“Yeah, a statue!”

By Anthony Castrovince/MLB.com
On Twitter: @Castrovince

In the city of Trieste, a mid-sized seaport on the Adriatic, there is a statue of Italo Svevo. He was a native and largely unheralded writer who was born Aron Ettore Schmitz and gave himself a pen name that literally translated to “Italian Swabian,” reflecting his whereabouts on the border of Italy and the former southwestern Germany region of Swabia.

IMG_1045Svevo self-published a novel, Confessions of Zeno, that would have gone unnoticed, were it not for the persistence of Svevo’s mentor, James Joyce. And the book was influential enough that the people of Trieste honored its late author by establishing a life-sized tribute to him in the Piazza Hortis, where he used to take his daily strolls. It sits not on a dais but on flat ground, and “life-sized,” in this instance, is (and this is what I love about the Svevo statue) an unimposing 5-foot-6 or so.

While in Trieste a couple summers ago, we took a picture of my equally vertically challenged dad next to the statue and the plaque that bears the most famous line from that novel:

“Life is neither ugly nor beautiful, but it’s original!”

Here in Cleveland — specifically at Progressive nee Jacobs Field — we’re getting a new statue this weekend. It is statue of Jim Thome that, in true American form, is bigger than life. It will stand above us mere mortals, and it will showcase the Thome pose we know so well — the one where he points his booming bat in the direction of the pitcher, a la Roy Hobbs, while digging in and looking to launch one of his 612 career home runs.

This statue — symbolic, significant, persistent and permanent — is either a point of pride or a point of controversy, depending on who you ask.

Some people around here are outraged that a defector is being cast in bronze, forever hailed. They still can’t get over a guy claiming, “They’ll have to rip this jersey off of me” and then leaving for Philadelphia financial freedom.

More people, I would assume, have long ago forgiven Thome for leaving the Indians in the winter after the 2002 season, understanding the game’s economics and the Indians’ changing competitive state at the time he made his move. Thome mended many mental fences when came back briefly at the end of 2011, hit a movie-made home run on Jim Thome Appreciation Night and was largely well-received. To them, the statue sits just fine.

Then there is a third group — a group of which, I must say, I am a member.

This group recognizes that you can hold nothing against Thome the Man and still be conflicted about Thome the Statue. Because while Thome might, indeed, be the perfect subject to celebrate a unique (and this is one of the few instances in which the word “unique” is being applied appropriately) era of Indians baseball, I’m not sure the specific statue they’ve selected adequately addresses it.

Now, let’s expound upon that subject of celebration, first and foremost. Because within the chorus of complaints about the Thome statue, there is a small but vocal segment of the fan base that would prefer Larry Doby, the AL’s first black player, be immortalized before Thome.

dobyIn the grand scope of the Indians’ 114-season history, Doby is as good an option as any after Bob Feller, whose statue has rested outside Gate C ever since the Indians ended their long-term run as Municipal Stadium tenants and got a room of their own. Doby’s significance as the AL’s first black player does too often get lost in the grand shadow of Jackie Robinson. The Indians and the city of Cleveland renamed Eagle Avenue, the street that runs behind the left-field bleachers, “Larry Doby Way” two years ago… but, you know, that’s no statue.

This 114-season history, though, is not the target. The target is and ought to be Jacobs Field itself. What it meant to these people. What it meant to this city. What it meant to a long-suffering franchise. The impacts, both economic and emotional, that the ballpark had on Northeast Ohio in the mid-1990s cannot be overstated, and the 20th anniversary season serves as an appropriate time for some sort of salute steeped in relative modernity.

The Indians had long thought Thome to be a suitable point of emphasis. When they tried to woo him in that aforementioned winter of ’02, they could no longer sell themselves as the AL Central standard-bearers (his contract alone would have made it tough to maintain a consistent winner) but they could sell him on the allure of legacy. They promised him a statue. They harped on the benefits of continuity, of representing something bigger than yourself, of forever being remembered as the face of a franchise. These were things Feller himself capitalized on from the day he hung ‘em up in 1956 until the day he died in 2010, and Feller could attest that, yes, there was, indeed, monetary value in this association. It wasn’t nearly enough to bridge the financial gap between the Indians’ $62 million offer to Thome and Philadelphia’s $87 million guarantee, but it was real (LeBron James, who I’m sure will have a statue of his own here someday, will discover this, too).

ThomestatueI think, in an honest moment, Thome would tell you that he wishes he would have stayed, but that’s only easy to state in the retrospect of a career that never again reached the World Series stage after he left Cleveland. And by 2011, when the Indians did bring him back as August waiver wire fodder, Mark Shapiro was already waxing poetic about the value of 12 mostly standout seasons in an Indians uniform in today’s transient times. Certainly, it’s easy to understand the significance of being the franchise home run king and a homegrown product who, much like Feller, arrived like a gift from the Midwest corn fields and turned his country strength into Cooperstown-worthy production. Over time, the free-agent defection simply ceased to be all that big a deal to the Indians’ higher-ups.

