Indians 30-30, a Review of what's been and a Prediction for what will be...

[Alex]

I'm amazed we are 30 and 30.

I'm also pleased we are 30 and 30.

I see momentum building and building quickly.

I see a team that battled both playing more games on the road than every other team in the A.L. except for Toronto so far, (Toronto has also played 36 games on the road), and a team which had to play a tough schedule.

Ok, we haven't played Boston or New York yet, but I see a team slowly coming together and slowly, ever so slowly, improving.

I stated early on this season (on another forum) that Grady should lead off and Coco bat second. This is proving to be an improving combination as the season progress.

Both Grady and Coco are now hitting in the .290's. Vic Martinez lately seems to be swinging the bat A LOT better.

The remaining question marks are Boone and Blake. I mentioned a few days ago elsewhere that from now on, DO NOT PLAY BOTH PLAYERS IN THE SAME GAME.

We can risk one sub .200 hitter in the line-up, but not two.

I'd LOVE to have a speedy number three guy who could get on base and play third. Boone fits that description, but only if he can get his average up.

Grady, Coco and a speedy number three guy would really set the table for Vic, Travis and Ben. Maybe Boone should consider a lighter bat for more bat control even if it reduces his power output. As long as his hits are hard and he gets on base, his speed in the three spot will mean our first three batters are all speedy, which should mean more fastballs for Vic and Travis.

Pitching seems to be holding up, even without Kevin Millwood! That is really amazing. If the pitching actually holds up, this team will contend for a playoff spot, either the Wildcard, first place, or both.

[Alex]

I just want to add that I think the Indians fans, warm summer weather, lots of home games, increased attendance, will all fuel each other and rocket the Indians to 8-10 games over .500 by the beginning of August.

[Alex]

Originally posted by Alex:

I'd LOVE to have a speedy number three guy who could get on base and play third. Boone fits that description, but only if he can get his average up.

Grady, Coco and a speedy number three guy would really set the table for Vic, Travis and Ben. Maybe Boone should consider a lighter bat for more bat control even if it reduces his power output. As long as his hits are hard and he gets on base, his speed in the three spot will mean our first three batters are all speedy, which should mean more fastballs for Vic and Travis.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Day after I posted this the Indians put Ronnie Belliard in the three spot! Ronnie has decent speed and compared to Boone will probably have a higher OBP, so this was a good move, and begins to form the top of the order nucleus that will lead to a similar offense compared to last year!

Tonight Tribe wins 13-4 against Arizona. A very key two out hit by Casey Blake, LOL, in his second at bat in the same inning, led to a two out, two run single, and made it 7-4. Back to Back homers by Johnny Peralta and Grady Sizemore suddenly made it a 10 run inning!

Colorado gave up two 10 run innings in back to back games, the first one was against the White Sox! Glad to see the Indians match the White Sox, a good sign as we hopefully begin to reel them in.

[Alex]

Originally posted by Alex:
I just want to add that I think the Indians fans, warm summer weather, lots of home games, increased attendance, will all fuel each other and rocket the Indians to 8-10 games over .500 by the beginning of August.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, the tribe's seven game winning streak has propelled them to a 35-30 record and it's still only June 17th! Dang, I make a generous prediction and it appears the Indians may end up being 15 games or more over .500 by the beginning of August.

I know winning streaks tend to make fans overly confident about the future, but I really believe all the players are playing within themselves.

Well, Grady Sizemore is playing Ichiro like baseball right now, but other than Grady, the rest of the team should be able to continue onward with similar results, so onward and upward seems a very safe prediction.

[Alex]

Well, we reached 10 games over on July 4th!

Probably better not to be too greedy in my prediction otherwise it might jinx the tribe.


lol, although if we end up "only" at 10 games over 4 weeks from now perhaps many of us will be disappointed.

[Alex]

UM, after losing 9 of ten and being only two games over five hundred, suddenly being ten games over by the end of July will look REAL GOOD!

[Alex]

Originally posted by Alex:
Well, we reached 10 games over on July 4th!

Probably better not to be too greedy in my prediction otherwise it might jinx the tribe.


lol, although if we end up "only" at 10 games over 4 weeks from now perhaps many of us will be disappointed.

<font size="3" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wow, this is exactly what happened.

It's now August 19th and we are once again 10 games over .500.

Yeesh!

And once again I wonder, is this team ready to rocket?

Casey looked zoned in tonight when he hit his three run homer in the 8th inning to tie the game.

But Ben is still only hitting .258.

Boone and Blake have played better, yet their Batting averages are still in the .240 range.

Amazing as this may seem, How well we play against Tampa Bay in our four game series may tell us how the rest of the season will go.