Another disappointed loss to arguably the worst team in the American League last night, as the Tribe dropped their fourth consecutive game to Kansas City last night, 10-7.  There is much blame to go around, including a member of the coaching staff, the starter, the bullpen, and the base running.  Meanwhile, the White Sox keep rolling along and now lead Cleveland by seven games in the standings.

 

Starting pitching  Besides the general ineffectiveness of the starters, another ugly problem has reared its head:  The starters give up runs as soon as they are scored.  Last night, Jason Johnson was handed leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4, and coughed them up in the very next Royals at bat.  Friday night, Jake Westbrook was given a 3-0 lead against the Mariners and promptly gave 2 back in the bottom half of the inning.  Nothing is more demoralizing for a team than the watch a pitcher give back the runs the offense just picked up. 

 

What can be done?  At the point, and it sounds trite, Wedge and Carl Willis need to tell the pitchers to bear down in these situations.  Basic pitching principles apply.  Throw strikes, get ahead in the count.  Nibbling gets hurlers in trouble.

 

Bullpen  As of today, the Wahoos have one reliable reliever, Bob Wickman.  Fernando Cabrera has looked better his last two times out, but still has an ERA over 10.  Guillermo Mota has been prone to throwing 25 pitches per inning, and seems to fall behind every hitter.  Scott Sauerbeck refuses to throw strikes to left handed hitters, and Jason Davis pitches well every other appearance. 

 

What can be done?  Getting Rafael Betancourt back will help.  He has arguably been the most reliable reliever the Indians have had over the last three years.  Graves can’t be used in pressure situations and will be released soon in favor of Steve Karsay.  As soon as the organization can find a replacement for Sauerbeck, it will.  Could it be Akron closer Ed Mujica?

 

Coaching  There is a difference between aggressiveness and stupidity.  Ask Tribe third base coach Jeff Datz.  Remember Opening night when a bad throw by Iguchi saved Travis Hafner from being thrown out at the plate with nobody out and Cleveland down 3-0?  Remember the last game of the Orioles’ series when Jhonny Peralta was thrown out at the plate with one out on a Hafner double and the Tribe trailing by three runs?  Last night, sending Grady Sizemore with no one out was the capper. 

 

It should have been bases loaded and one out with Victor Martinez at the plate.  If not for a wild pitch by Joel Peralta, Martinez’ single would have scored one run.  Paul Hoynes said Martinez’ hit saved Datz decision, but that’s wrong.  Datz’ move cost the Tribe at least one run, and maybe more. 

 

What can be done?  Wedge has to explain situations to Datz so he stops running the Tribe out of innings.  Either that or Joel Skinner should return to the third base coaching box.

 

Baserunning  This has been a weakness for Cleveland for several years.  Last night, Casey Blake has retired trying to go to third with the cut off man holding the ball.  If it’s not running into double plays on run downs, it’s trying to steal third with no one out.

 

What can be done?  I don’t know here, outside of trying to raise the baseball IQ of the players.  Hopefully, these the Tribe can learn from these early season mistakes.  With a team batting average currently over .300, making outs on the bases is taking the bats out of the hands of guys productive with a stick in their hands.

 

The Indians must start playing good baseball, and must start today.  The 1/4 point of the season will hit next week, and right now the Tribe is just treading water. 

 

MW 

 

With all the excitement regarding the Cavaliers playoff appearance and the opening of the baseball season, we at Cleveland Sports Perspective have kind of ignored the other pro team in our city, the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns participated in the most overhyped event in sports a couple of weeks ago, the NFL Draft.  Expert’s ideas of how the Brownies did depend on how they viewed the players they picked.  If an analyst liked Kamerion Wimbley, he liked how the brown and orange did.  That’s how it is with the entire process.

