A New Season, And Hopefully Big Progress For Cavs

Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will open their 2021-22 season at Memphis trying to show some improvement from the previous three seasons.

Since LeBron James departed for free agency, the wine and gold have suffered through years of 19, 19, and 22 wins, the last two seasons being shortened to 65 and 72 games respectively.

This year, the plan is to play all 82 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

The Cavs will have a new look this season, and quite frankly that look is “up”. They feature basically three seven footers in Jarrett Allen, newcomer Lauri Markkanen and rookie Evan Mobley, and just added another big man off the bench in veteran Ed Davis.

This is quite a departure since for many years, the organization ignored big people.

We like this quite frankly. To us, if you play the same style as other teams but don’t have the same talent to play that style, you are going to come up short on the scoreboard. We think this current roster of Cavaliers isn’t suited to play fast and shoot three pointers. They don’t have the long distance shooters.

So why not play slower, control the tempo and use what you do have, which is size. Markkanen can shoot from outside, so he can play the small forward spot offensively, and we would love to see if Mobley can handle playing defense out on the floor with his size and quickness.

We know that isn’t how J.B. Bickerstaff is going to start, he will use Isaac Okoro at small forward to start, and even though we just discussed how long the Cavs are, that lineup will be rather small.

This is still a very young basketball team, with no one outside of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio having more than four years experience in the league. Why not play a little slower and let hopefully that will lead to fewer turnovers/mistakes.

That isn’t to say the Cavs shouldn’t fastbreak when they get the opportunity. Hopefully, the bigger front line will lead to blocked shots and a larger percentage of defensive rebounds, and they absolutely should run off of those situations.

But there isn’t a need for quick possessions in the halfcourt offense. Move the ball, in and out and side to side and hopefully that will lead to open looks. This team isn’t in the mode of moving the ball up the court quickly off of makes and taking the first shot available.

Play to the strengths you have.

We believe there is talent on this roster. However, the problem remains does the talent fit, is it complementary? Can the Cavs win with two smaller guards? Can they have success with three bigs playing at the same time? And how do Rubio and Love fit in, and will the latter be happy in his role?

Bickerstaff has already indicated Rubio might play more than a normal reserve. Why? Because he has a good understanding of moving the ball and playing for others.

And we continue to say, accountability is of utmost importance. If a player isn’t doing the job, or playing defense, he should be shown the bench. It’s time to take the gloves off and tell everyone winning is the goal.

If this team doesn’t make a big jump in the win column, someone is going to lose their job. So, there’s a lot at stake for both GM Koby Altman and his coach.

Guardians Have To Be Better On Right Side On Infield

In reviewing the American League teams position by position using WAR (wins above replacement), the Cleveland Guardians worst spot was behind the plate. We understand the organization values defense first at catcher, but Austin Hedges’ and Roberto Perez’ offensive numbers are tough to take in.

The next two bad spots (according to Baseballreference.com) were the two spots on the right side of the infield, first base and second base. What are the current prospects for each position heading into the off-season.

First Base. Cleveland opened the season with a platoon of Jake Bauers and Yu Chang at the spot, but Bauers hit just .190 in 100 at bats (557 OPS), so the organization turned to Bobby Bradley to replace him in early June.

The left-handed hitting slugger started out like a house afire, getting 11 hits in his first 25 at bats (.440) with three homers and striking out just four times. No one expected him to keep that pace up, but after that stretch, Bradley hit just .182 in 220 at bats, fanning 95 times.

Chang was horrendous in the first half, batting .176 (498 OPS) before the All Star break, but rebounded in the second half and hit .271 (857 OPS) with seven homers. Is that sustainable? Even in the hot second half, Chang still had a poor strikeout/walk ratio, fanning 39 times with just six walks.

What happens when pitchers figure out they don’t need to throw Chang a strike to get him out?

If the organization goes out and gets some outfielders who can hit, it would also bring Josh Naylor into play. Naylor had a 700 OPS this past season in 250 plate appearances, but hit .287 with an 805 OPS vs. right-handed pitching.

Our vote would be to move on from Bradley. Sure, the power is enticing, but he doesn’t give you much when he’s not hitting home runs, and certainly consistency is a big key.

