Let’s Talk Some Baseball And Hoops. Please?

We have said throughout the years we were an anomaly in northeast Ohio. This is football country, but our favorite sports are baseball and basketball.

Make no mistake, we are fans of the Browns and watch each and every game, but our passion rests more with baseball and hoops. We’ve had season tickets to both the Indians and Cavaliers over the years, but never the Browns.

The reason is mostly because we feel football is better watched on television rather than in person, and sitting out on a cold day in November and December has a lot to do with that, we aren’t going to lie.

The reason we bring this up again right now (we’ve done it before) is the play of the Guardians and the amount of discussion in the area about them. They’ve been very surprising to be sure, contending for the division title and post-season berth despite most folks predicting (including us) around a .500 finish for Terry Francona’s squad.

Listening to sports talk radio around town, the Guardians are largely ignored. In fact, everything besides the Browns is largely ignored, something the football team generated when they made both sports talk radio stations the “Home Of The Browns”.

Very smart on their part for sure.

At one time, Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America. Now it’s one of the smaller cities to have three major league sports franchises. This area ranks 34th in terms of metropolitan areas by population.

The areas in the same class (30-40th) that have professional sports are as follows (using the big four sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey as the model. Sorry, soccer enthusiasts):

30. Cincinnati (Reds, Bengals)
31. Kansas City (Chiefs, Royals)
32. Columbus (Blue Jackets)
33. Indianapolis (Colts, Pacers)
34. Cleveland (Browns, Guardians, Cavaliers)
35. Nashville (Titans, Predators)
36. San Jose (Sharks)
37. Virginia Beach/Norfolk
38. Providence
39. Jacksonville (Jaguars)
40. Milwaukee/Green Bay (Bucks, Brewers, Packers)

We are taking liberties with the last one because Milwaukee and Green Bay are about as far apart as Cleveland and Columbus.

The point is we should be privileged to have three pro sports teams, and all three should be hold interest for sports fans in the area. However, at times we get the feeling Browns’ fans could care less if either the Guards or Cavs or both moved elsewhere.

We understand that some of the issues the baseball team has are self-inflicted. They don’t do a good job of marketing and the game day experience at Progressive Field isn’t high on the fun meter.

And while the whole “Mustard losing in the hot dog race” is meant to be fun, it would be nice if the Guardians’ staff put that much energy in hyping up their first place baseball team.

Back to sports talk radio, they should offer more balance. The Cavs and Guardians aren’t in season much at the same time, but there are things to talk about in the off-season for both, especially right after the season ends.

And it would seem to us, talking some baseball and hoops might just be more entertaining than discussing the punter situation or fourth wide receiver for the Browns.

It’s a three sports town and we should be thankful and appreciative. At times, we treat two of the teams like a necessary evil.

Cleveland’s A Three Sport Town, No?

It is not a secret that Cleveland is one of the smallest cities in the United States with three major professional sports teams. We are using the traditional four major sports of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.

If you figure in Green Bay as part of the Milwaukee market, only that area would be smaller than “The Land” in terms of having three major league franchises.

It struck us the other day that if you listen to sports talk radio in the area, it would be hard to discern that indeed, there are other teams here besides the Browns.

Certainly, fans of the Indians and Cavaliers are envious of the attention received by the NFL team, especially now that the Browns appear to be emerging from a decade’s long slumber.

After all, the Cavaliers ended the title drought in Cleveland, winning the area’s first professional sports championship since 1964 when LeBron James and company won the 2016 NBA title.

And the Indians have been one of baseball’s best teams since 2016 when they went to the seventh game of the World Series that season. They’ve been to the post-season four times since Terry Francona was hired as manager in 2013, and since baseball went to the current three division set up in 1994, only the Yankees and Red Sox have made more playoff appearances in the American League.

We understand that northeast Ohio is first and foremost a football area, but how did the sports conversation around here become almost Browns-centric, and how much does it affect the other teams?

First, the Browns were genius in making both sports talk stations in town (WKNR and 92.3 The Fan) broadcast partners. Both stations proudly call themselves “Home of the Browns”, and when the team plays, it is difficult to find a station not broadcasting the game (at least in our car).

WKNR has a daily show called Cleveland Browns Daily, while the other station broadcasts virtually every press conference the head coach has, which during the season is pretty much every day.

We have said in the past that the Tribe should have learned from the Browns and made on of these two stations their flagship station. Instead, they stayed with WTAM and their large 50,000 watt power.

