Some Random Opinions

School’s out for summer as Alice Cooper so famously sang, and people will start vacationing soon. Father’s Day is next week, and the guys at Cleveland Sports Perspective had some things to get off their chests.

The Heat Thing.
Tonight is Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals (apparently now called the ECF by the NBA marketing folks), and most people in this town are hoping for an elimination of the Miami Heat.

Most people nationally (read…ESPN) think folks in Cleveland feel that way because LeBron James left the Cavaliers in free agency. At least for us, that’s not the case.

That is still a sore subject, but it’s more than that. It’s the way the Miami players carry themselves. They act like rock stars, even though, they’ve won nothing as of yet. The whole party after the signings of James and Chris Bosh was gauche.

The four letter network’s Doug Gottlieb, who is an excellent basketball analyst said yesterday that fans should “get over it”. Why? When people act like jerks, and never acknowledge it, why should we forget. Because they are good?

It’s the old school people who can’t stand the Heat, because they represent the “AAU mindset” in basketball. All purists who love the sport, not just those from Cleveland, hope either the Celtics or Thunder deprive the Heat, with the love they receive from ESPN, a title.

Those teams have great players, but they arrived via trades or the draft. It’s the same reason most baseball fans hate the Yankees, no one likes the perception that you can buy a championship.

Interleague Play in Baseball
If one more person tells you there is more strategy in the National League game, please feel free to slap them in the face. It’s simply not true.

If there is less than two out and a runner on base when the pitcher comes up, the manager is going to have him bunt. What’s the strategy there? It always happens.

Oh, and the argument that when to take the pitcher out of a game doesn’t hold water either. An American League manager has to make a decision, the NL skipper is forced to pinch hit late in a game he is trailing in. That kind of makes the decision for him.

Fans of the Senior Circuit seem to think you need a PhD from M.I.T. to pull of a double switch. In reality, you just take out the guy who made the last out and put him in the pitcher’s spot.

It’s not rocket science, and watching a guys who have batting averages of around .125 hit instead of a legitimate hitter isn’t entertaining. The whole world of baseball uses the DH except the National League. Why should everyone else conform.

The Leadoff Man
Heard some people arguing today about whether or not Michael Brantley should return to the #1 spot in the batting order, now that he’s hitting.

Why? Because he’s fast and plays centerfield?

The job of the leadoff hitter is to get on base. Shin-Soo Choo does that almost 38% of the time. Brantley does it 32.5% of the time. Why would you make a change?

The argument would seem to be the Choo can hit homers and drive in runs.

However, Brantley’s slugging percentage is three points higher than Choo’s, and he has 11 more RBI’s than the rightfielder.

Traditional baseball people might flip-flop the pair in the batting order, but right now Manny Acta has it correct. Shin-Soo Choo should hit first, and Brantley in the middle of the order.

JK/MW/KM

Tribe Hanging In After Another Benchmark

After last night’s game with the Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians hit another benchmark on the 2012 season. They have played one-third of their scheduled games and sit with a 29-25 record.

That puts them on a pace for a record of 87-75 for the entire season, which could very well be good enough to win the AL Central Division.

It’s also time to look at the team and the current state of the ballclub.

While everyone came into the season claiming the pitching was solid, so far the results are just the opposite, ranking 12th in the AL in ERA.

The starting pitching in particular has been problematic, with only Derek Lowe (7-3, 3.06 ERA) providing consistent quality performances.

Justin Masterson (2-5, 5.09 ERA) has been up and down, and last night notwithstanding, Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 5.31 ERA) has been mostly disappointing.

Josh Tomlin (2-3, 5.32 ERA) has not pitched like he did early last night when he put up a string of quality starts. Really, prior to his last two starts, Jeanmar Gomez (3-4, 4.42 ERA) might have been the second best starter for the Tribe this season.

It was said during spring training and it is still true, Jimenez is the key to the success of the Indians, and right now he is joined by Masterson. If they cannot give Manny Acta good performances on the nights they start, it will be difficult for the Tribe to stay in the race.

The bullpen has been solid, but Acta seems comfortable using only lefty Nick Hagadone, and right-handers Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez is games the Tribe is leading. That could create a tired bullpen going down the stretch.

