Wednesday, May 12, 2004

By the way, how frustrated am I with the Indians?

They have all the makings of an exciting, contending perhaps, team. Young solid starters. Young solid hitters. OK defense. But that bullpen STINKS! Last night, even though we had a 3-2 lead and "the Punk" (i.e. Pedro Martinez) was out of the game, I just knew they would blow it. The ninth blown save of the year. Unbelievable.

I feel badly for C.C. Sabathia who who pitched pretty well against one of the dealiest lineups in baseball, only to watch it evaporate. As Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer put it: "This is the fourth time the bullpen has blown a victory for Sabathia. He's 1-1 with a 2.28 earned-run average, but could easily be 5-1." That has got to wear on you. Why bother pitching hard if you are going to have to turn it over to that incompetent crew? He may have to pitch a complete game to get a win...

Maybe they can open the wallet next year to get some bullpen help. If they do that, and if Wickman stays healthy, they should be favored to win the AL Central. As for this season, at least it won't be dull!

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