Former Cleveland Indians shortstop and manager George Strickland dies at 84

Former Cleveland Indians shortstop and manager George Strickland dies at 84
By Plain Dealer staff and wire reports
February 23, 2010, 3:33PM

ToppsIndians shortstop George Strickland's 1958 Topps baseball card.By Nakia Hogan
The Times-Picayune

George Strickland, the slick-fielding shortstop for the Indians in their historic 1954 season and a two-time interim manager for the team, died on Sunday at 84.

The Indians acquired Strickland in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 18, 1952. Playing in an era when the value of middle infielders was determined by their fielding and not their hitting, Strickland batted .233 with 22 home runs and 213 runs batted in for the Indians before he was released on Aug. 3, 1960.

For much of his time with the Indians, Strickland's glove ably backed the Indians' famed "Big Four" starting pitchers: Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, and all-star Mike Garcia.

Strickland played 112 games, batting .213 with six homers and 37 RBI, in 1954, when Cleveland set what was then an American League record for wins, finishing 111-43 before being swept in the World Series by the New York Giants.

Strickland was an Indians coach from 1963-69, usually stationed at third base. His first stint as Cleveland's interim manager began on April 2, 1964, one day after manager Birdie Tebbetts suffered a heart attack, and days before the start of the season. The Indians went 33-39 with Strickland at the helm, before Tebbetts returned on July 5.

Cleveland began the 1966 season 27-10, but had slumped to a 66-57 record when Tebbetts was dismissed as the manager on Aug. 19. Strickland took over, and Cleveland went 15-24 the rest of the way to finish 81-81. Strickland went back to his duties as the third base coach when Joe Adcock was hired as the manager.

Strickland, a New Orleans native who was a standout baseball player at S.J. Peters High School in the early 1940s and played two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association, was one of that city's more celebrated players.

Nicknamed "Bo," Strickland was one of the more provocative speakers among a group of retired athletes in the New Orleans area who met once a week for lunch and some good-old-days conversation.

Strickland often was the life of the party.

"Everybody wanted to sit near George at those things," said local baseball historian Peter Barrouquere, a former Times-Picayune reporter. "He told the most amazing stories. When (Hall of Fame pitcher) Bob Lemon passed away, he kept us going for 3 1/2 hours with Bob Lemon stories. He had us in stitches."

Mel Parnell, a former All-Star pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and a high school teammate of Strickland, agreed.

"It was great getting together like that because we had a mixture of athletes," Parnell said. "We have baseball, football, basketball, a boxing referee and a race horse trainer. And we all talked about our profession. We would bring up stories about our playing days, which were interesting."
Strickland had much to talk about.

After graduating from high school, Strickland served in the Navy in 1944 and '45. He then spent five years in the minor leagues, including two seasons with the Pelicans, before making his major league debut in 1950.

Strickland made the Pirates in 1950, and including his time with them, he had a career batting average of .224 with 36 homers and 284 RBI.

Breaking down the big questions as the Cleveland Indians prepare for spring training: Analysis

Breaking down the big questions as the Cleveland Indians prepare for spring training: Analysis
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 20, 2010, 8:08PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Spring training is here. Where did the winter go?
There's still evidence of it on neighborhood streets and roofs, but in Goodyear, Ariz., a snowflake doesn't stand a chance. Maybe the winter has been hidden from view because of the frantic pace of the Indians' off-season maneuvering.
Excuse me, there was no maneuvering.
Seattle maneuvered. So did the Angels, Rangers, A's, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles. The Twins were busy. The same with Detroit, the White Sox and Royals. The Pirates, Nationals, Reds, Astros, Giants and Diamondbacks had people coming and going at a rapid rate.
The Indians opted to strike it rich through a bevy of non-guaranteed, minor-league contracts. Maybe it will work in one or two instances, but it's not the recommended way to build a team.
Then again, the Indians say they're beyond the rebuild stage. The 162-game season, which begins April 5 in Chicago, will test a portion of that belief.
Right now new manager Manny Acta and his new coaching staff, starting Sunday, have six weeks -- 43 days, to be exact -- to discover the beginnings of what kind of team they have.
Every team, be they World Series champion or also-ran, enters a new season with unanswered questions or key issues to be resolved. Some of the answers will come in spring training. Others won't be determined until well into the season. Injuries, roster moves and a player's talent will take care of the rest.
Here are the key issues facing the Indians.

WHAT KIND OF MANAGER IS MANNY ACTA?

Best-case scenario: Acta is able to repeat the small miracle he worked with the Nationals in his rookie season of 2007 when he built a starting rotation from scratch. The Nationals, picked to lose 100 games, went 73-89 and finished fourth in the NL East.
The Indians have given Acta better arms to work than he had in 2007. He still needs to find the right mix.
Worst-case scenario: The Indians resemble the uninspired Nats that some scouts saw under Acta in 2008 and 2009.
What will probably happen: Acta, the first Tribe manager to actually manage somewhere else in the big leagues besides Cleveland since John McNamara in 1990, uses that experience to establish a pressure-free teaching environment where young players can take a deep breath and relax. How many games they win is another question all together.

