to pitch well, heck, Tomlin has pitched at least five innings in every one of his big league starts in his career, so he keeps you in the game, but they aren’t going to pitch as well as they have for the rest of the season.

On the other hand, you have to think Fausto Carmona’s stats will improve.  Obviously, his numbers are skewed by giving up 10 runs in three innings on opening day, but his 6.11 ERA will come down before the season ends. 

Right now, as a staff, opponents are batting .216 against the Tribe pitching staff.  Surprisingly, that’s not even the AL’s best, as the Angels’ staff is holding opposing hitters to a .200 average.  The Indians saw first hand proof of that last week.  Cleveland’s number is tied with Texas for second best in the league. 

That’s not going to last for a variety of reasons.  One is the law of averages, last season, American League hitters batted .260 overall.  Secondly, the Indians’ pitchers are pitch to contact guys for the most part.  They are not guys who make batters swing and miss.  That’s not a criticism, it’s just a fact.

If the Indians want to continue their hot start, they are going to need to continue to get the kind of offense they’ve been getting through the first 14 games.  They are currently third in the junior circuit in runs scored, and they will need to remain in the top half of the league for the season to stay in contention. 

Getting Grady Sizemore back should help, especially since the guys he is replacing (Austin Kearns, Travis Buck, etc.) haven’t really hit.

MW

The Cavaliers season ended last night, and boy was it a long one.  A 26 game losing streak will do that. 

There were injuries to key players like Anderson Varejao and Antawn Jamison, the trades of Mo Williams and Jamario Moon, and of course, a stretch where the team lost 36 of 37 games. 

The team played much better at the end of the season, after veteran point guard Baron Davis was healthy and started running the team.  He had a very positive effect on the rest of the team.

Some media people were actually upset when the wine and gold started playing better because they were jeopardizing the possibility of getting the first pick in the NBA draft.

The problems even extended to Hall of Fame announcer Joe Tait, who had to cut his last season short due to health issues.  Good luck to Joe in his retirement.  He provided us all with so many thrills during his time at the mike.

In the midst of all that went wrong this season, what did we learn about the Cavs this season?

We learned that J.J. Hickson has to be properly motivated by his coach, but when he is, he can play.  Despite playing center for much of the season at 6’9″, Hickson averaged 13.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per night.

His defense against Blake Griffin the night the losing streak was broken shows he has the ability to play the game.  You’d like to see him improve his shooting percentage from this year’s 46%, but he is someone who can be here when the Cavs get back to the playoffs.

We also learned the value of a true point guard when Davis arrived.  No offense to Ramon Sessions, who is an improving young player, but Davis’ presence changed everything.

He made Ryan Hollins into an offensive threat.  He improved the game of Hickson.  And he cut down on the foolish turnovers the Cavaliers had before he arrived.

Mo Williams did a good job here, but he’s really more of a combo guard than a true point guard. 

That’s why the front office covets Duke guard Kyrie Irving so much.  Having a guy like that makes the offense run so much smoothly.

We also learned that Christian Eyenga has some talent.  He’s freakishly athletic, being able to jump out of a building, and looks like he’ll be able to be a pretty good defensive player.  He’s raw to be sure, but he’s also young. 

He should be a building block for the franchise going forward.

We also learned that Samardo Samuels could be a diamond in the rough.  He’s got a big body and isn’t afraid to use it.  Once he started to get some playing time, he showed he was afraid of no one.  He may be a reserve for a good team, but he can definitely play in the NBA.

We also learned that the Cavs still have some nice tradable chips going into the off-season.  Jamison still can play, and he would be a good fit on a playoff contender.

And Boobie Gibson has had success guarding taller opponents and hasn’t lost his shooting touch.

Out of those two, Jamison is more likely to go, perhaps in a draft day deal for more young players and/or draft picks.

We also learned how to adapt to life without the best basketball announcer ever, one that we’ve listened to since the beginning of the Cavalier franchise.

It won’t be the same without you Joe Tait.  Thanks for all the thrills and memories.

JK

It was sad news for Cleveland baseball fans on Friday, in spite of the Indians’ winning streak.  Former Tribe outfielder Manny Ramirez announced his retirement after failing another test for performance enhancing drugs, thus avoiding a 100 game suspension.

As someone who enjoyed the Indians of the 90’s when their lineup was filled with players like Albert Belle, Carlos Baerga, Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, and Ramirez, it just made you sad. 

Ramirez was the best right-handed hitter seen in our lifetime, and now a career that should have ended in Cooperstown, instead finishes up in disgrace. 

He ends his career with a .312 lifetime batting average, 555 home runs, and 1831 RBI’s, a total that ranks him 18th all time. 

Driving in runs was Manny’s specialty.  He knocked in over 130 runs four times in his career, including a team record 165 with the Tribe in 1999, breaking Hal Trosky’s long time record. 

He also drove in over 120 runs seven times. 

Instead, he likely will be remembered for being goofy, for quitting on his teammates in Boston in 2008, and for failing three drug test for performance enhancers. 

