Tribe on a Roll - Was it all Byrd's Fault?

The group consensus of the brain trust here at SMWIAL was that losing Byrd was simply a money saving maneuver for our beloved Indians. But look what has happened since his bolt to Boston. Ten in a row, baby.

Mr. Byrd always had that outward appearance of being a consummate professional, a great teammate and a good guy. I think he would be a great dude to sit down and shoot the bull with over a cool beverage.

But was there a dark side? Was he a mean old SOB in the clubhouse, striking fear into the rookies and never returning borrowed magazines to the veterans? Was he prone to fits of furious screaming "I said ICE WATER! This is COLD WATER!" Did he burp loudly and not pardon himself?

Did the media cover for his bad habits like back in JFK's day? Come clean Mr. Shapiro. Speak truth, Mr. Wedge!

I have absolutely no evidence or any cause to speculate this. But I am a blogger, so who is going to notice?

The Baseball Boys

John, James and Patrick make backyard baseball seem like a three ring circus.

Trade bait?

I about fell over when I heard tonight Byrd was on the trading block. Who in their right mind would want a 4-10 pitcher. Kelly Shoppach just hit a 2 run homer (after hitting 3 doubles in previous at bats) - does this sweeten the pot - you get Byrd and Shoppach (his personal catcher) for some young talent.

After much consideration...

I've discussed it with Joyce, and although I thought I might begin on the local level (dog catcher, parish council, etc.), I've decided to bring Hope, Change and an Extraordinary Head of Hair to the national scene. Together we (mostly using confiscatory tax rates) can change America. Possibly for the worse.

Now that's HOT!

Finally!!!!

Indians win 13-2!!!!!

Happy Birthday America

It's all over but the trading

I seem remember the local paper used to have a smiling Chief Wahoo on the masthead when the Indians won and a frowning Wahoo with a crumpled feather when they lost. We would be seeing that sad little chief plenty this year.

One morning last week when I woke up our five year old, the baseball nut, he asked "Did the Indians win last night, Dad?" "No son, they lost" A very matter-of-fact observation followed from the tyke, "They stink!"

And so the rich family tradition continues.

Pandora Reminds Me...

that Del Amitri's "The Last To Know" may be the most perfect song of the 1990's.

Our local gas station

This is crazy!

The lovely Joyce K and the Boys on WKYC

The lovely Joyce K and her handsome sons appear in this story on our local NBC affiliate WKYC- TV (yes John, in HD)

Women's Professional Fast-Pitch

Last week as John and I were surfing looking for any baseball in the afternoon (John thinks we can watch any MLB team at anytime of the day) we came across Women's fast pitch. I thought it was the Women's College World Series so I stopped. It was not - apparently they have a professional league now. It was entertaining as the centerfielder for Philadelphia was making some unbelievable catches. The thing that I was mostly disturbed about was the shape some of these women were in. I know I'm completely out of shape but I'm not a professional baseball player. Yikes! Marla Hootch looks like Marilyn Monroe compared to these girls!

US Open

Holy cow - what a tournament! It has been so awesome and we get a bonus 18 holes tomorrow! Forget Sesame Street - we are watching golf!

Sara Evans

I read on People.com yesterday that Sara wants to have another baby with her soon to be husband Jay. Keep in mind between the two of them they have 7 children. Yikes! I guess she figures between her and Jay's looks the kid couldn't look too bad.

Good job Cliff Lee!

Win #10 last night. I'm glad Wedge let him come back out after the rain delay. Who would have guessed it. It would be nice to get Fausto healthy and CC pitching consistently and our bat showing up everyday - we could put a run together - I'm hoping and praying. The way they keep doing the Buffalo shuffle it looks like they are pulling all the strings to get something going. We will just have to wait and see.

I've had enough!!

Wake up bats or GO HOME!!!

Fees

A lot of places have them to protect themselves but I think in the long run it loses business. For example MCI was my long distance carrier. I probably used them once in the last 6 years because of my cell phone is now more my long distance choice. Well they decided to institute a minimum usage fee in February. I haven't had a balance so I haven't opened up my bill. Then I received a phone call asking me to pay $25.84. I said come again I haven't used your service why do I owe you this amount? The "financial" person couldn't tell me so I had to call back on Monday to the Customer Service center. Then on Monday when I got my monthly bill from them I saw what they were talking about and oh yea - the 99 cents they were charging for a paper statement was now going up the $1.99. No thank you. I feel for the people who don't have access to a computer. Maybe the government should hand those out along with the food stamps.

I think I was most amused when I called AT&T to complain about the price of my internet service going up. When I asked the guy for a discount he sat there in silence not knowing what to say. I'm supposed to get $6 off my next bill but I would rather have that credit everytime. I figure if they can give it to you once they can give it to you again.

A nice story...but...

Turns out the display of sportswomanship was not really necessary. The Ump blew the call. BTW - I use the term "sportswomanship" intentionally. I doubt guys would have done this. We tend to look at events like this and say "Sucks to be you, dude."

WAKE UP Tribe bats!

Interesting move by the Indians yesterday - they designated Jason Michaels for assignment and brought up Ben Francisco. YEAAAAA!!!!! I must admit the Indians front office is very patient but a move needed to be made. I wonder how much more patient they will be with Travis Hafner. I understand it is hard to admit you gave money to the wrong guy. I too thought last year was a fluke but now that it has spilled over into this year I'm not so sure. I wonder if the shift teams use when he is up to bat has effected him. We need to get a move on it. This happened last year and the Indians got hot at the right time - hopefully the team will snap out of it before we get buried in the basement of the Central Division.

Hulu and The Office are the Best!

I signed up for the Hulu beta, but forgot my password. After the easy password reset I watched the episode of the office I missed two weeks ago (worth the wait) and found the clip below. Joyce will enjoy this.