Pronk - The Catchphrase That's Sweeping the Pronking Nation!

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Congress Debates Merits Of New Catchphrase

Travel Day

Sorry, crimestoppers, but real life has kept me from posting regarding the last two games until now. If only I could find some way to get myself paid for doing this. Anyway, today is a travel day for the Tribe, as they come back from a dramatic 2-4 West Coast swing, having split the last two with the Angels.

• Tuesday night the Indians took some measure of revenge for Toriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Hunter's walk-off slam of the night before when Pronk smashed a two-run shot in the top of the 9th off the Angels of Orange County Which is Kinda Close to Los Angeles closer Justin Speier to win 4-3 behind a complete game from Jake Westbrook. This game was notable for an Andy Marte sighting. Marte came in to play the field after Ryan Garko was lifted for a pinch runner, which slid Casey Blake to first base.


• Wednesday afternoon, Paul Byrd thought the early start time meant that he was throwing batting practice instead of pitching in a game that really counted. Age and Treachery could not fool the Angels who teed off on him for 3 homers, including a Denny's signature breakfast from Mike Napoli. The Indians were down 6-nil before they suddenly came to the realization that instead of a good pitcher, they were facing Dusin Moseley, and beat him up for 4 runs in the 6th to at least make the game interesting. That didn't last very long as Jensen Lewis gave up a three-run shut to Vlad the Impaler in the 7th. After that, it was all over but the plunking, as Justin Speier, in a blatant display of poor sportsmanship, hit Pronk on his bad elbow in the 9th inning. We shall see if the Indians have the cojones to return the favor when the Angels of Orange County Which is Kinda Close to Los Angeles come to town later this year.

In other news, even as I write this the Indians are holding a press conference to announce that they have locked up Fausto Carmona to a contract extension guaranteed through 2011 with three club option years that will likely keep Carmona in Cleveland until 2014. Huge. Totally Huge.

Oh, and no more lolcats for the near future. The Motor City Kitties have finally won, to up their record to 1-7.

Mojo Watch:

Mark Shapiro: Fausto Carmona through 2014! Enough said.

Travis Hafner: The game-winning shot off Justin Speier was a huge display of Pronkitude, and perhaps getting hit by Speier in that last at-bat will reawaken the Incredible Pronk.

Age and Treachery: Right now, Paul Byrd, like Michael J. Fox, has got No Elvis.

Jake Westbrook: If the Tribe could have managed more than 1 run off John Danks last week, Westbrook would be sitting at 2-0.

David Dellucci: The left field position is now off the schneid, with Dellucci registering 2 hits to raise his average over the Mendoza line to a smokin' .231.

Jason Michaels: Michaels right now has No Elvis. In order to see his .048 batting average, you need one of these:

Franklin Gutierrez: Since his incredible opening day, Frank the Tank is 1 for 22. He was benched in Anaheim for Jason Michaels - against a right handed pitcher.

Andy Marte Watch:

Game 8:

Mop up duty. Field only, 9th inning no at bat. Started nifty double play.

Game 9:

Game 4: Haiku

West Coast bats silent.
Paul Byrd hits wall very hard.
Pronk hits late home run.

All He Does is Throw Strikes

Thoughts on the ALCS Game 4:

