Tribe baseball is fun again

Long time no see.

And I apologize for that.

The last two weeks have been a zoo on the job and at home - where every conceivable appliance and consumer electronic in my home has given up the ghost.

Just this week I spent three nights on the phone with my satellite provider - their technician trying to guide me through the process of sticking various wires into various holes to make my TV picture come back. After three nights of trial and error, I was able to watch the Tribe tonight.

And what a night to rejoin the fun.

The Tribe put an 11 spot on the board and Cliff Lee put up win No. 22.

I have an e-mail argument going with a colleague of mine in Toronto who is backing Roy Halladay for the Cy Young award - touting his eight complete games (for whatever that's worth in today's game.)

But even my Toronto pal - before tonight's game - admitted Lee would have to have a complete collapse in his last four (now three) starts to even have a chance of blowing the award.

If Lee doesn't win the Cy, regardless of what happens in his last three outings - than the post-season awards count for jack.

A lot has happened since I last posted.

Travis Hafner has rejoined the team. He's 3 for 8 since coming back - all singles. He also is still unable to play DH in consecutive games. And he still has that stiff, awkward swing we got used to seeing in the early part of this season. You've got to say Hafner is very much a worrisome question mark for the Tribe next year.

The same can not be said for Victor Martinez, even though he is hitting just .222 since coming off of the DL late in August. He's a little rusty, but he seems to have healed up nicely and has shown at least a little power since he has come back.

Some other thoughts on the Tribe, in no particular order.

Kelly Shoppach has more than proven his ability to play everyday, with his 20 dingers in what amounts to a little over half a season of at-bats. He's also got a .973 OPS for the year.

The only question is which team will he be starting for next season? Starting catchers who can hit are hard to come by. The Tribe has two. Shoppach could bring a solid starting pitcher, or quite a haul in a package.

In addition, the Tribe has Carlos Santana - or Victor Martinez Jr. - working his way quickly through the minors. He should be ready to take over for Victor when it becomes clear the time has come for him to move to 1B.

Those are good reasons to consider trading Shoppach. But, if the Tribe intends to contend next year, I would be strongly in favor of keeping Shoppach, letting him catch most of the time and putting Victor at 1B - where wear-and-tear on his knees, hammy and elbow will be drastically reduced.

Two other Tribesman who have shown themselves deserving of a starting spot next season are Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Carbera - both playing key roles in the Tribe's second-half resurgence.

I would start Choo regularly next season and I think the Tribe would do fine to head into 2009 with the same outfielders they have right now. Eric Wedge has done a good job of mixing and matching out there and I see no problem with keeping the same approach next year so long as Choo is out there most of the time. A big bat would be nice, but there are too many other holes to fill (and don't forget Matt LaPorta will be coming on soon enough).

I think the Tribe has the right idea about adding a bat in the infield. My preference would be at 2B, which would force them to move Cabrera to short and Jhonny Peralta to 3B. Peralta has turned himself into a hitter who gets it - all the time - this season and my criticisms in the past of his offensive approach appear no longer valid. But I sure would love to see Cabrera's glove plugging up the SS hole.

The next comment will come as no revelation. I think we've all seen enough of Andy Marte. Wave bye bye Andy!!

We've seen a lot of good things from the starting rotation in recent weeks. But that key part of the club is fraught with concerns.

Is Fausto ever going to find the plate consistently again?

Anthony Reyes has been quite a find. Can we trust the Tribe when they play down his current injury? I'll believe Reyes is OK when I actually see him in the rotation next season.

Sowers? Laffey? Two question marks for sure. Especially given Laffey's late-season injury, I'd put more money down on Buffalo's Dave Huff for next season. It seems more than clear the Tribe will sign or trade for (or both) an experienced middle-of-the-rotation guy. That is if they are serious about next season.

The best news in recent weeks out of the bullpen has been the resurgence of Raffy Betancourt. With the two Raffy's looking to be on track and Jensen Lewis acing his test at closer, the bullpen cupboard does not look quite as bare as it did a month or so ago.

I would think the Tribe will try to find a proven closer for next season, but I'd feel better going into next year with Lewis as the closer than I did heading into this season with Joe Borowski in that role.

Victor goes yard!!

With one swing of his bat, Victor Martinez shook off the 700 pound gorilla that has been on his back all season.

In the bottom of the second inning tonight at Progressive Field, Victor hit a towering flyball to the home run porch in left - his first homer of the season.

After playing the first two-and-half months with a sore hamstring and eventually a sore elbow, Victor was robbed of his power at the plate and became a non-entity with a bat in his hands.

