http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/252 Recent articles about Tony Graffanino en-us "He's not a prima donna like a lot of players of today. Us middle-aged guys grew up with players that actually loved to play the game and it's great to see a guy who plays baseball because he loves baseball." The words of Tribe fan Glenn Sawyer, as quoted by MLB.com. He was of course talking about Omar Vizquel, who returned to the place he knows as "The Jake" to receive the accolades of Tribe fans of all ages and, while he was at it, drive in what turned out to be the game-winning run with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze. The bunt put Omar's San Francisco Giants up 3-1 in the 9th inning of a game that ended 3-2 and brought back memories of the good old days when he wore a Tribe uniform on those great teams of the 90's. For the first 7 innings, Omar showed that time is indeed catching up with him. Vizquel was 0-for-3 to that point and had left the bases loaded in the 7th with the score tied 1-1, having lifted a lazy fly to Grady Sizemore. But in the ninth Vizquel flashed back to the days when he was the grease for the big machine that was the Tribe offense, laying down a perfect suicide squeeze that Casey Blake couldn't handle - not that he would have been able to do much except throw Omar out at first had he fielded it cleanly. For good measure - with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out and the Tribe down 2 runs in the 9th - Omar went deep into the hole at SS, did a patented Omar spin-and-throw which had just enough on it to throw out at 2B a guy who would never have gotten a glove on the ball. Yes, Jhonny Peralta. If the ball goes through, it's 3-2 Tribe with 1 out and 2 on instead of 2 out and 1 on. So, perhaps taking away some deserved credit from SF starter Jonathan Sanchez (though he did pitch his gem against the hitless wonders in Cleveland uniforms), the hero tonight is Omar Vizquel. And there's no surprise there. While a part of me is happy for Omar, the rest of me is ticked. Perhaps I'm pissed off because I looked up to see my stupid dog inexplicably pissing on the living room floor in the top of the 8th as the Tribe bullpen began to piss away the game away. That didn't help. But mostly I just can't keep watching the same old thing - a good (or at least gutty) performance by tonight's starter Aaron Laffey, a bullpen that blows the lead then widens the deficit and a so-called offense that is just plain offensive. The game ended - classically - with a strikeout by Kelly Shoppach with the tying run in scoring position. It was just one of 11 K's on the night as the Tribe continues to pile up unbelievably high K totals night after night. Earlier in the ninth, Ryan Garko put up one of the ugliest at-bats of the year, following up two singles to start the inning with a 3-pitch K that was just awful. I could go on about Shoppach's throwing error that allowed the second SF run to score. Or the 3 K's overall by the guy who "would be a starting catcher on most other teams." But why go on. It's the same old thing night in and night out. By the way, anyone wonder why the Tribe continues to pile up has-beens at Buffalo. The latest two to join the Bisons are reliever Juan Rincon and infielder Tony Graffanino. The duo joins starter John Halama and corner infielder Morgan Ensberg as recent retreads to join the Bisons as Tribe signees. Are they piling up warm bodies to take the positions of some young guys they may bring up when the trading begins. We know Asdrubal Cabrera will be on his way back up before too long. Who else may be heading down I-90? Or are they piling up these C-listers to fill out the major league roster when the purge begins? And won't that be fun? It'll be 2003 all over again. Whatever the case, I've spent way too much time tonight thinking about a team that clearly doesn't deserve this much of my attention. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:58:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282022 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282022 Spring training officially begins tomorrow, albeit only pitchers and catchers reporting. Even with teams gearing up for the regular season there are still plenty of options on the free agent market for teams looking to fill a void, create competition, or build depth. I decided to give some of these lonesome hobos a job and assemble my own ensemble. That's right, I'm starting an expansion franchise named the Salt Lake Serpents (ironic?). My infield is a bit weak, but my outfield has a good mix of speed and pop. In the rotation I've got some innings eaters, and in the bullpen I've got many has-beens. Some are old and brittle, many are long past primes, but they're just the type of crusty veterans I'm looking for...did I mention my payroll is only $35 million? Salt Lake Serpents 25-man roster: Starting Lineup: RF- Kenny Lofton LF- Shannon Stewart 1B- Shawn Green (also backup outfielder) DH- Sammy Sosa (also backup outfielder) C- Mike Piazza CF- Corey Patterson 3B- Tony Graffinino SS- Royce Clayton 2B- Jerry Hairston Jr. Bench: Greg Norton (corner infield and outfield), Neifi Perez (infield), Damian Miller (catcher), and Russel Branyan (corner outfield and infield) Rotation: Kyle Lohse, Josh Fogg, Jeff Weaver, Bartolo Colon, and Odalis Perez (lefty influence) Bullpen: Bob Wickman as closer, Armando Benitez, Shawn Chacon, Antonio Alfonseca, swingman Byung-Hyun Kim, and lefties Ron Villone and Mike Myers Think I can challenge the Orioles or Pirates? Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:58:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/140683 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/140683 Their paths seem similar, both come up as promising young stars, and both now have faced a tremendous amount of adversity. Rich Harden and Mark Prior promising young stars, but are always injured. Giambi could be coming back by August. Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:45:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/20119 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/20119 Brewers manager Ned Yost has made some poor and good decisions this year at the helm of his first-place N.L. central team. In this post to my blog I offer some praise for recent moves he has made. Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:20:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19748 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19748 "NEW YORK -- A total of 106 players filed for salary arbitration Jan. 12 (x-free agent who accepted arbitration). Players and teams exchanged proposed salaries Tuesday if they couldn't come to agreement on a 2007 contract." For those who care...It's actually an interesting list if not just to see what specific players were making in 2006. Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:14:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8593 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/8593