WHO WILL BE IN THE STARTING ROTATION?

Best-case scenario: Jake Westbrook's right elbow stays sound and he assumes the No. 1 spot. Fausto Carmona gets his head out of the clouds, his feet back on the ground and has his first winning season since 2007. Justin Masterson proves he's more starter than reliever. David Huff makes it two years in a row with double-digit victories. Aaron Laffey throws more strikes and stays strong the whole season. Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Sowers and Hector Rondon provide a safety net.
Worst-case scenario: The direct opposite of the above.
What will probably happen: A couple of starters will do well. A couple won't. Consistency and innings pitched will be a problem. The pen, which pitched the third most innings last year in the AL, will once again be overworked.

WHAT SEVEN PITCHERS WILL BE IN THE BULLPEN?

Best-case scenario: Closer Kerry Wood and set-up men Chris Perez, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith win the first five jobs. Jensen Lewis, Jamey Wright, Jason Grilli, Mike Gosling, Saul Rivera, Jess Todd, Talbot and Sowers will be the main competitors for the last two spots. There will be more competition in the pen than anywhere else in camp, except for the race to the players' cafeteria for breakfast and lunch.
Worst-case scenario: GM Mark Shapiro gets a deal he can't refuse and trades Wood before opening day. The bullpen, without a pressure-tested closer, is in a state of flux all year.
What will probably happen: Wood will be traded by midseason so he doesn't finish 55 games on the Tribe's watch to vest his $11 million option for 2011. Chris Perez takes over as closer, but he needs time to make the transition. Rafael Perez and Smith have bounce-back seasons, while the revolving door on the pen spins for the second straight year.

WHO'S GOING TO CATCH?

Best-case scenario: Veteran backup Mike Redmond pairs with rookies Lou Marson or Wyatt Toregas to keep the position warm until Carlos Santana -- scheduled to play some Cactus League games after breaking the hamate bone in his right hand in winter ball -- arrives from Class AAA Columbus. This is the thinnest the Indians' catching position has been in years.
Worst-case scenario: Marson and Toregas can't handle the everyday job. Santana, meanwhile, stalls in his first year at Class AAA. That means Redmond, 38, has to catch more than anticipated, but as Acta said in January: "I don't worry about his age. He's fresh. When you back up Joe Mauer, you don't play that much."
What will probably happen: Whichever rookie wins the job out of spring training does a decent job with the staff, but doesn't hit much. Redmond gets a chance to earn some of his games-played performance bonuses. Santana makes his big-league debut, but his impact won't be felt until 2011.

WHO'S GOING TO PLAY LEFT FIELD?

Best-case scenario: Michael Brantley picks up where he left off in September with a great spring to win the job. He gives Acta a speed element to put at the bottom of the lineup and link with Grady Sizemore in the No.1 spot. Trevor Crowe will back up Brantley as the fourth outfielder.
Worst-case scenario: Brantley isn't quite ready and needs more time at Columbus. Left field rotates among Crowe, Austin Kearns and Matt LaPorta. Even Shelley Duncan and Jordan Brown get into the act.
What will probably happen: Brantley opens the season in left, struggles and gets optioned to Columbus. He returns and takes over the job.

CAN GRADY SIZEMORE AND MATT LAPORTA STAY HEALTHY?

Best-case scenario: Sizemore (left elbow, left groin) returns to his All-Star, Gold Glove form in center field. LaPorta (left big toe, left hip) establishes himself as an every-day first baseman with the ability to play left or right field.
Worst-case scenario: Sizemore and/or LaPorta break down in spring training and aren't ready for the regular season. Indians scramble to replace them.
What will probably happen: From all reports, Sizemore and LaPorta should have the green light in spring training. They'll be handled carefully, but should be ready to open the season. If not, the Indians' depth will be tested.

IS LUIS VALBUENA AN EVERYDAY SECOND BASEMAN?

Best-case scenario: Despite the Indians' efforts to sign veteran second baseman Orlando Hudson this winter, Valbuena shows he can hit left-handers (.205 last year), improves his on-base percentage (.298) and maintains his extra-base hit ability (38 extra-base hits out of 92 overall last year).
Worst-case scenario: The AL adjusts to Valbuena, but he doesn't adjust back. Hello sophomore jinx.
What will probably happen: Mark Grudzielanek, Brian Bixler, or one of the other utility infielders the Indians have signed will play second when Valbuena needs a break against a left-hander.

WHEN DO NICK HAGADONE AND JASON KNAPP GET TO THE BIG LEAGUES?

Best-case scenario: The left-handed Hagadone, 24, could be banging on the door of Progressive Field by the middle of the 2011 season if he gets through this season healthy and with no performance setbacks. Obtained in the Victor Martinez trade, he's 6-5, 230 and typically throws between 93-94 mph. He can touch 98 mph and is projected as a front-of-the-rotation starter or closer.
Knapp, 19, is coming off right shoulder surgery and it's going to take him longer. The top prospect in the Cliff Lee deal is 6-5, 215 and throws between 93-95 mph. The Indians think he can be a top starter or closer.
Hagadone and Knapp will probably start at Class A Kinston this year, but while Hagadone could progress quickly, Knapp will be on a slower track because of his age and injury. He's got a chance to be in Cleveland late in the 2012 season, but more likely sometime in 2013.
Worst-case scenario: Hagadone and Knapp turn into the second and third coming of Adam Miller.
What will probably happen: Perhaps one of the two gets to Cleveland and pitches well. If they both make it, and pitch to expectations, it will make the Martinez and Lee deals easier to live with.