Someone else needs to step up and give the team quality innings late in games. Acta seems to want veteran Jeremy Accardo to be that guy.

If the starting pitching can be more consistent and can get deeper into games, the bullpen will be more rested, and probably more effective.

That’s starts with Jimenez and Masterson.

Offensively, the Indians are right in the middle of the pack in runs scored, ranking 8th in the AL. This has been done despite holes in several positions, many of them spots traditionally known for offense.

Left field has been a mess with neither Shelley Duncan nor Johnny Damon doing much with the stick. Outside of a two-week span in May when he was respectable with the bat, Casey Kotchman has been a disaster at first base.

Yes, yes he has a good glove, but good teams need hitting at that position.

While Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis have been consistent and productive at the plate, CF Michael Brantley has been a surprise, hitting .283 and has knocked in 25 runs for the year as well, even though he hasn’t homered.

He does have 19 extra base hits (16 doubles, 3 triples) though, and is even starting to steal bases effectively (9 of 13). If he starts drawing more walks, he can be a very good offensive player.

Shin-Soo Choo (.379 OBP) has been very good since moving into the leadoff spot, providing a solid top of the order with Cabrera and Kipnis.

Unfortunately, outside of Brantley, the rest of the batting order has struggled. Carlos Santana has just 5 HR and a slugging percentage of under .400. He needs to provide some pop.

Travis Hafner is hurt again, out until the All-Star break. Jack Hannahan hit well early, which likely wasn’t going to last, but he’s been hurt for basically the last month.

The hope is that 3B Lonnie Chisenhall can provide some power, and he’s hit 2 HR’s since being brought up a little over a week ago.

Matt LaPorta was brought back up to help at first and in left, and probably could be an upgrade over the players in those spots now, but he’s not going to be a middle of the order presence.

If the Tribe is going to contend, they need Santana and Chisenhall to provide some power or GM Chris Antonetti will need to make a deal.

Once again, a third of the season has been played and the Indians are still in contention. If the starting pitching can step up, the Tribe can stay in the race into September.

Acta Shorthanded With His Bench

With the Cleveland Indians struggling since their sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the weaknesses fans have been concerned about all year have started to raise their ugly heads.

The starting pitching has been the main culprit, as in those nine games (the Tribe has gone 2-7 in those contests) only Derek Lowe’s performance against Minnesota in which he pitched 6-2/3 innings and allowed one run, can be considered very good.

The struggles of the starters has forced the Indians to play from behind quite a bit, and with their lack of power, that is not a good situation.

The Tribe is 8-18 in games they haven’t hit a home run. More to the point, they are 20-7 when they do hit one over the wall.

The Twins’ series was a perfect example. Friday night, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis went deep in a Cleveland win. There were no round trippers the rest of the weekend, and the Indians dropped the final two games of the weekend.

And of course, the last problem area to show up again is the problem the Tribe has against southpaws. Scott Diamond started for the Twins Sunday afternoon, and the Cleveland bats took a nap, losing 6-3.

However, the roster construction doesn’t do Manny Acta any favors. Right now, there are two players on the pines who are there because they play a certain position. That is their only qualification for being on the team.

Aaron Cunningham is here because he can play CF if something happened to Michael Brantley, and Juan Diaz is on the roster because he can play shortstop.

GM Chris Antonetti hasn’t been able to develop or acquire a legitimate fourth outfielder or a utility infielder.

That is troublesome because it doesn’t give the skipper a lot of flexibility.

Neither player has shown he can hit, particularly with the limited at bats they receive, and on a team that has difficulties hitting left-handed pitching, that’s tough to digest.

Cunningham can play all three outfield spots, but there has to be someone within the organization that can provide better hitting and has the ability to play centerfield.

The same is true for Diaz at SS, although he is here because the guy whose job he has, Jason Donald, didn’t hit, and is having trouble defensively at short in Columbus.

The problem is Acta cannot have any confidence putting either of these guys in a lineup when needed. And if that’s the case, a change needs to be made.

The same problem is occurring in the bullpen with lefty Tony Sipp. The reliever has done a good job the past few years, but this year is struggling.

