I know I haven't posted about the Forest City much lately; I've been completely absorbed by Bath City and their recent promotion. However, it doesn't mean I haven't cared or been keeping my eye out on my boys in Cleveland.
First of all, I do not want to talk about the Cavs. I truly felt this was the year to get it done, to win it all. 2010 or bust and all that. Well bust we are, with the Cavalier's exiting the post-season in miserable fashion to the Boston Celtics in six games. With the Cavs failing to make it to the NBA Finals yet again, it looks likely Lebron has played his last game in a Cavs uniform. I hope he stays, but I'm sure he's feeling pretty disillusioned with the team right now, which doesn't bode well for us. He might stick around, we certainly haven't lost him to New York or Chicago yet, but its pretty much all doom and gloom at the moment where the Cavs are concerned. Its a shame that it ends like this, after another fantastic season, and LBJ collecting his second straight MVP award. Lets pray it ends well for the Wine and Gold.
As for the Indians, well its definitely been a mixed bag so far. We're nearing the end of May and 'inconsistency' is the word around town, but what else has changed right? As of today we are 15-20, which is pretty decent considering how low expectations were coming into this season. The story of 2010 so far is the inept offensive output, specifically from Hafner and Sizemore. The young guns like LaPorta and Valbuena have really struggled, and aren't adapting to life in the bigs like we all hoped they would. Luckily our group of veterans and journeymen on the team have got the job done, with Austin Kearns and Mark Grudzielanek doing particularly well. Shin-Soo Choo has continued his brilliant hitting from last year and is carrying the team on his back - hopefully he gets an All Star place this season. Starting pitching has surprised me somewhat, an area the Indians are doing ok in. Carmona's fantastic spring has carried over to the regular season. Alright, so he's not been spectacular but he's been decent and got some good wins under his belt (currently 4-1 with a 3.43 ERA before he faces the Rays tonight). He still walks too many batters, and could get a few more strikeouts, but its Carmona so nothing is perfect. Mitch Talbot has turned into somewhat of a revelation so far, but unfortunately Justin Masterson has struggled. He was predicted by many to be one of our strongest guys in the rotation, but stands at 0-4 with a 5.92 ERA - not too good so far. Jake Westbrook, our grizzly old veteran battling back from injuries that have hindered him the last few years, has been getting better with every game. He had a slow start, but has been quality of late, winning his last 2 games. Westbrook overpowered the Orioles last night, getting 8 strikeouts along the way to a complete game. More stuff like this please Jake. Our firstbaseman Russell Branyan, who's been crocked sine we acquired him, has finally returned from injury and has began to destroy the ball recently - he did especially well against Kansas City, smashing a few homers in a series win for us, and looks set to hit a few more - long may it continue. Overall, Manny Acta's side are doing exactly what is expected of them, which is not much at all. They just need to keep growing and improving, get a few wins here and there and make positive progress hinting towards success in the future. I'd like the Indians to finish with 80 or so wins, and at least try and finish around 500. Anything else would be a dream.
And the Browns? Well not much has changed with the Brownies. Mini camp drills and practices for the rookies have begun, and our new RB Montario Hardesty out of Tennessee has impressed according to early reports. Good signs there, but surely he'll be behind Jerome Harrison in 2010. I'm looking forward to seeing our new QB from Texas, Mr Colt McCoy, in pre-season, even if he won't actually play for the Browns once the real games begin this season. Football is still months away, but I'm always excited about the Browns and can't wait for the games to begin... even if we are a bit shit.
From now on I'll be following the Indians of course, but my focus is turning to the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, which I cannot wait for. Expect a post/preview/World Cup build up blog thing in the near future.
Thanks for reading.
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