 

However, I felt the team needed to upgrade its defense for the 2006 season, and Phil Savage picked those players with his early picks.  I like the mentoring process going on in Berea as well.  They have Willie McGinest to play immediately and show Wimbley the ropes.  Ted Washington will man the nose in 2006, but also will work with 6th round pick Babatunde Oshinowo at that spot.  Second round pick D’Qwell Jackson played pretty much the same spot in college as he will in the pros. 

 

Mostly, we have to trust Phil Savage’s talent evaluation credentials.  If he is right on his draft picks, the Browns will be a contender soon.  He did a nice job of stealing a 6th round pick from the Ravens by pretending he was going to take the nose tackle from Oregon.  Being able to move up in the second round by trading a guy with no future in Cleveland (Jeff Faine) was also a good move.

 

The trade of Trent Dilfer to San Francisco is really a non factor.  Fans don’t understand how much having someone around who disagrees with the program is really a pain in the ass.  Savage applied Preparation H to his discomfort, and dealt Dilfer.  The trade also firmly established Charlie Frye as the starter going into the mini camps. 

 

The Browns will be also be looking to deal William Green and the oft-injured Lee Suggs before the start of the season.  So, Savage will be adding more picks in the ’07 draft.  Hopefully they will be lower than 12 next year, because that means more improvement.  I’m sure the goal is at least 8-8 or 9-7 this season.  That will put Cleveland is good position for 2007.

 

JD

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers went and did what I didn’t think they could do.  They won at Washington last night to avoid a Game 7 match up with the Wizards, and now will go to Detroit to take on the Pistons in the second round of the NBA playoffs.  I thought the wine and gold would get this far, but after the win in overtime on Wednesday, I figured the series would go the distance. 

 

I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a player who has not appeared in the entire game, come off the bench to make a game winning shot.  Damon Jones can’t play a lick of defense, but he can stroke the "j", so the Cavs are going to the Palace tomorrow afternoon.

 

I don’t expect Cleveland to win this series, but it will give them added experience for the future.  Also, the Pistons will thug them up, so Mike Brown’s crew will realize they need to get tougher to advance in the post season. 

 

By the way, it would be nice for Zydrunas Ilgauskas to show up for this series.  I am a big Z supporter, but his offense will be needed by the wine and gold in this series.  It will be interesting to see if Brown decides to play up tempo with Detroit since the Cavs do not match up well in a half court game.  The James Gang’s best bet might be to push the ball at every opportunity. 

 

Cleveland needs to stand up and not let the Wallace boys kick sand in their collective faces. In the last three games against the Pistons, Detroit didn’t take the Cavs seriously.  They need to wipe that stupid grin on Rasheed’s face when he clubs a Cav, or gets clubbed. 

 

The Cavs won their first playoff series since 1993 last night.  That’s a good first step to winning the title, and also to keeping LeBron James here in Cleveland for a long time to come.

 

MW

 

Everytime you think LeBron James has done it all, he does something that reminds you of how special a player he is.  Last night was one of those moments when we realized that indeed, we are all witnesses.  People in Cleveland have the pleasure every night to see the best basketball player in the world.  A rare pleasure indeed.

 

All the defensive breakdowns and silly turnovers down the stretch of both regulation and overtime were erased when James was allowed to go baseline and score the winning basket with .9 seconds remaining.  LBJ was not the only reason for the victory however.  When LeBron was saddled with foul trouble in the third quarter, Larry Hughes and Flip Murray led the charge and actually put the wine and gold in the lead.

 

The much maligned Eric Snow was tremendous in overtime, taking the ball to the basket and scoring.  His veteran hand was needed, and his playoff experience was appreciated.  The Canton native averaged slightly under 5 ppg this year, but he can score more if the team needed it.  Not that he’s a 20 point guy, but he could throw in 10 a contest in he needed to. 

 

But in the end, it was James making a biggest shot of his still young career.  He put the Cavaliers one game away from winning their first playoff series in 13 years.  It’s still an uphill climb, but it would have been even more difficult being down 3-2 and heading to DC tomorrow night. 

