Tag: Cleveland Indians

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MLB General

Oct 24 in Sports History: Albert Belle goes storm chasing



Be verrrry quiet, I’m hunting reporters

In 1995: Albert “Don’t call me Joey” Belle, who had his own legacy of douche baggery, went on a pre-game tirade and chased NBC reporter Hannah Storm out of the Indians dugout. He was fined $50,000. Belle, who was one of the best sluggers of the 90’s, was more well-known for drilling a fan in the chest with a baseball, being suspended for seven games for using a corked bat, chasing kids down for egging his house, throwing another baseball at a photographer, and being suspended for three games for chucking an elbow at tiny Fernando Vina for standing in the base path. Other than that he was a pretty class guy.

In 1972: Almost exactly 27 years to the day he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson died of heart disease at the age of 53. Robinson was the first black player in the 20th Century, and he played his first game in 1947. In 1997, his number was retired throughout baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig and in 2001, April 15 (the day of his debut) was declared “Jackie Robinson Day.”

In 1987: The Minnesota Twins, powered by a Kent Hrbek grand slam, overcame a 5-2 deficit and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 11-6 to tie the World Series at three games apiece. It was the last afternoon game ever played in a World Series. Each home team won all seven games, with the Twins winning their first ever title.

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MLB General

Oct 10 in Sports History: World Series edition



unassisted triple play

In 1920: An amazing trio of firsts occurred in the decisive Game 7 (of a nine-game series) of an otherwise drab World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Robins. In the first inning, Cleveland’s Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history. In the fourth, the Indians’ Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in the WS; and in the eighth, little-used second baseman Bill Wambsganss converted the first (and only) unassisted triple play in World Series history to help the Indians take the Series 5-2. It was a bittersweet moment for the Indians; while they were celebrating their first championship, they were still mourning the death of Ray Chapman, who died earlier that summer as a result of a Carl Mays bean ball.

In 1926: While Babe Ruth was always considered a World Series hero for his feats in the postseason (pitching 29-plus scoreless innings for the Sox, calling his shot against the Cubs), he was actually a huge goat in the Yankees’ loss to the Cardinals in the decisive seventh game. Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium, Ruth reached first off a walk from a very hung over Grover Alexander (who won Game 6). With two outs and the slugging Bob Meusel at the plate with a 3-1 count, Ruth inexplicably took off on an attempt to steal second base without any type of sign from the coaches or manager. He got a horrible jump and was easily pegged for the final out of the series. Ruth was roundly booed, criticized and mocked in the newspapers for losing the series for the Yanks.

In 1904: Citing that the American League was a minor or “junior” league, New York Giants manager John McGraw refused to meet the Boston Americans (who had defeated the Pirates of the NL in 1903) in what would have been the second World Series. Arguments over rules, potential gate shares and personal animosity between McGraw and AL president Ban Johnson also led to the cancellation of the Series. Besides 1994 — when a player’s strike wiped out the postseason — it was the only time a World Series was not contested.

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MLB General

Oct 3 in Sports History: the shot heard round the world


In 1951: Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hit one of the most famous homeruns in baseball history. His ninth-inning, two-out, three-run shot off the Dodgers‘ Ralph Branca became known as “the shot heard ‘round the world“ and clinched an unlikely pennant for the Giants. The teams were battling in the third game of a playoff series to determine the NL pennant winner. The Dodgers led 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth when Thomson stepped up to the plate and delivered the famous round-tripper (although the Dodgers to this day accuse the Giants of stealing signs that allowed Thomson to know what pitch was coming) that sent the jubilant Giants and their fans to the 1951 World Series. After Thomson’s homer, Giants’ broadcaster Russ Hodges made the famous call, “THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!” (baseball library.com)

In 1995: After a 252-day trial, former football star OJ Simpson was acquitted by a jury of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Simpson was later found to be liable for their deaths in a civil trial and was made to pay over $30 million in damages. (espnradio.com)

In 1974: Almost 32 years to the day he was fired as manager of the Washington Nationals, Frank Robinson became the first black manager in the major leagues when he took the job as skipper of the Cleveland Indians. He would also continue to play for the Indians the next two seasons. (baseballlibray.com)

And in 1989: 15 years after Robinson‘s hiring, Art Shell became the first black head coach in the NFL when he took over the Los Angeles Raiders. He led the Raiders to the AFC Championship game in his second season with a 12-4 record. He was rehired by owner Al Davis to be the head coach of the Raiders for the 2006 season.

