bama45
04-13-2002, 01:14 AM
Before the start of the 2002 season most sportswriters, broadcasters and fans thought Cleveland's days of winning were over. Guess what? Even though it's still early in the year, Cleveland has the best record in baseball at 10-1. Most thought the Chicago White Sox would win the A.L. Central this season. Why?
I'll tell you in a bit. Cleveland downsized this year. They didn't want to spend the big bucks to keep the great players. They lost second baseman Roberto Alomar, slugger Juan Gonzalez and outfielder Kenny Lofton. They also traded or lost pitcher Dave Burba. So who in their right mind would think Cleveland would be playing this well? Not me and probably not you.
Cleveland is off to one of their best starts in franchise history. They did win 10 out of 11 games in 1959 and 1966 at the start of the season.
Why is Cleveland winning? Their starting pitching has been phenomenal. Pitcher Bartolo Colon who is 3-0 with an ERA of 3.00. He is pitching like he did a couple of years ago. Dominating! Last year's rookie star C.C. Sabathia is 2-0. His ERA is 2.79. He throws some nasty stuff. 26 years old Ryan Drese has been a pleasant surprise. Even with a high ERA of 5.91 he is 2-0. Chuck Finley won his debut. He had a lot of personal problems with his wife, but he was still able to concentrate and win. He beat Minnesota 5-4 on April 9th. He pitched six innings and allowed four hits and no earned runs.
Pitcher Danys Baez who was a relief pitcher is 2-0 as a starter. His ERA is 3.38. He beat Detroit 10-1 April 5th and Minnesota 9-3 on April 10th. Often injured fireballer Jaret Wright is expected back in May. So watch out.
Cleveland's offense has been nothing less spectacular. Outfielder Matt Lawton has been a Godsend. He's only batting .279, but he has hit three homeruns and knocked in 10 runs. First baseman Jim Thome finally woke up his bat and has driven in 13 runs. DH Ellis Burks has been hitting the ball quite well. He is batting .425 with one homerun and nine RBI's. Shortstop Omar Vizquel is batting .317. Third baseman Travis Fryman is batting only .222, but he has hit two important homeruns and knocked in seven runs. Everybody is contributing on this team.
Cleveland leads the A.L. in pitching with a team ERA of 2.85. They are second only behind Toronto in batting. This team is well rounded. Can they keep this torrid pace up? Probably not, but they will probably do very well this season if their starting pitching remains strong. The Chicago White Sox cannot be counted out, nor the Minnesota Twins, but the Indians can control their own destiny. Continue to play as a team, play good defense and a little bit of luck, they might end up in the World Series.
__________________
:2guns:
I'll tell you in a bit. Cleveland downsized this year. They didn't want to spend the big bucks to keep the great players. They lost second baseman Roberto Alomar, slugger Juan Gonzalez and outfielder Kenny Lofton. They also traded or lost pitcher Dave Burba. So who in their right mind would think Cleveland would be playing this well? Not me and probably not you.
Cleveland is off to one of their best starts in franchise history. They did win 10 out of 11 games in 1959 and 1966 at the start of the season.
Why is Cleveland winning? Their starting pitching has been phenomenal. Pitcher Bartolo Colon who is 3-0 with an ERA of 3.00. He is pitching like he did a couple of years ago. Dominating! Last year's rookie star C.C. Sabathia is 2-0. His ERA is 2.79. He throws some nasty stuff. 26 years old Ryan Drese has been a pleasant surprise. Even with a high ERA of 5.91 he is 2-0. Chuck Finley won his debut. He had a lot of personal problems with his wife, but he was still able to concentrate and win. He beat Minnesota 5-4 on April 9th. He pitched six innings and allowed four hits and no earned runs.
Pitcher Danys Baez who was a relief pitcher is 2-0 as a starter. His ERA is 3.38. He beat Detroit 10-1 April 5th and Minnesota 9-3 on April 10th. Often injured fireballer Jaret Wright is expected back in May. So watch out.
Cleveland's offense has been nothing less spectacular. Outfielder Matt Lawton has been a Godsend. He's only batting .279, but he has hit three homeruns and knocked in 10 runs. First baseman Jim Thome finally woke up his bat and has driven in 13 runs. DH Ellis Burks has been hitting the ball quite well. He is batting .425 with one homerun and nine RBI's. Shortstop Omar Vizquel is batting .317. Third baseman Travis Fryman is batting only .222, but he has hit two important homeruns and knocked in seven runs. Everybody is contributing on this team.
Cleveland leads the A.L. in pitching with a team ERA of 2.85. They are second only behind Toronto in batting. This team is well rounded. Can they keep this torrid pace up? Probably not, but they will probably do very well this season if their starting pitching remains strong. The Chicago White Sox cannot be counted out, nor the Minnesota Twins, but the Indians can control their own destiny. Continue to play as a team, play good defense and a little bit of luck, they might end up in the World Series.
__________________
:2guns: