Another Great Night to Be in Chicago...

It was another lovely evening at the Joan (With the exception of a few raindrops) as the Tribe easily handled the White Sox 9-5. Yet again, there were quite a few Tribe fans at the park to support the team. I've been very impressed with the amount of people showing up. Considering the fan support has been down over the last few years and couple that with the fact that many fans who can't follow the team on a daily basis are "casual" fans, the turnout has been great. I hope to see a few more this afternoon.

Before I talk about anything else... there was one defining moment in last night's game. As much as I'd like to say it was Broussard's granny or any other play the Tribe made last night, I believe it was Carlos Lee's long single. If I were his teammates or his manager, I'd have some choice words for him. If that happened on the Indians, you can be sure Wedge would bench that player. But... I don't believe that would happen on the Indians, now with Milton Bradley gone.

Modern Day Version of White Sox vs. Indians?
I wrote quite a bit about Ken Griffey Jr. when he did virtually the same thing against us. Its so completely inexcusable. In this case, you could make the argument that Carlos Lee's (or... "El Caballo" as hawk named him) lack of hustle cost the White Sox the game. Interestingly enough, neither of the major Chicago newspapers even mentioned this. Typical.

Does anyone still think Shapiro and Wedge did the wrong thing with Milton now? Don't get me wrong, I had my reservations at first... but I'm not sure this team plays this way with Milton as one of the "leaders." Here's an interesting article from Terry Pluto in today's ABJ about how the Tribe is fun to watch. I'm just not sure they'd be playing with the same hustle, enthusiasm and teamwork if gameboy was around.

If I were constructing a team, I'd want no part of guys like Carlos Lee, Ken Griffey Jr. and Milton Bradley.


I wouldn't mind if these four took a ride together

Which brings me to my next point about Aaron Boone. Although I'm not convinced that his potential addition brings much to the table, I think I know why Mark Shapiro is making such a strong pitch for him. Remember 2002 spring training when Jeff Kent broke his hand while doing wheelies on his motorcycle? He tried to tell the team that he broke it while "washing his truck." Eventually.... the truth came out and everyone knew what kind of a guy Jeff Kent was (his contract could've been voided if they found out he broke it while riding a hog).

Well... that brings us to Aaron Boone's situation. Although Aaron could've kept his mouth shut after getting injured playing basketball, he opted to be forthright with the Yankees and tell them exactly what happened. Well... they voided his contract. And... as soon as Boone sacrificed several million dollars in the name of honesty, Mark Shapiro fell in love with him (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I think US Cellular Field got even quieter last night after Benny's grand slam than the night before after we overcame the eight run deficit. Its a great feeling to be sitting in the middle of "enemy territory" and, despite being drastically outnumbered, you can only hear Tribe fans going nuts. Somehow I haven't gotten into any verbal sparring matches yet in the first few games. Well... don't worry... there's always today's game.

I was hoping Cliff Lee would build on his last start against Atlanta and throw more strikes. But it seemed like he was still nitpicking a lot and not going right after the hitters. I'm not complaining.... he pitched well... I'd just like to see him become a little better with his pitch count. But.... if it ain't broke....

Great article on SportsIllustrated.com about our surprise Indians.

Here's a short article about Dan Denham's younger brother, Jason, who just signed with the Indians. The Denham family has a lot of good things to say about the Indians organization.

There are some thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon here in Chicago. But, weather permitting, I'll be reporting on today's game once I get home. Let's go Tribe!