Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust

As Jesus Christ once said, "It is finished."

It would seem that the Indians have all but licked a stamp on the envelope that has their playoff aspirations neatly tucked into it. After a 6-2 loss--at home--at the hands of the Tigers (who, themselves, have been wallowing in suckitude for quite some time as of late) that involved stranding 5 runners on base in the last three innings of a tie game (including the leadoff man on second base in the bottom of the ninth when the score was still 2-2, which was promptly followed by THREE [as in, not one, not two, but THREE] straight strike-outs to end the inning), it is apparent to me that the Tribe is DONE. As in, stick a fork in them.

Some notes:
1) The entire offense (and I mean, ENTIRE) is slumping. They have been for a month. How is that possible?! Hafner is hurting. Martinez, who had been as consistent as humanly possible in the entire first half, looks lost. Sizemore is treading water. The Lofton trade hasn't paid any real discernable dividends. Were it not for Sizrmore's 2-run jimmy in the first inning, they would have been shut out for 10 innings last night by a team that has been struggling to pitch well for the greater part of a month.

2) Speaking of pitching (though directly related to hitting), the Tribe has consistently WASTED tremendous starting pitching since the All Star Break. Tribe starters have been on the ass-end of 1-0 decisions MULTIPLE TIMES in the last month. Inexcusable.

3) Eric Wedge is steadily losing my support. I've always been fairly ambivolent about Wedge's job performance. On one hand, he doesn't always make the best moves, but he's seeming to learn as he goes over the years. This team has grown up together, and their yearly improvement would seem to lend some credence to the idea that Wedge has done *some* things well. But, last night left me scratching my head. Tie game, bottom of the ninth. Leadoff man hits a double. Now, pretty much any and everybody that's ever watched baseball KNOWS you HAVE TO BUNT HIM TO THIRD. It shouldn't even be an option. No thought should have to go into this move. It should be like when the doctor hits that spot under your knee, and your knee jerks. Leadoff man gets to second base with no outs in the bottom of the 9th inning in a tie game = sac bunt. Daniel Webster couldn't convince me otherwise.

But, there was Jhonny Peralta, NOT bunting, and (oh so predictably) striking out. To be fair, the two hitters that followed him struck out as well, but that's neither here nor there. As Lars pointed out to me in an e-mail this morning, if you have no faith that Peralta can't get a bunt down, pinch hit for him with your utility infielder who CAN get a bunt down. What are you saving it for? If you score there, the game's over and it doesn't matter what it does to your lineup.

This isn't rocket science. It's inexplicable.


So, until further notice, I'm now back in my Randy Quaid from Major League 2 role. I'm shoveling dirt on the Tribe's season, because they don't appear to have any fight left in them.

At least I have Browns football to look forward to.

Oh, wait.