Congrats to the Cards.

Nothing like being in the right place at the right time.

Cards backed into the playoffs after a monumental gag job by the Braves.

Should have been on the golf course Friday except for another monumental gag job by the Rangers in games 6.

Helps to be lucky......and good!

"A difference between Red Sox fans and Texans is important to note here."

Gosh I didn't think we were talking about fans. I thought we were talking about baseball!

"Nelson Cruz did not act alone."

Nah, that's one bad thing about this kind of situation--the decisive moment focuses on one or two players (or maybe an ump) but it still is a team sport. Nelson Cruz did not act alone--and neither did Bill Buckner!

VT'er wrote:"A difference between Red Sox fans and Texans is important to note here."

Gosh I didn't think we were talking about fans. I thought we were talking about baseball!

"Nelson Cruz did not act alone."

Nah, that's one bad thing about this kind of situation--the decisive moment focuses on one or two players (or maybe an ump) but it still is a team sport. Nelson Cruz did not act alone--and neither did Bill Buckner!

Sounds like a conspiracy!

Joe, must have missed the errors the Cards made in game 6.

Two very evenly matched teams. Someone has to win after 7 games. If they played 100 games, they might be 50 -50.

As to LaRussa, he could not even remember the name of the team that the Cardinals beat last night. He had to ask a reporter the name of the other team. His excuse was that he was giddy. Geez !

Passed out at a traffic light, or not......

Tony LaRussa has a helluva great baseball resume.

Let him handle his life demons as he sees fit, unless he gets ridicuous.




I wish The Rangers would have won.

Tribe Fan in SC/Cali wrote:Passed out at a traffic light, or not......

Tony LaRussa has a helluva great baseball resume.

Let him handle his life demons as he sees fit, unless he gets ridicuous.




I wish The Rangers would have won.

Lets not sugarcoat it. Otis the town drunk passed out in his car in the middle of the road. That is ridiculous.

Good news is that Frank Herman was throwing strikes, and getting a lot of early work.

Bad news is that The Redlegs spanked the ball all over the place scoring four in the inning and erasing the 4 run tribe lead.

Did we really trademark GameTime! ?

As opposed to wholesale diamonds, The Indians have made wholesale changes on the diamond.

Who are some of these guys......?

Well I guess "Pie" is not pronounced as in apple or cherry.

It's two syllables apparently, and phonetically "Pee A" .

Pee A gets the first two putouts of the 5th.

Jose Lopez is definitely a candidate at 3B, and of course at utility.

Of course, he has to recapture past magic, has had some very good seasons.

Huff has scoreless outing in tie with Reds
Indians' offense pounds out 12 hits in Cactus League opener
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | 03/03/12 6:26 PM EST

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians and Reds played to a 6-6 tie in the first Cactus League game of the spring for both teams on Saturday at Goodyear Ballpark.

Trailing by a run entering the ninth, the Indians scored two runs off Reds reliever Kanekoa Texeira to take the lead, but Todd Frazier answered with a home run in the bottom half of the frame to conclude the scoring.

Cleveland took a 4-0 lead through three innings. Against Reds starter Mike Leake in the top of the first, freshly installed leadoff hitter Michael Brantley hit a double to right field. After an error by second baseman Brandon Phillips on an Asdrubal Cabrera grounder put Brantley on third base, Brantley scored on a sacrifice fly from Carlos Santana.


In the second inning, Lonnie Chisenhall, who is competing for the Indians' starting third-base job, hit an RBI single to right field that scored Jason Kipnis. Leake -- a good bet for the fourth spot in the Reds' rotation -- finished by allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits over two innings. Lefty reliever Ron Mahay gave up two more runs in the third inning, including an RBI double to right-center-field by Casey Kotchman.

Indians bullpen candidate Frank Herrmann gave up four runs on five hits to the Reds in the fourth. Scott Rolen's second hit of the game was an RBI single to center field. Drew Stubbs also went 2-for-2 as he followed with a two-run double. Rookie Devin Mesoraco tied the game at 4 with a single to left field that scored Stubbs.

Batting in the Reds' fifth against Robinson Tejeda, first-base prospect Neftali Soto hit a go-ahead homer to right field.

Cincinnati's veteran relievers performed well after Mahay's departure. Nick Masset had a single and a balk allowed but notched a scoreless fourth inning. Logan Ondrusek worked one inning with a strikeout, and Jose Arredondo had a hit allowed with two strikeouts in the sixth.

Left-hander David Huff, who started for the Indians, allowed three hits and struck out one over two scoreless innings.

Indians up next: It's right-hander Jeanmar Gomez's turn to take the ball in the race for the fifth-starter spot. On Sunday, Gomez is scheduled to toe the rubber for Cleveland in a 3:05 p.m. ET tilt against the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. He's competing against Huff, Kevin Slowey and Zach McAllister for the lone opening in the Tribe's starting staff. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start, though, and Josh Tomlin is also set to make his spring debut.

Reds up next: Homer Bailey and Aroldis Chapman will make their spring debuts on Sunday when the Reds face the Indians. Both pitchers are trying to earn spots at the back of the rotation. Bailey will start while Chapman is slated to enter from the bullpen. Rookie Zack Cozart, trying to lock down the regular shortstop role, is expected to be in the starting lineup for the second straight day.

It's always a pleasure to see the first box score of the spring.

We start the Spring Training season at 0-1-1.

Tomorrow, once more we play the team we share the Goodyear stadium with. Yawn.

Here's to a 1-1-1 Spring Training start.

Looks like MLB.TV will actually have a telecast for Monday, from Fox Sports Ohio. Televise Monday, but not Saturday or Sunday. Go figure.