Pick-Up Sports Talk: Cleveland
Your home for Cleveland sports and more, from a fan perspective
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Who and What Is At the Root of the Indians’ Offensive Horrible Start: A Poorly Timed Analytical Blog Post
Coming into Thursday night, the Cleveland Indians offense has been absolutely lackluster. Having scored 12 runs over their past 8 games, they outscored themselves during that time span on Thursday alone with their 13-0 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds. Man, that had to feel good. It must have felt like a step in the right… Read more
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Cleveland Indians 2020 Roster Preview and Projections
I did something amazing on Saturday. I watched live baseball. This wasn’t the live baseball from half a world a way in South Korea at 5 in the morning. No, this was Major League Baseball. In prime time. On a Saturday evening! My own complaints about potentially not being able to watch my games just… Read more
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The Overlooked Step that Possibly Ruined MLB Negotiations and Might Even Kill the Season Once It Starts
I write this late in the day of an ultimatum. An ultimatum that appears it will go unanswered. I am paraphrasing, but Saturday, after weeks of dickering back and forth between the Major League Baseball owners and the Players Association the players came to a conclusion. That conclusion was that any further negotiations between the… Read more
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Jerry West as the 1st Modern GM, Reggie Miller as a Knick, and More About How the 1996 NBA Offseason Relates to 2020
Besides the obvious situation the league finds itself in, this NBA season has been without recent precedent in one other way. For the first time in more than a decade, the 2019-2020 NBA league year does not include a “Super-Team” among its two conferences. Sure, there are super-star players coordinated together in different cities in… Read more
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A Few Words on the State of Our American Society
This is going to be relatively brief, and to the point. The murder of George Floyd was a disgusting, reprehensible and heinous act that has as little place in our society as the murders of other African Americans by police like Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice, Jamar Clark, Philando Castille and countless others. The nonchalance with… Read more
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The Gasoline Gang: A Cleveland Indians Bullpen Theory- Eric Plunk
By the off-season before the 1992 MLB season, the Cleveland Indians were well on their way to putting the building blocks in place that would one day become “The Dynasty That Almost Was”. Though this era of baseball was as bittersweet as that nickname suggests, there was a lot to cherish from those teams, including… Read more
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What Re-Opened Sports Leagues Can Teach the Four Majors About the Importance of a Quick Return
It is a regular opinion that the sport first out of the gate to bring a return to major American athletics to the general public in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic will reap major rewards. That’s the view for today, and its no wonder then why the NBA, NHL and MLB are just as… Read more
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Ranking the Dream Teams: The 7 Pro Iterations of US Men’s Olympic Basketball in Order
With the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed one calendar year, the United States Men’s Basketball team will have to wait another twelve months to avenge a lethargic and disappointing 7th place finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. While not quite the stage that is the Olympics, that unfortunate tournament outcome was the first of its… Read more
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Crunch-Time Break Down: Classic Edition- Game 6, 2015 ALCS Blue Jays vs. Royals
With no professional team sports being played on the North American continent right now, many have turned to classic games as a refuge to help distract them from the very difficult real world problems that we are dealing with as a sports-loving people. I am no different in this and as the time approaches where… Read more
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Breaking News: It’s 1996 and the Indians Have Traded Albert Belle
Mookie Betts may never play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 27-year old right-fielder was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Dodgers this past winter along with David Price for a bevy of young talent, despite being the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player, a four-time Gold Glove and three time Silver Slugger… Read more
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With Some Teams Allowed to Practice Soon, Here’s An NBA Playoff Plan
Just yesterday NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that as states begin to ease restrictions on their “shelter in place” decrees, the league will permit the effected teams to return to their practice facilities if the lifted restrictions allow for it. This means that for instance, there is a chance the Cleveland Cavaliers could return to… Read more
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A Baseball Debate: Do Today’s Pitchers Throw Harder Than They Used To?
