Gosh Tom Whithers, What about Travis's Elbow...???

[Alex]

even though it appears Branyan wasn't struggling, I think Branyan hit his high water mark around May 15-20, slumped for a bunch of games...than had one final hot weekend before Fryman arrived....am I right or wrong?

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Alex

[*TR]

Branyan's 'high water' mark was May 26 after he went 3 for 4 and hit his 11th (7th in the month of may I believe) home run of the year against the Yankees raising his average to .250. It was probably about then that Fryman decided he better get his butt in gear and get back into the line-up. Branyan went a combined 0 for 6 in games May 30, June 1, and June 2 giving Chollie just enough of an excuse to get Fryman back into the line-up where Chollie played him every inning of every game until Branyan started again at 3b...on JULY 3! Let's see injured player, coming back to soon..hmmm...maybe we should rest him some so his arm has a chance to hold up. We're not privy to conversations between Chollie & Fryman but one of them (probably both) is an idiot. Maybe if he had rested some (or preferably not have come back to soon)(or even MORE preferable had sugery!) Fryman wouldn't have been the pathetic excuse for a player that he was in July thru the end of the season.
Also interesting (to me) to note that after Branyan went 6 for 7 against NY May 25/26 that wise old Chollie sat him the next day against Ted Lilly and started.....Mark Lewis! Ugh.

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[This message has been edited by *TR (edited January 12, 2002).]

[Alex]

What about Branyan's defense, was there a drop off in performance, defensively.

I remember on Cleveland Live a couple of posters salivating at Fryman's return because they thought Branyan sucked so badly.

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Alex

[*TR]

I don't live where I get Tribe games on TV. I saw a couple of games in Anaheim in April and games May 24-27 at the Jake when Branyan was starting. I never saw him look terrible but admittedly that was limited exposure. What I recall reading at the time was sportswriters commenting on how his defense was improving. Nobody would ever think Branyan was a great defensive 3b, but with his power potential he only needs to be adequate with the glove. Those who were "salivating for Fryman" were salivating for the Fryman of 2000 which was a very good year. What they got was nothing close to that.
The nay-sayers on Cleve Live to pick on Branyan for his K's and defense. Every year that passes it becomes less likely Branyan will fulfill his potential. But the K's and Defense are the same criticisms they lambasted a young Mike Schmidt with. Branyan will never be a Schmidt but he still has a chance to be a very good player with a long career. Whether it will be in Cleveland or elsewhere.

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[srg]

The Cleve Live Naysayers? lol Does anyone of those 12 year olds on that site know anything about baseball? I can't ever recall a baseball dialouge over there lol

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[the teacher]

"Fryman's decision to play was selfish"?

What are you talking about? the last time I checked, the manager made out the lineup card, not the player. Do you think Fryman did his career any good by playing at 60% or whatever it was? Selfish players are the ones who won't play while injured so as not to produce bad stats. Fryman clearly took one for the team: an entire season.

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The Teacher

[*TR]

So you believe Fryman was truthful with Chollie about how severe his pain was? And being that he was the worst offensive regular 3b in the AL how exactly did that help the Tribe? And how does coming into this season with an unrepaired torn (partially)ligament in his elbow help the Tribe? All Fryman has done is is try to protect his contract this year and hope the Tribe doesn't find a replacement for him so they will pick up his option for 2003. Playing injured when you CAN'T perform hurts the team. Fryman hurt the team last year and he's more than likely to hurt the team this year. Unfortunately there are people just like you (The Teacher) in Tribe management who also think it shows great character and is admirable to play injured. It's ONLY admirable if you can perform with the pain.
Fryman couldn't and didn't. Yet he refused to take a seat. He's thinking only of himself and I believe that qualifies as SELFISH.

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[This message has been edited by *TR (edited January 12, 2002).]

[Alex]

an excerpt from a story by Diane M. of the Plain Dealer....

Injuries clearly played a role in the production downturn, but Fryman refuses to use them as an excuse. "I was hurt, yes, but I had a bad year," he said. "There weren't too many days when I had a lot of fun. Obviously, I don't want to go through that again."
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Why does Travis make statements like that?

"I was hurt, but I had a bad year"....no Travis, you had a bad year BECAUSE YOU WERE HURT.

Will this guy submit to a lie detector test once a week during the season...Nagy can administer it, otherwise, Travis is the reincarnation of the Monty Python character who gets his limbs cut off one by one and keeps taunting his attacker he's ready for more.

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Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited January 13, 2002).]

[Alex]

Bump