Moving Naylor to first would help the outfield defense, and we believe in the long run, he will be the better all around hitter. Naylor does need to do better vs. southpaws, as a career .237 and 608 OPS won’t cut it if he wants to hold down an everyday spot.

Second Base Cleveland started with Cesar Hernandez at the position, but when he was moved at the trade deadline, a combination of Owen Miller, Chang, Andres Gimenez, and Ernie Clement manned the position.

There is a lot to sort out here, especially involving Gimenez, who came over to the team in the Francisco Lindor deal.

First, what are the Guardians going to do with Amed Rosario, who had a solid season (.282 BA, but just 731 OPS) at the plate, but whose defense at shortstop is below par. If the organization decided it can’t live with his glove there, does he also become a candidate at second?

Gimenez did hit .245 (702 OPS) after his recall when Hernandez was dealt, but does he give you enough with the bat? By the way, he did walk more after his recall.

Miller came up in May after scorching AAA at an almost .400 clip early in the season, but struggled mightily once he arrived, swinging at everything. He hit .162 (449 OPS) in the first half. After the break, he was better, batting .250 (659 OPS) in 100 plate appearances.

With Miller, we lean on the minor league pedigree. He is a .303 (818 OPS) hitter in three minor league seasons. The hit tool is there, but can he relax enough at the big league level to approach that level in The Show?

And to us, Clement has the look of a solid utility man.

You also have the specter of Gabriel Arias, who hit .284 (802 OPS) with 13 homers at AAA this season. Arias’ issue? 110 strikeouts vs. 39 walks at Columbus. He’ll be just 22 next season, so is there a need to rush him?

Our thought would be to give Miller the first look based on his minor league numbers. That is, of course, unless Rosario slides over to second base because the Guardians feel they have a better option as SS.

Improving at these two spots will be important for Cleveland going into 2022.

A better right side of the infield is definitely needed.

Another Game, Another Debate On Baker

Normally, we hate the expression “Only In Cleveland”. Usually, we associate it to a “woe is us” mentality that only bad things happen to our sports franchises, when really the squads from northeast Ohio just aren’t as good as their opponents.

However, we will use the phrase in this regard. Only here does the football team’s defense allow 47 points in a game and there is discussion about how good the quarterback is.

The Cleveland offense put up 42 points against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday. That’s enough to win most NFL football games.

Yet, questions continue to concern Baker Mayfield. This summer we thought we did an honest evaluation of Mayfield and ranked him 11th among NFL QBs, but we didn’t included Justin Herbert because he was a rookie last year, and we would put him above the Browns’ signal caller now, so let’s say 12th.

We also said advancing further in the playoffs would likely move the former Heisman Trophy winner up in these rankings.

That said, until the reason the Browns can’t advance in the playoffs or get to the playoffs is the play at quarterback, why even start this discussion.

First of all, it is okay to say Mayfield isn’t the answer, but if that is your opinion, what can you possibly do about it?

Are you going to play Case Keenum? The draft isn’t really an answer either unless you are very fortunate and someone like Aaron Rodgers drops to you in picks 20 through 32.

And you saw what the Rams gave up to the Lions to get Matthew Stafford, right? They had to give up two first round picks plus their current starting quarterback. That’s a hefty price, but if the Rams win the Super Bowl in the next few years it will be totally worth it.

We aren’t saying Mayfield is the answer, but we also aren’t saying he’s not the answer either. We simply don’t know.

What we do know is he has quarterbacked the Browns to a playoff win, becoming the first one since Vinny Testaverde to do so. Browns’ fans are impatient, we get that. No titles since 1964, and the franchise has been a perennial doormat since re-entering the NFL in 1999.

We’ve seen fans pining over guys like Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen, and we get that. But out of that quartet, only Mahomes has been to a Super Bowl (two of them) and only Allen has been to a conference championship.

For all of Jackson’s spectacular play and an MVP award, he’s won as many playoff games as Baker Mayfield.

Again, we aren’t claiming Mayfield is one of the best QBs in the NFL. He needs to continue to get better and without question, he needs to lead a comeback victory late in the fourth quarter against a quality opponent. A signature moment.

