Gone Gavel Gone, Betancourt isn't in Session

Through the rebuilding years, or the few years previous to the players we got that are actually good, there was a relief pitcher that hung around that drove me crazy.

Rafael Betancourt was the center of hatred for a bad bullpen for me. He wasn't the worst relief pitcher, but for whatever reason, I didn't trust him. It often led to me calling him "Betansuck."

Then he had his brilliant 2007.

Then he became the guy that constantly touched his cap, regardless of performance. And this blog would obsess about that, because I like quirks.

Last year he drove us crazy with his bullish attitude of not listening to his damn coaches.

So maybe you say, the coaches suck anyway. I say he was sucking last year, so what's the difference?

Now he's a member of the Colorado Rockies.

A part of me is sort of sad. I'll no longer be able to add up the cap counter because really, he's not a part of this lovable bunch of misfits that can't provide us Cleveland Indian fans with a winning season when they're supposed to.

A part of me agrees with the trade, because a part of me is saying we got something for him and we can't draft anyway, so why settle for a draft pick?

But another part of me is just... bleh... As if, we won't really miss him.

Sure our bullpen is in shambles and he was one of the few pieces that hasn't sucked beyond expectations.

But really, Rafael Betancourt is an expendable arm.

However the Indians haven't ruled out the possibility (like they did with Casey Blake) of possibly bringing Betancourt back in the offseason.

It could happen, especially if Betancourt sucks it in Colorado and doesn't increase his signability.

I doubt the cash-strapped Rockies are picking up his option, it's the reason the Indians traded him, he was essentially a free agent this offseason despite that option laying around.

$5.4 million for a relief pitcher that isn't closing and isn't consistently one of the best set-up men in the game? Too much. If Betancourt could even do close to his 2007 every year, maybe, but that isn't worth it and I don't think the Rockies will disagree, unless of course he's perfect from last night to the end of the year.

"You never know when this is going to happen," said Betancourt. "I've seen a lot of guys come here and leave this year. Now it's my turn."

Good luck to Raffy Right in Colorado though. The nicknames and hat touching will not be forgotten. The silly graphic the Indians put up at one point in 2007 that had Raffy's headshot in a Judge's cloak and the words "Betancourt is now in session" is something I don't think anyone can really forget if they were at a game that had that.

And really, the guy was in session when he was on the mound. He'd take forever just to throw a pitch so much so that the Tigers decided to time him one time. That lead to that snake Jimmy Leyland trying to get the umpires to get him to speed things up because apparently, he was taking more time than the MLB rulebook allowed.

Fudge that. He may take long, but screw you for not liking it, because he was one of ours.

"I've been thinking about this situation," said Betancourt. "I feel I've been lucky to be around here for all these years. It makes me proud to do what I did here."

Betancourt isn't in session and the cap counter has been updated for the last time this year. I will take it down at season's end, but if he does return in 2010 to the Tribe, you can bet it will be back in action.

The upside is I don't have to upload a picture every time he pitches a game (even though I didn't do it every time this year). I tried counting them by watching the games at first, but soon realized I don't have a camera on him the entire time, so that's impossible. So the final total is a rough estimate that is based off him touching his cap three times between each pitch (including when he makes an out).



But really, do we realize what we got in Rafael Betancourt?

The guy was a struggling position player with Boston. We got him and put him in the bullpen and he became a major league relief pitcher.

Yeah he got busted for performance enhancers one year, but after a successful 2007 and years and years of.... nothing... we've seemed to forgotten all that.

I think I might have rambled enough though. I wanted to try and organize my thoughts a little more, but it just sort of came up as I was typing of all the memories.

The guy has been here for awhile, things just keep popping up.

His 2007 was special. I don't think "a good 2007" does it justice.. The guy's ERA was out of this world, he was the top set-up guy that year and his control was even more pin-point than Cliff Lee's last year.

He was un-touchable.

And with Rafael Perez, they were the Raffy Twins...

Now that Perez has sucked it up and Betancourt is gone, there is no more of that. We have to hope Raffy Perez comes back and Chris Perez is actually worth a damn for them to be the Perez Twins.

Again.. Rambling.

But aside from all the cap-touching and the Betancourt is in session stuff, the lasting memory for Raffy Betancourt is the day he and Victor Martinez sent the Indians to the post-season. Betancourt struck out Mark Ellis and immediately went into a celebratory mode with Vic. The two Venezuelan's hugged and jumped into the air as their teammates ran in to celebrate the joy of going to the playoffs.

Until we meet again Raffy. So far we are cheering for DeRosa in St. Louis and Betancourt in Colorado. Help us if Carl Pavano goes to the Brewers or Jamey Carroll and Ryan Garko to the San Francisco Giants.

Thanks for everything... Even the cap touching and heart-attacks. You wouldn't be a Cleveland player if it was simple without any quirks.