The 2013 Cleveland Indians thread

[Dinosaurs]

One way or another, the Tribe will still be alive come Monday.

No need for Monday, the Tribe wins the #1 wildcard berth and will play the winner of Monday's play-in TB vs TEX. Who'd have thunk it?

Congrats to all you long-suffering Indians fans. Quite the turnaround. That Ubaldo trade is looking better and better .

Wednesday is going to wild in Cleveland. Francona announced that they will be starting the rookie Danny Salazar for the wild game. Tomorrow should be fun as well seeing game 163 between Texas and TB, as a Indians fan I don't really care which team plays in Cleveland on Wed, both are very solid and it is likely that it will be either Price or Garza (maybe Ogando) pitching that day, so no breaks either way.

[Bill]

That Ubaldo trade is looking better and better .

I think that is the biggest surprise in all of this. Ubaldo has somewhat quietly become the Indians best pitcher in the second half, albeit on a rotation full of 2s and 3s. I don't think anyone expected that, even from how he was pitching in May. Hopefully he has 5-6 more good starts in him.

Go Tribe!

[Bill]

...as a Indians fan I don't really care which team plays in Cleveland on Wed, both are very solid and it is likely that it will be either Price or Garza (maybe Ogando) pitching that day, so no breaks either way.

Looks like Rays have moved Price to tonight. While the rest of the rotation is also decent, I think that is a break for the Tribe.

[John]

Tribe fans, do you have a horse in the Rays-Rangers race? I'm inclined to say, "Let the chips fall where they may," but I can't help but note that Matt Garza would start the one-game playoff for Texas if they win tonight. Garza hasn't been that good since coming over from the Cubs. It's enough to make me consider rooting for Texas tonight even though I would normally root for Tampa, all things being equal.

[Arroyos]

Tribe fans, do you have a horse in the Rays-Rangers race? I'm inclined to say, "Let the chips fall where they may," but I can't help but note that Matt Garza would start the one-game playoff for Texas if they win tonight. Garza hasn't been that good since coming over from the Cubs. It's enough to make me consider rooting for Texas tonight even though I would normally root for Tampa, all things being equal.

Evan Longoria made the question of who we root for moot, didn't he?

[John]

Tribe fans, do you have a horse in the Rays-Rangers race? I'm inclined to say, "Let the chips fall where they may," but I can't help but note that Matt Garza would start the one-game playoff for Texas if they win tonight. Garza hasn't been that good since coming over from the Cubs. It's enough to make me consider rooting for Texas tonight even though I would normally root for Tampa, all things being equal.

Evan Longoria made the question of we root for moot, didn't he?

He did, and I must admit that I'm feeling pessimistic about the Tribe's chances in tomorrow night's game. Alex Cobb is a beast, while Danny Salazar has the potential to be a beast but is currently just over 50 innings into his major league career. I hope I'm wrong, but I see Tampa emerging victorious in this winner-take-all game.

[Dinosaurs]

Tribe fans, do you have a horse in the Rays-Rangers race? I'm inclined to say, "Let the chips fall where they may," but I can't help but note that Matt Garza would start the one-game playoff for Texas if they win tonight. Garza hasn't been that good since coming over from the Cubs. It's enough to make me consider rooting for Texas tonight even though I would normally root for Tampa, all things being equal.

Evan Longoria made the question of we root for moot, didn't he?

He did, and I must admit that I'm feeling pessimistic about the Tribe's chances in tomorrow night's game. Alex Cobb is a beast, while Danny Salazar has the potential to be a beast but is currently just over 50 innings into his major league career. I hope I'm wrong, but I see Tampa emerging victorious in this winner-take-all game.

Looks like Vegas has the game as pretty much a coin-flip. Which seems about right. Could go any direction.

[Borealis]

Go Tribe!

[Mike Dunn]

On the ESPN Baseball Tonight podcast, Buster Olney speculates that Tito would use Salazar for 6 at most, and then go to Masterson for the final three innings.

On a more somber note, it is sad to see that Paul started this thread and he isn't around to watch tonight's game.

[Arroyos]

Oh Tribe, Poor Tribe,
The Indians are out of it—
Must feel like they died.

[Evas]

What a bummer. Not even a heart breaker. To get shutout at home after the run they went on was just too deflating.

I didn't necessarily expect to win, but to not be able to muster and offense at all made it especially hard to swallow.

[Borealis]

Man... the entire State kinda choked this week... too bad, I was rooting for the Tribe!

[Robert_Ogden]

I have to chime in on this one. The tribe has been my team since July 17th 1981, the first day I went and saw my home team play a major league game. I now live half way between Fenway and Yankee Stadium. Baseball atmosphere here is cool. I even am within driving distance to ESPN. But, I do NOT wear the Chief Wahoo logo. I have had four copies of the blue script "I" hat that the Indians used in recent years, and now I have my first red block "C" hat. I'm not asking them to change their logo, and I'm really not asking them to change their name, but I personally don't want to wear it myself.

[John]

I'm with you on that, David. I love the team. The logo and the nickname? Not so much. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a change at all, though I doubt one is in the offing. On the other hand, President Obama recently came out in favor changing the name of the Washington Redskins, so who knows?

[Arroyos]

The Indians should ask local Native American tribes to grant them permission to use the Chief Wahoo logo. That's what 5 universities have done, and in each instance the neighboring tribes have been willing to grant permission, thereby "sanctioning" the team's nickname, in effect.

Because, at least officially, the Cleveland Indians first took on the name "Indians" in 1915 to honor the player then believed to be the first Native American major leaguer, Louis Sockalexis, the focus of controversy has been the Chief Wahoo logo, not the team's name itself. Requesting formal approval of the logo from local tribes would be a smart PR move, and allow the Indians organization to publicly honor the local tribes while retaining their logo. Maybe even a public memorial event for Louis Sockalexis would help too.