However, he has not proved to be holding this team back either. Defeating Arizona, the league’s last undefeated team this Sunday in Cleveland could help change people’s opinion.

Probably, that won’t change until Mayfield wins an AFC Championship and sends the franchise to its first Super Bowl. No pressure there.

Cavs Need To Start Building A Winning Attitude

The Cleveland Cavaliers have played four pre-season games to date, after watching them, we still have no idea what to think about J.B. Bickerstaff’s team.

Our guess is there will be more losing on the horizon, which won’t thrill the fan base who have been watching bad basketball for three seasons since LeBron James departed for Los Angeles.

The Cavs are very much still a young basketball team and if they decided to not start Lauri Markkanen, all of their starters will be 23 years old or younger. By the way, Markkanen is only 24.

However, sometimes younger doesn’t always mean better. We have used this analogy many times, but remember when you went up to the local YMCA or playground when you were just out of high school and a bunch of old guys ran you off the court?

It’s called experience.

Now that doesn’t mean the youngsters can’t learn from old heads like Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love. Here’s hoping Rubio makes a huge impression on Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, because in these practice games, the ball moves a lot more when the veteran from Spain is on the court.

Playing in an average of 19.4 minutes per game, Rubio leads the team in assists in exhibition play at 5.8 per game. That’s almost two dimes more than the next best figures, Darius Garland and another experience newcomer, Kevin Pangos, both of whom dish out four assists per outing.

We believe Bickerstaff’s goal should be getting his five best players on the floor as much as possible and figuring out what style of play is best suited to that group. The coach has said he wants to play up tempo and shoot threes, but it’s hard to see how that works when several of his best players are big men.

We would start Garland and Sexton at guards, with Jarrett Allen, Markkanen, and Isaac Okoro up front, although we’d keep an eye on the latter, who seems to have a problem fitting in offensively right now.

And we would emphasize defense. That keeps you in basketball games. You expended high draft picks each of the last two seasons on players who are good defenders. Let them do what they do best. And at the same time, force your guards to understand that’s what is important on this basketball team.

This past year’s first round pick, Evan Mobley, looks to be a force defensively, but let him get acclimated to NBA life and get stronger by limiting him to around 20-25 minutes per night. To us, he still looks like he will be really good in 2-3 years, but he definitely appears he can contribute now.

But why put pressure on him?

So, if that’s your starting five, your primary bench guys are Rubio, Mobley, and Love, with any other minutes likely going to Cedi Osman, Dylan Windler (who could get more time if he can make shots, something the Cavs desperately need), and Denzel Valentine.

It’s also time to start holding players accountable. If the ball movement isn’t there offensively, take someone out and put Rubio in. It will improve. If one of the guards isn’t working on defense? Move Okoro to guard and bring in Mobley or another forward.

If the Cavaliers aren’t going to win this season, at least they should be laying a foundation for winning. We think there has been a shortage of that thinking since James left after the 2017-18 season.

First Move For Guardians? Anyone Have New Hitting Coach?

In what figures to be a winter with a lot of changes, including the team’s name, the first move for the Cleveland Guardians was the announcement that hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo will not return for the 2022 season.

You can insert your no-hitter jokes here, and certainly getting held without a hit three times (four times if you count the seven inning effort in Tampa), a Major League record, doesn’t speak well for the person in charge of swinging the bats.

On the other hand, there is the old saying of you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken poop, and it is not like Van Burkleo was working with a bunch of Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thomes.

The front office gave the hitting coach a bunch of hitters with high strikeout and low walk rates, and generally, that doesn’t lead to have a productive offense. Not knowing the strike zone seems to be poison to the theory many hitting coaches espouse, that of getting your pitch, and do something with it.

Occasionally, it works. For us, Tim Anderson of the White Sox is the poster boy of this. Anderson has never had even a decent strikeout/walk ratio. This season, he hit .309 (806 OPS) despite drawing just 22 walks and fanning 119 times.

By the way, those 22 free passes are the second highest total of his career.

Cleveland has a hitter in their system that shows similar numbers, with more power than Anderson, and we wish we would have seen him in September. That man is Oscar Gonzalez.