And that’s their right, but would the team generate more conversation, and therefore more interest, if their games were on that station pretty much every night from April through September?

We would bet yes.

As for the Cavs, when they were title contenders, they were the second option, but now that they are at the bottom of the standings, the commentary is “they are terrible, we don’t watch”, which is ludicrous since the hosts are supposed to covering Cleveland sports teams, no?

The poor won/lost record doesn’t hold weight either, because the Browns were 1-31 over a two season span, and they were still the topic for most shows on a daily basis.

Cleveland is a “Brownstown”, no debating that. However, many Browns’ fans are also supporters of the Indians and Cavs, so why not cover those teams more often?

We thought because the Browns were not picking at the top of the NFL Draft that the conversation would subside during the spring, but instead there are other subjects to delve into, like “Are the Browns better than the Steelers, right now?”

The sports talk stations used to send hosts down to spring training to cover the Indians. That rarely happens now.

It’s great that people are excited about the Browns, but as a city, we should feel lucky to have three major professional sports teams. And it’s okay to have conversations about all three as well.

Tank Or Not To Tank For Cleveland Teams?

After it was announced that Manny Machado signed a $300 million contract with the San Diego Padres, the conversation around town quickly turned to Francisco Lindor, and the possibility of the Cleveland Indians keeping him after he can become a free agent following the 2021 season.

Being Cleveland, we heard many fans saying if the Indians weren’t going to try to sign the star shortstop, then they should trade him now and start rebuilding for the future.

Which brings us to the question of the day: Tank or not to Tank?

With the Indians having the starting rotation they have along with two of the best position players (Lindor and Jose Ramirez) in baseball, a total rebuild is the last thing on the minds of the front office.

Especially with Lindor still here for three more seasons.

Now, if prior to the ’21 campaign, Lindor’s agents make it clear he will not re-sign with the Tribe and the team gets off to a poor start, dropping out of contention, you might see a deal for the guy who is arguably the best position player in team history.

However, no team is going to give up a chance to win a championship, and if the Indians win the AL Central they will have that shot, to start rebuilding.

Let’s look at two instances of rebuilding jobs in our own town–

The Cavaliers didn’t intend to tank this season, but when you lose LeBron James, drop your first six contests, and then lose your best remaining player for basically the entire first half of the season, you change your way of thinking.

Once you hit the end of November with one of the NBA’s worst records and Love is still going to be out until February, GM Koby Altman had to try and get one of the first picks in the June draft, and hopefully you get Zion Williamson with the first choice.

The Browns were stuck in mediocrity for most of the last 15 seasons, when then GM Sashi Brown decided to gut the roster, purging it of veterans and trying to go with young players who can hit their prime together.

We don’t believe he envisioned 1-31 over two seasons, but Hue Jackson’s guidance took care of that, and earned the Browns a franchise quarterback, and a franchise pass rusher.

In both cases, the circumstances (poor start and Love’s injury for the Cavs, an extended period of crap football for the Browns) dictated the tank.

Tanking isn’t guaranteed to work. While people point to the Cubs and Astros in baseball, both of those teams drafted very well, with Chicago getting Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, and the Astros drafted George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman in the first round in a three year span.

Let’s say the Cavs wind up with the worst record and the fourth overall pick, do they subject their fan base to another year like this? It’s also tough for the front office/ownership to sit through.

And for the Browns, they tried a whole bunch of things. They tried helping young players by supplementing them with veterans. They tried getting veteran quarterbacks, getting players with local ties.

None of it worked.

Why not try what the Dallas Cowboys did when Jerry Jones bought the team and hired Jimmy Johnson. Gut the roster, accumulate draft picks, and see if that works.

We started to see the fruits of this plan, aided by hiring a good talent evaluator in John Dorsey, this past year.

If you decide to tank, here is the difficult question no one wants to ask–What happens when you don’t get the first overall pick?

You have to have a back up plan. If you don’t, you lose your job. That’s why more teams don’t do it.

Two Teams Left in NBA, And One of Them is The Cavs!

Next week, something will happen that doesn’t occur all that often in these parts.

A Cleveland team is playing for a professional sports league championship. And as not to offend the indoor soccer fans in northeast Ohio, it is happening in one of the “big four” sports.

The last time a team from Cleveland had a chance to bring home a title was 2007, when the Cavaliers were swept in four straight by the San Antonio Spurs.

But when you think back since the Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964, there hasn’t been many times where one of our teams had a chance to end our championship drought.