He came in Saturday with the team trailing 5-4 to face two left-handed hitters, Ben Revere and Joe Mauer. A single and a home run later, the score was 7-4.

This isn’t to bury Sipp, but he needs to go back to the minors to work on getting back to where he was in 2010 and 2011.

Right now, it is doubtful that Acta can find any situation in which to use him except in a blowout situation.

That’s not fair to the manager.

Most major league managers need a 25 man roster to work with, especially those who pilot small to mid-market teams.

Right now, Manny Acta has a 22 man team because his roster is littered with players like the three mentioned.

Maybe Acta’s the one who wants these guys, but that’s doubtful.

The front office needs to upgrade this roster, and the sooner they do it, the better the Indians can hang in the race to win the AL Central.

Another Chance to Add Talent for Cavs

Now that the ping-pong balls have dropped and the conspiracy theorists have spoken, the Cleveland Cavaliers now have the fourth pick in this year’s NBA Draft, which coincidentally, they had last year.

Now we can start the speculation as to who the Cavaliers will take with the selection, as well as the other three picks they will have in the top 34 choices.

Here’s what they won’t do. They will not trade F Tristan Thompson to move up to the second pick in the draft. If you have watched NBA basketball over the years, you know the biggest leap a player takes is from his first year to the second season.

Players learn what the NBA is all about, how to condition their bodies for an 82 game schedule, and have a full summer to work on the things the coaching staff and front office want them to improve on.

It is probable that Thompson will come to training camp in October a much better player than he was at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. Think about how much he improved during his rookie year, particularly on the offensive end.

GM Chris Grant should look for someone who can put the ball in the basket, especially since the team lost second leading scorer Antawn Jamison after the season as his contract expired. Coach Byron Scott needs to make up for the 18 points per night Jamison contributed.

That’s why the choice should be between Florida G Bradley Beal, rated by most to be one of the top five players, or UConn guard Jeremy Lamb, a key contributor on the Huskies 2011 national championship team.

There is no question the top pick will be Kentucky C/F Anthony Davis and likely Kansas F Thomas Robinson will be picked in the top three, leaving them unavailable for the Cavs.

A couple of players we will hear plenty about are Connecticut C Andre Drummond, classified as a guy who could be Dwight Howard or Kwame Brown, and North Carolina F Harrison Barnes, who was hyped as a first team pre-season All-America choice before he played his first collegiate game.

Keep in mind, more mistakes are made in the NBA draft on big men than any other position. Yes, a good one is difficult to find, but Grant needs to get a guy who can play the game, not someone Scott will have to prod and cajole in order to get production, which may be the case with Drummond.

As for Barnes, it is difficult to think of any collegiate game that he was part of in which he was a dominant player.

F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist may be available at #4, but he’s more of a solid player, a guy who does a lot of things well. He has been compared to players like Gerald Wallace and Andre Iguodala, both very good players, but not scorers.

Beal may not be a great leaper or stunning athletically, but he’s a scorer. In watching Florida lose in the NCAA tournament to Louisville, you wondered why the Gators didn’t get the ball to Beal when they were struggling down the stretch.

Lamb is thin, but can shoot off the dribble, can handle the ball, and has a beautiful mid-range game, hitting 60% of his shots inside the three-point arc.

Either would be perfect fits for the Cavaliers and would team with rookie of the year Kyrie Irving to set up a very good backcourt for the future.

The Cavs still need size, but they still have three more picks (although they will likely trade one so they don’t bring four rookies into camp) to beef up the frontcourt.

Once again, Grant’s ability to judge talent will be the key to any progress made by the wine and gold, and also whether he will have an NBA GM position five years from now.

Lack of Long Ball Hurts Tribe

In the American League, the home run is king.

A look at the teams who lead the league in dingers closely resembles those who have the best records. Here are the top five teams in hitting the long ball:

Texas (31-19)          76
Baltimore (29-21) 75
New York (26-23) 74
Toronto (26-24)     68
Chicago (28-22)      62

Where do the Cleveland Indians rank in this category? 12th, ahead of only the Royals and Twins, who coincidentally are the two worst teams in the league.

