While the Cavaliers have warmed up sports talk lately, Northern Ohio could use a blast of spring and a return of the boys of summer. Yesterday the Indians had their first full-squad scrimmage, and it appears the hitters had their way with the pitchers. Sheldon Ocker had a nice breakdown of the “game”. Wouldn’t you know that our good friend Joe Borowski gave up two homers yesterday. It kind of figures. But the line of the day came from Casey Blake-
Joe Borowski reared back and fired a pitch to Grady Sizemore, who blooped the ball over the head of shortstop Jamey Carroll and into left field for a leadoff single.
“Well,” third baseman Casey Blake deadpanned to Borowski, “it’s good to see some things haven’t changed.”
Apparently the jokes weren’t just spoken, as Travis Hafner found himself staring at the “Pronk shift” during his first at-bat.
Team B got a little cute in the first inning, when Hafner came to bat. Like many other teams who face Hafner, this batch of Indians pulled the “Pronk shift” in which all the infielders moved toward the right side of the field.
“Apparently,” Hafner said with a smile, “they really wanted to win.”
C.C. Sabathia is interviewed for MLB.com and sounds like he is ready for the season. When asked about this year’s team Sabathia responded “Feels good to walk in the clubhouse and see the same names.” I would imagine that given the run the Tribe enjoyed last year the players would have to feel a certain sense of confidence knowing that they were a game away last year and the GM decided that the team was good enough as it is. On the division, Sabathia talked about the moves made by the Tigers and White Sox and came at it from an interesting perspective, saying that “they made the moves to try and keep up with us.” That has a nice ring to it huh?
The Indians kick off the Spring season ‘for real’ against the Astros on Thursday at 1:05. For those who want to watch a spring game will get their first chance next Wednesday, when the Tribe plays Atlanta and STO will carry the game. Then Friday the Indians take on the Mets on ESPN.
Author: Rick
Rick is a co-founder and editor of WFNY. His love of Cleveland sports is surpassed only by his faith and love of his family. Follow him on Twitter- @rickwfny.Rick has written 743 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Forget “wanting to win.” How about prepping one of last season’s disappointments with what he’ll be seeing ALL season long this year.