Hello Tribe fans everywhere!
Just when we're ready to bury C.C. Sabathia, Casey Blake and Francisco Cabrera, they all put on their Superman suits and lead the Indians to a 15-1 win over the Royals. Sabathia, with 11 strikeouts in six shutout innings, regained his Cy Young form of 2007, and Blake and Cabrera, mired in season-long slumps, tore the cover off the ball.
So, was it for real, or are the Royals, losers of 5 straight, starting to swirl down the tank again? I guess the next couple of games will tell. It shows that you can't push the panic button too soon, although too many losses in April can come back to bite you in the backside in September -- that is, if you're still in the race.
Though I'm sorry to see Jake Westbrook on the disabled list, it's good to have Ben Francisco up with the big league club again. Unfortunately, Tribe manager Eric Wedge is already talking as if Francisco will be shuffled back to Buffalo when either Jeremy Sowers or Aaron Laffey are promoted to start Saturday's game against the Yankees.
If the offense is still on the blink, why send Francisco down? There are guys in the bullpen who are wrapped in cobwebs, it's been so long since they pitched last. I say leave Benny alone and send one of the hurlers back to the minors.
While we're on the subject, it looks to me as if Andy Marte's days with the Indians are numbered. Perhaps he really doesn't hit or field well enough to play at the big league level, but have the Indians really given him a chance this spring? I think not. He gets in at the tail end of games, with little opportunity to show that he can or can't do the job. If Marte eventually gets the boot, which appears likely, and then he turns into a bonafide big league player, there will be hell to pay. You'd think the Indians would have learned their lesson from the Brandon Phillips fiasco.
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The answer to yesterday's quickie quiz is: Addie Joss was a brilliant pitcher for the Indians in the early days of the 20th century. Tragically, he died at age 31 from tubercular meningitis.
Today's quiz: Name the current Tribesman who was the American League's youngest position player to start for a team in 2003.
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-- Kevin Cuneo