Stein: Kyrie Irving Could Make Team USA Roster
May 3, 2012Junior Seau is more than just a concussion storyline
May 3, 2012
What a crazy day in sports.
NFL legend Junior Seau dies of an apparent suicide. Four current or former New Orleans Saints players were suspended for their roles in the NFL bounty scandal. The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals in a triple overtime classic in the NHL Playoffs. There were three walk-off home run winners in Major League Baseball, and Jered Weaver of the Angels tosses a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins. The Indians did their part on the local side of things, with a thrilling 6-3 win in Chicago to even the series with the Chicago White Sox.
The big story coming into this one was the debut of Johnny Damon, the man who the fans and the front office are looking to to provide a charge to the sagging offense. Johnny made four plate appearances, going 0-3 with a walk, and then had to be taken out of the game after six innings due to a new phrase that was running wild on twitter last night: “General Cramping.”
“I felt it in my hands, the back, the calves,” Damon said. “I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Sometimes I guess when you get jacked up and ready to go, this kind of stuff can happen. I plan to be ready tomorrow.”
As it turns out, they wouldn’t need Damon in this one to pull out the W. It was the long ball and a big time clutch hit that did it.
From the start however, it looked as if we were heading down the same road we’ve seen offensively during the last homestand. In the first inning, Jason Kipnis walked and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a ground-rule double which forced Kipnis to stay at third. Shin-Soo Choo and Travis Hafner then failed to come through in a strikeout sandwich with a Carlos Santana walk as the middle against Sox righty Phil Humber.
They loaded the bases again in the third with one out on a Kipnis single, a Cabrera walk, and Hafner being drilled in the knee with a pitch. Once again, nothing came of it after Santana and Choo both struck out. After these two fiascos where the Tribe stranded six runners, the numbers with the bases loaded moved to a putrid 3-26 (.115) overall and 0-14 with two out.
Here we go again? Not so fast.
Josh Tomlin, Manny Acta’s “Little Cowboy” made quick work of the Sox in the first three innings but was touched up for an Adam Dunn solo homer in the fourth. With Chicago ahead 1-0, the Tribe attack finally struck back with some two out lightning. With nobody on Cabrera walked a second time and Hafner singled, bringing Santana to the plate with another RBI chance. He took full advantage by absolutely tattooing a Humber pitch deep into the right field seats to put the Tribe on top 3-1.
The lead was short lived as Tomlin struggled in the bottom half of the frame.
The Sox had two on with two out and Tomlin had a chance to get out of the jam, but he walked Alejandro De Aza on four pitches to load the bases. The then .202 Alexei Ramirez singled to left, scoring two to tie things at three. We got our first taste of the Johnny Damon arm experience on the Ramirez hit. His throw to third was Aaron Cunningham-esque; a grounder. As long as Damon hits, we won’t care about his defense, but just prepare yourself for the fact that everyone will be running on him on any hit to left field.
After Tomlin and Humber both got through the sixth unscathed, the game turned into the battle of the bullpens. Advantage: Bullpen Mafia.
Sox lefty Will Ohman and Tribe side-arm special Joe Smith traded scoreless frames in the seventh, moving things forward. Ohman got the first two Indians in the eighth before Michael Brantley singled. Casey Kotchman, in a 2-30 skid and hitting .143 on the season, actually worked a walk, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position for Mr. Clutch himself, Jack Hannahan.
“I love coming up with guys in scoring position,” Hannahan said.
Interestingly, White Sox rookie manager Robin Ventura decided to pull the lefty Ohman for hard throwing rookie right-hander Addison Reed. Lefty, righty, knucker-baller, side-armer, it just doesn’t seem to matter to Hannahan in big spots. Jackie laced a double down the left field line scoring Brantley and putting the Indians in the lead.
It never gets old looking at these stats: Hannahan is now hitting .500 (9-18) with 15 RBIs with runners in scoring position, 8-13 (.615) with 12 RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position!
Incredible.
“Jack Hannahan is a two-out, RBI machine,” said Joe Smith, who thanks to Hannahan was the winning pitcher for the first time this season.
