My immune system is as strong as a defense as the Pittsburgh Steelers' 2008 squad.
I never get sick unless something tricks me.
The last time I was actually sick was when Taco Bell gave me food poisoning. But as far as the last time I actually had the flu or a bad cold, I don't even remember.
That being said, I had a little bit of a cold this weekend. I could chalk it up to allergies though because I feel much better today.
Who's ready for this week? I am. The last week of October is good news. I can't wait til November. It's going to be fun.
The last week of October also means that we're going to get some more headway in the Indians search for a manager.
As we went over yesterday, we may have two more candidates in the fold and that means we may have three more interviews to witness. The Indians in my eyes are still ahead of schedule as far as getting a manager before the World Series ends, but even if they don't, who cares?
Washington and Houston are really the only other teams looking to make moves right now and who's Washington going to steal from us? Houston might take Acta, but that really is the only common candidate the two teams have.
My head is spinning though and it isn't because of this little cold.
There is so much interesting information and little bits about this manager search that are being uncovered that make this situation more intriguing by the minute.
I'm not sure where to start.
Let me get this out of the way.
Bud Shaw had quite the interesting outlook on Valentine's session with the media. Almost as if Valentine's outside opinion and the fact the has absolutely no clue about the Indians may work.
Wait what? As crazy as that sounds, it has a lot of sense within it.
Maybe the fact that Valentine has no opinion or idea of what has been going on here, he can come in with no prior slants or influences and do what HE thinks is the best.
That may be starting Chris Gimenez at catcher..
Would it work? Who the hell knows.. But if it does, Valentine would be a genius.
This bring us all back to Valentine's curious interview. What the hell was he trying to accomplish? Was he mailing it in for the media and if so why? Was he just jet-lagged and tired after sitting through an interview already? Given some of the things he said about "Gee I didn't know how thorough this would be" maybe that was the case. But he met with the media longer than any of the other candidates have so far.
It's just... Weird and no one knows what to think because according to Terry Pluto, Valentine impressed Shapiro and company in his interview. I can't imagine he did so by saying some of the same things he did to the media.
On his visit, he had a knack for remembering names and getting a sense of what the Indians are about, despite his public claims not to know much about the Tribe or the Central Division.3. That's why the Indians should invite Valentine back for another interview, and suggest he do some homework on the team. This is a way for them to find out how serious he is about the job. Valentine makes sense only if he sees this as a real opportunity to re-establish himself as a big-league manager and take a team near the bottom of the American League and lead it back into contention in the weak Central Division within a few years. If Valentine passes on another interview, then he really doesn't want the job.
Boom Terry Boom. That's right on point.
If Valentine really want this job. He's no doubt the best choice. He's a bit of an evil genius. Like I said earlier. He's a risk that would pay off big-time if he bought in. But is the risk of him buying in worth taking?
And then there is this guy we've got.
7. Class AAA Columbus manager Torey Lovullo is selling himself as the anti-Valentine, the manager who has paid his dues in the Tribe farm system and knows everything about the young players and the organization. But this team cries out for a different view and some new ideas, which brings us back to Valentine or Acta.
My oh my...
What a mess... What a lovely mess we have.
What do we want for the Tribe?
At this point, I have absolutely no clue.
And whatever concerns there were with Manny Acta, they seem to be given a curious excuse.
His backers say the front office stacked the roster with several difficult personalities and did not back Acta when the manager wanted to impose some discipline. Houston also is very interested in Acta, meaning he is a finalist for two jobs after being fired in Washington with a 162-254 record in 21/2 seasons.
He Sucked with Washington > Oh yeah, the talent sucked, who wouldn't?
He wasn't discipline enough > That was all the management not letting him do that.
We are nuts for hiring this guy when another team fired him > Houston also wants him and it appears now that if he doesn't get hired by either, Toronto would love to have him in some capacity.
Can we make as many excuses for Bobby Valentine?
Actually we can, we can make many many more. But that is only because there are many many more questions about Valentine.
Why though? Maybe because he turned the media session into his own playground rather than a caged cell where the Cleveland media could get an accurate read on them.
