Carlos Carrasco to pitch for Indians on Monday
April 15, 2015The Cherry on Top: Cavaliers vs. Wizards Behind the Box Score
April 15, 2015Major League Baseball does a great tribute to Jackie Robinson and, really, all of the players that helped break down the color barrier in baseball every April 15 by having the players wear his 42 jersey, which also lends to writers across the nation expounding on the struggles that he had to overcome. He is well-deserving of this praise, but, as an Indians site, it is also an opportunity to remind everyone that Larry Doby was overcoming those same struggles in the American League.
I will rightfully defer to WFNY’s Greg Popelka:
You know, black American pioneers are rightly celebrated for their bravery, talent and perseverance, yet Doby manages to remain underrated. Sure, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers was the first black major leaguer when he debuted in 1947. But Doby was second, and he was only four months behind Robinson. Don’t forget: they were in different leagues, so in almost every American League town, Doby was the first, there. Think the fans in those towns knew it?
Doby faced taunts and threats on and off the field. So did the man that signed him, Indians owner Bill Veeck. When Doby joined the Tribe in 1947, Veeck made sure he came directly from the Negro Leagues to the big league club. A minor league stint would normally have been the appropriate way to acclimate Doby to the majors, but Veeck wanted to expose him to one league’s worth of racial taunts and insults – not two. Veeck also took measures to pave the way for Doby among his teammates. A few were openly hostile to him, and several were indifferent to his struggles with abuse and the segregation on road trips. Veeck told the team the 23 year old was going to be a star, bigger than any of them. And if anyone wanted to leave, they could. Nobody did. Notable for their openness and friendship to Doby were C Jim Hegan, P Bob Lemon, 2B Joe Gordon, and P Steve Gromek.
For the early Wednesday afternoon game, it was expected to be another strong pitching performance as Trevor Bauer was coming off a game that ended up being a combined one-hitter when Nick Hagadone gave up a home run in the ninth inning last week against the Houston Astros. The Chicago White Sox have a better lineup than Houston, but one that Trevor was expected to be able to navigate. Chicago countered with another left handed pitcher in John Danks that has struggled the past few seasons1 .
Offense appeared to be a problem heading into the game for the Indians though as Michael Brantley was ruled out. Terry Francona diverged from his normal left handed starter lineup as he left Lonnie Chisenhall at third base though he kept Ryan Raburn at DH. Mike Aviles also made an appearance in left field as Brandon Moss got the day off.
And, though the season is still young, the Indians needed to win this game. The back of the rotation did little to inspire confidence the first time through, and losing five straight division home games is not the way any team wants to begin a season. Thankfully, the bats were ready to hit John Danks, and Trevor Bauer had another effective start. Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen managed to put the game in danger late, but the Indians did enough to close out the win. But, the game may have really turned on the Indians having effective bunts, while the White Sox struggled in that facet of the game2 .
Key Moments of the Game
Bottom of third, runners on 1st and 2nd, 0 outs: Lonnie singled and Roberto Perez put down a surprise bunt, which catcher Giovanni Soto threw into center field. Bunt-fest continued as Jose Ramirez placed a near perfect bunt down the third base line that died on the chalk. Sadly, the Indians could only get one run as Lonnie Chisenhall scored on a Michael Bourn choppy fielder’s choice to Micah Johnson at second.
Top of fourth: Jose Abreu broke a string of a full nine innings pitched of no-hit baseball (with 15 SO) to start Trevor Bauer’s 2015 season with a single to right field. It took Trevor Bauer 157 pitches to get through his first nine innings3 .
The White Sox managed to load the bases with just one out, but Trevor Bauer added another two strikeouts to his total to get out of the inning (along with J.B. Shuck fouling out to Lonnie).
Bottom of fourth, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out: Lonnie rips another line drive off of John Danks and scores both Jerry Sands and Ryan Raburn to open up the lead.
Bottom of fifth, runner on 2nd, 2 outs: Carlos Santana forces the White Sox to their bullpen by knocking in Jason Kipnis from second base (which he got to via walk/stolen base throwing error).