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Boxing

Sep 29 in Sports History: Muhammed Ali wins his last fight


In 1977: About 70 million people tuned in to watch Muhammed Ali defeat Earnie Shavers to retain his heavyweight boxing title in a close, 15-round decision. It was the last fight Ali ever won. It was also the first heavyweight title match to be officiated by a woman, named Eva Shain.

In 1951: A football game was televised in color for the first time. The contest between California and the U. of Penn (which Cal won 35-0) was shown on CBS-TV from Philadelphia.

In 2004: For those who cry out in protest against rookie hazing, former Cleveland Indians reliever Kyle Denney would like to have a word with you. As the team bus was pulling away after a game in Kansas City, a stray bullet hit Denney in the calf. Since he was dressed as a woman for a hazing ritual, the low-caliber bullet did not do serious damage, because the knee-high leather boots he was wearing helped to slow it down. Denney is currently with the Washington Nationals organization.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Verlander rolls along


1. This Rookie’s not fading: It’s a fact that most rookies, even the best ones, fade down the stretch. But Justin Verlander of the Tigers isn’t following that trend. In September he has two starts and a 0.60 ERA after last night’s gem against the Twins. Verlander threw 7 innings, allowing just one run and striking out 5. He earned a victory to improve to 16-7 as the Tigers rolled on against the Twins. Verlander was helped by the Tigers’ offense, which scored 7 runs and hit 4 homers. Detroit ended a 1-4 stretch with the victory and leads the Twins by 5 games.

2. The Contenders: The Phillies and Marlins started what will be an interesting four-game series over the weekend. Yesterday the Phils took Game 1 by a score of 14-8 in a game that featured great offense by both teams. For the winning Phils, Ryan Howard hit his 54th homerun of the season, his fifth jack in five days. Chase Utley had two hits and three RBIs, and backup catcher Chris Coste even got in on the action with four runs driven in. The Marlins were impressive too on offense, as Miguel Cabrera went crazy with four hits, a homer, and three runs. But their stud rookie pitcher Josh Johnson saw his ERA rise over 3.0 for the first time since May 4. He had been leading all pitchers in that category for a while, but not after the 4 innings pitched, 5 earned runs effort he had last night. The Marlins fell back to .500 a day after their no-hitter. But each team is still very much alive in the Wild Card standings.

3. The Steamroller: The Mets are literally steamrolling their way through the relatively easy National League. Yesterday they cruised by the Dodgers 7-0, as Tom Glavine pitched well enough to earn his first victory since August 5. Since June 23, Glavine is remarkably just 2-4, with an increased ERA as well. Two wins in two-and-a-half months are very bad luck for a pitcher on the NL’s best offense, which showed off as well in the win. Jose Reyes hit what was surprisingly his first career inside-the-park homerun. David Wright went 2-2, drove in a run, and scored. And Carlos Beltran hit his team-leading 113th RBI. Brad Penny of the Dodgers got smoked for all seven runs and exited with a loss.

4. No Hafner, no problem: The Cleveland Indians lacked big-time DH Travis Hafner last night, who hasn’t played since the 1st with an unknown injury. But that was no big deal for their offense, even against the defending World Champs. Cleveland easily outclassed the White Sox yesterday, winning 9-1. Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore each homered for the Tribe, who pumped out 17 hits on the night. The loser for the White Sox was Mark Buehrle, who has been plagued by inconsistent play recently. He left after 4 innings, allowing 5 runs and 10 hits on the day. The loss dropped him to 12-12, including a 3-6 mark since the break. The Indians have now outscored their opponents by 81 runs this season, a remarkable figure considering their 67-72 record.