 

JK

 

After starting a nine game homestand with a lot of promise, taking two of three from Boston, the Indians lost a series against Texas and split a short set with the White Sox.  Now it’s on to Oakland, Seattle, and Kansas City for eight games where Eric Wedge looks for some consistency from his ballclub.

 

Cleveland leads the AL in runs scored so offense is not the problem.  However, the pitching has not been as good as advertised so far, ranking 9th in the league in ERA.  The starters are simply not giving the team enough length in games, as they have had only four games where the starter has pitched seven innings in a game.  This is creating a burden on the bullpen.  Tribe relievers rank 3rd in the AL in innings pitched, below only Tampa Bay and Toronto.  The fact the relief corp is missing Rafael Betancourt and Matt Miller doesn’t help the situation.

 

Free agent signee Paul Byrd is like the little girl with the curl, when he has been good he has been very good, but when he’s been bad…  That accounts for the fact he has won three games with an ERA of 8.03.  Really, only Cliff Lee and Jason Johnson have provided any consistency among the starters, and Lee has struggled once he gets past the sixth so far this season.

 

In the bullpen, Bob Wickman has been fine, but is it me or does Guillermo Mota throw 30 pitches per inning?  Fernando Cabrera has struggled less since his return from the DL, but still doesn’t resemble the pitcher he was at the end of last season.  Jason Davis throws hard, but allows too many baserunners for a reliever.  Mark Shapiro signed veteran left hander Vic Darensbourg to a minor league contract to go along with Felix Heredia in Buffalo because Scott Sauerbeck has not handled lefties very well.  That makes it more important that the starters go deeper in games. 

 

Getting C.C. Sabathia back will hopefully stabilize the starting rotation.  But Byrd and Jake Westbrook must step up and be more reliable.  If not, Mark Shapiro may have to make some moves at the quarter pole to upgrade the staff.  The offense is championship caliber, the Tribe has to stop the other teams from scoring.

 

KM

 

What more can you say about LeBron James.  He single handedly gave the Cavaliers first road playoff win in 13 years Friday night despite getting hammered on the shot by Michael Ruffin.  This after James appeared to draw a charge on Gilbert Arenas in the previous possession. 

 

Of course, after the game, Washington only focused on the call it didn’t get, saying that LBJ travelled on the winning hoop.  He may have, but if he did, it was because Ruffin was hitting him in the head and shoulders.  That’s the way the NBA playoffs are, coaches whining incessantly when they lose close games.  If David Stern wanted to focus on something worthwhile, instead of a dress code, he could put an end to the intimidation of the officials by the league’s head coaches.

 

Besides, the Cavaliers have been victimized in the past by the NBA’s star system.  We have gone up against Larry Bird and Michael Jordan in the playoffs.  I can remember a questionnable 6th foul on Nate Thurmond against the Celts in 1976.  Also, John Bagley’s charge on a spin move in 1984, also against the Celts. 

 

Here some news for Eddie Jordan and the Wizards:  The NBA gives calls to superstars.  LeBron is one of them.  GIlbert Arenas is a great player, but not on James’ level.  Cleveland fans now know both sides of the coin.

 

MW

 

After a loss in Game 2 to the Washington Wizards, it’s the Cavaliers turn to adjust and respond.  Although fans of the wine and gold now think all hope is lost, it says here the Cavs will answer the Wizards victory on the road with one of their own this weekend.  Coach Mike Brown will make the necessary changes to bring the series back to Cleveland tied at 2 games each.

 

Just as you knew the Washington big three was going to shoot better in Game 2 than in Game 1, you know LeBron James will have a much better game tonight and Sunday.  The coach talked about limiting turnovers, and on Tuesday night LBJ was the chief culprit with 10 of them.  Remember that even with James’ subpar (for him) performance, the wine and gold only lost by five points. 