That’s a shame, but he has no one to blame but himself. 

Ramirez has said he needed help getting around on 88-90 MPH fastballs, which made me think that’s how players who reached their late 30’s performed before the nineties.  Their bat speed slowed down, and their production suffered.

Ramirez’  last big season was ’08 when he hit 37 homers and had 121 RBI’s combined for Boston and Los Angeles.  He hit just 27 dingers since.

Yes, there are exceptions.  Hank Aaron hit 116 home runs after he turned 37, the same age Manny hit in 2009.  Jim Thome continues to belt them out at age 40, but even he has declined since 2006 when he turned 36.  Other players made adjustments in their approach at the plate.

Carl Yastrzemski used to hold his bat every high at the plate when he was younger, but as he aged he lowered his hands to be able to get around on fastballs.  He played until he was 44 years old, but his last 100 RBI season was at age 37.

Reggie Jackson hit 99 home runs in the seasons he turned 37 and following until he retired at 41.  Once again, his last 100 RBI season was at age 36.

The point is these sluggers made adjustments to get around on fastballs, but in doing so, they gave up the ability to make more contact and therefore drive in runs. 

There is a reason guys like Russell Branyan don’t knock in runs.  It’s because the good RBI men get them with singles, doubles, ground balls, and flyballs.

Meanwhile, Barry Bonds hit 195 home runs after the year he turned 37 years old, and knocked in 101 runs at the age of 39.  He was still putting up outrageous OPS statistics at 42. 

In fact, his four best seasons in regard to OPS came after he turned 36.  Isn’t that strange?

Mike Schmidt, the greatest 3B of all time, had his last big year in 1987, when he was 37.  He was retired two years later, hitting .203.

Ken Griffey Jr.’s last big season came at age 35 in 2005, although he was a decent player until 2008 when he was 38.

The point here is that back in the days before performance enhancers, players slowed down greatly after they hit their mid to late 30’s for the most part.

This is what happened to Manny Ramirez.  Had he given into age and retired a couple of years ago, there would be no doubt about his credentials for Cooperstown. 

Instead, he forfeited this to try to squeeze out another couple of good years and another big paycheck.

KM

The Cleveland Indians needed a good start this season, and it looks as though they are on their way to getting one. 

After a disastrous first two games, the Tribe has come up with solid starting pitching and some timely hitting to win six games in a row going into Sunday’s series finale against the Mariners.  Whether or not they will be able to continue this play is up for debate, but they have Cleveland sports fans, starved for anybody who wins after the Browns and Cavaliers season, excited.

Almost everything has gone right thus far for the Indians in their 6-2 beginning to the season.  Guys who needed to hit have so far.  The hitting question marks at 2B and 3B, Orlando Cabrera and Jack Hannahan, are doing well, and playing the good defense expected out of both.

Travis Hafner has shown signs his shoulder has gotten stronger, driving the ball with authority, belting two home runs aready.  Asdrubal Cabrera has also shown he is healthy for the first time since 2009, getting clutch hits, with two dingers, and playing very good defense at shortstop.

And Carlos Santana has picked up where he left off before his season ending knee injury last year, hitting the ball hard and working the count in his favor. 

Michael Brantley is getting on base, and Matt LaPorta is hitting close to .300 thus far. 

The only negatives are Shin-Soo Choo’s slow start, which is not worrisome, and the hitting of the leftfielders, Austin Kearns and Travis Buck, who are struggling through eight games.

That spot could solve itself when Grady Sizemore is ready to play at the big league level, with Brantley moving to LF.

After shaky, to put it mildly, starts by Fausto Carmona and Carlos Carrasco in the first two games, the starting pitchers have not allowed more than two runs in any starts in the last six contests.  You’ll win a lot of games using that formula.

Justin Masterson has given skipper Manny Acta two quality starts.  Josh Tomlin shut down the Red Sox won three hits through seven innings.  And Carmona and Carrasco both pitched much better in their second outings. 

In the bullpen, Tony Sipp looks like he has claimed the eighth inning set up job in front of closer Chris Perez, who has racked up three saves in the early going.

Southpaw Rafael Perez picked up two wins in relief against the Red Sox, and rookie Vinnie Pestano has shown he can strike out hitters at the big league level.

The only disappointments in the relief corps have been Chad Durbin’s inability to throw strikes when entering a game and Frank Herrmann has been hit around a little bit. 

The latter could be an issue when Joe Smith is ready to return from the disabled list soon.

 Things have gone so right for the Tribe that even little used Shelley Duncan has already provided a big two run pinch single to bust open a win against Chicago, and also doubled off Boston’s Jon Lester in his only start, and Adam Everett contributed the only run in a 1-0 win over Boston after a walk, a stolen base, and two bunts.

Right now, all the correct buttons are being pushed and the Tribe is winning.  Enjoy it, because you don’t know how long it will last.

Heck, things are so good for the organization now that last year’s first round pick, Drew Pomerantz’s first professional start resulted in 5-2/3 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.

Maybe the sun will continue to shine on the Tribe this year.  You can always hope.

MW