The Starting Five

I am in a state of shock right now over the developments up north in Cleveland around by beloved Indians.
The Tribe has hired Manny Acta as their new field manager with a three-year contract and option for a fourth. Here is a guy that went 16-62 before he was finally canned after 2 1/2 years managing the Washington Natinals (intended). Something like 94 games below .500 on his record and suddenly he is the Indians new manager.
And even more, it came down to a bidding war with the Houston Astros.
Acta must have interview well with the Indians brass and said all the right things to general manager Mark Shapiro — YES, YES, YES. Everything Shapiro likes to hear, just like Eric Wedge.
The newspaper and online stories already today are reporting Acta says he is a “common sense” manager. The fans already are in an uproar. The ownership just can’t get it right — Shapiro should have been gone at the same time Wedge was fired and then everything could start over from square one — not just with Acta.
He couldn’t become a successful manager in Washington. What makes anyone think he will be one in Cleveland? If he is eventually the second coming of Mike Hargrove, or Lou Boudreau, then I’ll admit my sarcasm and disgust on this hiring was out of line.

And by the way, Wednesday night is the World Series opener and who are the starting pitchers? Cliff Lee for the Phillies and CC Sabathia for the Yankees…. MMM … former Cleveland pitchers.

And I can’t believe Tony LaRussa has hired Mark McGwire as a hitting coach. Without steroids, can he really teach someone how to hit, or just give them some pointers on how to not strike out as much?

A friend just emailed me these Qs & As:

      Q. What do you call 47 millionaires sitting around a TV watching the
      Super Bowl?
      A. The Washington Redskins.

      Q. What do the Redskins and Billy Graham have in common?
      A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell “Jesus Christ.”

      Q. How do you keep the Redskins out of your yard?
      A. Put up a goal post.

      Q. Where do you go in D.C. in case of a tornado?
      A. To FedEx Field – they never have a touchdown there!

      Q. What do you call a Redskin with a Super Bowl ring?
      A. Senior Citizen

      Q. What’s the difference between the Redskins and a dollar bill?
      A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

      Q. How many Redskins does it take to win a Super Bowl?
      A. We may never find out in the 21st century.

      Q. What do the Redskins and opossums have in common?
      A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.

I should send a thank you note to each and every member of the Baltimore Orioles this season, especially those that have been part of the big losing streak at the end of the year.

It is looking like a safe bet that the Orioles will have the fewest wins in the American League this year, thereby keeping my Cleveland Indians from that honor.

Way to go Orioles !!!

I’m not a HUGE National Football League fan, but I do pay attention to what’s going on around the league.

There are so many sidelights in pro sports that go along with the actual event itself and the NFL is no different — whether its a Tony Romo love ordeal; a T.O. team problem; another suspension or whatever. Always something.

And now, the next chapter in the NFL’s As The World Turns is the on-again, off-again retirement of Brett Favre.

Two years ago Favre retires from Green Bay. He literally holds the team hostage in making a decision. Then he decides he is going to quarterback the New York Jets. Then it is time for retirement again. Then, he does it all over again making news during the offseason whether he is going to sign with Minnesota. Only a few weeks ago he announced he is staying retired. And then, the bombshell on Tuesday comes that he has signed a contract with the Vikings to play this season.

Maybe he doesn’t like staying at home. Doesn’t want to see the weeds grow. Doesn’t want to mow the grass.  Maybe he wants to play again, so in two years, he can leave Minnesota, jack them around and then do it again to someone else. Who knows, maybe it is senility setting in on him. He obviously doesn’t need the money. But c’mon Brett, don’t try to tell us in an interview that your little daughter was the influencing decision on your return to the NFL.

Maybe Jim Brown can come out of retirement and play fullback for the Cleveland Browns. Or even Bernie Kosar comes back to the Browns as a owner-player.

It appears the long national nightmare is over.

Yeah, right.

Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress told the Star-Tribune that Brett Favre has decided to stay retired after holding yet another team hostage for an entire summer.

Childress didn’t use the “holding hostage” reference. That was me. But you’ve got to wonder how this makes the Childress and the rest of the organization feel. The team made no secret that it wanted Favre, and so it only stands to reason that they were at least making some plans for him to be there.

They wanted Favre because he would clear up the situation at quarterback. Now, that situation is every bit as cloudy as it was before.

I made the comment the other day that I wanted one of two things to happen:

1. Favre retires and goes away … for good … really.

2. He comes back with the Vikings … or any other team, for that matter … and goes 4-12, then slumps into oblivion, his legacy tarnished for good.

I really hope that since he’s started down path No. 1, he stays on that path.

Go away, Brett. Just go away.

Could Pete Rose finally get a chance to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? The New York Daily News is reporting that commissioner Bud Selig is considering lifting the lifetime ban on baseball’s all-time hit king (and all-time favorite player of yours truly).

Hank Aaron thinks Pete deserves to be in the Hall. I agree!

Need a remedy for your O’s blues? 

This video is worth a laugh. I just saw it for the first time.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com wrote a nice piece about the O’s today. (Read it here.)

When the O’s called up Matt Wieters in late May, I thought that might be the spark they needed to finally put together a winning season this year. I think I might have been wrong — about this season, at least.

After they swept the Phillies two weeks ago at Philly, I thought that might finally be the turning point. I was wrong again, as they got swept by the Marlins the next series and haven’t played consistently well since.

Yes, my hopes are still high for the future. But I need to keep reminding myself that that future probably is not tomorrow, next week or next month.

Yet, there’s still an entire second half of the season to be played, and anything can happen. Hopefully there will be more to O’s magic than Nick Markakis balancing folding chairs on his chin.

I’ll make this real short because it’s late and doesn’t deserve alot of mention as far as I am concerned.

I hate talking about a player I once cheered in Cleveland — at least presuming he was clean back then.

Maybe I just don’t understand the priority of baseball fans these days. Friday night Manny Ramirez made his return to baseball following his 50-game suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy.

How is it that fans can cheer an individual that is making oodles and oodles of money, has missed 50 games and is pretty much a black spot? Beats me. The LA Dodgers went 29-21 without him in the lineup, Juan Pierre hit over .300 as his replacement — but yet, the star of cornrows is back in business, much to the delight of those I can’t understand.

I’m with everyone else that certainly was not at all shocked that Sammy Sosa is one of the names on the steroids list. I just wish the entire list would be released. It’s totally unfair to those players that are actually playing, and that have played in the past, that they continue to wonder if they are on the hit list but not guilty.

So, here we are. Sammy Sosa had 609 career home runs and is 6th on the all-time list. Hmmm. Mark McGwire is 8th, Rafael Palmeiro is 10th, Alex Rodriguez is 12th and Manny Ramirez is 17th. Gee, where do their names stand in baseball infamy right now?

Made me think. Ken Griffey is 5th all-time. Do you think he is guilty?

And being from Cleveland and the Indians fan I have always been, now I am beginning to get a little suspect over the man that is currently in 13th place — Jim Thome. Gee, I really hope he is not guilty. I’d take that as a personal pain, having dealt with him when I was in the Cleveland-area media.

I can only think how Thome was when he hit the majors — 185 pounds. We knew he would be a home run threat, but wouldn’t have thought 553 of them. And how big has he gotten over the years? Anything far from 185 pounds. I hope and pray he’s not.