This is just another statistic that doesn’t bode well for the rest of this season. And one of the players who is supposed to provide pop for this offense, Travis Hafner, just went on the disabled list (again!) with a knee injury.

This means the Indians lack the ability to have a big inning with one swing of the bat. In a lineup with several holes in it, this means they are dependent on having to bunch several hits, and that is tough to do consistently.

If you think that home runs aren’t the end all, be all and you getting extra base hits is just as important, here are the AL leaders in team slugging percentage:

Texas (31-19)           .475
Boston (25-24)        .456
New York (26-23) .455
Baltimore (29-21)  .440
Chicago (28-22)      .421

The Tribe ranks 11th in this category at .383, ahead of only Minnesota, Seattle, and Oakland, three teams all at least six games under the .500 mark.

This just reiterates what we’ve known about the American League for years. Yes, pitching dominates in the post-season, but to get there in the AL, you have to score runs.

One of the seasons they can’t score runs is they have no power.

Yes, Progressive Field is a pitcher’s park, and that hampers the offense. And they do have better success hitting on the road. But they still don’t have a guy who can come up with two guys on and put three runs on the board with one swing.

It was striking over the weekend in the series against the White Sox, and yes, they play in a great hitters’ park. Still, they have three players (Paul Konerko, Dayan Viciedo, and Adam Dunn) with more that 10 HR’s, and A. J. Pierzynski has eight.

As a point of reference, that number (8) would be tied for the Indians’ team lead with Jason Kipnis.

And only the now injured Hafner (6) has more than five home runs for Cleveland.

You can’t compete in this league without being able to hit for power, and this has been a theme for the last few years. Last year, the Indians ranked 10th in home runs, and in 2010, they ranked 12th.

They started off 2012 by hitting the long ball, hitting 16 in the first nine games of the season. But, they’ve hit just 25 in the last 40 contests, which over a full season comes to just 100 dingers. That’s a paltry figure in today’s game.

You can overcome not getting the home run if you hit for a high average as a team, somewhere in the .270-.280 range. Alas, the Tribe’s team average is just .248, ranking 10th in the league, right behind the Orioles, who have scored 22 more runs.

To be fair, the Indians’ offense is the best of the non-home run teams. They rank seventh in the AL in average runs per game, and every team they trail has hit 20 more home runs.

You will often notice the Tribe plays many games where they have one big inning, and struggle to put together anything for the balance of the game. That’s because that’s the inning they string a lot of hits together. Manny Acta’s bunch doesn’t have a lot of one run innings, where someone hits a bomb and that’s it.

There is really no way this Indians team is going to start blasting balls all over the park, so they have to come up with ways to overcome it. One way has already been a success, the ability to draw walks.

It’s just a tough way to play the game in the American League.

Don’t Worry About Chicago Series, Worry About This…

Before the baseball season started, we felt the Cleveland Indians were a fourth place team. This was based on the feeling that the offense hasn’t really improved from last season, and the starting pitching was not up to par.

So, our expectations for this season were not really high. As life long Indians fans, we hope to be wrong. We watch every game with the anticipation of a Tribe win, and no one hopes our prediction is wrong more than us.

It would be the ultimate thrill for the Indians to win the AL Central Division and bring home the first World Series title for this city since 1948.

That’s why it’s funny to read the reaction of some fans after this past weekend’s disaster in Chicago.

Thursday evening, Tribe fans were fired up after a three game sweep against the Tigers that gave Cleveland a 3-1/2 game lead over the White Sox and six games over Detroit. Heck, the Wahoos even beat defending Cy Young Award winner and league MVP Justin Verlander in the series finale.

Today, many of these same fans are wondering if the Indians will ever win another game.

Right now, the Indians rank 8th in the American League in runs scored, and 12th in team ERA. Not exactly the right combination for a team that wants to contend for a division title.

But that’s the beauty of baseball.

The 1987 Minnesota Twins were outscored on the season by their opponents, and arguably are the worst team to ever win the World Series. However, they still have the trophy, and Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, and Bert Blyleven all wear their championship rings proudly.

As for this weekend, it reminded us of a series in 1991 involving the Tribe and the Oakland A’s, then the defending AL champs. The Tribe scored 35 runs against them in consecutive games, with Chris James knocking in nine in one contest.