5. The Quiet Pursuit of an All-time Record: An MLB player is about to break a major record, yet even baseball fans haven’t been hearing about his chase. He is Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, who has been one of the league’s most underrated players for a while and is closing in on the saves record. Hoffman leads the National League with 37 saves this season, and has closed out more than half of the Padres’ 73 wins. He hasn’t even allowed a run since July 28. More importantly, Hoffman is just 5 away from Lee Smith’s mark of 478 saves. He’s on pace for six more saves this season, meaning that he should break the record.Why this isn’t a bigger story is beyond us. Mariano Rivera gets all the publicity, but Hoffman has been just as good for just as long in the regular season. The only thing he doesn’t have is the playoff experience. Still, he’ll retire the all time saves leader, and that should be enough to get anyone into the Hall of Fame.

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Cleveland Indians

August 17 in Sports History


In 1920: Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians died from being hit by a pitch in a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds the day before. Crowding the plate as usual, the popular shortstop was struck in the temple (players did not start wearing helmets until the 1950’s) by a fastball from submariner (a distinct sidearm pitching style) Carl Mays. Chapman never regained consciousness and died 12 hours later. It was the only on-field fatality in Major League history. Baseball historians have suggested that in terms of popularity, Chapman’s death would be the modern equivalent of a player like Derek Jeter being killed on the field. Joe Sewell would replace Chapman in the lineup and would go on to have a Hall of Fame career himself. The Indians would rally, however, and win their first World Series in October.

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MLB General

The Full Count: The White Sox remind us who the champs are


1. Remember us?: It seemed as though Detroit had captured the AL Central division title. After all, they were leading at 10 games at one point while their main foe, the White Sox, weren’t looking too good. In fact, many thought Detroit’s main challenger would be the red-hot Minnesota Twins. Not anymore. The Sox just swept up Detroit like they were the last place team of years past. They won their 70th game by defeating the Tigers yesterday. Freddy Garcia picked up his 11th win while Bobby Jenks closed the door for the 33rd time. Now, as the Tigers have lost 5 straight, the White Sox are just 5.5 games back, their lowest deficit in about a month. Minnesota still looms 8 games back.

2. Sunday Night Duel: Last night’s Sunday Night Baseball featured one of the best pitching matchups of the season. The Giants’ Jason Schmidt took on the Dodgers’ Greg Maddux in a memorable affair. Neither pitcher allowed a run and both pitched 8 innings, though they got there in remarkably different ways. Schmidt threw 115 pitches and struck out 9. The high pitch count isn’t unusual for him; he has averaged 110 pitches per start this season. Maddux was much more efficient in achieving the same result. He threw in mere 68 in his outing, 50 for strikes. He allowed just 2 hits and no walk in his third straight gem start since being traded to LA. Both of these pitchers were so brilliant, but both walked away with no-decisions. The ninth inning didn’t decide anything either, as the shutout continued for both sides. But in the bottom of the 11th, the Dodgers’ little-known catcher Russell Martin stepped up to the plate, and ended the game with a solo shot. That gave the first-place Dodgers their 4th straight win and 15th of 16, while the Giants were sent home with their fourth-straight loss.

3. Watch out: The Cleveland Indians, the consensus most disappointing and most inconsistent team of the year, have won their 6th game in a row. They swept up the Kansas City Royals in four games, including a 13-0 demolition yesterday. The Tribe showed what their offense is capable of, putting up 11 runs in the first inning. KC starter Luke Hudson, who recorded only one out, was charged with all 11. His outing was easily the worst of the year by a starter, in fact in was the worst in over 100 years. Hudson became the first pitcher since 1897 to allow 11 runs in the first inning of a ballgame. The scoring that inning was capped off by a Travis Hafner grand slam, his 6th of the year. That ties a major-league record for most grand slams in a season. Hafner, who has the highest OPS in the American League, is on pace for 49 homers and 145 RBI.

4. How wild: The Cincinnati Reds, at least for now, are still in first place for the NL Wild Card. They escaped 7-5 yesterday over Philadelphia in an 11-inning game. Juan Castro and Ken Griffey drove in runs in the 11th to seal the deal. The Reds also got back-to-back-to-back homers in the 6th inning, including Adam Dunn’s 35th. They won despite another big-time effort from Ryan Howard, who hit his NL-best 41st homer and tied the game in the 9th with an RBI single. Still, the Reds won and are ahead of second-place San Diego by a half-game. The Phillies are just four games back.