 

Another thing that has to happen is establishing Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the post.  Washington is under the mistaken idea that Brendan Haywood can handle Z by himself.  The Cavs must get the ball to their big guy early and often tonight.  If Z can get going in the first quarter, Wizards’ coach Eddie Jordan will have to think about changing his defensive strategy, giving the King more room to reign.

 

Cleveland won the first game because they stopped the Wizards from getting second shots.  That didn’t happen in the next game, but the Cavs have to get back to their good work on the glass for the rest of the series.  Limiting Washington to one shot will be a key.

 

The last issue was the chatting by the Wizards after the game, and the reporting of the Baltimore/Washington media.  They claimed that James was intimidated by the physicality of the Wizards.  I don’t think LBJ is intimidated by anything.  LeBron will take it to Washington, and will do it with authority.  The lip service done by the Wizards will only serve to fire up James and the rest of the Cavs.  Someone on the Cavs, either Drew Gooden or Anderson Varajao will level Gilbert Arenas or Antawn Jamison on the way to the hoop to send a message that the Cavs won’t be pushed around.

 

The series will be even going into Game 5.  Get ready for intense playoff basketball.

 

JK

 

Last year it was simple.  Get six innings out of the starter, bring in Rafael Betancourt or Matt Miller to pitch the 7th, Bobby Howry or Arthur Rhodes to work the 8th, and Bob Wickman would finish it off.  This combination caused the Cleveland Indians to have the best bullpen ERA in the American League.  Outside of Wickman, those guys are either no longer with the Tribe, or are on the disabled list.  Manager Eric Wedge is scrambling to find the right combination to close out victories in 2006.

 

As has been pointed out by many, the biggest problem is getting the starters to work innings.  There have been far too many five inning starts by the rotation so far this month.  Jake Westbrook has pitched just 9-2/3 frames in his last two starts.  Paul Byrd has been knocked out before the fifth in two of his four starts.  This means key innings are being pitched by Jeremy Guthrie and Jason Davis. 

 

Davis actually pitched well last night, but I do not trust him.  He seems like the typical guy with a million dollar arm and a ten cent brain.  He came on Tuesday night with a 4-2 lead, allowed a leadoff single to Mike Lowell, which is okay, but then he walked light hitting Willie Harris.  It cost him a run.  Even last night, he walked David Ortiz after sailing through the first five hitters with a 5-1 lead.  At that point, just challenge Ortiz.  Walking him puts a runner on for Manny Ramirez.  Maybe Davis will get more comfortable in the bullpen as he is used more, but I’m still skeptical.

 

The pen’s lone lefty, Scott Sauerbeck, has also been a problem.  His inability to get lefty hitters out will have him on a short leash.  With Felix Heredia at Buffalo, and Rafael Perez and Tony Sipp at Akron, the organization has alternatives, albeit inexperienced ones.  Sauerbeck has to start pitching well, and soon.

 

Hopefully, an effective Fernando Cabrera will help the situation.  If he can throw strikes, which has been a problem in the past, a combination of Guillermo Mota and Cabrera can handle the 7th and 8th innings.  Perhaps if Danny Graves can continue to pitch well (his last few outings were okay), he can contribute as well. 

 

Fans should watch the progress of Steve Karsay at Buffalo.  If he builds up his arm, he could be an important addition to the bullpen.  If things don’t improve soon, that could be the most important development of this young season.

 

KM

 

The city is abuzz thanks to yesterday’s resounding Game 1 triumph by the Cavaliers over the Washington Wizards yesterday afternoon.  An 11 point win that really wasn’t close after the middle of the second quarter will cause that excitement.  By the way, the playoff atmosphere didn’t seem to bother LeBron, did it?

 

However, this will be a close series.  The wine and gold played very well, and the Washington big three (Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler) did not shoot the ball well.  In the playoffs, it is all about adjustments.  Wizards’ coach Eddie Jordan will see what made the Cavs’ offense successful in the first game, and will change up his defense.  Offensively, Jordan will hope his main players make more shots.  For the most part, they had good looks, but the ball didn’t go down. 

