May 25, 2013

Joe Banner sounds good but will have to prove it for Browns fans

May 24, 2013 by 19 Comments

Banner and HaslamLike him, trust him, or not, Joe Banner has said all the right things so far as CEO of the Cleveland Browns. His Q&A with Clark Judge of CBS yesterday was just more proof of Banner’s self-confidence and willingness to espouse the Cleveland Browns as a defining project in his career and life. I can remember a time when an interview like that would have had the Cleveland Browns fan base absolutely giddy. I don’t get the sense that Browns fans have that in them anymore.

Joe Banner’s even been perfect in not asking for the full faith and support of Cleveland Browns fans. He’s preferred to fill in any voids that used to be filled with pleas for patience with statements about accountability. That’s really the best answer anyway. Any fans who’ve put their “faith” in a football team in Cleveland since 1999 have been disappointed.

Plus, if we’ve learned nothing in Cleveland since 1999 it’s to put our sports and entertainment choices in proper perspective. This isn’t life, death, family, job or our deity of choice, so proof is far more valuable than faith. Where patience and faith used to go hand-in-hand for many Browns fans, if there’s any patience left it’s constantly being tamped down by paranoia and a now-raging demand for results. And Banner isn’t shying away from any of it. [Read more...]

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2013 NBA Draft Lottery – Cavs win! Nerlens Noel, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh? – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-22

May 22, 2013 by 2 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoScott joined me for about 20 minutes to discuss the Cavaliers goings on since winning the NBA draft lottery last night. Here’s what we talked about more specifically.

  • The turmoil of having the first overall pick in the draft

  • What do you think about the trade down cuteness?

  • Due diligence and just how little fans and media can do

  • Nerlens Noel and how good he needs to be in order for Grant to justify taking him

  • Do you trust Chris Grant to avoid the tendency to chase height and need?

  • Kevin Love and how unavailable he really is

  • James Harden wasn’t available until he was either

  • Lamarcus Aldridge and his availability

  • Marc Gasol and his ability to be moved

  • Chris Bosh’s name and how nobody has talked about it yet

  • Free agency pool and who you would look at in free agency

  • Zach Lowe’s critique of the NBA lottery event and the Cavs

  • Players and how goofy they look on the dais [Read more...]

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NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers will be “vying” for Dwight Howard

May 21, 2013 by 24 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a buried mention as a potential suitor for Dwight Howard in free agency in an ESPNLosAngeles report yesterday. Cleveland was tossed in after meticulously exploring the merits of Houston and Dallas, so it’s reasonable to assume that the Cavs are going to be tossed into every discussion due the the extraordinary amount of cap space they will have this off-season.

Howard is expected to entertain the free-agency process and hear competing offers from Houston, Dallas and others, multiple sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com. Cleveland and Atlanta are teams that will also be vying for Howard, among other suitors.

If I was making the book in Vegas, I’d say there’s a 80% chance that the Cavaliers talk to Howard or his people this off-season, because you kind of have to when you have the cap space and a player of that caliber is a free agent. The idea that it would get past the talking stage and Howard would come join the Mike Brown-led Cavaliers has to be at 5% or less I would think.

We don’t know exactly how Dwight Howard feels about Mike Brown, but in Howard’s first season with Brown, the coach was fired after only five games. At minimum, it would appear that familiarity or some personal connection would be somewhat unlikely to benefit the Cavaliers should they even truly be in pursuit of the big man.

[Related: Cavalier NBA Draft Film Room: Shabazz Muhammad]

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NFL News: Brian Hoyer contract details surface

May 20, 2013 by 1 Comment

Brian Hoyer was signed by the Browns last week and details of his two-year deal are starting to surface. See, unlike depth-chart speculation, this is actually news regarding Brian Hoyer and the Browns.

So, as you can see, regardless of whether or not Michael Lombardi thinks Hoyer can start in the NFL or not, nobody, including Hoyer’s representation was holding out for starter-level cash. Far be it for me to look down upon on a couple million bucks, but with only $250k guaranteed in 2013, he’s by no means a lock to be on this team as the Browns easily retained flexibility in the deal to move on whenever they deem it appropriate.

Also keep in mind that Jason Campbell’s deal was for two years and $3.75 million.

