While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Lots of love for Acta today- “I’m trying to think of a more fundamentally sound sequence of events turned in by the Tribe in the last couple seasons than what we witnessed in the eighth and ninth Thursday. Truth is, I can’t, though that might say as much about my memory as it does about the team. Asdrubal Cabrera’s suicide squeeze was not only a brave, surprising and, above all else, correct call by Manny Acta, but it was perfectly executed by Cabrera. And Adam Everett’s heads-up decision to hold onto J.D. Drew’s bouncer and wait to see if pinch-runner Darnell McDonald would overrun the bag at second (which McDonald did, leading to the final out) demonstrated the sort of acumen you expect (but, alas, don’t always get) from a Major League infielder. You love to see a young team do the little things right early on, even if it’s not necessarily the young players doing them, because that sets a proper standard.” [Castrovince/Astroturf]
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Adam Everett gets some of the love too- “No team expects their utility infielders to hit for power, but the Indians do expect patience at the plate out of every hitter. Even at his peak, Adam Everett never achieved even a 6.0% walk rate — which would still be very bad — and he rarely managed a .300 OBP — which would still be atrocious — and at 34, Everett likely is not even at that profoundly unlofty peak anymore, anyway. Still — still! — Adam Everett is a Cleveland Indian now, and damned if he didn’t lead off the bottom of the 8th by drawing a walk off the seemingly fearsome Daniel Bard. What happened next was pretty memorable, so it would be easy to forget that Everett was the unlikely instigator of the setup: Tie game, leadoff man on base, top of the lineup at the plate.” [Jay/Let's Go Tribe]
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Another word on the attendance issue- “Before this epic sweep and realizing that much of the conversations in the early going have been regarding the Indians’ attendance (or lack thereof), I had every intention of weighing in on the topic that has burned up these Interwebs in the past week. After my initial thought about how this furor has become a regular Game 2 to Game…whatever topic on the North Coast and starting to write about the 2008 attendance after the ALCS appearance, the fact that the Reds drew only 11,821 fans to see a Reds’ team coming off of their first playoff season since 1995, and on and on and on, I realized something…I’m done with it.” [Cousineau/The DiaTribe]
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I find this amazing- “Following the acquisitions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, as well as the revamping of the bullpen, Red Sox fans couldn’t harbor greater expectations for their team in 2011. ESPN’s experts are on the same page. Of the 45 offering their 2011 predictions, 33 picked the Sox to win the World Series. The Phillies received the second most predictions with seven, while the defending champion Giants were picked by just one expert.” [Coman/NESN]
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Amico and Zac Jackson debate the best player in the draft for the Cavs- “It has been no secret that the Cavs are going to have a chance to draft a really good player with a really high pick. I know I don’t get a vote, but if I did I’d already have Barnes’ name written on a card. This is not to say Irving won’t be good, explosive or even spectacular. This is just me saying that Barnes best fits what the Cavaliers need in both the short and long term. As a silky-smooth small forward, he gives the Cavaliers the best chance to compete with the Eastern Conference big boys two years from now and is a good enough shooter to open the floor for the Cavaliers’ other players, whomever they may eventually be.” [Fox Sports Ohio]
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