 

I expect Washingto to come back with a revenge on Tuesday night.  If the Cavs’ can react and win that game, they will have a big leg up on winning this series and advancing to the conference semi-finals.  Look for Cavs’ head man Mike Brown to try to get Zydrunas Ilgauskas established early in the game.  One thing the Wizards’ have for concern:  Is there a defense for LBJ if the rest of the team is making their shots.

 

Now on to the Tribe.  No team looks good if the starting pitching stinks, and in the last four games, that describes the Indians’ starting pitching.  Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, and Paul Byrd have combined to give up 24 runs in 13 innings in their last stop.  This has put a tremendous strain on the shaky bullpen.

 

Eric Wedge has managed like a man with waning confidence in his relief corps.  He left Westbrook in at least three hitters too long.  Carmona should have been lifted after a leadoff double with a 4-3 lead.  When you have inexperienced guys in the pen, you should try to bring them in at the start of an inning. 

 

The key man for the Tribe is Jason Davs.  The club needs Davis to provide another set up man with Guillermo Mota to get to Bob Wickman until Rafael Betancourt gets back. 

 

The biggest help would be for the starters to give Wedge six or seven innings every day.  When the Tribe made its run last year, it went a long stretch without giving up four runs in a contest.  That’s what the Tribe needs starting today.

 

MW

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers will make their first playoff appearance in eight years this weekend.  They will take on either the Washington Wizards or the Chicago Bulls in the best of seven game series.  Either match up will have historical meaning to Cleveland fans, one with fond memories, the other with heartbreaking ones.

 

This is the 30th anniversary of the so called "Miracle of Richfield".  For those who are too young to remember this edition of the Cavs, they won the only division title in the history of the franchise.  The wine and gold missed their first playoff appearance on the last day of the season in 1974-75, so the title marked the team’s first visit to the post season.  The Cavs were arguably the hottest team in the NBA going into the playoffs, and beat the then Washington Bullets in a seven game series.  Most of the games went down to a final posession, including Game 7 when Dick Snyder’s runner moved Bill Fitch’s crew into the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics.

 

Prior to the Boston series, center Jim Chones broke his foot and couldn’t play.  Aging Nate Thurmond did an admirable job, but the wine and gold lost in six games and wouldn’t win another playoff series for 16 years.  The Celtics went on to win the title, leaving Cleveland fans to lament they would have beaten the Celts in Chones hadn’t gone down. 

 

At that point in time, the Coliseum was the loudest arena in the NBA.  The crowd would be standing and cheering at these playoff games a good 15 minutes before tip off.  It was a new experience for the town, its first competitive basketball team, and they responded.  Outside of the Lenny Wilkens led teams of the early 90’s and the arrival of LeBron James, it was the highlight of the franchise’s history.

 

The Bulls represent the other end of the spectrum.  They eliminated the wine and gold from the playoffs five times from the 1987-88 season through the 1993-94 season.  Several of those defeats are on the list of crushing Cleveland losses, most notably "The Shots" by Michael Jordan over the outstretched hands of Larry Nance and Gerald Wilkins. 

 

What people don’t remember was that early in Jordan’s career, the Cavaliers beat the Bulls on a regular basis.  When Jordan made the shot, the Cavs won every game that regular season against Chicago.  By the way, I’ve never heard an arena get quiet so quickly as when MJ hit that basket.  It went from a party to a funeral in a second. 

 

The only other time the Cavs made the Conference Finals, they were defeated by Jordan and the Bulls after winning series against New Jersey and Boston.

 

The best thing about these playoffs is that it will be James’ first appearance in the playoffs.  This is the first step in getting to the NBA title that LeBron, Danny Ferry, and Daniel Gilbert expect in the near future.  Enjoy the ride, and get used to playoff basketball in the NBA.  The guess here is it is the first of many visits down the road.

 

JK