So Thome gets his statue, after all. He didn’t ask for it, and he even admits he’s a little “uncomfortable” and a little embarrassed by it. This is not a surprising utterance out of the mouth of Jim Thome, whose humility and good nature are as worthy of celebration as his stats.

But here’s the problem with the Thome statue: It honors Thome and Thome alone.

I know that sounds ludicrous, because that is, unmistakably, the goal of most statues, isn’t it? But I think the Indians could have honored both the man and his time in a way that satisfies all sides.

Think about those teams, those runs to five straight AL Central titles (with a sixth title tacked on in ’01) and, most meaningfully, two AL pennants in ’95 and ’97. What is the first memory that comes to mind?

I’d venture to guess I could poll 10 of you and get 10 different answers.

Maybe it’s Tony Pena’s late-night homer heroics in Game 1 of the ’95 ALDS, or Albert Belle pointing to his bicep that same night. Maybe it’s Belle’s grand slam off Lee Smith. Maybe it’s Sandy Alomar going deep off Mariano Rivera in the ’97 ALDS. Maybe it’s Game 3 of the ’97 ALCS, Omar Vizquel botching a suicide squeeze and Marquis Grissom streaking home with the winning run on the passed ball. Maybe it’s Wayne Kirby’s game-winning hit in the ballpark’s opener. Or maybe it’s just the sight of those stands, filled night after night after night after night for 455 freaking games.

95indiansHey, maybe you’re masochistic, and your first memory is the generous strike zone afforded the Braves in the ’95 Series or David Justice’s clinching Game 6 home run or — gulp — Jose Mesa in Game 7 in ’97.

Actually, what am I saying? This is Cleveland. Of course, your first memory is Jose Mesa in Game 7 in ’97.

But that’s not the point. The point is that there were too many magical moments, too many crazy characters, too many flowing emotions associated with those teams to narrow it all down to a single person.

I think that’s the issue with the Thome statue. You can’t look at Jim Thome’s pointed bat and see Omar’s golden glove or Albert’s menacing glare or Kenny Lofton’s swift feet. It doesn’t evoke memories of Carlos Baerga’s “Hello, Cleveland!” commercials or Manny Ramirez’s “Baby Bull” salad days or Alomar’s All-Star Game awesomeness. You don’t look at it and remember what Dick Jacobs and John Hart built and what Mike Hargrove tended. It doesn’t point the mind to a time when established stars like Eddie Murray and Orel Hershiser and Dennis Martinez actually wanted to be here, when Cleveland was an honest-to-goodness baseball destination.

You just see Thome. And I’m sure, to some, that’s acceptable.

But I’m probably in the minority of people whose most immediate memory of Thome has nothing to do with one of his mammoth taters. It has to do, oddly, with one of this defensive plays.

It is that pop-up off the bat of Jeff Huson, sailing high into the sky on Sept. 8, 1995, landing safely in Thome’s glove near third base and igniting a party that had not been seen in these parts for 41 years:



Yes, the moment was inevitable, because that ’95 club ran away with the Central in the strike-shortened season. But as Tom Hamilton (who uttered the great call, “And the season of dreams has become a reality”) told me recently, “It was almost like a city didn’t believe it was going to happen until it actually happened.” There were hugs and tears and wild shouts of unhindered ecstasy. There was, in the immediate aftermath, an airing of Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” as a fitting tribute to Steve Olin and a reminder of how far this team, this family, had come in the wake of those awful Spring Training deaths of ’93. For hours after that out, you could hear the sound of blaring car horns in the parking lot and the city streets – a practice that would be repeated many times in October days ahead.

You could have made a statue out of that moment. Thome, left arm raised, ball in glove, triumphant. The productive product of a potent farm system completing the out a town had been thirsting for in the ballpark that, really, made it all possible.

Heck, you could even make it like the Italo Svevo statue and put it on flat ground, a reminder that the moment belonged to everybody in the building and in the city that supported it.

That, to me, would have been the more satisfying statue. It would have been a better representation of an era unlike any other around here. Those Indians teams didn’t win a championship, but they did stir something in people’s souls, and that out was the breakthrough — the moment when the travails of the past were forgiven and the door to the future sprung open.

It was neither ugly nor beautiful, but it was original.

~AC

I think it would have been more appropriate to have statues of several of the 90s team in a group sculpture. But maybe they are planning on adding new ones every year now?

In case you haven't heard:


Jim Thome officially retires as an Indian with one-day contract
By Matt Snyder | Baseball Writer
August 2, 2014 5:35 pm ET



Though he hasn't played since 2012, long-time slugger Jim Thome never used the "r" word and instead multiple times said he was open to continuing his playing career. That changed Saturday, when Thome announced that he had signed a one-day contract with the Cleveland Indians, in order to retire as an Indian.