Playing at both AA and AAA this season, Gonzalez hit .293 with an 869 OPS despite striking out 112 times (in 504 plate appearances) and drawing just 22 walks. Oh, and he belted 31 home runs too.

Sometimes, hitters have that type hand-eye coordination which allows them to put the bat on the ball, it just has to be near home plate. We’ve heard about guys being “bad ball” hitters, so they do exist.

On the other hand, if you are going have a batting average of say, .230 or less, it’s probably smart to be able to draw some walks, and get on base (read that as avoid making outs).

Now, back to Van Burkleo. As we said, it’s not like he was working with this year’s Astros lineup, and since we aren’t privy to his sessions with the players, we have no idea what he is telling them to do.

What we do know, is for whatever reason, the hitters weren’t buying in. The pupils had tuned out the teacher, and sometimes, that happens.

And we have always maintained we would like to see some different voices on Terry Francona’s coaching staff as well. There have been very few changes to the staff since Francona took over in 2013. At times, the message can get stale.

That said, we love Tito’s basic philosophy of the squad going out there everyday and trying to win the game played that day. It’s really all the team can do.

So, a philosophy change with a new hitting instructor is welcome. However, if the front office isn’t going to get some better hitters, we doubt we will see a huge improvement in terms of the hitting next year.

The two things go hand in hand.

Toughest Foe Since KC Coming Up For Browns

Judging from some of the comments we have heard from Browns’ fans since Sunday’s win in Minnesota, hopefully the team can lose enough games to finish high in next year’s draft and they can get a new quarterback.

Look, Baker Mayfield didn’t play a good game in the 14-7 win over the Vikings. He completed less than 50% of his passes, threw for less than 200 yards, and yes, missed some wide open receivers.

But the Browns still won! If that type of performance becomes the norm, and the play of the quarterback becomes a deterrent to winning football games, then and only then, should there be conversations about the QB spot.

Our guess is Mayfield will bounce back this Sunday against the Chargers (we really want to write San Diego) and last week’s contest will be a blip on the radar. We are sure the Mayfield critics will not soon forget though.

However, it would seem to prudent for Kevin Stefanski to dial up a run heavy attack against the Chargers considering they rank 4th from the bottom against the rush in the NFL through four weeks. They are 5th vs. the passing game.

By the way, offensively, Cleveland leads the league in rushing yards.

Los Angeles, led by second year QB Justin Herbert, likes to put the ball in the air, ranking 6th in the NFL. By comparison, the Browns are 26th. So, the Browns defensive front will need to put pressure on Herbert this Sunday.

Back to the quarterback play, we are sure everyone knows on the difference in Mayfield’s efficiency when Odell Beckham Jr. plays and when he’s not on the field. In short, the Browns quarterback plays better when Beckham isn’t on the field.

The first four games haven’t done anything to dispel that notion. His passer rating the first two weeks with OBJ still rehabbing his knee injury was 97.5 and 105.0, completing 81.6% of his throws.

The last two weeks have seen his passer rating at 97.0 and 59.5, and his completion percentage fall to 53.1%.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues because it is disturbing. Of course, we’ve heard folks ask if it means Mayfield cannot play with an elite wide receiver, and their answer is, we will find out when he gets the chance.

It does seem David Njoku has disappeared from the offense the past two weeks, and we feel he can be a huge mismatch problem for opposing secondaries because matching him up with a linebacker or safety is usually a win for the Browns.

Again, it is a small sample size and hopefully Beckham and Mayfield are on the same page on Sunday and this problem is just another question that will be ignored as the wins keep piling up.

Make no mistake, this will be the biggest challenge for Stefanski’s crew since the opening weekend loss to Kansas City. And it’s on the road, the west coast no less.

The Browns, as a team, and not just Baker Mayfield, need to play better in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon. Winning while playing poorly in the sign of a good football team. So is beating another good football team, and the Chargers are that.

Cleveland Baseball Has Big Chore In Improving Offense This Winter

The Cleveland baseball team ended it’s season on Sunday, just missing a non-losing season at 80-82, their first non-winning season since 2012, when they finished 68-94 and Manny Acta lost his job.

