Looking Back As We Look Forward to the Weekend
September 18, 2009Peralta on Wedge: “Something Needs to Happen”
September 18, 2009
Well, Tribe fans here are some numbers for you in the form of a strange trivia question. See if you can figure them out. 61, 68, 85, 78, 2, 5. Those numbers in that order*** are about as inexplicable as any reason that any of you could give me for why you might have stayed up to watch the Indians play last night in Oakland. Yes, I know you probably don’t know already, but the Tribe lost a lethargic 5-2 affair on the West Coast. It was not a good showing for Justin Masterson. His line was 4 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts. The portion of the game where I was watching, Masterson seemed wild laterally. He seems to get a lot of movement inside and out, but he just couldn’t seem to figure out where it was going last night.
Kurt Suzuki’s 3-run homer in the third put the game out of reach for the Tribe. Trevor Crowe tripled home a run in the 5th and then Brantley scored Crowe on a ground out. We really should place a countdown clock on this team finishing the year. Hopefully this countdown clock also coincides with some changes in the coaching staff as far as I am concerned. The worst thing an owner can hear from the fans of his team are a collection of yawns.
***61 wins for the Tribe, 68 wins for the A’s, 85 losses for the Tribe, 78 losses for the A’s, 2 runs last night by the Tribe, 5 runs last night by the A’s. See what kind of hoops we jump through just to keep this stupid team interesting?
7 Comments
The Tribe is still playing?
Were they ever?
If we just surrender the rest of the season imagine the draft picks we’d be able to keep for 4-5 years (2-3 of which will be played in Akron) and then trade for some more crap!
Byyyye-byyyyye, Wedgie.
Whatever slim chance he might have had on Sept. 1 to keep his job has gone out the window. The basement window.
[…] the Indians wrap up the 2009 season in roaring fashion (fifth straight loss last night in Oakland), the speculation around the future of Eric Wedge rages on. While many feel that a […]
Masterson is a middle of the road prospect, at best. He’s really a set-up reliever, as Boston was correctly using him. Shapiro got schnooked and rooked by not getting Bard or Buchholz-getting Masterson was really a milk spewing laugh-in for Boston given what they should have had to fork over.
# 6 — Isis, I actually (somewhat) agree with you on Masterson. He might just become a solid starter, but I think that it’s far more likely that he’ll return to the pen at some point. I’m still just not sure that Buchholz was ever going to be part of any deal, or that the Indians did particularly poorly in the trade — but still.
As for the coaching staff: Look, I consider it a bit unfair for fans to judge the merits of coaches based on the end result. There is just so much that we aren’t privy to. Maybe the pitching staff is full of head-cases, or maybe they just aren’t that talented. Maybe part of it is just awful luck. All we see are results, and, being that it’s the players who are out their on the field, it’s really hard to judge what is just a player being fwful, and what is inadequate coaching.
That said, I won’t cry if Willis gets axed. The Indians pitching staff has absolutely atrocious walk and strikeout rates. Heck, Masterson isn’t exactly a control artist, but his walk rate has increased dramatically since he’s arrived here. Even without any direct evidence, being that this walk-epidemic seems to have infected the entire staff, I can’t help but conclude that it has to somehow come back to the coaching.
The sad part is that I have always liked Wedge, and was really happy when they promoted him to manager. At the same time, I think that recent results speak for themselves. My opinion is that, while Shapiro hasn’t always given the Indians an incredible roster, that roster seems to under-perform constantly. Funny that almost every year, the team wins fewer games than one would project just based on runs scored and runs allowed. Funny how many prospects have either flamed, or failed to take a step forward.
I have no direct reason to blame this all on Wedge and his coaching staff, because hey, I don’t have access to the Indians clubhouse. Still, the circumstantial evidence alone is almost enough to convict him, in my book.
I really will take no glee in watching Wedge get axed, but I’ll be the first to admit that it’s probably a necessary step if the team wants to move forward.