All fixed and rested, Victor has had a hit in each of the three starts he's made since being activated, and tonight - for the first time all year - he went yard.

The joy and relief Victor felt was plain to see.

He stood at the plate and watched as he did what he used to take for granted for the first time in 2008 - send a ball sailing deep into the nighttime sky.

His smile in the dugout afterward was a mile wide and his teammates - especially fellow catcher Sal Fasano - seemed to enjoy the moment as much as Victor.

You had to assume that Victor's power would return with his health. I'm sure most of us felt that way. But it sure was nice to get a little evidence during the heat of battle.

Having said that, it would also be nice to see a little consistency from Fausto Carmona.

Fausto also has recently returned from a lengthy injury, and although he's shown flashes of his old self in his recent outings, he seems to be unable to put it all together for a full game.

It looked like tonight might be the night, as Fausto had a shutout through 5. But in the sixth Carmona lost his control and his poise and allowed 3 runs before departing with two outs in the inning.

In 8 starts since returning to the rotation, Carmona is 3-3 with tonight's decision still in doubt. He's thrown 41 2/3 innings and has allowed 31 earned runs. He's walked 22 batters in the process.

For a guy who is being counted on as No. 2 next year, I sure hope we see a bit more of the good Fausto the rest of the way.

Back to the good news.

Raffy Betancourt continued his late-season resurrection, getting out of a second-and-third, two-out jam left for him by Carmona in the sixth and going on to pitch another 2/3 of an inning in the 7th before giving way to Raffy Perez, who was brought in to get Jim Thome.

While Betancourt has been one of the poster boys for the Tribe's underachievement this season, his work since the middle of August has him looking like a decent bet to be a positive factor again next year.

Continuing in the good-news-bad-news vein, the Tribe today said it will shut down Aaron Laffey for the year due to elbow soreness. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports and MRI showed no structural damage but the Tribe thought it best for Laffey to just call it a year.

Six minor leaguers did get the call-up to the bigs - second baseman Josh Barfield, first baseman Mike Aubrey, right-handers Brian Slocum, Tom Mastny and John Meloan and left-hander Rich Rundles.

Lee ends 34-year drought with 20th win

Cliff Lee, with another dominating performance tonight at Progressive Field, became the first Tribe hurler in 34 years to win 20 games.

Lee boosted his record to 20-2 on the year, tossing a five-hit shutout - getting 21 White Sox in a row from the first inning through the first out of the eighth after giving up two singles to lead off the game (there was on DP thrown in making it 22 OUTS in a row).

Lee has won 9 of his last 10 starts - with the other being a no-decision - going back to mid-July. His best month of the season was April when he won all five of his starts and had an 0.96 ERA. August was just about as good - as Lee went 5-0 with a 1.96 ERA.

The worst month of the season for Lee - June 3-0, 3.41

Gaylord Perry was the last Indian to win 20 - going 21-13 with a 2.51 ERA for the Tribe in the 1974, the year this blogger graduated from Cleveland Central Catholic High School.

Perry's brother Jim was back with the Tribe that year, contributing 17 wins of his own, with a 2.95 ERA.

Unfortunately everyone else in the rotation was above 4.00, which for the time period was a sub-par number. The Tribe finished the season at 77-85, in fourth place in the A.L. East, 14 games behind the division-winning Orioles.

In addition to Perry's outstanding season there were a number of other noteworthy events in 1974.

There was, of course, 10-cent beer night, on June 4 of that year.

About six weeks later, on July 19, Dick Bosman - the only other starter on the team with a winning record at 7-5 - threw a no-hitter against Oakland at Cleveland Stadium.

Chris Chambliss started 1974 as the Tribe's first baseman. But he didn't make it through April, having been traded to the Yankees along with Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw for Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene and Tom Buskey.

Tidrow found a home eventually in the bullpen of the Yankee pennant winners later in the decade and we all know what Chris Chambliss did for the Yanks.

Buskey became the Tribe's closer in '74, posting 17 saves. Fritz Peterson was famous for trading wives with former Yankee teammate Mike Kekich and not much good came from Freddie Beene or Kline.

1974 was also the year The Big Mon - Rico Carty - joined the Tribe, after rehabbing his career in the Mexican League.

And, Frank Robinson was picked up late in the season as a precursor to his taking over the club next year as baseball's first African American manager.

I took this little trip in the memory mobile to help illustrate just how rare the 20-win season has become in baseball.

So hats off to Cliff and hope you've been appreciating each and every outing Cliff has made this year.