5. What a year: Can you say 8-0? Jered Weaver can, because he has accomplished that record this year for the Angels. The only significant undefeated pitcher left in baseball, Weaver was on top of things yesterday as the Angels cruised to a 5-3 win over the Yankees. Weaver struck out 8 in six innings of work, and he has been a part of the Angels’ major league best class of rookies. Howie Kendrick is hitting .319 after a 3-5 effort yesterday. Catcher Mike Napoli has 12 homeruns on the year. Both, of course, are rookies. The Yankees, after losing their second consecutive game, now only lead the Red Sox by one game and have a worse record than the Wild Card leading White Sox.

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MLB General

The Full Count: the Red Sox’s instant replay

1. Two days, two identical wins: The Boston Red Sox have won two games in a row in eerily similar fashions. Both yesterday’s and Tuesday’s game resulted in 1-0 wins over the Kansas City Royals. Jonathan Papelbon came on to save both games, and a Sox starter went 8 strong in each. The only difference was that the Royals collected four times the amount of hits in last night’s game than the previous one. Of course, that’s still just 4 hits. Josh Beckett won his 12th game of the year to move him into a tie with Roy Halladay for most in the majors. Despite his excellent record Beckett has somewhat struggled this year with a 4.78 ERA. He is consistently inconsistent; the type of player who will follow up 5 straight quality starts with 7 earned runs. For the signing of Beckett to pay off, he’ll have to pitch like he did last night more often.

2. 325-game winner, meet 342-game winner: It was a pitching matchup for the ages when Roger Clemens met Greg Maddux yesterday. And I mean this literally. They are a combined 83 years old. Anyway, they are two of the greatest pitchers of all time, and they are the two active leaders on the career wins list. Clemens got the better of this historic duel, winning his 343rd career game with 6 shutout innings. Maddux, who only has two wins since April, took the loss with 3 earned runs in 7 innings. Craig Biggio homered for the visiting Astros, who are still three games under .500. The Cubs would love to trade places, however, as they are 16.5 games back of the division-leading Cardinals and are in serious danger of being passed by the lowly Pirates.

3. Stop streaking, Part I: The pathetic Indians, who are 10 games under .500 despite having outscored their opponents by 34 runs on the year, had apparently had enough of two Angels streaks. They stopped John Lackey’s scoreless streak at 30.2 innings, and they also managed to stop the Angels’ win streak at 8. Lackey allowed a run for the first time in 4 starts. He had lowered his ERA to 2.69 (good for second in the AL), but allowed 5 runs to the Indians. Ben Broussard and Aaron Boone (remember him?) homered for Cleveland, who snapped a 5-game losing streak of their own. In the chaotic AL West, the Angels’ loss moved them from almost in first to third place. They are still only 1.5 back.

4. Stop streaking, Part II: The Braves were going for an all-time record, 6 games in a row with a double-digit run total. The record was 76 years old and held by a classic Yankee team, and the underachieving-until-now Braves offense was looking to break it. But the Cardinals’ best pitcher, Chris Carpenter, managed to cool off the Braves as St. Louis won 8-3. Carpenter pitched 7 innings to earn his ninth win of the season, as first-time Braves starter Jason Shiell took the loss. But the Cardinals couldn’t stop every Brave. Brian McCann homered for the 5th straight game, and red-hot Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche both drove in runs. The Cardinals are 3.5 games ahead of the Reds in their division, while the Braves are 5 games back of the Reds for the Wild Card.

5. Bonds’ trainer to be set free: The personal trainer who was sent to jail earlier this month for refusing to testify for a grand jury is expected to be released today. Greg Anderson is the key to the perjury charges against Bonds so his lack of cooperation could mean that Bonds will only be indicted on tax evasion charges.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Chipper’s streak ended



Not that kind

1. Streak vs. Streak: 3 streaks were on the line when the Braves traveled to St. Louis yesterday. Each team had winning streaks to keep up, as both came into the game undefeated in July. But the most important streak on the line was Chipper Jones’ 14 straight games with an extra-base hit, tying a major-league record. Unfortunately, Chipper could not break the 80-year-old record, “only” managing 3 singles on the day. But that was the only bad news for the Braves, as they routed the Cardinals 15-3. This marked the fourth game in a row the Braves had scored in double digits; they have 51 runs in those games. Brian McCann homered for his third straight game (a grand slam), Wilson Betemit had 4 hits and drove in 5, and red-hot Adam LaRoache went 4-4 with a homer. The Braves piled up 20 hits in all, crushing Jeff Weaver in his first start as a Cardinal. Though Chipper may not have extended his streak, he’s now hitting .333, good for third in the NL. The Braves are now closing in fast on the Wild Card lead, and though 7 teams are ahead of them, none seem as dangerous as the perennial playoff contenders.