The Tribe finished that season 57-105, the worst in franchise history. As for the A’s, they won the next two games against Baltimore, allowing just three runs in both contests.

Remember that in baseball, momentum is today’s starting pitcher. If Josh Tomlin gives Manny Acta six solid innings today against Kansas City, the memory of White Sox hitters crossing the plate with frequency will soon fade.

If you want to worry, be concerned about the performance of Ubaldo Jimenez, who leads the league in walks, and can’t get hitters out away from Progressive Field. Worry about how the Indians have the statistics of a team who should be 22-25, not 26-21, because they’ve allowed 18 more runs than they’ve scored.

Question how the team has only five solid hitters in their lineup, when good teams have seven. Worry about the health of DH Travis Hafner, one of those five, whose loss would be significant even if he hasn’t been productive this month.

The left field spot has turned into a “vortex of suck” with Johnny Damon hitting .158 and Shelley Duncan batting .200. And fans can be concerned about a bench that has everyone with a batting average under the “Mendoza line”, except for Jose Lopez.

Series like the one over the weekend against Chicago happen to most teams in a given year. If the Indians can have a good week at home against the Royals and Twins, a week from now, it will be mostly erased from memory.

The Tribe doesn’t play the White Sox again until late September. A whole bunch of players could be changed by that point in time.

Tribe Offense Looks for Balance

A look at the American League leaders in offensive statistics, at least the traditional one, doesn’t show a lot of players who toil for the Indians.

Yes, Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner are in the top ten in walks received, and Asdrubal Cabrera is among the leaders in doubles and on base percentage, but by and large there aren’t many names among the lists.

For example, there are ten AL players who have driven in 30 runs this season. None wear a Cleveland uniform.

The Tribe ranks in the middle of the pack (8th) in the league in runs scored, so they can’t be considered to have a great offense or a poor one. The absence of a big bat probably is the reason for this ranking. Still, the Indians’ attack has gotten it done with balance.

With the season in between the quarter pole and the one-third mark, the Tribe has several players who are on pace to drive in between 80 and 90 runs this year. It’s that type of balanced attack that has kept the offense above water so far in 2012.

To date, Santana and Jason Kipnis have led the team in RBI’s with 24, with Hafner close behind at 23. Cabrera has driven home 20. All four players are on pace to collect more than 80 ribbies this season.

Jack Hannahan has knocked home 18 runners despite missing the last 10 games with a back problem. He likely would have more than 20 had he stayed healthy, although his career track would contradict maintaining this pace for an entire season.

The biggest problem for Manny Acta right now is that the guys in the middle of his lineup, Santana and Hafner, are not driving the ball. The three players leading the team in extra base hits are Cabrera with 19, followed by both Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley with 16.

Santana and Hafner have just 12 each.

Doubles have been the hit of choice for the three leaders, with each of them ranking in the AL’s top ten in that category. If the middle of the order joined the extra base hit party, the Cleveland offense would be much improved.

One problem that has been quite evident of late is the lack of production from anyone off the bench, save for Jose Lopez.

While Lopez has been a huge bonus since returning from Columbus, going 12 for 39 (.308) with a home run (a game tying blast vs. Seattle) and seven runs batted in, the rest of the bench bunch has been impotent at the plate.

Backup catcher Lou Marson has been completely out of sync, with just three hits in 30 at bats (.100). Marson looks to be guiding his bat through the strike zone rather than swinging at the ball. Shelley Duncan has returned to being, well, Shelley Duncan, hitting just .200 in 95 at bats, striking out in one third of them.

Aaron Cunningham is the only back up CF, and that’s why he remains on the roster despite batting just .192 with a 519 OPS.

It’s a chicken or the egg thing. The bench probably needs more playing time to hit better and stay sharp, but it’s tough for Acta to take out one of his regulars for a player who can’t hit, especially when the number of good hitters in the lineup is short.

The bottom of the usual Tribe lineup has 1B Casey Kotchman (.216) and LF Johnny Damon (.162), two guys who a struggling. Why add a third or fourth poor hitter if you don’t have to?