Top of sixth, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out: Bauer got himself into a bit of trouble by walking Adam LaRoche for the third time on the day and giving up a double to Conor Gillaspie. Lonnie traded an out for a run with Alexei Ramirez, but, then J.B. Shuck actually steered the ball away from Lonnie and got the White Sox a second run before Trevor Bauer got out of another jam by striking out Soto.
Bottom of seventh, runner on 2nd, 0 out: The Indians continue to waste opportunities to score. I do not blame Carlos Santana as his line shot required a great play by Jose Abreu to stop to end the inning, but Aviles and Kipnis at least need to make contact and hopefully move the runner along.
Top of eighth, runners on 1st, 2nd, 2 outs: And J.B. Shuck does what J.B. Shuck does. Thanks for the “help.”
Top of ninth, runners on 1st, 2nd, 0 outs: Adam Eaton bunts three pitches foul the first out as a gift strikeout. Jose Ramirez saves Cody Allen by snaring a line drive before Allen sets Jose Abreu down himself.
Key Moment Scorecard:
Chicago White Sox: 2
Cleveland Indians: 6
Old Friends; Help or Haunt
J.B. Shuck: In case anyone was wondering what happened to J.B. Shuck after the Indians declined to bring him back after his horrific 2014 appearances, he is now on the White Sox bench. He had a bit of a fascination with Lonnie as he helped out out fielding percentage by giving him both fair and foul fly balls to catch along with a grounder to him with runners on first and second. However, J.B. did manage to knock in a run with 2 outs in the 6th inning. But, then he had quite an adventure tracking a Michael Bourn line drive that wound up giving Bourn a double. Help
Matt Albers: After giving up an infield single to Jerry Sands (or having him reach on an error depending on how you want to view it though it was officially changed to a hit), Matt Albers had no trouble with the Indians as he induced a harmless ground out from David Murphy and then struck out Chisenhall, Perez, and Ramirez in the 6th. Haunt
Zach Putnam: details. Help/Haunt. Another member of the famed 2008 Cleveland Indians draft class now in MLB, Putnam is a prominent member of the White Sox bullpen. He had little trouble with the bottom of the Tribe lineup in the eighth. Haunt
The Nine
Michael Bourn: A momentarily scary moment in the first as he hit a line drive back to the pitcher in the first inning. John Danks handled it relatively easily, but I held my breath for just a moment there. Bourn did his job to score Lonnie in his second at bat and his approach at least looks better now and his defense has been good. It was nice to see him use his speed in the fifth to get on board with a bunt hit.
Mike Aviles: Not sure why Francona keeps batting him second as he is not one of the better hitters even in an altered lineup, and hitting into such an easy double-play in the fifth and then striking out with Bourn on second in the seventh was frustrating to watch.
Jason Kipnis: He, like Michael Bourn, has had a real rough start to the year, which is pronounced as they both have been near the top of the Indians lineup.
Carlos Santana: Patient at the plate as always, it did not pay off in his early at bats, but he is the one who ended John Danks day.
Jerry Sands: The bottom part of the order shined in this game and it started with Jerry Sands. He reached twice without the ball leaving the infield, once due to one of the 100 or so White Sox errors.
Ryan Raburn: Another day, another double. He is providing more of his 2013 spark against left-handed pitching than I was expecting. No middle name insertion necessary.
Lonnie Chisenhall: 4-for-4 lifetime against John Danks after hit in 4th inning4 .
Roberto Perez: Not a great day hitting as he put down a poor bunt though the surprise of it may have led to Soto’s error and he flailed on three straight pitches in his second at bat and struck out again in his third.
Jose Ramirez: Did his job with a sacrifice bunt his first time up, which brought back 2014 memories as he had 13 sacrifice bunts in 68 games in 2014, which wound up leading the American League. He did not do much else though. Oh, unless you consider saving the game in the ninth inning with a great line drive stop.
The Arms
Trevor Bauer: Nine straight innings without a hit allowed to start 2015. Eleven straight innings without a run allowed to start 2015. He wound up getting himself into one too many bad situations and gave up a couple of runs, but he managed to mitigate the damage and had another solid start with six innings pitched, eight strikeouts, four walks, four hits, and two runs given up on 103 pitches. Some may complain about his high pitch counts, but that is just the way Bauer pitches. If he continues to pitch this well, then we should be happy.