They finished 13 games out of first in the AL Central, and 12 games out of a wild card spot, but despite almost breaking even this year, hopefully the ownership and front office realize there is a lot to fix if they want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot in 2022.

There are a lot of weaknesses on this ballclub that need to be addressed. According to Baseballreference.com, the Guardians have the worst catching in the American League, the second worst play out of their first basemen, and the fourth worst second base play.

Looking at the division winning White Sox, they have no positions ranking last or second to last in terms of value. NOTE: This is using WAR.

No doubt this organization values defense and handling a pitching staff at the catching position, but Austin Hedges and Roberto Perez were pretty much useless with a bat in their hands this season.

Hedges hit 30 points higher than Perez (.178 vs. .149) but still had a lower OPS (527 vs. 564) because he simply refuses to walk. It is doubtful (to us) that both will return in ’22, and our guess is that Hedges will be the regular. He is younger and makes less money.

Cleveland simply needs to get more offense out of the position going forward.

At first base, while Bobby Bradley looks like Ted Williams compared to Jake Bauers, especially in the power department, the fact remains, the Guardians need more offense out of the position. Bradley did slug 16 home runs, but by and large is an out maker, with an on base percentage of just .294.

He also still has severe contact issues, fanning 99 times in 279 plate appearances.

We are a little bit more optimistic at second, because we think Owen Miller’s minor league hitting prowess will translate. That said, it didn’t in the second half, but he did hit .236 (638 OPS) in the second half.

If we were in charge, he would get the first shot at the everyday job in spring training.

This team also needs guys who can get on base, and by this we mean not “out makers”. The only measurement of baseball is the number of outs, and Cleveland has a lot of players who make a lot of outs.

It is not a surprise that the top five teams in runs scored in the AL all rank in the top six in the league in on base percentage. We understand you need extra base hits too, to get those runners home, but the Indians/Guardians/Tribe has one player that gets on base more than 35% of the time: Jose Ramirez. Myles Straw fell just short at .349.

And there are not many who avoid making outs in more than 70% of the plate appearances either. The next closest player to Straw is the strikeout prone, hit by pitch king Bradley Zimmer at .325, followed by Franmil Reyes at .324, and then Amed Rosario, who finished at .321, despite a .282 batting average.

By the way, that’s tough to do.

We talked about catcher, 1B, and 2B, but in reality, Cleveland should be satisfied only with Ramirez, Reyes, and Straw. They should be looking for an upgrade at every other spot.

That’s a tall task for the front office.

You win with pitching, but you have to score runs to get to the post-season. Four of the playoff teams in the American League rank in the top five in the league in runs scored.

Cleveland has to improve their offense next season. Hopefully, the front office isn’t fooled by some brief glimpses of hope by certain players in the last two months of the 2021 season.

Cavs Start Camp. What Exactly Will They Be?

In a little more than two weeks, the Cleveland Cavaliers open the regular season. They hasn’t been a big turnover from the roster of last year’s team that went 22-50 in the COVID shortened season, and quite frankly we don’t know what to expect.

The best player from a year ago no longer on the roster is Larry Nance Jr., moved in a three team deal which netted GM Koby Altman forward Lauri Markkanen.

Nance is an all around player, but missed more than half the season a year ago, playing in just 35 of the 72 contests. He will be missed, but the potential of Markkanen could more than make up for his loss.

Altman also brought in veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, which is nice, the Cavs could use a veteran who plays smart basketball. However, he plays the same position as one of the team’s best players in Darius Garland. Rubio could be a good sounding board for the third year player, but if Garland makes the strides expected by many, how much time does Rubio get on the floor?

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff still has a relatively inexperienced team. The only “old heads” are Kevin Love and Rubio, both of whom have been in the NBA for 10+ years. Beyond that pair, the two oldest players who figure to see decent playing time are newcomer Denzel Valentine (28) and Cedi Osman (27).

The most important Cavs figure to be Garland (21), Collin Sexton (22), Jarrett Allen (23), Markkanen (24), Isaac Okoro (21) and rookie Evan Mobley (20).