[Related: Scott Raab on Chris Perez, Browns vs. Klosterman, NHLinCLE and relationships with editors – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-20]

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Star Trek Into Darkness chat with Brian Spaeth, Martin Rickman and my wife – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-19

May 20, 2013 by 1 Comment

WFNY Podcast LogoMy wife made a brief and reluctant experience on the podcast to give her take. Honestly, she was only on for about three minutes before she ran out as quickly as she could. We did spoiler free talk for the first 10 minutes, so feel free to listen away whether you saw the movie or not.

  • Star Trek Into Darkness

  • Watching Wrath of Khan?

  • My wife makes an appearance on the podcast

  • Should the movie have aped the catalog so much?

  • Rebooting the series and whether or not they’ll make a third one

  • Did anyone need to really need that guy to be Khan?

  • Just how perfect the effects are and how it allows movies to get back to characters

  • A car alarm goes off in Brian’s background

  • Who will the next group of writers be?

  • Being super-entertained by an XD movie and whether or not we should micro-analyze

  • Movies vs. films and the multiple tiers of summer movies

  • Christopher Nolan and how much to trust him as a producer

  • Kirk and whether he’s supposed to be smart or dumb like impression

  • Battlestar Galactica and the comparisons to Star Trek

Other show notes:

Brian’s Saved by the Bell reboot proposal [Read more...]

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Scott Raab on Chris Perez, Browns vs. Klosterman, NHLinCLE and relationships with editors – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-20

May 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoScott and I spent a lot of time talking Tribe today. We also touched on Brian Hoyer and whether we should be talking about it or not and also the Chuck Klosterman controversy with the Cleveland Browns.

  • Scott Raab will be on the Ken Carman show weekly every Friday at 9 PM
  • Talking about not talking about Brian Hoyer and his signing
  • Which team should win a championship if you had a choice?
  • Losing in 2007 and a hated Red Sox team in 2007
  • Cleveland fans and the amount of palpable hate for a fanbase that’s never won
  • If the Indians put up a statue in center field it ought to be Steve Olin
  • Is Jacob’s field a pitcher’s ballpark?
  • You have to get down to the seventh or eighth hitter to find a slow player
  • The contrived nature of the save in baseball
  • Chris Perez = Joe Borowski with a six pack in him
  • Julio Franco and the obsession with the holes in his game
  • Chris Perez talked about the organization and not just the fans
  • How much of the credit goes to Terry Francona?
  • Writing and how important it is to work with a good editor
  • David Granger and how important a good editor is for writers
  • Do novel writers have to have adversarial relationships with themselves?
  • The disadvantages of blogging are the lack of working it over and over
  • Balancing speed and quality / length
  • Guys who cover the NFL and how they feel about the Browns P.R.
  • The Browns and their adversarial relationship with the media
  • Chuck Klosterman whining about lack of access
  • It’s to Tony Grossi’s credit that Art Modell isn’t in the Hall of Fame
  • Access in the NFL is tightly tightly controlled
  • It’s better to be out there and not saying a lot than not out there at all
  • Talking about hockey with @NHLinCLE
  • The Cleveland Barons and Freddy Glover
  • Hockey fans and how they’re a different breed than the other sports
  • BrianHoyerSuperBowl.com

Check out this episode

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Brian Hoyer, Brandon Weeden and what it all could mean

May 17, 2013 by 16 Comments

Hoyer PatsA fictional conversation that could have taken place in Berea over the last couple of days…

Michael Lombardi: “Hey. Have you heard of Brian Hoyer?”

Ray Farmer: “You mean the journeyman Michigan State guy who went undrafted in 2009, with one career NFL start who was cut flat by the team, the Arizona Cardinals, with some of the worst quarterback play since Kurt Warner retired as an arthritic old man?”

Michael Lombardi: “Yep! He’s available! Go get him!”

And scene…

Look, the jokes that were going around yesterday had more to do with the fact that almost everything that’s ever been rumored about Michael Lombardi has come true. The only thing that hasn’t happened (yet) is the Browns trading for Patriots backup Ryan Mallett. With that lens, of course it’s somewhat comical that Brian Hoyer finally became available and signed with the Browns. That’s really where the comedy ends. In all, the Brian Hoyer signing is a good one for depth for a team that has question marks at the quarterback spot. [Read more...]

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Author Eric Simons on Cleveland sports fans and his book “The Secret Lives of Sports Fans” – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-16

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 9.04.53 PMAn author from the Bay Area named Eric Simons (pronounced SIMMONS I screwed up!) wrote a book about sports fans and their psychology. Naturally, desiring a unique subject to study, he scoured the Internet and came across WFNY’s own resident head case TD. Eric’s book is called The Secret Lives of Sports Fans and it attempts to answer a lot of questions about how sports fans are the way they are. There’s some science and plenty of interesting stories including some about TD. I talked to him about his book and other topics for a bit.

