Spring Training: Indians Crush Reds, 12-0
Maybe Sunday loss wasn’t such a bad omen after all.
The Cleveland Indians throttled the Cincinnati Reds Monday afternoon, 12-0, in a game featuring great hitting, solid pitching, and terrible broadcasting. (more…)
Maybe They Should Go Back to Talking About Halle Berry
Be careful what you wish for. I complained a few minutes ago when the Reds broadcasters seemed to care more about finding adjectives to describe Halle Berry’s looks than calling the game. Now, I’m thinking they might want to go back to celebrity gossip.
One of the announcers just said that chemistry is more important in baseball than it is in any other sport. Baseball. A game where offensive players don’t interact on the field when they’re trying to score, and the other team doesn’t stop players from throwing the ball. A game where the biggest part of the battle is the duel between the pitcher and the batter (who play for different teams, mind you) before the ball is in play.
Can we please get a feed from Tom Hamilton?
At least we’re winning. 4-0 Tribe in the fifth.
I Miss Tom Hamilton
If you’re missing WLW’s (700 AM Cincinnati) radio broadcast of the Indians-Reds game right now—well, you’re not missing much.
I’m not sure who this broadcast team is (pretty sure one of them is Jim Kelch, but I haven’t heard the other guy’s name), but they’re the only streaming audio in town. With a world of possible things to talk about at the start of Spring Training, the gentlemen in the booth seem most interested in the Academy Awards.
One of the two voices had the pleasure of seeing The King’s Speech, while the other simply wished he had. They agreed that (Cleveland native!) Halle Berry is “Stunning with a capital S,” then explained that Oprah Winfrey “would not be in that category.” I almost missed their calling Travis Buck’s solo home run because it was buried in their irrelevant banter.
Oh hey, I just heard the sound of a closing door. Quality stuff.
Meanwhile, it’s 1-0 Tribe in the top of the third.
Edit: Radio guy called our designated hitter “Sin-Soo Choo.” Twice. I know everyone makes mistakes, but Choo’s isn’t a particularly difficult name to pronounce.
Cleveland Indians Spring Training Opener: It’s Never Too Early for Heartbreak
It’s officially baseball season for the Cleveland Indians! The Tribe played its first Grapefruit League game Sunday afternoon, with promising results. If you missed it, here’s the box score:
There you have it. The Tribe’s pitching was exceptional, and while it took the offense some time to get started, Cleveland’s hitters showed that they can put hits together for a rally. Great way to start the season.
Oops, I forgot the last two innings! Well, they probably didn’t make that big of a difference, right?
Oh. (more…)
Cleveland Indians Come to Terms with Chad Durbin
The Cleveland Indians have agreed to sign free agent right-handed relief pitcher Chad Durbin to a major league contract worth $800,000 plus $1 million in incentives, pending a physical Monday.
Durbin, 33, pitched 68.2 innings with a 3.80 ERA out of the Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen in 2010, striking out 8.3 batters per nine innings and posting a solid FIP (3.97), xFIP (4.19), and tERA (3.99)
This is Durbin’s second stint with the Indians, who signed him as a free agent in 2003 after he’d been non-tendered by the Kansas City Royals. Had he not improved his game since then, Cleveland wouldn’t have wanted him back—he struggled through 60 innings with the Tribe to the tune of a 6.75 ERA and 1.80 WHIP before being claimed on waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks in August 2004.
This was just the third major league free agent contract the Indians have tendered this offseason, the others being to Austin Kearns and Orlando Cabrera.