The announcement came on the day that a statue of Thome was unveiled in Cleveland's Progressive Field. Here's a picture of it, along with Thome and his family:

They couldn't have chosen a better pose for the Thome statue than the bat point. Very well done on that.

Thome, 43, was a career .276/.402/.554 (147 OPS+) hitter with 451 doubles, 612 homers, 1699 RBI and 1583 runs. The five-time All-Star played for the Indians for parts of 13 seasons, the Phillies and White Sox for four, the Twins two and Dodgers and Orioles parts of a season apiece. He finished in the top 10 of MVP voting four times. Thome ranks seventh in career home runs, 24th in RBI, 24th in slugging percentage , 37th in total bases, seventh in walks and 18th in OPS. He played in 17 different postseason series (10 different years), but never won that elusive World Series ring.

Thome will first be eligible for Hall of Fame induction in 2018.

Be better to have a statue to steroids......

Yep, talking about you Thome, Manny, Albert, Sandy, Robbie, Omar, Giles, Baerga, others and the drug dealer Charlie Manuel.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Indians plan an extensive renovation of Progressive Field over the next two years, remodeling the 20-year-old downtown ballpark to better connect with their fans.

The club intends to make interior and exterior modifications to the area stretching from center to right field, a person familiar with the plans confirmed for The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The changes will require a modest reduction in seats, which the team will offset by the addition of social areas to accommodate fans, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not made its designs public.

The first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed by opening day in 2015, will be privately financed, the person said.

The Indians are expected to announce details on the upgrades at the 43,000-seat ballpark later this week.

In making substantial improvements to Progressive Field, the team will join the city’s two other professional teams, the Browns and Cavaliers, who are both in the process of making enhancements at FirstEnergy Stadium and Quicken Loans Arena. While the current projects are being funded privately, some in the future may be paid with public money after voters in Cuyahoga County approved a 20-year extension of a tax on cigarettes and alcohol in May.

Known as Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994 to replace crumbling Municipal Stadium, the 43,000-seat home of Cleveland’s major league baseball team has undergone numerous alterations over the past two decades. The Indians have been proactive in keeping Progressive Field outfitted with the latest in scoreboards, concessions and other services to please today’s fan, and the ballpark has aged gracefully and looks as good as it did when the gates opened in ’94.

However, the club has seen attendance drop from a franchise-high 3.46 million in 1999 to 1.57 million last season. The Indians are drawing only 18,659 fans per game this year — second-lowest in the majors.

There are numerous reasons for the decline: a slow-to-recover economy, dwindling population and baseball’s struggle to lure younger fans among them. The Indians sold out 455 straight games from 1995 to 2001, but those days are long gone, which is why the team is looking to change the look of its ballpark to attract fans.

Also, teams are more cognizant that younger fans are seeking a different game-day experience, which may include higher-end foods and beverages, social media areas, bars and restaurants.

The timing of the Indians’ renovation coincides with a rebirth of downtown Cleveland, which got a recent boost when the Republican Party announced plans to hold its 2016 national convention in the city and NBA superstar LeBron James decided to come back and play for the Cavs.

Will the incessantly changing Cleveland Indians starting rotation ever stabilize?



Terry Francona and Chris Antonetti have spent plenty of time micromanaging the starting rotation. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)


Zack Meisel, Northeast Ohio Media Group By Zack Meisel, Northeast Ohio Media Group
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on August 07, 2014 at 2:00 AM, updated August 07, 2014 at 3:33 AM




CINCINNATI, Ohio -- There ought to be a high-speed rail system that shuffles pitchers between Cleveland and Columbus. The Indians would get plenty of mileage out of such a transportation system. As it stands, Tribe hurlers are using a bevy of gasoline to traverse I-71.

The mad scientists -- manager Terry Francona and general manager Chris Antonetti -- have filled many a beaker in search or the proper solution for a much-maligned starting rotation. After Wednesday's relegation of Josh Tomlin to the bullpen and temporary demotion of Danny Salazar to Triple-A, the starting unit might as well read Kluber, Bauer, Larry, Curly and Moe.

For the last two months, the Indians' revolving door of a rotation has cycled Salazar, Tomlin, T.J. House and Zach McAllister through the final three slots behind Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer. Carlos Carrasco could rejoin the fold for Sunday's start at Yankee Stadium.

"We're trying to mix and cover a lot of things," Francona said.

As it stands, House will start Thursday's series finale in Cincinnati. Bauer and Kluber will pitch the first two games in New York and Francona hinted that Carrasco could take the hill in the final affair.

