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Health & Fitness

Indian Fever

Well, it’s that time of the year again… summer has finally arrived! That’s right, we’ve met our hotdog and hamburger quota off the backyard grill, we’ve seen our drunken uncle light off all the fireworks from his “secret stash”, the A/C is running in overdrive, and the Midsummer Classic is here! Yep, the MLB All-Star game is tomorrow night and while it is never truly the half way point of the season, it is a good time to reflect on the good, the bad, and ugly of the early part of this season.

Before I get into what I believe to be the good, bad, and the ugly… I want point out a couple of things to make sure we’re all on the same page here. Our current record is 51-44, we’re in 2nd place in the division, 1.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers and 8 games ahead of the Kansas Royals, whom we just swept in a 3 game series at home. So, without further adieu let’s get down to my reflection of Part I of the 2013 season.

 

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The Good: There were a lot of uncertainties going into this year. Sure we had an incredible off-season in the 'free-agent signing department' but did anyone really know how that was going to translate on the field? This isn’t the Indians of the 90’s and we haven’t quite seen all of this incredible offense we were promised in January/February, but we are winning games and we are winning them in bunches. Beyond that, we know Nick Swisher, despite his .242 batting average, is still quite EXCITED to be here. Let’s be honest, his post game interviews are awesome to watch. I’m just waiting for him to accidentally spit some of that chew into the camera as he delivers his post game recaps. Seriously though, his energy is refreshing and regardless of what his stats show, he’s been a great addition to this team. The same can be said about Bourn and Reynolds though both have tailed off a bit since the early part of the season. In more positive news, the Indians also boast the 2nd easiest schedule in the 2nd half of the season amongst the current contenders. Perhaps there is nothing more good though than what Francona has meant to this team. When he talks, people listen and that kind of leadership goes a loooooooong way!

The Bad: You can’t be #1 until you can beat #1 on a regular basis and quite frankly, that hasn’t happened. The Detroit Tigers have owned us this year and if you’ve watched any of those games, it’s blatantly obvious that they are a FAR better team. Reason being, they consistently put it together against us while we seem to be more like the coach from Waterboy when we play them… scared, frightened, and a little confused. The good news here is, we are only 1.5 games behind them and we don’t play all our remaining games against them. I can't stop talking about the 'bad' until I also also address our recent 2nd half performances into this conversation. We’ve seen this act before right? The Tribe plays exciting ball up until the All-Star break and then goes on a mental vacation for the rest of the year. Sure, this year feels different which is exactly what we said last year.  Until they actually prove me wrong, I’m not going to be placing any bets in Vegas. 

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The Ugly: Who’s the firestarter? Chris Perez is the firestarter!! (Prodigy anyone?) Look, we can’t blame Chris for ALL of the bullpen woes we’ve had in the first half of the season but (allegedly) having marijuana mailed to your house can never end well. Don’t get me wrong, the USPS is a fantastic service but baseball players should focus on baseball and less on how to get their drugs from point A to point B. Considering this was supposed to be an area of strength for the team this year yet has clearly been our Achilles heel; I have to give the “bullpen mafia” a big fat ‘F’. There have been a few bright spots (mainly surrounding Cody Allen) yet much of what we have seen has been sheer disappointment. Some say our starting pitchers are blame for their inability to get late into games. (passed the 6th inning) However, I think that’s complete crap. They get paid too much money to not do their jobs and I won’t be surprised if this area is targeted before the trading deadline.

I want this to be our year. I want this city to experience winning! I want to make the Jose Mesa blown save a distant (bad) memory. However, the Indians still have a lot to prove to me and everyone else before we all get as excited as Nick Swisher is. 

I ask you, do you think they have what it takes to make it back to the promise land in 2013?
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