Scott Atchison: Struck out all three White Sox batters he faced in the seventh inning and Adam Eaton was not happy about what appeared to be a well called strike. Oh, and he got Jose Abreu out in the eighth for good measure.
Marc Rzepczynski: Struck out Adam LaRoche and went back to enjoying his afternoon at the ballpark.
Bryan Shaw: Lived dangerously by allowing two hits, but not that dangerously as J.B. Shuck was the third batter he faced.
Cody Allen: He really struggled with location walking Emilio Bonifacio and hitting Micah Johnson. He received two gifts to get the next outs from Eaton (struck out bunting) and Ramirez (great defensive play). His wildness finally became effective against Jose Abreu who desperately wanted to end the game himself as I do not believe a Cody Allen threw an actual strike, but Abreu swung himself into a strikeout anyway.
20 Comments
I love this description of Ryan Raburn by Neil Weinberg over at Fangraphs.
Ryan Raburn is baseball’s most dynamic player. You’re immediately disagreeing, only because you’re not using dynamic in the right way. He’s not the best player, but he has to be the player with the widest possible range of outcomes imaginable. Raburn is simultaneously capable of a 25 for 50 stretch in which he hits 10 home runs and an 0 for 70 stretch with 48 strikeouts. Mix that in with a very strong arm that sometimes spikes the ball into the ground, and the ability to make diving plays while also knocking routine fly balls over the fence for home runs. If Raburn was a scientist, he’d likely invent a wonderful technology that eventually
kills us all.
lols
I’m starting to think that Bauer might have been born in the wrong era. He would be more valuable and way more fun to watch if he was pitching back when people didn’t give a damn about pitch counts.
and there would be fun names for his eight different pitches as well.
Some guys be April, some guys be August. Maybe Lonnie’s just your average cold weather guy. Last year he was hot until the weather warmed up, season before his only hot day was that play-in playoff game in the Fall.
Like the Doby mention. Bringing him straight to the majors also let him avoid trying to find civil places to eat and sleep in the small towns of the minor leagues. And there was presumably enough fine talent in the negro leagues to approximate major league level pitching and fielding.
you just know he’s practiced the eephus. Just waiting for a few more shutouts so that he has something to say back at Francona after he springs it.
He’s waiting for the Allstar game
he’s designed a specific rainstick to loosen those particular ligaments.
This winning thing. I kind of like it and could get used to a few more.
It was gorgeous downtown despite Tom’s complaints. They should move the press box out into the sun or something. We had a blast cheering our heads off for Trevor and company.
mike aviles and his career sub .300 OBP batting second will never cease to infuriate me. problem is, who else do we hit there? the logical answer is santana, but francona, who still constructs his lineups as if this were the 1940s, would never do that in a thousand years.
the other part of the problem is that we don’t have a leadoff hitter. so when aviles plays, we really have like 5 guys that should be batting in the 7-9 holes. unfortunately there’s only 3 spots there.
Is it to early to say that was a much needed victory?
“And, though the season is still young, the Indians needed to win this game.”
Apparently, I do not think so.
I wonder if they are going to shake up the batting order.
I like Aviles, but I don’t think he’s an every day player. Tito disagrees.
absolutely. he’s a fine utility guy but he plays far too much. i’m terrified every time he gets penciled in for OF duty.
i’m hoping he gets cut/traded when walters is healthy, though i think it’s unlikely. walters may be a horrific strikeout machine presently, but at least he has the potential to improve. aviles is what he is – he isn’t getting any better.
Downside of bringing Doby straight to the majors was he had no relationships on the team- hadn’t come up with a group like how it often happens. That he had an inward personality didn’t help him with that, either.
Yep. But he was popular on some level. When Gaylord was just in for Opening Day he mentioned that the team actually hoped that it would be Doby, not Robinson, named manager because he was so respected. Of course that might have been the old alpha dog still growling at another pure alpha dog like Robinson.
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That is fascinating. Robinson’s book about that first year as manager noted Doby had been an Indians coach when he arrived. IIRC, Robinson also kind of bemoaned the team’s self-segregation between black and white- including the coaches.