My biggest complaint about Eric Wedge was how he managed to stumble to only 44 runs scored in the first inning through the first 154 games of the season while the opposition scored 88 runs, OUCH!

Even if the Indians pitching accounted for some of the disparities in being outscored in the first inning, the Indians having two of the best OBP men in the game should have balanced that out more. The Indians scoring in the first inning averaged the equivalent of less than 3 runs per game!

What makes this stat so reprehensible is that over the first two months of the season, Wedge had two of the top six men in the American League in OBP, ON HIS TEAM!

However, Wedge stubbornly continued to plug in an injured and struggling Grady Sizemore in the lead off spot, and put a much more effective and healthy player with a plus .400 OBP in the four spot, Shin Soo Choo.

Not only was Choo too far down in the line-up to make an impact in the first inning, he was also placed after a much slower hitter in Victor Martinez. Not a good idea since Choo can steal bases and even get an extra base on many hits if there is not a slower runner in front of him.

Several Indians pitchers were quoted during the season as saying it is easier pitching with a lead. So, even with all the injuries, the one area where Wedge needed to stay dominant in, scoring runs in the first inning, he did a terrible job at, and did very little to correct even as the season wore on and it was obvious the Indians were not scoring enough in the first inning.