  • Why do sports make me feel so angry all the time?

  • The physical reflexes we get when we actually watch sports

  • Mirror neurons in the motor cortex

  • MMA and why we dodge punches while watching a sport

  • There are a lot of different ways to like sports

  • Cleveland is a really good case study for sports fans anchoring to local teams

  • People’s brains get confused about who the action is happening to

  • Expectations and what it does to your brain

  • Is this going to feel like a science book?

  • Getting a word in edgewise with TD

  • The sense that Cleveland is the best or worst sports city in America [Read more...]

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Craigslist Weirdness: Own Percy Ellsworth’s Cleveland Browns stadium seat

May 15, 2013 by 6 Comments

Update: The $200 Craigslist chair was originally sold on Ebay for a mere $17.50 and is now being flipped by an enterprising fan. The moral of the story? There are way better deals on Ebay than Craigslist, I guess.

Browns chair story update

———- Original Post ————

Sometimes scouring Craigslist can yield very strange results.

According to one listing, you can purchase a bright orange stadium seat from Cleveland Browns stadium that was presumably never installed in the stadium at all. And it will only cost you $200 if you pay asking price.

Even more strange is that the seller apparently purchased this at a storage locker auction and the locker is alleged to have belonged to former Browns player Percy Ellsworth.

Ellsworth played with the Browns in 2000-2001 and apparently just long enough to acquire a Cleveland Browns stadium seat and enough other stuff to justify a storage locker rental.

Browns Stadium seat

 

Stadium Seat 2

 

[Related: Pat McManamon talks Browns, Chuck Klosterman, AOL FanHouse, new media and Fox Sports Ohio – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-15]

 

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Pat McManamon talks Browns, Chuck Klosterman, AOL FanHouse, new media and Fox Sports Ohio – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-15

May 15, 2013 by 4 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoReally happy to get Pat McManamon on the podcast. I wanted to talk to him about Fanhouse and how the media landscape has changed both for him and also around him over the years. We also had some good conversation about the Browns, Chuck Klosterman and Twitter.

Click here for Pat’s Fox Sports Ohio Page – Also keep up with Pat on Twitter

  • AOL FanHouse and what it was like to work there
  • Working virtually with coworkers and editors on FanHouse
  • Talking to people on the phone and how much richer that communication is
  • Fox Sports Ohio and the STO purchase
  • Reporting on the Pilot Flying J story and how to cover it
  • Sticking to the facts as opposed to writing lots of opinions
  • Jimmy Haslam’s controversy and how much to report on it
  • The Browns and transparency with the media
  • Chuck Klosterman’s piece on the Browns 2013 NFL Draft night
  • Should the Browns have traded picks or not?
  • Do the Browns know why their secrets are secrets?
  • Open practice vs. closing it 15 minutes after it started
  • Twitter and how it has changed Pat’s job

Check out this episode

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NFL draft talk, Browns talk, Lake Erie Crushers and a contest! – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-14

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

WFNY Podcast LogoRick is running a contest for a free WFNY t-shirt. He will be posting a link of the show on his twitter page @RickWFNY and you need to RT it for a chance to win. We will pick a winner at random. (There is no purchase necessary. There are no guarantees of winning, but we guarantee we will make an attempt to give someone a free t-shirt. Please don’t sue us for trying to do something nice.)

  • Just how open are the Browns right now in terms of their public face

  • The Chuck Klosterman article on Grantland

  • What was the lead time of the trip to Cleveland?

  • Where is the split in the Browns home building?

  • Is there a split in the Browns building?

  • Jimmy Haslam’s trucking company troubles and how it changed Klosterman’s access

  • Missing the opportunity of having Chuck Klosterman in the room

  • Grading the front office on the pass rush should be easy

  • The Browns front office casts a vote against Pat Shurmur by bringing them all back

  • Brandon Weeden and his ability to get incrementally better

  • The possibility that Chud and Norv Turner will try to put guys in abilities to achieve

  • Finding the next Darren Sproles or finding a true change of pace back

  • Are the Browns going to have a third down back, or a second featured back?

  • What are Montario Hardesty’s chances of making the Browns?