It’s another thing that GM Chris Antonetti may have to address sooner than later. Until then, or until Santana and Hafner can turn singles into doubles and home runs, Acta will have to hope the balanced attack continues to provide enough runs to get a lead and turn games over to the bullpen.

Choo Looks Good at Top of Order

Sometimes, fans over think the importance of a manager to a baseball teams. Many baseball experts figure the difference between a top-notch skipper and a guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing is about five games.

It basically comes down to the talent a particular team has.

A little over a week ago, Indians’ manager Manny Acta decided to shuffle his batting order and put Shin-Soo Choo in the lead-off spot.

Right now, the initial returns have been extremely positive. Choo looks like a different hitter than he was in April and early May.

The right fielder has thrived there, hitting .394 (13 for 33) since being moved there. He’s scored six runs, and last night, started rallies in three innings in which the Tribe scored.

Perhaps Choo felt a need to drive the ball when hitting in the middle of the order because since moving to the top, he’s been hitting the ball where it is pitched more often, and as a result his batting average is climbing.

When you think about it, he’s a logical choice to hit lead-off, probably more so than Grady Sizemore, who Tribe managers have put first in the batting order for many years, and Michael Brantley, who looks like he should be a lead-off man, but doesn’t have the numbers to support it.

You see, Shin-Soo Choo has a lifetime on base percentage of .384. The man gets on base frequently, which is the primary goal at the top of the order. He also can run a little bit too, with two 20 stolen base seasons on his resume. Brantley stole a career high (yes, Choo’s been around longer) 13 bases last season.

His ability to get on base ahead of Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera has helped spice up an offense in need of a spark.

Which brings us to a growing concern, DH Travis Hafner.

Yes, Hafner delivered in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Tigers, but the Indians need him to provide a power bat in the middle of the lineup, and at least this month, he has not put up many extra base hits.

He still has decent numbers (795 OPS), but that figure is arrived at because of a high on base percentage. Don’t get us wrong, not making outs is a good thing, but his slugging percentage is just .419, less than Jack Hannahan and about the same as Jason Kipnis, a middle infielder.

In 20 games in May, Pronk is hitting just .191 and slugging just .382 with only six extra base hits. Just for point of reference, that’s the same number as Casey Kotchman, and less than Asdrubal Cabrera, Choo, and Kipnis. Jose Lopez has one less in 39 less at bats.

Carlos Santana is keeping his batting average up at .262, but he’s in Hafner’s situation as a player Acta needs to provide pop, yet he is only slugging .414 on the year, and also has just six extra base hits in May.

The Tribe doesn’t have too many players who can change a game in one swing of the bat, and the two guys who usually hit fourth and fifth in the order are hitting like guys who hit at the top of the order.

If Hafner and Santana can start belting out extra base hits, it doesn’t have to be home runs, doubles and triples will do, fans will see the Indians batting attack take a big step forward.

Somehow, we see Santana as more apt to oblige in this area, since Hafner’s slugging has declined in recent years, probably due to injury.

The Indians are getting runners on base, leading the league in walks, however, that statistic doesn’t do them any good if their big boppers aren’t driving them in.

Perez Should Have “Saved” His Comments

After saving Saturday’s 2-0 victory over the Miami Marlins, Indians’ closer Chris Perez decided to vent about being booed and the poor attendance at Tribe games this season.

This is one of those things you cannot mention even if it is true, just like telling your boss he’s treats people poorly.

There is little to be gained by making such comments.

There is some truth to what Perez said, the Indians are playing well right now and there is no question attendance has been disappointing.

However, crowds are starting to catch on and almost 30,000 showed up Friday and Saturday with the return of warmer weather to Cleveland.

So, not only should the reliever have kept his thoughts to himself, they were also ill-timed. It’s another case of someone with the Indians trying to put a wet blanket on fans’ enthusiasm.

As for the booing, Perez should understand a couple of things: First, it’s just a handful of people vocalizing the negativity. The majority of fans don’t boo as a general rule.

Secondly, fans aren’t usually booing the player. They are criticizing the manager for making the decision to put the player in that position. No one is expecting Perez to understand this, but more than likely that’s what the jeers were about.

Fans know that Perez’ history is that he doesn’t pitch as well in tie games as he does when he’s protecting a lead. Yet, Manny Acta brought him in anyway, that’s what the fans were upset about.

