Author's Blog

It All Begins

by scott longert on 04/01/17

It seemed like forever but the Baseball season is about to begin. I don't see a compelling reason against the Indians and Cubs battling for the World Series a second time.

The Indians have improved their offense with the addition of Encarnacion. If nothing happens between today and Monday we should see Michael Brantley back in left field. He has passed all the barriers in his rehab and looks to be ready for a comeback season.

The infield has a bunch of talented hitters with Lindor, Ramirez and Encarnacion. Yandy Diaz has made the team for now and he will be at third base until Jason Kipnis returns. His defense is bad, but he has hit at every level. Look for the Indians to score a ton of runs.

The pitching should be good to great. If everybody stays healthy including the relief pitchers, no problem here. I don't see anybody else in the division offering much of a challenge. Maybe Detroit, but they seem to always have injuries to key players.

The 2017 season should be a great one from start to finish. I, for one am ready!

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Limping Into April

by scott longert on 03/20/17

A few weeks ago I was talking about the Indians and the team being relatively healthy. Since then Jason Kipnis, Carlos Carrasco and Tyler Naquin are all on the injured list. Of the three it appears that Kipnis might be out a month while the others are day-to-day.

Injuries are part of the game and happen fairly regularly but the timing here is not good. For opening day Jose Ramirez may be at second base and not sure who will fill in at third. Let's hope the big bats including Encarnacion, Lindor and Santana can pick things up until Kipnis gets back. The pennant is not won in April but you don't want to get off to a slow start.

In other news I have been traveling around Ohio this month doing presentations at various sites. I have met a lot of great people who know quite a bit more about Indians baseball than I do. There is excitement about the 2017 Indians and how they will fare. Here's hoping the Indians are on track for another World Series run!

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The Outfield

by scott longert on 02/27/17

The Indians outfield situation can be looked at two ways. The first is they are in good shape with the players they have. In right field there is the combination of Chisenhall and Guyer. In center there is Naquin and Almonte or possibly Austin Jackson. Left field will have a healthy Michael Brantley with Almonte to spell him on occasion.

The other way has the same combo in Chisenhall/Guyer. However center field could be a problem. If Naquin has the same difficulties he experienced in September then the Indians are left with Almonte in center which is not a long-term solution. If Brantley can't recover from the shoulder problems who is going to play left field?

The Indians have three potential outfielders in Brad Zimmer, Greg Allen and Yandy Diaz. It has been said several times that all three are going to be headed to Columbus for more experience. How close any of the three are to the Majors is anybody's guess.

If Brantley goes on the DL to start the season, the Indians have some scrambling around to do. Do they bring up one of the young players and hope for the best or do the juggle the outfielders they have? Stay tuned.

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Baseball is Back

by scott longert on 02/13/17

The Indians pitchers and catchers reported yesterday to spring training. There is always great optimism this time of year. Every pitcher feels terrific, the injured ones never felt better and everybody is going to have a banner season.

We really won't know how the Indians staff will shape up until the end of training. I am glad the team has several young starters waiting in reserve for the inevitable injury to one of the members of the rotation. I am certain there will be one newcomer who will be lights out all through spring. He will get raves from everybody then fizzle at the end of camp and wind up in Columbus or Akron.

That is the fun of spring training. All the teams have a 0-0 record and are hopeful they will surprise the experts during the regular season. Then by the end of April or mid-way through May the contenders will begin to surface and the pretenders will fall to their usual place. Let the games begin!

I want to recommend an excellent web site to visit. It is titled platecoverage and has some excellent articles and features on all aspects of baseball.

Here is the link: http://www.platecoverage.com/ Check it out!

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2019 All-Star Game

by scott longert on 01/29/17

Good things keep happening for the Indians. The 2019 All-Star game will be played at Progressive Field. A great chance for the Cleveland front office and the city to showcase themselves. Hopefully there will be a few Indians on the squad.

The All-Star game goes back to 1933, started by Arch Ward, a Chicago newspaperman. Ward wanted to raise money for retired ballplayers that were in need of financial help. The first game was a success, drawing a crowd of 49,000 at Comiskey Park. The American League team had six Yankees on the squad, including Ruth, Gehrig and Bill Dickey. The Indians had Earl Averill, Wes Ferrell and pitcher Oral Hidebrand.

Ruth, as you might have guessed, belted a two-run homer in the third inning to lead the A.L to a 4-2 victory. Two years later the All-Star game was held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium before a record crowd of 69, 831. This was right in the middle of the Great Depression which makes the crowd numbers even more amazing. Fans came from around the United States to see the new stadium.

The American League won again, this time 4-1. Lefty Gomez of the Yankees pitched six strong innings, then turned things over to the Indians Mel Harder who shut out the Nationals the rest of the way. The Tribe's Joe Vosmik had a base-hit and scored a run.

The All-Star game is always a fun event to watch, seeing the best players of both Leagues' show their stuff. I am sure the 2019 contest will be a great one!

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