  • The Lake Erie Crushers in the independent league

  • The Frontier League and their 14 team league

  • CONTEST WIN T-SHIRT PRIZES PRIZES PRIZES

Check out this episode

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In 2013 the Browns are betting on defense and hoping for offense

May 14, 2013 by 18 Comments

Kruger jerseyThe off-season isn’t over, but it’s not time to look at what the Browns have put together to try and figure out how they’re going to compete in 2013. When you’re caught up in all the details of free agency and the draft it’s much more difficult to get the overall picture, but now more than ever it seems readily apparent what the Browns are trying to do. It’s also apparent what this team could look like in 2013 as they look to improve on their 5-11 season with a whole new coaching staff and brand new looks on offense and defense.

It starts with the defense. The Browns spent almost all of their resources in free agency and the draft on defense. The combination of switching schemes and the defensive performance in 2012 demanded some serious attention. The Browns were second-worst in the NFL in terms of number of offensive plays that opposing teams ran against them. The Browns allowed opposing teams to run 1095 plays showing an inability to get off the field. They gave up the fifth-most number of first downs and the 14th most points. The Browns were truly middle of the road in terms of pressuring the quarterback with their 38 sacks and 6.0% sack rate. 1

So take that group of defenders, put them with an aggressive coordinator, add Desmond Bryant, Paul Kruger, Quentin Groves and sixth overall pick Barkevious Mingo and all of a sudden I think we’ve seen pretty much exactly where the Browns hope to be able to compete in 2013. [Read more...]

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  1. Sack rate is the number of sacks divided by pass attempts + sacks [back]

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NFL News: Michael Lombardi sheds light on Cleveland Browns’ present and future

May 14, 2013 by 23 Comments

Yesterday Mike Lombardi spoke to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club and fans and media were in attendance as he spent nearly an hour talking about the Browns. He took questions and it seems was intent on explaining how he could simultaneously plan for the future while also not giving up on this year. It isn’t an easy thing to explain.

“I’m just saying we’re going to build this thing the right way so we can sustain success,” he said to the big crowd. “We’re certainly, by no means, thinking about giving up on the season – I’m too competitive – Nor, is Rob Chudzinski.”

We’ve heard all that before, but it’s been very difficult to sell for the the Browns thus far. Many continue to point to the past record of the team and clamor that adding more talent today is exactly what the Browns should have done in the draft, rather than trade picks for future ones. That’s where Lombardi finally gave a glimpse into why he might have been willing to trade for future “value.” Maybe, just maybe, he likes a lot of the young players on this team right now.

“We’ve got some pieces to compete with. This team last year was in a lot of close games had a lot of opportunities in the fourth quarter. I think we can build on that.

There’s a lot more from Lombardi in Nate Ulrich’s report over at Ohio.com

[Related: Indians weekend, language police, Redskins, Cleveland kidnappings, Gatsby, Goldthwait and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-13]

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Indians weekend, language police, Redskins, Cleveland kidnappings, Gatsby, Goldthwait and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-13

May 13, 2013 by 4 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoIt was a record-setting day I think for Scott and me. We went just over an hour, but it was all good conversation. If you’re daunted by the length, just don’t be. Listen to it over the course of a day. I don’t mind.

  • The Tribe tying the game and scaring my three year old
  • Michael Bourn and what a coup it’s turned out to be so far
  • Is Michael Bourn’s market value really undervalued?
  • Bourn’s age and whether he’ll be worth it at the end of the deal
  • Speed on the basepaths and Kenny Lofton
  • Grady Sizemore and his inability to stay healthy
  • Diamond Mine fantasy baseball using Satchel Paige
  • Mark Reynolds and enjoying his season without obsessing on contract extensions
  • Reynolds and how he’s become what Tribe fans wanted out of Kevin Youkilis
  • Hating the New York Yankees
  • There’s nothing not to like about Mariano Rivera [Read more...]

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Animated: Asdrubal Cabrera’s amazing double play

May 12, 2013 by 6 Comments

The Indians took two of three from the Tigers over the weekend and had to play pretty exceptionally on Sunday to do it. They came back in the ninth inning before winning it in the tenth. The highlight of the game, however, was a defensive play by Asdrubal Cabrera to pull off an unlikely double play throw to first to nab Torii Hunter (video) .

Asdrubal DP 1

Asdrubal DP 2

[Related: Kipnis burns his pants on dugout heater]

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Summer Movies – The Great Gatsby starring Vin Diesel? – Star Trek coming up! – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-12

May 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

WFNY Podcast LogoBrian and I talked at great length about The Great Gatsby. It was a film I wasn’t looking forward to at all. It exceeded expectations for me, but that wasn’t saying a heck of a lot. Make sure you also click over to Brian’s page and read his detailed idea of how to remake Gatsby.