2. Different Directions: That’s where the Cleveland Indians and the LA/Anaheim Angels are headed. The Angels, despite starting the year in last place, have won 7 in a row and are only a half-game back of the division-leading A’s. Meanwhile, the Indians are further away from playoff contention than you are, having lost 8 of their last 10 games. Last night (as always in baseball) the hottest team prevailed, as the Angels doubled up on the Tribe 10-5. Jake Westbrook was shattered for seven runs in just 3.2 innings, as the Angels 3-4-5 hitters drove in 2 runs a piece. The Indians are now 21 games out of first place after narrowly missing the playoffs last year.

3. Stung by the D’Backs: In the NL West division this year, things can change very quickly. That has been showcased by the remarkable emergence of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who started the month in last place but are now in second. Last night they beat up on divisional foe Los Angeles 8-3, with rookie Enrique Gonzalez winning his third major-league start. Eric Byrnes homered with 3 RBIs for Arizona as they cruised to another victory. So now, despite being 46-46 and outscored on the season, the Diamondbacks find themselves 3 games back of the Padres for the division lead. The bottom half of the West–the Giants, Dodgers, and Rockies–are all on significant losing streaks.

4. E for Everybody: Monday’s slate of games featured many more errors than usual. The Yankees committed 4–including 3 by A-Rod–and still beat the Mariners (3 errors). Texas had 3 missteps themselves, and it showed as they were pummeled by Toronto 10-1. But it doesn’t end there. The Royals, Giants, Nationals, and Phillies committed 2 errors each–and all of them lost. So on the day 12 of 24 teams had at least one error, and those teams went 4-8. It just shows how important defense is in baseball and how sloppy teams usually don’t win.

5. Superstar available–for a price: It is by now common knowledge that Philadelphia outfielder Bobby Abreu is on the trading block. But teams will have to have deep pockets in order to acquire him. Abreu’s current contract includes a full no-trade clause, and for him to waive it he’s going to need something in return. That will either be an extension on his current 5 year, $64 million contract or an agreement to pick up his $16 million option for 2008. That means only large-market or playoff-contention teams should be in the running for Abreu. As usual, the Yankees and Red Sox will be potential suitors, in addition to the Mets and Tigers. Wherever he lands, he isn’t the best player available. That title goes to Alfonso Soriano, though he will likely be equally expensive.

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MLB General

July 5 in Sports History: Breaking the AL color barrier

In 1947: Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians becomes the first black player to appear in the American League. Doby would join the Indians almost four months after Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers broke baseball’s color barrier. Doby was only a part-time player in his rookie season, but would go on to have a solid career with the Indians, White Sox and Tigers, hitting .283 lifetime with seven straight all-star game invites and two World Series appearances in 1948 and 1954.

In 1946: Two gentlemen named Jacques Helm and Louis Reard helped create what they called “four triangles of nothing.” Spring Break. Senior Week, Sports Illustrated and trips to my apartment complex pool would finally become interesting as the bikini was unveiled on a Paris runway; and it caught on in America shortly afterward. While the two-piece bathing suit had been around for centuries, it took Helm’s design and Reard’s marketing genius (as in,” lets get that thing on a model and show it off”) to help make the bikini what it is today.

In 1980: Sweden’s Bjorn Borg defeated American John McEnroe in the men’s final at Wimbledon in perhaps the most memorable and dramatic finals in tennis history (although we rank the one where Pete Sampras vomited and any of the combined 564 career professional appearances of Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova as personal favorites). The match not only see-sawed for five sets, it also featured a dramatic, 34-point tiebreaker in the fourth set won by McEnroe, 18-16. Borg, however, got the last laugh in the fifth, winning 8-6 and capturing a record fifth consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles title.