The first time was in 1965, a time when we didn’t have a jinx or a curse, because the Browns were among pro football’s elite. They were the defending champions and went into Green Bay and were defeated by Vince Lombardi’s team, 23-12.

Little did we know then that the Browns wouldn’t have another chance to win a title, now called the Super Bowl. That string continues to this day.

It took 30 years before another Cleveland squad played for the ultimate prize, when the Indians dominated the American League with 100 wins in a 144 game schedule and ran through the playoffs to win the AL Championship and get to the World Series for the first time since 1954.

Alas, the Atlanta Braves defeated them 4-2 to take the trophy.

It didn’t take long to have another chance, as the Tribe returned to the World Series just two years later, and got as close as any team to winning the big prize, carrying a lead into the ninth inning of the seventh and deciding game, before the Florida Marlins tied it and won it in extra innings.

There have been stories told about how the Commissioner’s Trophy was in the Indians’ locker room, and the clubhouse was being readied for a celebration, only to have it all taken away.

That one stings the most. A championship was right in our hands, and it was taken away with the snap of a finger.

It was ten more years before Cleveland got another shot at a title with the Cavs in 2007, and it has taken another eight years before this opportunity.

For all the soul crushing moments we have endured as a fandom, outside of the ’97 World Series, they occurred before a chance to play for a title.

The Browns’ heart breaks all occurred in the AFC Championship game, a step before the Super Bowl, and “The Shot” happened to the Cavaliers in a first round series against the Bulls.

Our point is this, savor the moment. Even though the city has waited 51 years for a professional sports title, what is even more stunning is there haven’t been all that many opportunities. This is just the fifth in the last 50 years.

Of course, if the Cavs were to lose to Golden State in The Finals, that wouldn’t make the pain and the disappointment wouldn’t be any less.

Just let it soak in, there are only two teams remaining in the NBA, and one of them is from Cleveland.

A Notable Week in Cleveland Sports

According to the calendar and weather forecast, this should be another cold week at the end of April.

It’s kind of cruel because of the 1o days of summer that hit northern Ohio in the middle of March. That makes this seasonal weather in April harder to take.

However, it should be an eventful week for Cleveland sports. The Indians are coming home from a tremendous 7-2 trip, which puts them back over .500 after their tough start to the season.

The Browns will be the center of the sports universe because of the NFL Draft which starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday.

And the Cavaliers are finishing up the NBA season with three games, starting tonight in Memphis. At stake for them is where they will wind up in the draft in late June.

Here’s a look at the week that will be:

Indians. The Tribe offense is striking out less and walking more and so far this has led to an attack that is scoring more runs than expected. To be fair, a boatload of those tallies came against the Royals, who are here tomorrow night for a three game series.

One Indian that is red-hot is DH Travis Hafner, currently hitting .359 with an on base percentage of .509. Pronk has even hit two tape measure home runs this young season.

There is no question that when Hafner is healthy, he’s a great offensive player. He has a lifetime OPS of close to 900, an outstanding figure.

However, we have to caution those fans proclaiming that Pronk is back. Remember, when he hit the grand slam to win the game against Toronto on July 7th, he was hitting .347 with an OPS of 994.

He wound up the season at .280 and 811.

If Hafner can stay healthy and productive, he gives Manny Acta an all-star type hitter. The biggest word in that sentence is the first one.

Browns. Enough has been written about what Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert will do with the 13 picks the team has at the end of the week.

There is no question the brown and orange need an influx of talent, particularly playmakers on offense. Look for Heckert to take at least two players who will be able to make a difference when Cleveland has the football, and take them early.

The front office needs to understand this week is the start of the turnaround of the Cleveland Browns. A disgusted fan base may turn into an apathetic one with another 4-12 record in 2012.

Cavaliers. Right now, the Cavs sit with the 5th worst record in the NBA, meaning they would have the fifth best shot at the first overall pick.

However, with three games left, they could wind up with the third worst record or the finish with the 8th worst mark. This wild fluctuation is obviously very important to their future.

We never advocate losing, but with two of the three games being on the road, the lone home game left is with Washington, a winnable contest, it is likely Byron Scott’s team will finish at 22-44.

The wild card is New Orleans, who has won six of their last ten, but whose two remaining games are on the road.

The Cavs-Wizard’s game makes no difference for Cleveland because the wine and gold cannot finish with a worse record than Washington.

Still, we will have a good idea of where GM Chris Grant will be able to pick at the end of this week.

It may not be a huge week on the field or court, but make no mistake. By next Sunday, Cleveland fans will know a little more about the future of their football and basketball squads.