  • Should they have made The Great Gatsby?

  • Carey Mulligan and how well she was used?

  • Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire

  • Casting the Great Gatsby with the cast of The Fast and the Furious

  • Romeo and Juliet as Baz Luhrman’s movie

  • Shoehorning H to the Izzo into the movie

  • Who had the best movie coming out of it?

  • John Carter and why stories that people clamor for shouldn’t be made

  • The Fast and Furious cast as Gatsby

  • The Rock makes everything watchable

  • Playing it completely and 100% straight

  • Bad headlines with plays on words with Great [Read more...]

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Casual Friday with Denny Mayo – Big Sur Marathon, gin drinks, Shandy/Radlers, Boston marathon legacy – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-10

May 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
Real live Denny photography from the Big Sur marathon course.

Real live Denny photography from the Big Sur marathon course.

It was good to catch up with Denny again now that he finished the Big Sur marathon.

  • Radler is similar to the Shandy
  • Hoppin Frog Turbo Shandy
  • The Bee’s Knees
  • Mixed drinks vs. beer
  • The Big Sur marathon
  • Lack of control in pre-race conditions
  • Boston Marathon chairman of the board
  • The Boston Marathon influence over the running community
  • The negative psychology of doubting people’s connection to tragedy
  • Taking pictures of everything and whether you should or not
  • The truth about running up hills
  • Bixby Canyon Bridge
  • Rocky Creek Bridge
  • Is California really that picturesque or are we sheltered flatland midwesterners?
  • Nepenthe Big Sur restaurant and its amazing views [Read more...]

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MLB acknowledges Angel Hernandez’ blown call, won’t change it

May 9, 2013 by 5 Comments

The Indians very well might not have been able to sweep the Oakland A’s this afternoon had Angel Hernandez and his crew of umpires made the proper call on a home run replay last night. That’s the statement from MLB and Joe Torre today.

“By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final.

“Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night’s decision.”

The result isn’t especially surprising as baseball continues to stand by the precedence of not trying to go back in time to re-write history. They didn’t do it for Armando Gallaraga’s perfect game and they weren’t going to do it for the Oakland A’s today. As an Indians-focused site that saw the benefits of both the two mentioned instances, I’ll leave the question of whether it should have been changed or not to others. I can say that if that had been the decision of Major League Baseball, I would have had a pretty difficult time griping about it on terms of pure fairness and accuracy of game officiating.

[Related: Cleveland Indians talk – trying not to talk attendance, Swisher’s intangibles, Francona and Ubaldo and more with TD – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-09]

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Cleveland Indians talk – trying not to talk attendance, Swisher’s intangibles, Francona and Ubaldo and more with TD – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-09

May 9, 2013 by 3 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoWe did talk briefly about the attendance, but really not much at all. We’ve both agreed that it shouldn’t dominate the headlines a second year in a row.

  • Lackluster attendance and how tired we are of talking about it

  • Bud Shaw’s article about the long-term project

  • TV ratings and how far they’re up year over year

  • You can’t get the pulse of casual fans that stopped going

  • Nick Swisher truly has intangibles

  • LeBron dancing and picture-taking vs. Nick Swisher’s mugging and dancing

  • Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner while great guys and decent players weren’t electric personalities

  • Mike Aviles throwing sunflower seeds at Terry Francona during in-game interview

  • Francona setting his own bar so very high for himself in Boston

  • Jonathan Papelbon and how purely hateable he is

  • Theo Epstein and how he’s disappeared into the Cubs job

  • Brett Meyers, Daisuke Matsuzaka and the also-rans in the system

  • Ubaldo Jimenez and how Francona is managing him [Read more...]

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Animated: Nick Swisher celebrates… a lot

May 8, 2013 by 13 Comments

Nick Swisher was in rare form as the Tribe took three of their first four against the Oakland Athletics in Cleveland tonight. Swisher bombed a homer himself and made sure to celebrate everyone else’s as well.

First of all, he gave the crowd the old O-H after crossing home plate from his own home run trot.

SWISHER O-H

 

He also slow-played the celebration on Carlos Santana’s homer.

SWISHER CELEBRATES 2

 

Last, but certainly (DEFINITELY) not least, Swisher does a little dance. Thanks to Jim Kanicki for capping it. I decided to put it on a lil loop though.

Swisher Apache Edit

 

[Related: The Diff: Indians’ odd start and usual MLB run distribution]

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