I don't have a passion, I'm passionate

Being a Cleveland fan in Minnesota makes it difficult to talk Tribe with anyone other than my wife.  She’s not an Indians fan, native Minnesotan so she loves her some Twins, but she understands how important it is for me to have someone to grumble to when we blow 9th innings or some *cough Sizemore cough* ends up on the DL, again.  

So she listened politely as we rustled through the Sunday morning paper (we, like everyone under 40, get most of our news from the internet, but I love newspapers too much to give up on them entirely), sipped our coffee and I explained how important last night’s game was to Cleveland baseball.

As entertaining as Eric Wedge’s facial tics were as he sat motionless in the dugout in the early 2000s, having a team that shows actual passion out on the field is wonderful.  I agree with similar tweets that I’m much more comfortable seeing where this kind of emotional energy leads us instead of relying on even keel baseball stats to win games.

When Gomez hit Moustakas and got ejected in the third, it showed a passionate side to the Indians that we haven’t seen in a while. Then, when Choo hit the go ahead double? That's right, a passionate side that actually wins games. Wins. Games. I love that intensity. I want to see it from all athletes, from my 9th grade lacrosse team to professionals making millions of dollars.  I know it’s a business, but lets see some excitement out there.

Wedge was all about stats.  Lets all play the same every day and statistically we’ll beat them in the long haul.  Whenever we saw his teams get too excited, in one direction or another, they fell apart.  Every time.  Plus the riffs within the teams showed that not everyone can put on the emotionless mask as easily as others.  Remember Cliff Lee throwing his glove into the stands?  Or when he shat all over Cleveland fans after being traded to the Phillies?  How about the Brandon Phillips mess?  

Time and again, the Indians didn’t know what to do with passionate guys who didn’t fit the mold Wedge was trying to build.  That mold though?  It lost big games, because people get excited about big games.  Hell, WE WANT THEM TO GET EXCITED ABOUT BIG GAMES.  I want someone who has the same passion I do for Cleveland baseball and then go perform.  Not a robot who reaches a big point and collapses under the stress of the situation and the stress of keeping his emotions in check.

Let’s get excited out there and have some fun, and I’m glad Acta’s style plays into that mindset.

There's always next year...

Every season I get excited about Cleveland Indians baseball.  The crack of bats and the smack the ball makes when it sails into a leather glove from across the field.  There are plenty of better love letters written about baseball than I’d be able to muster here, but I thought I’d break out a little timeline for any other tribe fans to reminisce.  

1990s - I know this was the era of great baseball in Cleveland, but I’ll be honest, I was pretty young for most of the glory days.  Plus, living so close to Cincinnati left me with just as much daily information about the Reds than the Tribe.  I went to a few more Tribe games than Reds games (my family being from Cleveland) but overall this was kind of a blur for me.

2003 - This was the first time I’ve ever sat down to watch almost all of the games on TV.  My dad and I spent the summer watching baseball, talking baseball and breathing Cleveland baseball.  We knew the team wasn’t going to amount to much, but I remember being intrigued by their professed plan to evaluate before win.  They knew they couldn’t really compete, so they left pitchers in when they should have taken them out to “see what they do in that situation.”  Infuriating for the casual fan who wants to win, but fascinating to see the young players evolve over time.  

2004 - Much like 2003, this was still a very young team that started to show a lot of promise.  CC, Westbrook, the acrobatic Ronnie Belliard and Victor Martinez were more fun to watch than their 80-82 record let on.  Kazuhito Tadano threw his 50 mph curveball.  I watched almost every game on TV again this season and had a blast watching young talent materialize into something before my eyes

How does someone so overweight make moves like this?  One of the many mysteries of Indians baseball

2005 - This fun team became more fun when they won 93 games but, heartbreakingly, didn’t make the playoffs.  Grady Sizemore appeared and everything clicked in a lot of ways.  Eric Wedge still drove my Dad crazy (Wedge coaches by the stats, not by the feel of the game.  And he constantly changed his lineup, something my Dad just abhors about modern baseball).  

Two Milkduds short of 300 pounds.  

2006 - An off year that felt like a mirage.  This team took huge steps forward in ‘03, ‘04 and seemed to come into their own in ‘05 only to take some steps backwards this season.  They ended up 78-84 and left everyone a little nervous.  This year started my trend of seeing an occasional game on TV, but mostly following them on XM radio and the internet.

2007 - This was the year.  Everything clicked, we won 96 games and were one win away from the world series.  One.  win.  away.  Damn Redsox.

It really angers me that people say he shortened his career by "playing all out, everyday."  What the hell else is someone supposed to do when getting paid millions of dollars to play a game?

2008 - I remember having misgivings at the start of the season.  People were going nuts, convinced our 96 wins in 2007 would continue, but they made no moves in the offseason.  None.  And I really think a team’s responsibility is to make themselves better each off season, not just to keep the status quo.  81-81.  A big step backwards, plus we lost CC.  The end of this latest rebuilding era was coming.

2009 - Lee is traded, and the wheels fall off.  65-97.  Eric Wedge is fired and the rebuilding is officially labeled a failure in my mind.  Sure it brought some great players and teams to the North Coast, but they underperformed and only occasionally clicked.

2010 - 69-93, and suddenly the last 20ish years of good baseball in Cleveland gives way to feelings that we’re destined to having another 30 slump.  

2011 - I’ll be honest, I, like a lot of people, had no idea what to make of this team.  They exploded last year at the beginning of the season and over performed, followed quickly by a looooong stretch of underperforming.  80-82.

2012 - I’m excited to see what they do this year, but my pessimistic gut says the underperforming is more accurate than the early season over performing.  I don’t trust the offense and even though Chris Perez was a machine last year, he looks pretty out of shape in his limited Spring Training.

But I’m still excited, I can’t help it.  The grass, the smacking of leather gloves, the crack of the bats, the arcs of the balls.  I love them all.  I love my Tribe, even if they just break my heart.