“Early on in my career, when I’ve had guys in scoring position, I was trying to do too much,” Hannahan explained. “I was trying to hit that home run instead of just hitting the ball the other way or hitting a ground ball up the middle. I’ve found out this year that less is more. I’m just trying to put the bat on the ball.”
The Tribe wasn’t done though. They got two huge insurance runs in the ninth thanks to a Hafner two-run blast off of lefty Matt Thornton. Hafner limped around the bases, still feeling the soreness of being hit in the knee by a a Humber pitch earlier in the game. But I will say this, Pronk looks like he is back. When he has been healthy the past year-plus, his batting eye is there. He is stinging the ball off the bat and looks closer to the man who was so good during the middle part of the last decade.
With a three-run cushion, closer Chris Perez settled in and got the Sox 1-2-3 for his eighth save. It was a gritty win for this group, who now sit alone in first place in the AL Central. They go for another series win tonight with ace Justin Masterson (0-2, 5.40 ERA) taking the hill. Its May 3rd and he is still looking for his first win of the season. The Sox counter with lefty John Danks (2-3, 6.23 ERA) who beat the Tribe on April 11th, but was shaky going just five and two-thirds and allowing four runs on seven hits.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
39 Comments
The worst thing Choo ever did for his career was hiring Scott Boras as his agent. I’m sure Boras keeps reminding him about his free agency after 2013, which is why Choo has been pressing since last year. I would bet a lot of money that if Choo signed an extension with the Indians, he would relax and be much more productive. At the rate he’s going, he’s really going to regret passing on whatever the Tribe offered him because he’s not going to get that money as a free agent based on what he’s been doing since hiring Boras.
General Cramping is corporatespeak for “old”.
We need to start calling a strikeout with the base a loaded a “Grand Strikeout!” Choo’s specialty in this game…
We finally beat the White Sox! It is truly a glorious day. I’m sure De Aza will be back to doing his Miguel Cabrera impression today, but it sure is nice to not lose them all to the White Sox.
I just wanted to report that it is 10:48am EST and Santana’s HR finally touched down
Junior Seau shooting himself in the chest because his depression is so bad that he wants his brain to be examined, is just part of a “crazy day in sports”, alongside no hitters, hockey overtime, and Tribe wins? I think you might want to spend some time this weekend reorganizing your priorities.
The May 4th rememberances are going on down here in Kent this weekend, maybe you could come down and write a piece about that “crazy day in student protests”, and liken it to the time the Delta’s walked out on Dean Wormer’s review of their fraternity charter.
I served with General Cramping back in the war. He’s a hard-nosed, no-nonsense officer. Tough, but fair.
that’s fine but Lt. Moody and Cpt. Bleed that go along with General Cramping seem like they would be tough to deal with. I’m also told it’s important to have Private Pad in the company to keep Cpt. Bleed in check. The chocolate rations sure seem to be in low supply when they are around though.
I don’t often hit Home Runs this year; but when I do I prefer to put it in the concession stands.
Stay swinging my friends.
PS — As good as the HR was; I enjoyed his strike ’em out, throw ’em out hjust as much.
Does “general cramping” go above or below “ballistic stretching” on the Tribe list of WTF Injuries?
Didn’t Gen. Cramping famously say, “I will not tolerate salt tablets in my army”?
Didn’t Gen. Cramping famously say, “I will not tolerate salt tablets in my army”?
According to CPT Obvious, CPL Punishment is the guy you really want to watch out for, and the XO is a MAJ Painintheass.
I can do this all day.
He did, but when stretched, he would also relax those standards.
Is this a Cleveland sports blog site or ESPN? It was a crazy day in sports and Seau’s death was a part of it, unfortunately. But in the world we live in, thats the way it works sometimes. I did not find anything offensive or degrading about this article.
Being with the Indians gave Damon gas!
Greg Popovich agrees and doesn’t use corporate speak on his injury reports.
I still cannot believe that it is the same Carlos Santana behind the plate. His defense has taken off this year. It’s like he has a twin brother who focused on nothing but defense and takes his place in the field.
conjecture much? possible, sure. but you state some things like they are facts in that post that are pure speculative rumor at this point.