Again, more of the genius and maybe more excuses.
I encourage everyone to take a read of Paul Cousineau's latest at The DiaTribe. Two of them. One in response to Valentine's first interview the other in sort of a review as a part of his lazy Sunday.
Some of the same topics I've brought up here are ones that Paul has initiated or expanded upon.
As I said earlier.. We've got a mess on our hands.
Is it a good mess?
I don't know but it certainly is interesting to think about.
And something I totally missed was brought up by Paul in those posts... Lovullo pretty much distanced himself from Eric Wedge with everything he said. Which wasn't a bad move. Sure he may have created a little bit of a drift between himself and Eric Wedge if they ever cross paths again. But he put a lot of confidence into the minds of everyone else who was looking at him as just another Wedge in the pie.
One note about coaches to add...
It appears that Jon Nunnaly is in line to get serious consideration for the position of hitting coach, regardless of who gets the manager's spot.
According to "whoever played for him this year in Columbus" he is "the best hitting coach they ever saw."
So Trevor Crowe, Matt LaPorta and Andy Marte's opinion are enough reason to elevate him?
Look he may be the best hitting coach ever, but according to a few Indians minor leaguers that don't exactly have long track records?
Is this coming from the likes of Tony Graffanino? If so I might buy it more.
Results speak for themselves though, so I have no problem with Nunnally getting the job. The Columbus Clippers were one of the best in the IL for team batting average. He's doing something right.
Finally...
Shapiro said it's bittersweet watching CC and Cliff doing what they are doing in the postseason. To me, it's frustrating.
In response to what CC would say to the fans of Cleveland about him and Lee now pitching for postseason contenders.
"I don't know what to tell them," he said. "It's not our fault."
Ohhhhhhhh REALLY?
It isn't?
It isn't your fault that we lost the ALCS?
"Don't take anything for granted," Sabathia said. "We were in the best position possible a couple years ago in Cleveland, but you've got to finish it off. We weren't able to do it. But we've got the guys here who have been through this before."I still have a soft-spot in my heart for CC.. But this rubs me entirely the wrong way.
It was SABATHIA that mucked up game five in the ALCS. It was CC that gave up eight earned runs in the first game of the ALCS.
With this team needing just one win, you provided NONE in two chances.
"The only guy I know over there is Grady [Sizemore]," Sabathia said. "And Jake [Westbrook], when he comes back [from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery]. That's it."Errmm.. The entire team didn't die CC.. You were here last year. Sure a good portion of the team is young and players that you did not play with, but there is more than just Grady and Jake Westbrook.
It seems as if the bright lights of New York has gotten to our much loved Carsten Charles. How quickly has he forgotten the team and organization that gave him so much.
"You don't have to," he said. "You've got Derek Jeter, you've got Alex Rodriguez, you've got Robinson Cano, you've got Johnny Damon and all these guys behind you. You don't have to do too much. You just have to be yourself, and let everything else take care of itself. It definitely helps to have this great team behind you."Are you serious? Is that the excuse you are giving us for sucking?
I still have a little love for CC, but with these stupid quotes, I'm starting to lose it. This is sickening in a way to read this garbage. It's as if we no longer know the big guy. It really as if New York has changed him.
When I talk to my grandparents, in Youngstown, they ask me if it's cold outside.
They ask it as if I'm in California and they are in Ohio. I'm 45 minutes away in Kent, of course it's cold outside. Just because I'm not where you are doesn't mean it isn't cold.
Sure you could ask me if it's raining, that would differ.
But the weather is relatively the same, so don't bother asking the question.
CC Sabathia is basically my grandmother asking if it's cold outside. Don't forget where you came from. You only got traded in 2008, not ten years ago.
Jhonny Peralta, Travis Hafner, Kelly Shoppach, Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Aaron Laffey, Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis and the two you just mentioned were all there when you played.
Stop acting like you left ten years ago and things have completely changed. Just because things move two miles a minute instead of a mile a minute in New York, doesn't mean the world was leveled and Cleveland is a new place.
Please... Ignorance...
Enjoy your Sunday.
Original Story:
http://www.thetribedaily.com/2009/10/...
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