That’s a lot of youth for the coaching staff to have to teach about the ways of the NBA.

We also still have concerns about how the roster fits. Starting Garland and Sexton at guard, as expected, leaves the Cavaliers very small in the backcourt. Okoro, a tough player who had a solid rookie season last year, is short at 6’5″ for a small forward.

We still believe his size makes him a better fit at the off guard, but can he score enough to play there.

Then we have the frontcourt where the bulk of the playing time will go to three seven footers, Allen, Markkanen, and Mobley.

And what to do with Kevin Love, who is still here, and it probably won’t be long, particularly if he isn’t getting a lot of time, before he makes it known he would like to be elsewhere.

What style will Bickerstaff use for his squad. Right now, this doesn’t figure to be a strong outside shooting team, particularly from three point range. So, does he try to defend, force missed shots, and try to take advantage of fast break opportunities?

The problem with that is can the smallish guard apply the type of defensive pressure needed for this to work? Defense is as good as the weakest defender on the floor. Good teams will find the bad defender and take advantage.

Can Cleveland have that kind of defense?

We have heard the staff wants to use Mobley off the bench, at least early in the season. We think this makes sense, because at his stature, we can see him taking a pounding from bigger, more veteran players. It might be best to use him about 18-20 minutes per night at the start of the season, and we also might use him at small forward at times as well.

But the biggest thing for this team is can they play together, for each other, particularly when things go poorly. Can they make each other look like better players than they are individually?

That’s the key to success. And knowing what you can do and can’t do as a player, and where you rank in the pecking order on the team.

That’s our biggest worry about the wine and gold. Altman hasn’t made any bad picks, none of his high picks are complete busts. However, right now, they don’t seem to fit very well together. Getting them to do just that is the biggest key for success by the Cavs this year.

Browns Could Use A Road Win

We had to laugh at Kevin Stefanski’s locker room comments following the Browns domination of the Chicago Bears last Sunday. The coach told his team “whoever we play” next is the biggest game of their lives, except he used more colorful language.

What was funny is that we are sure Stefanski knows exactly who they play this week, because it is a place he spent his entire coaching life before coming to Cleveland. The Minnesota Vikings.

We are sure the head coach will remind his squad they have not won on the road yet this season, and the Vikings are undefeated at home, although they’ve played in the Land of 10,000 Lakes just once this season.

And we know Stefanski doesn’t like to look ahead, but the following game against the Los Angeles Chargers, also on the road, appears to be a big game as well. The Chargers are now 2-1, coming off a victory over the Chiefs last Sunday.

We wondered in the off-season if Cleveland could have one of those offenses that could be unstoppable if they were healthy, and currently the Browns rank 7th in total yardage in the NFL, and 7th in yards per play at 6.4.

And that’s without both starting wide receivers, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. in the lineup at the same time.

However, here’s a reminder that the Browns are still a running team, second in the league to Baltimore in gaining yards on the ground, with both Nick Chubb (3rd) and Kareem Hunt (20th) in the rushing leaders.

The Vikings have allowed the fifth most yards in the league to date, ranking better against the run (21st) than the pass (27th). So, it would figure to be another good day for the Browns’ offense, although the coach would probably remind us there is a reason why you actually play the game.

One thing is for sure, Kirk Cousins will be more difficult to defend that Justin Fields, making his first NFL start, so the Cleveland defense better be up for the challenge.

It is funny, but despite the production of the Browns’ offensive attack, the leader in receiving yards is Hunt with 104, followed by David Njoku (94), who wasn’t even targeted on Sunday.

The offense has really spread it around in the passing game, with six players having five or more receptions, led by Hunt and TE Austin Hooper with 10 each.

Hard for defenses to take away all of the weapons at Baker Mayfield’s disposal, right?

It was another week, another rookie to stand out for the brown and orange, this time LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was all over the field against Chicago, getting four tackles and a half sack. That’s three weeks in a row, a newly drafted players has made a big impact on the game.

And how can we not mention Myles Garrett, who set a club record with 4.5 sacks, impressive no matter who is the opponent.