• Who knew that Paul Byrd was such a big game pitcher? All he does is throw strike 1, then strike 2, and then make you swing at his pitch. It's Pitching 101, and the old guy can do it through the lineup twice. It's age and treachery overcoming youth and skill. He beat the Yankees, and for 5 innings, confounded the Red Sox. If the Indians had not batted for over a half hour in the bottom of the fifth, allowing Byrd to get cold, I wonder whether Byrd might not have been good for another two innings.
• The problem with knuckleball pitchers without another good pitch is that they are prone to hang that one knuckleball that gets clobbered. Tim Wakefield hung that one pitch, Casey Blake, Mountain Man, clobbered it, and then the wheels fell off for the Sawx in the bottom of the fifth. Manny Delcarmen didn't help much by giving up a three-run homer to Jhonny Peralta that pretty well sealed the deal.
• What difference does a stolen base make? I was surprised to see Lofton steal second base with the Tribe up 6-0, because typical baseball etiquette has been that if you are up by that much then stealing is showing the other team up. Lofton scored to make the game 7-0. When the Sawx got their back-to-back-to-back shots in the 6th, the difference between a four-run game and a three-run game meant the Tribe could keep Senor Slow in the game in the 9th because it was not a save situation.
• You just went back-to-back-to-back out of the yard, Manny Ramirez! Please admire your shot and showboat around the bases for your adoring fans! The fact that you're still down 4 runs should make no difference! You can argue that it's just Manny being Manny, but sometimes, Manny being Manny is actually Manny being a clueless egotistical jerk.
• I thought the Sawx defense was supposed to be better than the Tribe's. After both Youk and Pedroia managed to muff a foul pop by Asdrubal Cabrera that might have settled the team down in the fifth, Wakefield then muffed one up the box. If they make either of those plays on Cabrera, the game is different. And Youk made a bad error (one he got charged with) on an attempted pickoff play that was lucky not to have hurt the Sawx in the 6th. So far, the Indians and Sawx have only been charged with 1 error.
• What's that giant sucking sound I hear? No, Ross Perot, it's not NAFTA sucking American jobs south of the border - it's the bottom of the Sawx lineup. Once you get past Lowell, it's pretty much automatic outs until you get back around to Youkilis.
• In the battle of personal catchers, Shoppach went 1 for 3, plus getting hit by a pitch and scoring a run in the pivotal fifth inning. Mirabelli went 0 for 2 and was pulled for Varitek as soon as possible after Wakefield was lifted.
• Pronk got the golden sombrero, striking out 4 times in 4 at bats. Mercifully, Cabrera ended the 8th inning by grounding into a fielder's choice before Pronk could take the mucho gigante golden sombrero in his 5th at bat. Pronk seemed overmatched by the knuckleball. He's hitting .200 for the series, with an OPS of .694. And the Indians are up 3 games to 1.
• Gho Jhonny Gho! Ihf thhe Ihndians whin thhis sheries, Jhonny ihs clhearly the AhLCS MhVP. Jhonny's OhPS - 1.h213.
• The Tribe's postseason veterans have been getting it done. Lofton - key homer in Game 3. Trot - game winning hit in Game 2. Byrd - winning pitcher Game 4. Joe Knows Closing - Save Game 3, Finished Game 2. Sabathia - well, we'll give him a pass until tomorrow.
• Which CC shows up tomorrow? Big Game CC of 2007, calmly throwing strikes and unruffled by bad umpiring or facing Johan Santana, or Postseason CC, who is a mess of flop sweat because he can't throw a strike. If CC shows command of the strike zone and command of himself tomorrow, I think the Red Sox go home for good. Even so, I like the pitching matchups for Game 6 and 7 in Boston in case the Indians can't finish it up at home.
• Dane Cook Must Go.

Ken-ny! Ken-ny! Ken-ny!

If you grew up watching Superhost on Channel 43 in Cleveland, or Mystery Science Theatre 3000, then you probably remember the Gamera movies. Gamera was a giant turtle who primarily wanted to be left alone, but occasionally, Gamera was called out of the deeps to save Japan from a mutant monster from outer space and befriend a young boy who is always named Kenny, who helps him to save the day.

The monster threatening Cleveland was Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox paid $51.1 million just to negotiate with him and another $52 million to sign him to a 6-year deal before the season to bring his unhittable gyro ball to Beantown.

In the role of Gamera - Jake Westbrook, sinkerballer who was pummeled his last start against the Yankees. (Note - Indians entire 2007 payroll - around $70 million, up from $61 million before the season started based on the extensions given Pronk and Westbrook).

In the top of Inning 2, it looked like Gamera was in trouble. The evil monsters had loaded the bases with 1 out. But look - it's a pop up! Look! A double play ball! Threat ended!

In the bottom of Inning 2, it was Kenny to the rescue. Kenny Lofton, trusty sidekick, link to the great teams of the '90s, ageless wonder, in his third stint with the Tribe, in his first at bat of the game, with the crowd chanting "Ken-ny! Ken-ny! Ken-ny!" saved the day by socking a two-run home run to right field to put the Tribe up 2-0. The Indians added 2 more in the 5th on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera and an RBI groundout by Pronk to knock Dice-K out of the game.

Westbrook went 6.2 innings and induced three double plays. The only blemish was a two-run homer in the 7th given up to Jason Veritek. The Tribe bullpen locked the game down, with Jensen Lewis rescuing Westbrook in the 7th, Senor Slow getting Youk, Big Papi and Manny 1-2-3 in the 8th and Joe Knows Closing pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.

Maybe I've stretched the metaphor just a little bit with the Gamera thing with Dice-K as a monster threatening Cleveland. To hear the hype, you'd think he was the most important Japanese import since the Honda Accord. At any rate, the Indians beat a pitcher that the Red Sox paid 73% of the Indians 2007 payroll just to negotiate with in the offseason.

Westbrook, on the other hand, has received virtually no respect from the media or fans outside Cleveland, primarily because he's not a flashy strikeout pitcher, and because he's been battling injuries this season. His 6 wins on the season were not impressive. However, between 2004 and 2006, only Johan Santana, Kenny Rogers, and Jon Garland had more victories in the American League than Westbrook's 44.