Then, the club has three off-days in a span of eight days, which will allow those in the Progressive Field laboratories a chance to manipulate the roster as they see fit. Francona said Salazar will return to the rotation when he is eligible. Major league rules stipulate that a player optioned to the minors cannot be recalled for 10 days unless it is to replace an injured player. Salazar, then, could start as early as Aug. 17.

Francona has said the team will monitor the workloads of Kluber and Salazar. The four off-days in August will help, but following a day of rest on Aug. 25, the Indians will play 30 games in 30 days before receiving a breather on Sept. 25.

Here is a possible projection for the rotation for the remainder of the month. Granted, given the ever-changing makeup of the starting staff, this forecast could be foiled within minutes. Carrasco seems to be the leading candidate to make the starts currently designated with a question mark, though much could depend on how he fares on Sunday, should he earn that start. House would also need to prove reliable to remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. McAllister is eligible to be recalled next Wednesday, but he has posted a 9.88 ERA over his last seven starts.

The next three games seem to be secure. After that, it's basically a crapshoot. Here is an estimate.

Aug. 7: House

Aug. 8: Bauer

Aug. 9: Kluber

Aug. 10: ?

Aug. 11: OFF

Aug. 12: House

Aug. 13: Bauer

Aug. 14: OFF

Aug. 15: Kluber

Aug. 16: ?

Aug. 17: Salazar

Aug. 18: OFF

Aug. 19: Bauer

Aug. 20: Kluber

Aug. 21: House

Aug. 22: Salazar

Aug. 23: ?

Aug. 24: Bauer

Aug. 25: OFF

Aug. 26: Kluber

Aug. 27: House

Aug. 28: Salazar

Aug. 29: Bauer

Aug. 30: ?

Aug. 31: Kluber

Can't fill the seats, no problem, eliminate some of them.

Uncle Dennis wrote:Can't fill the seats, no problem, eliminate some of them.

Raise prices, too.

They've already raised prices, and refuse to sell the cheap seats until the more expensive ones are gone.

Indians to erect Larry Doby statue in 2015
WKYC Staff, WKYC 11:53 a.m. EDT August 7, 2014

CLEVELAND -- The Indians will erect a statue of Larry Doby next year, Indians President Mark Shapiro announced Thursday at a news conference to unveil improvements coming to Progressive Field.

RELATED STORY: Big changes coming to Progressive Field

Doby, who played for the Indians from 1948 to 1950, was the first black player in the American League and only the second black player, behind Jackie Robinson, to play in Major League Baseball.

Before that he played in the Negro Leagues, which he left and returned to when he served in World War II.

Doby's statue will be only the Indians' third, joining the Bob Feller statue and the recently introduced Jim Thome statue in the new Gate C during the 2015 season.

Indians to erect Larry Doby statue in 2015

Whew!!!! Read that quickly and thought it said Larry Dolan.

2017.

Cleveland Indians outfielders David Murphy, Nick Swisher headed for disabled list?


NEW YORK – Outfielders David Murphy and Nick Swisher could be headed for the disabled list.

Murphy left the Indians' 3-0 victory over the Yankees on Saturday with a possible right oblique injury. Swisher, meanwhile, left the game with a sore right knee.

"We're going to have to figure some things out," said manager Terry Francona after the game.

Murphy said he's been dealing with soreness in the right side for the last week. He was trying to play through it, but felt it tighten when he struck out in the seventh inning.

"I felt it grab me a little bit more than it has been," said Murphy, who was replaced in left field by Mike Aviles.

Murphy said he'd probably have an MRI on Sunday morning in New York. He said he's never had an oblique injury.

"I don't feel like it blew out, but I feel like it got to a point where it was close enough to where I didn't want to test it anymore," said Murphy.

Swisher, who started in right field Saturday, has already been on the disabled list once this year with right knee surgery. He received shots in the right and left knee during his stay on the DL.

"His right knee was barking," said Francona.

Swisher left the game after being forced out at the plate in a bases-loaded situation in the seventh. Earlier in the inning, he failed to score from second base on a double.

Ryan Raburn replaced Swisher in right.

Center fielder Michael Bourn (left hamstring) is already on the DL and currently on a rehab assignment in the minors. If the Indians need reinforcements, Tyler Holt has bounced between Class AAA Columbus and Cleveland a couple of times this year. First baseman Jesus Aguilar might be a possibility as well.

One rumor had Holt and newcomer Zack Walters being taken out of Columbus' lineup before Saturday night's game and backing their bags for New York. Walters was recently acquired from Washington for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Walters started in LF today. Hittless in his first three trips, but hit a couple a long way but to CF.

Have not been able to post for awhile as we lost internet but I wanted to post that I wanted Swisher to go on the Dl after watching him "run". Murphy surprised me after seeing him take that ball off the shin, I thought that would be a problem so it was strange to learn of the oblique.
Yanks just might get interested in Ramirez after watching him Jeter is leaving after all......but hell, they can buy a SS.