Cleveland Sports Forum

Thanks for the Moneyball info, Rusty.

Yep, I never bought the book. But I did wait for the movie to come out on pay per view for $5.99.


I figured there was literary "license," but in the same breath I do wonder why the writers and producers chose Mark Shapiro and The Cleveland Indians as the foils.

Too bad about Victor Martinez, at least for him. He left us under the the best of circumstances among most of our higher profile players.....who left.

Victor Martinez did not deserve to have this injury.


But, I'll offer that Detroit, Michigan did. At least in my sports fandom book.

I figured there was literary "license," but in the same breath I do wonder why the writers and producers chose Mark Shapiro and The Cleveland Indians as the foils.

They did make a trade. Paul DePodesta did work for the Indians before the Athletics. (Peter Brand character)

Paul DePodesta explains why he didn’t want his name used in “Moneyball”
Aaron Gleeman Sep 16, 2011, 12:48 PM EST
11 Comments

As noted in my review of “Moneyball” earlier this week Jonah Hill’s assistant general manager character is named “Peter Brand” because Paul DePodesta didn’t want his real name used in the movie.

DePodesta, who was the A’s assistant GM when Michael Lewis wrote the book and is now the Mets’ vice president of player development, talked to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal about why he didn’t want to be associated with the character:

I just could never get comfortable with the idea of somebody else portraying me to the rest of the world. It’s very unnerving, and it was something that wasn’t going to go away. That was always in my mind. … Like any movie, to make it interesting, there has to be some conflict there. In some respects, a lot of the conflict is going to revolve around my character, and that was never really the case in reality.

DePodesta met with Hill during production of the movie and praised his acting ability, telling Costa that playing the fictional “Peter Brand” character “gave him a little more freedom to do his job.”

In the movie Hill out-weighs the real DePodesta by at least 100 pounds and the character is unathletic, socially awkward, and inexperienced. In reality DePodesta played football and baseball at Harvard and got his job in the A’s front office only after working as a scout.

Or as DePodesta put it: “I think for me, it’s a lot easier to live with as long as everybody realizes it’s a movie. It’s not a documentary.”

Regardless of the Indians real or contrived role in the movie, it was a good watch. Not great, but good enough for the time spent on a baseball movie.

My wife stayed awake for the whole thing without any prodding, so it rated high on that scale of measurement, too.

Indians signed RHP Jeremy Accardo to a minor league contract.

The deal presumably includes a spring training invite. Accardo, 30, posted a 5.73 ERA and 23/18 K/BB ratio over 37 2/3 innings with the Orioles last season and hasn't enjoyed much success at the big league level since 2007. The Phillies also expressed interest in the veteran right-hander this offseason.

Source: Jerry Crasnick on Twitter Jan 19 - 11:18 AM

According to a report by broadcaster Yancen Pujols, Fausto Carmona was arrested in his native Dominican Republic for using a false identity.

Source: Yancen Pujols on Twitter Jan 19 - 3:06 PM

Wonder if he was using CC Sabathia ?

According to a report by broadcaster Yancen Pujols, Fausto Carmona was arrested in his native Dominican Republic for using a false identity.
The story was passed along by Jorge Arangure of ESPN Deportes. Maximo Baez Aybar, who handles PR for the Dominican police, confirms that Carmona (whose real name is actually Roberto Hernandez Heredia) was arrested outside the consulate while trying to secure a work visa. Details are still pouring in, but remember that Marlins' right-hander Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly known as Leo Nunez) was able to avoid jail time in the Dominican Republic after faking his identity and the club signed him to a new contract this week. Stay tuned for further details.

Source: Yancen Pujols on Twitter Jan 19 - 3:06 PM

Carmona (whose real name is actually Roberto Hernandez Heredia)

Cleveland Indians sign Jeremy Accardo, Fred Lewis to 1-year deals with spring-training invites
Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 11:55 AM Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 12:37 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians have added another pitcher and outfielder for spring-training competition. Pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, Ariz., on Feb. 20.
They signed right-hander Jeremy Accardo and outfielder Fred Lewis to one-year minor league deals with invitations to spring training with the big league club. Accardo, 30, pitched with Baltimore last year, going 3-3 with a 5.97 ERA in 31 appearances. He struck out 23, walked 18 and allowed 43 hits in 37 2/3 innings.
Accardo made his big league debut with the Giants in 2005. He moved to Toronto in 2006 and stayed with the Blue Jays until 2010. His best season came in 2007 when he went 4-4 with a 2.14 ERA and converted 30 of 35 save chances. In his career, he's 38-for-52 in save opportunities.

The Indians have invited four pitchers to camp with big-league experience in Accardo, Chris Ray, Chris Seddon and Robinson Tejeda.

Lewis, 31, has played with San Francisco, Toronto and Cincinnati. He spent last year with Cincinnati, hitting .230 (42-for-182) with seven doubles, three homers, and 19 RBI in 81 games. He opened the year on the disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle.
The left-handed hitting Lewis played left and right field with Cincinnati. He stole 17 bases for the Blue Jays in 2010 and 21 for the Giants in 2008. He's a career .267 (412-for-1,542) hitters with 91 doubles, 21 triples, 27 homers and 136 RBI in 517 games.
Lewis hit .282 (132-for-468) with 81 runs, 25 doubles, 11 triples, nine homers and 40 RBI for the Giants in 2008.

Pitchers: Accardo, Ray, Seddon, Tejeda, Austin Adams, Hector Ambriz, Chen-Chang Lee and Tyler Sturdevant..

Catchers: Luke Carlin, Chun Chen, Michel Hernandez, Matt Pagnozzi.

Infielders: Andy LaRoche, Jose Lopez.

Outfielders: Lewis, Chad Huffman, Felix Pie.

Carmona is now 31 years old instead of 28.

Is Fausto Carmona the actual player to be named later ?

Just another day for the "haves" and the "have-nots"

Rangers ink Yu Darvish for $112 million

Indians ink Jerremy Accardo for about $1.12

3:25pm: The Indians issued the following statement regarding Carmona: “We were recently made aware of the situation that occurred today in the Dominican Republic and are currently in the process of gathering information,” GM Chris Antonetti said. “We are not prepared to make any additional comment at this time.”

2:23pm: Police in the Dominican Republic say Fausto Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes tweets. Dionisio Soldevila of the AP tweets that Carmona is 31, not 28 and Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com tweets that the right-hander's chances of obtaining a visa quickly don't seem good. Yancen Pujols first tweeted news of the identity issues.

The Indians exercised Carmona's option after the season, so he'll earn $7MM in 2012. The ground ball pitcher posted a 5.25 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 188 2/3 innings in 2011. The Marlins placed Leo Nunez/Juan Carlos Oviedo on the restricted list because of issues related to his assumed name. It's not clear whether Carmona will be able to pitch in the U.S. by Opening Day.

Don't see how "Roberto Carmona / Fausto Heredia" gets back into the U.S anytime soon.

He's gonna need a new passport which means the Indians are gonna need a need a new pitcher and the options of Huff/McAllister don't look that exciting and that's assuming that the Indians don't void his contract first.