Pronk Needs You - Latest Comments

Re: About

Frank641w — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:47:48 -0000

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Re: Everything Old is New Again

woodsmeister — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:19:37 -0000

Yes, Naked Batting Practice has been mentioned a time or two, though not Naked Clubhouse Walk. I have yet to hear that he has practiced either of those in Cleveland.

Yet. It is a long season.

Re: Everything Old is New Again

Dave Draeger — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:05:25 -0000

Hey! Welcome back!

Should be an interesting series. Thanks for breaking down the Native Americans first couple of weeks. The Twins are off to a hot start, having won their first four series for the first time in franchise history. The starting pitching's been adequate, but not outstanding, with the exception of Frankie Liriano looking like his pre-Tommy John 2006 self in last Thursday's 8-zip beatdown of FEDBU-lite. The beefier lineup's made up for it, with the exception of Sunday's 10-5 loss to the Royals, when they stranded numerous baserunners. Adding J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson allowed them to keep Little Nicky Punto over at 3B (platooning with Brendan Harris) and out of any spot in the lineup except ninth.

Once Denard Span (now the everyday center fielder with speedy but erratic Carlos Gomez dealt for Hardy) and Hudson get going at the dish, there'll be a lot of opportunities for the $184M man and the Big Canadian to knock in some runs. And having Jim Thome's bat available off the bench is greatly preferable to, say, Jason Tyner's.

I attended the aforementioned games and boy, oh boy, is Target Field terrific in every way. Reminds me a lot of Progressive Field, except the club restaurant and plaza are on the right field side instead of the left field side. There's not much foul ground, but pitchers will love the power alleys, where a lot of well-hit balls have become long, loud outs.

It'll also be cool to see the reception for Mike Redmond's return. (Have any stories run there yet about his famous Naked Clubhouse Walk or Naked Batting Practice?)

And yes, let's hope the White Sox are that bad.

Re: So Long, Eric Wedge

Tim — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:08:32 -0000

Chris Gimenez is the biggest reason that Eric Wedge has no business managing an Arby's next season. Gimenez is almost a historically bad hitter, posting an OPS+ of 33, placing him well below such luminaries of the bat as Yuniesky Betancourt (who elicited a couple of articles from respectable sportswriters decrying him as the worst player in all of baseball). What's more, he's a catcher that Wedge used in high-offensive positions. As silly as Garko playing in the outfield was, at least Garko was a one-tool player, because he could hit with enough authority to be a non-embarrassment as a corner outfielder offensively. Once Marte came up, Gimenez should never have held a bat in his hands again this season. There was no reason to put him on the 40-man roster over someone like Josh Barfield, who may not be worth a roster spot, but at least looked talented at one point and could serve as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner if necessary.

I have disliked Wedge since he decided to take the first issues with Milton Bradley public and ruin Bradley's trade value (admittedly, Shapiro salvaged something out of it, but Bradley was worth more than Gutierrez and his tantrums weren't public knowledge before Wedge made them public). His insistence on using Rafael Perez in leveraged situations this year, benching of LaPorta (and now Marte), and once-again astounding underperformance just sealed a deal that should have been finished before it started.

I don't really believe that managers make much of a difference to a ballclub and I think there are a few reasons why the Indians have underperformed their pythagorean expected record that aren't just Wedge-related. That said, Wedge never deserved the job in the first place and certainly did nothing to warrant seven years in it once he had it, so I'll shed no tears to see him getting to spend time with his family while drawing a seven-figure salary for 2010.

Re: So Long, Carl Pavano

woodsmeister — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:43:25 -0000

If Wedge could figure out how to get his team to play as well in April with the guys who are supposed to be major leaguers as they do in August after the front office has already tanked the season, the Indians would be a juggernaut. As it is, they'll probably play loose for the next 6 weeks, do some spoiling, finish a few games under .500 and Wedge will probably keep his job so that he can go on and get off to another awful start again next year. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Re: So Long, Carl Pavano

Dave Draeger — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:48:21 -0000

And yet you've taken four of six from my club in the last couple of weeks...

Re: Despair

Karina — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:43:15 -0000

Despair is one of the darkest path that lurks in our hearts. However, no matter how dark, we should always muster every inch of strength we have to find a comforting path that could lead us to the lighter side of our life. Great picture you have here!!

Re: What Can I Say?

Dave Draeger — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:26:51 -0000

Sipp sure looked great Sunday whiffing Morneau and Kubel back-to-back with the bases loaded. (That's the only game of the series I had a chance to see any of.)