Other notes about the game:

• The strike zone was wildly erratic, varying wildly from batter to batter. By the end of the game, it was anybody's guess what a strike was and players on both sides were swinging at balls well off the plate. This guy graded out as one of the 12 best umpires MLB could offer us in the postseason?
• Trot Nixon started. He went 0-3 with a strikeout. He was replaced by Gutierrez for defensive purposes. Chances are, this is the last we see of Trot Nixon for awhile.
• Uber-rookie Dustin Pedroia is batting .167 on the series with an OPS of .398. Asdrubal Cabrera is batting .333 with an OPS of .690.
• As much as I dislike the Fox guys, they are still better than the TBS crew.
• Westbrook got 15 of 20 outs via ground balls.
• Ryan Garko made a heck of a stretch on the double play in the second. Who knew the big guy was so flexible?

Tonight, weather permitting: Byrd vs Wakefield, or perhaps Beckett. Francona says that it's going to be Wakefield. Red Sox Nation is crying out for Beckett to start on short rest with the Sawx down 2-1. Tune in around 8:17 Eastern and find out who gets the ball.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball - Magic Number Now 5

Jake Westbrook walked a tightrope for 5 innings, Jensen Lewis shut the Motor City Kitties down for the 3 more to secure his first major league win, and the Indians beat the Tigers 7-4 behind 4 home runs by 4 different players off Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

The homers:

• Inning 2 - Ryan Garko (solo) - tied game at 1
• Inning 3 - Pronk (3-run) - tied game at 4
• Inning 6 - Victor Martinez (solo) - gave Indians 5-4 lead
• Inning 6 - Franklin Gutierrez (2-run) - gave Indians 7-4 lead

Three of the four home runs (Garko, Pronk, Gutierrez) were measured at over 400 feet. They were, indeed Mighty Clouts.

The Tigers stranded 10 runners and had several opportunities to put the game away in the first five innings against Westbrook, but were unable to get the big hit, and the Indians came back with a mighty clout in the bottom of every inning that the Tigers scored to keep the pressure on.

Jensen Lewis knows how to Beat Michigan, taming the Kitties by retiring 9 of the 10 batters he faced, with the only blemish an errant pitch that plunked Placidao Polanco. For his efforts, he was rewarded with Leadership Pie, and the Indians dropped their magic number to 5. Joe Knows Closing pitched a reasonably uneventful ninth for his league leading 41st save.

In another good sign, Jacobs Field was full, with over 5,400 walk-up tickets sold on Dollar Dog Night at the stadium.

The Indians have a chance to drop the magic number to 3 with a noon game. Sabathia vs. Robertson.

Mojo Watch -

Pronk:
Good timing for the Pronkmeister.

Tribe:
Still rollling with Full Elvis.

Tigers: Right now, the Motor City Kitties got no Elvis. They are Michael J Fox.

Sweep!

If the Indians do indeed go on to win the AL Central, their performance this year against the Twins, a team that has given them problems in recent years, will be one of the key reasons why. Yesterday's 6-2 win left the Indians 14-4 in the season series versus the Twinkies, including 5 victories against Johan Santana (who, despite the thorough beatdowns he's received from the Indians, still seems to get all the pub for AL Cy Young).

The Indians continued their recent trend of jumping out to an early lead by getting to Scott Baker for 3 runs in the first inning and peppering him for 11 hits in 5 innings. Tribe starter Fausto Carmona spent most of the game pitching with runners on base, but was also bailed out by three double plays, and only had one bad inning, giving up 2 in the fifth. The Tribe put it out of reach with 3 big insurance runs in the 9th on big RBI hits by Jhonny Peralta and Kenny Lofton, allowing Rafael Perez to stay on and get his first major league save, giving Joe Knows Closing the day off.

Pronk: 2 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and 1 RBI. Hitting streak now at 7 games. Batting average up to .260.

With this victory, the Indians have now won 16 of their last 20 games, and continue to hold a 7-game lead in the AL Central after Detroit's extra-inning 2-1 victory over the White Sox.

Mojo Watch:
Pronk: Still not clearly at Full Elvis, but clearly not regressing either.

Tribe: This team remains at Full Elvis. We'll see how much Elvis they'll have after a West Coast swing, as they start a four-game series today against the Angels of Somewhere Between LA and San Diego. Tonight - Byrd vs. Escobar.

Pronktacular

Since we left our intrepid Wahoo Warriors for the Labor Day weekend, the following has happened:

8/31 - Tribe 8 - White Sox 5
The Tribe bailed out Fausto Carmona, who had a bad outing, by scoring 6 runs in the 8th. Kenny Lofton tied it with a two-out bases loaded walk, and then Casey Blake followed by lifting an outside pitch down the right field line for a bases clearing double. Fultz with the vulture win.

