How 'bout them Cleveland Indians!

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:03 pm

Ok I may be the only one watching the Tribe on Sunday nite baseball,but this team is clobbering the Twins 10-0 after 2 innings,looking for a sweep. They will maintain a 1.5 game lead over the Yanks and Oakland,with the A's coming to the Jake on Monday.
The kids at the top of the order,Grady Sizemore,Coco Crisp,Jhonny Peralta are on fire,with Hafner, and Victor Martinez,and the rest providing some clutch hitting.
Starting pitching,and perhaps the best bullpen in baseball,and this team if they get in to the playoffs,could cause some damage.
And that huge White Sox lead is down to 5.5,with 2 series against the Indians left this month.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:09 pm

Peralta has been carrying my fantasy infield this year...that guy is a great up and coming ss.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:23 pm

As a Twins fan I can thank the Indians for the mercy killing this weekend.

At least I'll get a chance to watch some prospects play the rest of the year instead of the same ol' bums who have stunk it up the last few months.

Be on the lookout for spot starts from Francisco Liriano. The dude is absolutely sick with a 95+ fastball, mid-80s change and high-80s slider. I think 7 of his 9 outs so far have come from strikeouts.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:40 pm

They are an exciting team to watch.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:07 am

What is the Indians record vs the White Sox?

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:24 am

XXXIV wrote:What is the Indians record vs the White Sox?

Not sure, but next week, I'll be following that series closely, as probably it'll decide the eventual division winner. The WhiteSox are in a bit of a funk after their unbelievable start, and we all know how Cleveland is playing.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:54 am

BTW...you Indian fans just jinxed the Tribe. You guys saw what happened to the Nationals after the "How 'bout them Expos...Nationals" thread was created. It was just a matter of time.

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:48 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:BTW...you Indian fans just jinxed the Tribe. You guys saw what happened to the Nationals after the "How 'bout them Expos...Nationals" thread was created. It was just a matter of time.

The difference is the Indians can hit

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:57 am

XXXIV wrote:What is the Indians record vs the White Sox?

3-10 with the last game played on July 17. They play 3 in about a week in Chitown and finish the season with 3 at the Jake. Should be fun.
And more help is on the way. Cle. AAA,AA,and high A teams all made the playoffs.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:16 am

Dang, I hope you guys didn't just jinx it.

Every time I check out that Expos/Nationals thread, which has sort of become the official pennant race thread here, with almost 100 replies over 4 pages, and absolutely NO mention of the hottest team in baseball since August 1st (except my post), it brought a smile to my face.

The Tribe's been thriving on this "under the radar" mentality. ESPN may have blown our cover last night.

I was refraining from posting there because I didn't want to jinx it. Oh well, as long as we don't wind up on the cover of SI.

Sorry about your Twins, Dave.

They just ran in to a buzz saw this weekend. I just hope we can keep it going.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:37 am

lexbur wrote:Sorry about your Twins, Dave. They just ran in to a buzz saw this weekend. I just hope we can keep it going.

Hell, they've made everyone look like a buzzsaw for way too long. Talk about a disappointing year.

The Indians are a scary team with how young they are. I saw their AAA team play earlier this year and they all mashed the ball, too. Combine that with the potential to add payroll (unlike the Twins), and it could be another nice stretch for the Indians. The Twins are completely lacking impact hitters in the bigs and minors.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:52 am

Jinx! Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!

The White Sox deserve to lose the pennant if they blow this lead. This is precisely why I don't get excited during the first half of a season. I've seen it too many times as a Chicago baseball fan. The Cubs will start off horribly and finish strong when it doesn't matter any more and there's no pressure. The Sox will come out flying and disappear after the All Star game when there's a lot of pressure and it does matter. They're backing into the playoffs again just like they did the last time the won the division. Last time they got swept by the M's in the opening round of the playoffs. This year looks like they'll get swept again.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:40 am

I almost hope we don't catch the White Sox for two reasons:

1. For some strange reason we have a much better road record than home record, so the more road games we play in the post season (if we get there), the better off we may be.

2. The last 3 World Champions have been wild card teams. That might be more than a coincidence. Maybe teams that have to fight to the finish are sharper and more prepared for the playoffs than teams that coast in as division champs. We certainly didn't do much in the playoffs all those years in the 90's when we coasted to the division title.

As long as we can just stay ahead of the Yankees and A's I'll be happy.

Man, what a HUGE 3-game series starting tonight with the A's!!!

hjb1 · Post by **hjb1** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:41 am

The Indians definitely lifted my spirits, especially considering the pitiful performance by the Cleveland Browns yesterday..

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:17 pm

ScoopBrady wrote: Last time they got swept by the M's in the opening round of the playoffs. This year looks like they'll get swept again.

Talk about falling apart at the seams.
I do however think they will win at least one game. If they make it.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:14 am

Indians are still 1 game ahead of the Yankees for the playoff berth, but their bullpen suffer a big blow as A. Rhodes is done for the season.