While We’re Waiting…Indians lose to Rangers, and Buckeye Nation walks to Tressel’s house

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.

Indians get shut-out by Rangers:  “The pair of two-run homers surrendered by Indians starter Fausto Carmona proved to be the difference in a 4-0 loss to Texas, adding another layer to a disheartening stretch of games for Cleveland.

It has been some time since the Tribe experienced anything resembling its early-season magic.

“It’s not a secret that our lineup right now is not in the best shape,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “We do need a couple of guys to snap out of it and step up.”

The recent slide for the American League Central-leading Indians has included eight losses in a span of 11 games. The team-wide decline dates back longer, though. Since May 3, when Cleveland boasted a 20-8 record, the club has gone 13-15 while trying to survive as the division leader. So far, the Indians’ place atop the standings remains safe.

That said, Cleveland’s offense is depleted and struggling. On Saturday, Shin-Soo Choo — mired in a season-long slump — was given a “mental break” by Acta. Third baseman Jack Hannahan was out with a left hamstring issue and first baseman Matt LaPorta had a routine day off.

The biggest loss, however, has been Travis Hafner. The designated hitter has been sidelined with a right oblique injury since May 18, and it could be a couple weeks before he returns. Losing Hafner, and dealing with a variety of other issues, has made for a lineup that has been less than ideal.

“Without Hafner,” Acta said, “and having to give some of these guys days off here and there, the guys that have been struggling and hurting, it’s not the most intimidating lineup.” [Jordan Bastian / MLB.com]

—

Buckeye Fans walk in support of Tressel last night, over to his house:  “For a guy that might claim that he doesn’t even know what “a Facebook” is, Jim Tressel and about 200 fans shared a pretty special moment courtesy of the social network.

Organized as the Walk to UA for Tressel as a way of showing support in the wake of his stunning resignation, students and fans met at 6pm at a nearby park and walked a half mile to Tressel’s home before serenading the coach with their blatant disregard for the well being of our neighbors to the north.

After which, the coach delivered a line for the ages:

“Don’t forget: November 26th we’re going to kick their ass!”

10 and a half years after telling his new friends that they could proud of his “young people in the classroom, in the community and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field,” Tressel was reminding us once more that it was and always will be about Michigan.”  [Jason / Eleven Warriors]

—

Ex-Browns’ QB Derek Anderson melts down on twitter:  “Late last night, Derek Anderson tweeted this:

Sometimes I wonder why…. Why I can’t sleep.. Why I do some things..

Like any Browns fan given the opportunity, Bob Wetsel decided to kick Anderson while he was down, tweeting, “like throw into triple coverage?” Anderson’s response was peculiar:

triple coverage is actually impossible.. If u had 3 guys on 1 guy someone is running free down the sideline.clown!!!

Anderson then got in an hours-long argument with Wetsel, first ceding that that triple coverage was possible in zone:

tell me how u actually covet 1 guy with 3 guys? There are zone coverages that make it possible to have three guys around 1 but not 3 right on 1 guy..

That still doesn’t resolve the seven-or-eight-man drop problem. He kept going, though:

can u throw the ball 10 yds? Everything is easier from ur chair and bag of chips.

if u can’t do it u can’t criticize. Thx for watching.. Sorry I’m not as good as u think i should be..

[Presumably after going to Wetsel’s profile and reading he was an OSU fan] how about those cheating ass buckeyes! Lol still the most boring football to watch..

maybe I missed it but pretty sure another yr went by and ur name never got called in the draft..

that’s exactly my point.. Ur opinions need to stay in your living room. U can’t play u can’t coach. All u do is watch without knowing what really is going on.”

[David Roher / Deadspin]

—

Asdrubal Cabrera, All Star:  “Time was, Vizquel was the one working such shortstop wizardry for the Indians at the ballpark then known as Jacobs Field and elsewhere around the league. These days, Cabrera is the one wearing Vizquel’s old No. 13 and turning heads.