Yeah, I thought the 22-4 game was going to be the start of a nice run for your club. I texted "We want Swisher!" to a co-worker (the NY native with whom I went to Yankee Stadium last year) in the middle of that big inning. He'd taken the afternoon of the new YS opener off and called me during the 7th to tell me you could hear 'em chanting that through the TV at the sports bar in which he was drinking heavily.

My club gets the Baby Jesus back Friday--he'll look great hitting in front of Morneau again--and won't get Zack Greinke when the Royals are in town this weekend. Kevin Slowey and Sidney Ponson are Friday's starters, which I'm hoping will be as lopsided as it looks on paper.

Man, it looks like anybody could take the Central this year.

Re: It’s Just One Game

Rena — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:17:44 -0000

Well said.

Re: Andy Marte Outrighted to Columbus

woodsmeister — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:13:23 -0000

Hey, Dave -

Peralta did play third in the Winter League this offseason, and it seems to be management's opinion that he will end up there eventually, perhaps as early as next year depending on whether Luis Valbuena forces his way into the majors. However, right now, the general consensus seems to be that third base is DeRosa's best position, and that he is adequate at second. Asdrubal Cabrera, on the other hand is a stud fielder at second base. Let's put it this way - moving Peralta to third, Cabrera to SS and DeRosa to second most likely weakens our defense at second and third and improves it at shortstop. As long as Peralta can provide a plus bat and make the routine plays at shortstop, I think the Tribe will keep him there. DeRosa will be a free agent after this season, and I think Valbuena will likely force his way into the lineup at second base to start next season

Crede could be just the guy the Twins need at 3B - if he can stay healthy - and that's a huge IF. I wonder about a guy with chronic back problems signing to play half his games on concrete, but I'm sure it was the best offer he had, and the Twins certainly had a need.

Paul Hoynes is certainly one of the worst baseball beat writers for a major newspaper covering a major league team - period.

Re: Andy Marte Outrighted to Columbus

Dave Draeger — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:41:55 -0000

I entertained thoughts of my club taking a flyer on Andy, but they ended up picking up this Crede guy 0ver the weekend for a song.

Crede debuts tomorrow against the FEDBU, but the combined line for everyone who's played third for the Twins in the first two Grapefruit League outings is 10-for-14 with 5 runs and 2 RBI. I'll take that.

One of the Mpls guys wrote about Andy here:
http://blogs2.startribune.com/...

Heard a bit of the Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes on a local sports talk show Wednesday talking about the possibility of moving Peralta to 3rd and The Beaded One to short, with DeRosa at 2nd. Is that likely?

Re: Luella Grant: 5/10/1915 – 11/4/2008

Rena Underwood — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:25:59 -0000

This is a beautiful tribute and a very inspiring life story.

Re: Hot Stove Holiday Break

woodsmeister — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:29:22 -0000

I don't know why I was thinking you had taken on Tatis at some point in the near past. The Twins seem really good at developing pitching but infielders (well, except for Morneau), not so much.

Re: Hot Stove Holiday Break

Dave — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:42:42 -0000

Thanks for the kind words, Greg, and likewise. Having a kid at school in northern Ohio the past 3.5 years, we've hit The Jake/Progressive a few times and it's fun to see the club from your perspective.

Pavano looks like a pretty cheap gamble that I hope works out really well except, of course, against the Twins. DeRosa's a nice pickup for the price, too, despite Baseball Reference showing his top comparable is Mike Lamb.

Actually, Hernandez's early success helped take the pressure off Liriano to make a quick comeback, but had they made the switch a couple of weeks earlier, they may not have needed to face Ozzie's boys in Game 163.

I kept a "Rondell Watch" on my office window after a co-worker suggested that at $2.75M/yr., he wouldn't hit a BA point per $10K. He didn't either year, but was hurt so often it wasn't terribly time-consuming.

The Twins didn't have Mr. Tatis, but the left infield combos of Castro/Bautista and Everett/Lamb are examples of the same thing.

Re: Hot Stove Holiday Break

woodsmeister — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:18:41 -0000

Thanks for reading, Dave. I enjoy reading your blog as well. You might be onto something with this Carl Pavano suggestion. I have been puzzled by the way the Twins continue to develop great talent in their farm system and then overpay to block them with retread stiffs like Ponson and Hernandez (and Rondell White and Fernando Tatis).

Re: Hot Stove Holiday Break

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:46:41 -0000

The other free agent options (Randy Wolk, Jon Garland) are not particularly attractive.

Not to mention Carl Pavano, though to be fair he's far more attractive than, oh, Sidney Ponson or Livan Hernandez.