The former first overall pick is now 7th (revised total occurred over the summer) in sacks all time for the franchise with 48.5 in just 54 games. Next up on the list is Michael Dean Perry, who has 51.5…in 109 games.

It’s not a stretch to think Garrett will get into the Browns’ top five (Paul Wiggin has 60.5 in 146 games) this season.

Barring injury, it’s really a matter of time before Garrett surpasses Bill Glass, the franchise leader with 77.5 in 94 games.

Stefanski will tell you every week is a challenge in the NFL, and certainly, the Vikings are a step up in class from the Browns’ two previous opponents. We are sure he would also tell you his team is capable of playing much better. They will need to in order to get a win this week.

Memories Of One Last Indians’ Game

Saturday night, we made our final trek to Progressive Field to watch the Cleveland Indians. Yes, we know the team isn’t going anywhere, and there will major league baseball on the shores of Lake Erie in 2022, but as we headed down to the ballpark, there was a melancholy feeling here.

We thought about the games we attended as a kid, and joked about taking the rapid downtown from West Park before we were able to drive, something we would never let our kids do today. It was no big deal back then.

Our group talked about where we used to park when the new park first opened and attending World Series games in 1995 and 1997, and reminisced about how we couldn’t believe the Indians, who were mediocre as long as we remembered, finally made it to the Series, something that was just a TV show in October.

We were handed rally towels as we entered Progressive Field that said “Let’s Go Tribe”, curious indeed considering the upcoming name change.

We settled into our seats down the left field line, near the “Home Run Porch”, fine seats indeed. Our friends thanked us for the choice, but we didn’t want to sit in the upper deck for this one.

The ballpark wasn’t really enthusiastic when the game began, and there were many at the game from Chicago, doing the weekend thing of seeing the White Sox and the Bears in our town on the same weekend.

However, Jose Ramirez shot some energy into the crowd with a two run HR in the first, and the “Jose, Jose, Jose” chants were heard all around us. After that, it was more about taking in the atmosphere for our last Indians’ game.

A lot of jerseys were worn by fans, many of them bearing the name of “Lindor”, a symbol to us of an ownership that has never connected with the fans, despite putting a winning team on the field for most of the last eight years.

It was also discussed that the ownership trading the beloved “Chief Wahoo” mascot to get the All Star Game in 2019, and probably dealt the name “Indians” to get the state government to pony up some funds to renovate Progressive Field and extend the lease.

The best throwback jersey we saw was a 1970 pinstriped jersey with the shadow lettering and numerals with #48 on it, the number of our first favorite player, Sam McDowell.

We talked about the surveys the organization sends to fans talking about ticket plans, renovations to Progressive Field, etc. and how no one ever hears from the organization about responses. We laughed about the questions, asking essentially, why we go to the ballpark. Our answer: “to watch a baseball game”.

Sometimes it seems like the organization is looking for a secret answer as to why people don’t come down to the place formerly known as “The Jake”. Sometimes, it’s a simple as talking to fans, real baseball fans, to find out what’s missing. That’s what the great Bill Veeck would do.

As for the new name, we all agreed the ownership could’ve handled it better. They could have picked three or four names and had the fans vote on it, including them in the process. Another way the disconnect could have been narrowed.

It could be part of the problem with the new name is the fans feel it was forced upon them. They had no say.

We looked at the giant scoreboard in behind the left field bleachers with sadness, knowing “Indians” would either be gone or replaced with “Guardians” the next time we were at the park.

At the 7th inning stretch, the crowd seemed to increase the volume when the line “root, root, root for the INDIANS” was reached, seeming to say they weren’t happy with the change.

We walked around the ballpark one last time, knowing there will be big league baseball there in 2022, but also aware the park will look different, with the renovations starting this winter.

Again, we understand why the name was changed in our heads, but that doesn’t mean it hurts our hearts as fans. Memories will still be with the Indians, the Tribe, and the Chief. Heck, every spring, stations play Major League and Major League 2, which of course, feature the Cleveland INDIANS!

So, the name isn’t going to go away. Nor will it be ignored.

The elementary school and church we attended as a kid has changed its name too. But not for the people who attended it. We are sure that’s how it will be for Cleveland baseball fans in the future.