But whereas Vizquel held more of a supporting role in one of the game’s most lethal lineups, the 25-year-old Cabrera is the unquestioned offensive MVP of this surprising Tribe team. He is the reason the Indians have spent nearly two months in first place despite playing more than half their games without Grady Sizemore, losing Travis Hafner to an oblique issue and getting less than the expected contribution from Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.

“To me, arguably,” said second baseman Orlando Cabrera, “he’s the best shortstop in the American League.”

Of course, you wouldn’t know that from the first batch of All-Star vote totals. Cabrera ranks second in the AL shortstop tally, which means his outstanding output has not gone unnoticed by the masses. But the fact that he trails an aging Derek Jeter, who is more than 200 points behind Cabrera in OPS, is a joke.

What Cabrera has provided for the Indians this season, on the other hand, is no laughing matter.

The staggering defensive gems are old hat. Cabrera, after all, is the guy who turned an unassisted triple play in 2008 and who managed, in a particularly memorable highlight last season, to look back one runner then throw out another, all from the seat of his pants.

But his offensive production has been a revelation. The switch-hitting Cabrera entered the weekend series against the Rangers ranking third in the AL in hits (67), third in average with runners in scoring position (.458), fourth in runs scored (37), seventh in RBIs (39), 10th in slugging percentage (.534), tied for 10th in home runs (10), tied for 10th in doubles (14) and 12th in OPS (.894).”  [Anthony Castrovince]

—

An interview I did this week with ex-NBA player Chris Herren, on his book Basketball Junkie:  

“Chris Herren:  I am very fortunate to be able to look back and say I spent some time with some great people. When I was using, when I was getting high, I was ashamed of the people that I’d come across, and the relationships I formed during those years.  Now I look back and I’m grateful for them. 

I called Dan Issel, who coached me as a rookie in Denver, just the other day and thanked him from the bottom of my heart for giving me an opportunity to play in the NBA.  That was the first time I spoke to him since I was traded. 

Dan Issel is to me what it’s all about.  He gave me a chance, brought me out to the Nuggets, and that effect he had is what I tried to explain to him the other day.  When I go in now to speak to kids, and I’m on my way to speak to some kids today, when I tell them I played in the NBA the kids listen.  It has a much stronger wrap to it. 

That’s the silver lining of my career in the NBA.  I can tell kids that I played in it, and they tend to pay attention more about substance abuse as a result.”  [Crossover Chronicles]

—

On the Tribe’s last 15 games:  “What’s happened in the last two weeks?  The Indians have faced off against the Reds, the Red Sox, the Rays, the Blue Jays, and the Rangers and have looked dreadful at times, oftentimes more in line with what was expected of them by most at the season’s dawn than the team that was on display for the first 6 weeks or so of the season. On one hand, you can blame the brutality of the schedule and some of their pitching match-ups as they faced Beckett, Lester, Shields, Price, and Hellickson. But they also faced Volquez, Jo-Jo Reyes, Drabek, and a spot starter in Dave Bush, with neither rhyme nor reason lending any insight into which of those games would turn into victories.

They’ve looked bad and worse at times over these last two weeks…and yet, the Tribe abides, still sitting atop the AL Central, inexplicably going 7-8 over their last 15 and while that may not conjure up images of a playoff contender, things could be a LOT worse for the Indians, as evidenced by what the team has put forth over those last two weeks, in terms of individual and collective performance.

Despite that 7-8 record, things have been ugly for the Indians at most times and the main reason has been the performance of the starting pitchers, which had been the strength of the team to this point. In an alarming turn of events, the Indians have given up 7 or more runs in 6 of the last 10 games and, more acutely, 5 of the last 7 games. Certainly, any teams that put up that amount of runs against another team are going to benefit from bashing away at the rotation, and the last two weeks has certainly shown some kinks in the Tribe rotation’s armor.”  [The DiaTribe]