“but you state some things like they are facts in that post”
…that’s SOP.
Having Boras around didn’t affect 2010. I’m thinking its the DUI (which he has admitted has caused problems since) and the broken thumb (which he has demonstrated has caused problems since by chirping at any pitcher who comes inside).
Take the cause of sucide out and its still a pretty flippant, if not downright clueless way to lump a man’s suicide in with no-nos and an early season Tribe win. I wasn’t attacking TD, just pointing out that we all say/write dumb things from time to time, this is one of those times, and I hope he takes it into consideration.
As for Seau all reports say he shot himself in the chest, same manner as Dave Duerson. If you want to bet a steak dinner on it, I’m more than happy to stand by my conjecture. Or were you referring to the Kent State shootings and the scene from Animal House? Because I’m pretty sure both of those are past the point of speculation.
Still not as bad as David Price’s “toweling off too vigorously”.
I didn’t find it offensive, or degrading, just tasteless/thoughtless. Seau’s death is as much a sports story as the OJ Simpson trial. Read the list again, a no hitter, Saints bounties, walk-off home runs, NHL Hockey game, and the Indians. All of those things have direct relation to activies on the field of play. You wouldn’t see the George Michael Sports Machine running Seau in a piece with the others. You wouldn’t even see “the network” do that. Can you see Van Pelt leading off SportsCenter this morning with:”Wild day in sports yesterday, Weaver weaves past all the hitters, Walkoffs galore, and speaking of walkoffs Junior Seau walks off into the sunset in a manner of speaking!”
Its not worth getting worked up over, I was just pointing out that a “crazy day in sports” should not include a man’s death, as if jus because he played a sport it is equivalent to the others. That’s all sorry for riling everyone up.
Your sweet, I’m glad to know you read my posts so closely, I’m gladder still that you don’t respond, its tough coming up with a picture book way to explain things to you.
If you think I’m wrong for pointing this out, go read Craig’s piece on Seau, and the accompanying comments and tell me if people are discussing it in the same jocular manner as we normally discuss things like walk off homers, or no hitters.
For instance, you made a comment about Santana’s homer finally touching down, would you make the same remark about some body part of Seau’s finally landing somewhere? No, because its inapporpriate and human tragedy and sports stories shouldn’t mix.
I know I sound like a flaming douche over this and I’m okay with that. We all need someone to do that once in a while. Sorry again for upsetting everyone’s lunch time. I’ll leave it alone now and everyone can just act like I didn’t say anything.
no worries. we all read into the intial comment too much i think. i agree with the general premise.
How out of shape is Damon that he cramps playing baseball. I mean, you barely even run in baseball. It’s not like he’s playing basketball, football, soccer, or running a friggen marathon…
First healthy off-season in 2 years and it shows. Knee injury really set him back.
Though Santana actually was league average behind the dish last year. He has looked even better in the early going this year. Good to see.
I’ll go with Glenallen Hill’s spider nightmare for $50, Jack.
Your killin’ me that was so hilarious! Pull my finger?
Any 6th grader knows how to solve the Damon throwing arm issue. Every time he touches the ball Brantley runs up to him yelling, “give it here … Give It … GIVE IT!!!”
…says the guy named “atari hero”
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mem-morieeees . . .
Santana has a great mentor for his defense. I heard it’s some guy named Sandy Alomar Jr.
His BABIP was really high in 2008-10, .367 in 08, .370 in 09 and .347 in ’10. Really good or really lucky? A bit of both? Is he pressing? Not sure, but you’re right he doesnt look like the same guy. Sad part is, Im becoming more and more skeptical that the “old” Choo is coming back. We’ll see.
I propose referring to Johnny Damon from now on as “The General”
His expected BABIP were high though too. Not that high, but still high. What’s odd is that his expected BABIP last year and this are higher, but his actually BABIP is lower. He’s still hitting the ball pretty hard, I don’t know if he’ll ever get back, but I expect him to still be good.
I was recently partial to COL journeyman SP Josh Outman straining an oblique by “vomiting violently.”