| New Year, New Manager,
New Faces
As
it is so often, it seems, a new year in Cleveland for the
Indians includes a new Manager, a lot of new young
faces and new hope for a World Championship in my lifetime.
(One that I can remember, at least). I was just one year
old in 1948! The new manager for 2010 is Manny Acta,
pictured left.
Cleveland, like all small
market major league baseball teams, again faces the daunting
task of trying to compete with the big market teams like the
Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. American baseball and it's
figurehead clown of a Commissioner, Bud Selig, continue to
cowtow to the likes of George Steinbrenner and resist all forms
of revenue sharing. I guess he's blind to what that has
done for the NFL. Selig is retiring after the 2012 season.
Not soon enough to suit me.
This is, in fact, my yearly
rant about how unfair baseball is to the teams and fans of small
market teams like the Indians. All you need do to validate
this argument is to track the whereabouts of some of the
Cleveland Indians most recent talent. Where are C.C.
Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Victor Marinez, Ryan Garko, Kelly Shoppach,
etc, etc, etc? These guys are all talent developed by the
Cleveland organization that the Indians could no longer afford
because of the millions and millions of dollars available to
them from teams like the Yankees. Can you buy a pennant?
A World Championship? Of course you can. The New
York Yankees have been doing it for years!
So, what about the 2010
Indians?
Can't say I know. I'm still
trying to figure out what Eric Wedge did to get canned. Or
Mike Hargrove for that matter. I never have understood how
firing a decent Manager makes any difference in a team's
performance. But, I can't figure out how somebody like Bud
Selig became commissioner of baseball either. I've heard Acta
speak, seems OK. He's been the manager of the Washington
Nationals until he got fired. Not a bright spot on his
resume for sure. It was the Nationals that took the field last
year with "Nationals" spelled wrong on their uniforms. Quite an
organization there!
There's still some talent here.
Sizemore's still around. Peralta, Choo, Westbrook, Cabrera, etc.
Not a bad bunch. Pitching should be just OK. Bull
pen must somehow get better. No where to go but up with
the bull pen. Hafner is still around but nearly washed up.
Marte is still on the roster. Not sure where the long ball
will be coming from.
The Need for a Fast Start
in 2010
Attendance has been way down
the past couple of seasons. The Indians have started
terribly in 2008 and 2009 and frankly, pretty much lost support
from the fans. They need to get out of the gate better
this year and put some butts into seats early and build some
support. I read somewhere that the club lost $16 million
last year. Not a good situation.
Pro sports have been on
borrowed time for some time now. The recent recession hasn't
helped either. But, baseball is one pro sport that can
actually be semi-affordable for the average Joe and his family.
That is, if he doesn't mind where he sits and the kids don't ask
for food and drinks and the old man can make it 9 innings
without an $8 beer.
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