Re: Don’t Let the Broom Hit You on the Way Out, There, Twinkies!

karen grant — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:33:45 -0000

Greg,
You are amazing. I've always known it, but I was checking out your folk music site and this one and you are truly amazing.
How do you find time for this?
Mom

Re: About

Chris — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:40:54 -0000

Woodsmeister,
I share your Cleveland sports pain. A sweet pain, but pain nonetheless. However, this website begs the question: you never were like the other children, were you? :-)
CG

Re: Twenty!

woodsmeister — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:02:20 -0000

Now that Aaron Laffey has been shut down, the 6-man rotation idea is dead.

Re: Twenty!

dave . . . — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:54:33 -0000

speaking of the tribe going to a 6-man rotation, i have a rather, shall i say "cavalier" idea. no, i'm not suggesting that the tribe put a nerf hoop up in their dressing room. i'm suggesting that they go with the 6-man rotation, except do it every 5 days. what i mean by this is to have both aaron laffey & jeremy sowers pitch on the same day with one guy going the first 4 or 5 innings and the other guy going the last 4 or 5 innings. after all, if you look at these guys and their body of work this season, it seems like they both can go 4 or 5 innings without any trouble, but as soon as they get into the 5th or 6th inning, basically the 3rd time through a lineup, they just flat out blow up and suck big time and start giving up runs in bunches. if they can't even reach the 5th or 6th inning on a consistent basis while only giving up 3 runs or less, they are pretty much worthless when it comes to being true starters and should really be looked as nothing more than glorified long men coming out of the bullpen. that being said, what would it hurt to allow each of them to pitch just 4 or 5 innings apiece in the same game??? it would free up the bullpen for one game and allow them all to get some much needed rest at the same time it will keep the other 4 starters on their regular turn in the rotation. it makes so much sense that they probably would never even consider it, let alone doing it. oh well, what do i know??? i'm just a fan.

Re: 10 In a Row

woodsmeister — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:24:57 -0000

All streaks must end. Felix Hernandez is a right-hander with wicked, wicked stuff. I don't blame Wedge at all for getting Martinez (a switch-hitter) and Delucci (batting left-handed) into the lineup against Hernandez instead of Francisco and Garko (both right-handed). He's been doing the same thing all year, and, in fact, nearly every major league manager would do exactly the same thing.

Rehab assignments are supposed to last until the player is ready for major league service. If they thought Victor was ready to play in Cleveland, it would be counterproductive to keep him in the minors, especially with Akron going to the playoffs.

Re: 10 In a Row

dave . . . — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:24:30 -0000

thanx to eric "the genius" wedge, the 10-game win streak is now history. why on earth did he put victor at first base and david de-douche-bag at dh, thereby putting 2 of their hottest hitters of late, ryan garko & the ben francisco treat, on the bench??? ben & garko were instrumental in the tribe's success throughout their 10-game win streak and so with all the momentum going for them in the world, he decides to just upset the apple cart now??? why??? victor sitting out the next game and then dh-ing in the 3rd game just proves that he wasn't ready to come back just yet and as such, they should have just waited until rosters could have been expanded anyway on september 1st. last time i checked, victor only played in a grand total of 8 minor league games on his rehab assignment and hit all of 1 home run. call me crazy but aren't those rehab assignments supposed to be 20 games??? look, i would much prefer to have vic the stick back in the lineup just as much as anyone, but as long as we are getting the true vic the stick circa 2004-2007 and not the shell of his former self that we saw in the first half of this season. all i know is that the streak is over and the indians are now 0-3 since victor's return against the worst team in the american league and have yet to score more than 4 runs in any of their last 3 games after having not scored less than 4 runs in any of the prior 10 games. do you think it would have hurt for them to just keep victor out of the lineup until such time that the streak was actually stopped??? the least they could have done was let him play dh & kept garko's bat in the lineup instead of de-douche-bag. what a revolting development that was.

Re: Meanwhile, the Indians Must Play Baseball

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:36:09 -0000

The comment has been published - it just got published on the old blogspot blog. The blog has been movedto a new host and converted into WordPress. The post in question with the comment was the last major post on the old blog and those who are interested in reading your comment may find it here. Your comment was made after I converted everything from blogger to WordPress format, so it did not get carried over automatically.

Re: Meanwhile, the Indians Must Play Baseball

WFNYRick — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:15:22 -0000

But you don't publish the comment? Why not?

Re: Midseason Mojo Update

Chris — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:01:00 -0000

Strong summary!

I concur on Marte, let's hope he sees full-time action the rest of the way.