9/1 - Tribe 7 - White Sox 0
Paul Byrd gets a complete game shutout, completely dominating the Pale Hose. Gutierrez and Shoppach homered, Pronk had an RBI double.

9/2 - Tribe 0 - White Sox 8
Win streak ends at 8 with this thorough beatdown by the Sox. Jose Contreras showed up, instead of phoning it in, and we got Hittable Jake Westbrook instead of Dominant Jake Westbrook. Games like this happen. The Tribe still took the series at home

9/3 - Tribe 5 - Twins 0
Johan Santana remains the Indians personal rented mule. CC Sabathia continues his quest for the Cy Young Award by shutting down the Twins on 6 hits and 1 walk with 6 Ks through 8. Santana is now 0-5 against the Indians with 1 no decision in 6 appearances against the Tribe. Sabathia has beaten him head to head in each of his last three appearances.

Last night: Tribe 7 - Twins 5
It was Pronktacular! Pronk went deep twice, including a two-out bomb in the ninth off closer Joe Nathan to push it into bonus baseball. Pronk then drove home the winning run in the 11th with a bases loaded screaming line drive to the right centerfield gap that Torii Hunter barely tracked down, but that served as a sac fly. Victor Martinez followed with a single. Joe Knows Closing pitched a 1-2-3 11th to get the save. Note: Daddy Pronk was in the stands to see his boy smash two out of the yard.

Could this 2-homer, 4-RBI night be what Pronk needs to get out of his slump and go on a rampage? Let's hope so. Pronk has now hit in his last 6 games. The Tribe has now won 10 of their last 11. Today's afternoon matchup: Fausto Carmona vs. Scott Baker. Baker shut the Tribe out 1-0 in his last appearance versus the Tribe and almost threw a no-hitter in his last outing. Baker is hot right now.

September callups for the Tribe: Cliff Lee, Luis Rivas, Edward Mujica, Juan Lara, Andy Marte, Ben Francisco and Mike Koplove. I hope that we see Marte spelling Casey Blake at 3b often for the next month. Marte was raking the ball in his last month at Buffalo, while Blake could use some more off days. Lara gives us another lefty in the bullpen to match up with, while Koplove, Lee and Mujica give us more arms for mop up duty. Francisco gives us another solid outfielder to spell some regulars, and Rivas - well, who the hell knows why he's here?

Mojo Watch:
Pronk We'll give Pronk 4 Elvi after last night's show and hope he's on his way to Full Elvis

Tribe: Don't step on this team's blue suede shoes! Full Elvis! 10 of 11. 7 game lead. Enough said.

Age, Treachery and Facial Hair

"Age and Treachery will overcome Youth and Skill" -- popular T-shirt

The Indians' version of Age and Treachery, Paul Byrd, bamboozled the Minnesota Twins on 4 hits to pitch a complete game shutout, using only 99 pitches to go the distance. The Twinkies were completely off-balance all night, grounding out weakly and popping out.

The Tribe managed just enough offense off Carlos Silva. A clean-shaven Casey Blake, sacrificing his beard for the good of the team, had 2 RBI, and Pronk hit a mammoth clout off the facing of the upper deck in right field. The Indians actually had some timely hitting, getting 2 of the 4 runs with two outs. One run was the direct result of Pronk breaking up a double play.

The suddenly surging White Sox, fresh off of a sweep of the Motor City Kitties, will host the Tribe tonight, with Westbrook going against Danks.

In other news, utility infielder Mike Rouse was DFA'd after the game. It's not known who his replacement will be. Possibilities include Joe Inglett, Asdrubal Cabrera, and someone off the waiver wire. It is unlikely to be Luis Rivas, who is currently on the minor league DL. Rouse, a reasonably solid fielder, has made several critical fielding mistakes lately, and was hitting about at the Neifi Perez line, which is several notches below the Mendoza line.

Still no word on the ulitimate disposition of Fernando Cabrera. Hector Luna got picked up by the Blue Jays. Go figure.

Mojo Watch

Cleveland Indians:

The Tribe showed some Elvis last night. I hope this will carry over into the White Sox series.

Pronk:

Pronk showed substantial Elvis last night, crushing one to the facing of the upper deck in right, and breaking up a double play. However, his Elvis has been so low lately that he's still barely above Michael J. Fox level.

Paul Byrd:

The old guy's still got some major Elvis left. Last night's win was victory #10 on the year. Yeah, it's Vegas Fat Elvisness because it's all about age and treachery and the old school full windup, but it's still Elvisness, a quality this team has been dangerously low on lately.