(By the way, there should be no issue with bringing the closer in at home, there can’t be a save situation).

The fact is Cleveland fans have sat through eight losing seasons in the last ten years. No matter how well the Tribe has played this season (in only a quarter of the season), fans haven’t experienced sustained winning (if you call sustained two straight winning years) since 2001.

Also, last year’s team started even better than the 2012 Indians, getting off to a 30-15 start, yet finished under .500 for the season.

So forgive the team’s supporters when they look at this year’s ballclub with a jaundiced eye.

It would have been understandable if Perez had made his comments following Thursday game in which he was booed, but to wait until he strikes out the side two days later, and then spout off, well, he lost the higher ground on this argument.

Remember that the closer has been known to speak off the cuff. He criticized an opponent in his first season as closer because they had the audacity to win by bunting in a situation that Perez didn’t deem appropriate.

After another blown save, he criticized his catcher for allowing a passed ball.

Since then, Perez appeared to have matured until his comments on Saturday. But he threw himself under the bus.

As for his comments about people not wanting to play in Cleveland, the same things were said in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Why? Because the Indians were a losing organization.

Over the last decade, they have returned to that status.

Ask the players who wore the Cleveland uniform from 1990-2001 if they enjoyed their time here. Guys like Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Orel Hershiser, etc. loved it here and are loved back in return.

The fans love them because they won.

Fans want to have that same feeling about Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis, etc., but they feel the players are short-term here, and management can’t afford to keep them.

Chris Perez doesn’t understand that, and that’s his prerogative. He’s a ball player.

He still should have kept his mouth shut. Nothing good can be gained by criticizing the people who buy tickets.

The Damon Question

When the Indians brought Johnny Damon to the major leagues on May 1st, it was done without the benefit of having the veteran play any minor league games.

He did play some games in extended spring training, but the pitchers down there are mostly guys who haven’t been assigned to minor league teams, or those rehabbing injuries.

There is no question the quality of pitching would have been better in Columbus or Akron.

However, the terms of the contract Damon agreed to had a clause that he had to be on the big league roster on May 1st, so he was activated.

To date, the results haven’t been positive.

He has played 12 games thus far, and he’s batting .149 with an OPS of 419. Just to clarify, no one survives long in the majors with that low of a figure in that category.

There is no question that Damon hasn’t hit his stride yet, because it is unlikely that a player could lose it this quick. At 37 years old last season, he still batted .261 with a 743 OPS.

Yesterday, Indians’ manager Manny Acta dropped the veteran from the top of the order and had him batting 7th. With his offense struggling, the skipper needed someone getting on base at the top of the order.

He’s not striking out excessively (only six thus far), but he does seem to be popping a lot of balls up, meaning he needs to get on top of the ball better.

Unfortunately, at this point in his career, if Damon doesn’t contribute with the bat, he can’t be in the lineup because defensively, he no longer is average.

His range has been cut down because he is older, and his arm has never been any good. And right now, he’s not making a case that he is the answer to the Tribe’s LF question.

The problem is the Indians are in first place and have a big series against the Tigers, the defending AL Central Division champs next week. So, how long can they wait for Damon to get it going?

The 50 plate appearances he’s received thus far isn’t a large enough sample. Most major league hitters have periods where they go through this type of slump during the season.

For example, right now, Travis Hafner has gone 9 for 46 since the first of May, and Shin-Soo Choo went through a 5 for 31 stretch earlier this season.

Nobody is counting them out as guys needed to have a big year for the Indians to be successful.

Unfortunately for Damon, when you are 38 years old, hitting slumps are magnified. Another problem is that the Tribe isn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut, and they can’t afford to have The Caveman struggling while others in the lineup are doing the same.

In terms of a roster spot, there is no pressure to do anything with Damon until Grady Sizemore is ready to come back to the active roster. As for playing time, the next five games will be a guide for Acta as to whether or not he can play him against Detroit.

It’s probably not fair to a guy who’s been in the big leagues since 1995, but who said baseball is fair.

For a team that needs hitting, the Tribe can’t afford to wait on Johnny Damon much longer.