One continual debate that I enjoy having with people that love baseball is about the idea of how hard pitchers have thrown throughout history. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of posts online about great baseball documentaries, and this conversation re-inspired a debate in my mind because of the Netflix documentary simply titled Fastball. For those… Read more
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One Last (Imperfect) Statistical Analysis: 2020 vs 2009 Naismith HOF Class
Here we are. The final foe. I have tested the players of this year’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame against three classes of greats originating from similar inductions in 1980, 1987 and 2006, and each time this year’s recipients have held up to the challenge. So far, this does truly look like the greatest class… Read more
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Are They the Best Class Ever? An (Imperfect) Statistical Analysis of the 2020 NBA Hall Inductees- Part 2
At the time of my last entry, I spoke to the prowess of the players of the 2020 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class and how quite possibly, this is the prominent class in the history of the institution. To test that theory, I have put together the four classes that I think would be… Read more
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Are They the Best Class Ever? An (Imperfect) Statistical Analysis of the 2020 NBA Hall Inductees- Part 1
I hope that the nine individuals that will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 will get the fanfare that they deserve. On Saturday the Hall of Fame announced that three men’s and one woman’s player, (Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings, respectively) along with four coaches (Kim… Read more
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Where to Turn as COVID-19 Takes Our Games Away… Its all Digital These Days
It’s a quiet and bleak time in the world of sports. As all non-essential workers have been asked to step away from their work lives, the universe of professional sports has been put on pause. I’m sad to say that my previous prediction of how the athletic part of our society would react to the… Read more
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The Three At-Bat Minimum: A Crazy Idea to Up Interest in Baseball (its different than the three batter minimum)
Watch enough well-pitched baseball games and eventually you will hear something similar to: “Mike Clevinger was stellar today, pitching a complete game shut out. He allowed just one hit and one walk over 9 innings, but was the benefactor of two double play balls. He faced the minimum.” “The minimum.” For those that may not… Read more
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A Post About NBA’s Schedule Suspension- A Shocked Sports Fan’s Perspective
I am so frustrated right now. Some of what I am about to say might come off as short-sighted or selfish, I understand that. I want to make it fully known that I totally understand and ultimately accept the decision that the NBA has made tonight. NBA games are officially suspended following the conclusion of… Read more
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The Roller-Coaster That Is Just Trying to Watch Your Team’s Games in 2020
I breathed a really big sigh of relief Thursday night. After much trepidation caused by the roller-coaster that has become Major League Baseball broadcast rights, I found out yesterday that I will indeed be able to watch my Cleveland Indians play baseball on television this season. Allow me to explain. Like many (especially younger) people,… Read more
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Historical Context: Sports, the Coronavirus and What Looms Next
The year is 1918. At this point in our history, World War I has waged on in Europe for four years. Individuals destined for myriad versions of fame, such as actress Rita Hayworth, businessman and founder of Wal-Mart Sam Walton, and historical and inspirational leader Nelson Mandela are born. The now world-famous Cleveland Orchestra is… Read more
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Cavs and Bickerstaff Are the Best Opportunity for Each Other
Well, we can’t say it hasn’t gotten off to a good start. After the not so shocking, yet still abrupt dismissal of Cavaliers Head Coach John Beilein over the course of the All-Star break, the Cavaliers were back in action last night for the first time in a week. They prevailed with a 113-108 victory… Read more
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MLB Caps off a Disappointing Off-Season with Questionable Rule Changes and Proposals
With the one exception of the Houston Astros organization still appearing classless, its been a week of change for Major League Baseball. On Wednesday, the league announced the full brunt of rule changes that will be a part of play for this coming season. They are, in to particular order: The 25-man roster is now… Read more
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Digging Slightly Deeper on What’s the “Right Thing” for the Indians- Lindor Part 2
Last week, I spoke on the potential for the Cleveland Indians and Francisco Lindor to come to agreement on a contract extension and what such an extension would look like. At the time, I reached the conclusion that there might be a number out there that is both a reasonable possibility for the Tribe as… Read more
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(Relatively) Instant Trade Reaction: Cavs Acquire Andre Drummond
It might not be the biggest news of the day, but the Cleveland Cavaliers’ trade deadline acquisition of Andre Drummond is definitely among the most perplexing of today’s deals. As the deadline has come and gone at 3 PM we can now take a full look at this transaction and try to make sense of… Read more
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Digging Slightly Deeper on What’s the “Right Thing” for Francisco Lindor: Part 1
Its been the biggest story of the Cleveland Indians off-season and really one of the biggest in the entirety of Major League Baseball. Indians All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor will come into his fifth full Major League season this year and will do so without a long-term contract. This past January, Lindor agreed to a $17.5… Read more
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Pick-Up Sports Talk: Cleveland 