Cleveland Indians are playing catch-up behind the plate during spring training
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
February 26, 2010, 5:00AM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians have started spring training without a regular catcher. It's a problem because someone has to get behind the plate or every pitch is going to bounce to the backstop.

It's a unique situation for the Indians because over the past 6-1/2 years three-time All-Star Victor Martinez took care of that unpleasant job. Last spring, the Indians had what many teams considered two starting catchers in Martinez and Kelly Shoppach.

Martinez was traded to Boston in July to save money. Shoppach was traded to Tampa Bay in December for the same reason, but on a smaller scale.
It's going to take a while to assemble the pieces left behind.
Lou Marson and Wyatt Toregas, who don't have a year's time in the big leagues between them, will hold a catch-off for the starting job. It starts today with the first full-squad workout and could last until early April.

Veteran Mike Redmond was signed to help the winner over the rough spots of the season.
If Marson or Toregas aren't the answer, Carlos Santana will be waiting at Class AAA Columbus to save the day.

Sounds logical, but when was the last time logic worked for the Indians?
Manny Acta, like all managers, requires a lot more than offense from his catchers.
"Nobody is just going to throw a pitch with conviction just because you can swing the stick," said Acta. "You need to earn their trust."

Acta is looking for a catcher who calls a good game, works well with the pitching staff, blocks balls in the dirt and throws well. But most of all, he's looking for a catcher who can get the best out of whatever pitcher is on the mound when he's behind the plate.

Toregas and Marson have been listening

"You want to take all the pressure off your pitcher when he's on the mound," said Toregas, a 24th-round draft choice by the Indians in 2004. "You don't want him to think about what pitch he wants to throw."

Toregas made his big-league debut Aug. 1, the day after Martinez was traded. Toregas appeared in 19 games and hit .176 (9-for-51) with six RBI.

Marson came to the Indians from Philadelphia in the Cliff Lee trade July 29. He caught 21 games in the big leagues last year, seven with the Phillies and 14 with the Indians.

"It was a great experience last year," said Marson, a fourth-round pick in 2004. "It doesn't matter what fingers you put down, what matters is that they trust what you put down. That's what I'm going to try and get out of this spring."

Marson caught 14 games in September. That could give him an edge. He hit .250 (11-for-44) with four RBI last year with the Tribe. In 22 games in the big leagues, including one in 2008, he has hit one homer.

"Marson is a guy who gives you an approach to hitting that translates to the big leagues," said GM Mark Shapiro. "Obviously, he doesn't have a lot of power, but he puts the ball in play and gets on base."

The best part of Toregas' game is defense, but he hit .284 (59-for-208) with 10 doubles, seven homers and 29 RBI last year at Columbus.

"He calls a good game, blocks well, has a pretty good arm," said Shapiro. "Last year, his bat made some strides and that was good to see."

Hovering over Marson and Toregas is Santana, the Indians' top prospect. He seems recovered from a broken hamate bone in his right hand, but Acta and Shapiro have made it clear he will spend the year at Columbus, despite bringing the Class AA Eastern League to its knees last year by hitting .290 (124-for-428) with 30 doubles, two triples, 23 homers and 97 RBI.
"We're really excited about Carlos, but he's a guy who has never caught a Class AAA game," said Shapiro. "We love his tools, we love his production to date, it's just that we feel he's going to benefit from some finishing."

Shapiro would not say if Santana would make his big-league debut this year.
"That's a byproduct of his progression and whoever is the starting catcher," said Shapiro.

Don't cry over Robbie, save your tears for Bert Blyleven

Don't cry over Robbie Alomar, save your tears for Bert Blyleven
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer
January 06, 2010, 5:16PM
UPDATED: 5:16 p.m.

Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerRoberto Alomar was the best all-around player Paul Hoynes has ever seen, and he finished a handful of votes short of the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Robbie Alomar deserved election to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot today by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He didn't get it, but he's still the best all-around player I've ever seen.

Weep not for Alomar. He has 14 years left on the ballot and should make it next year after receiving 73.7 of the required 75 percent of the vote. It's the most votes a first-year player has ever received and not gotten elected.

Rusty Kennedy / Associated PressJust five votes short of Cooperstown, Bert Blyleven has had to wait an unbelievable 13 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, says Paul Hoynes.The guy I feel bad for is Bert Blyleven, who received 74.2 percent of the vote. The winner of 287 games missed enshrinement by five votes in his 13th year on the ballot. It is small and cruel margin for a pitcher who threw 60 shutouts and 242 complete games in a 22-year career.

Blyleven, who pitched for the Indians from 1981-85, has two years left on the ballot. The five-vote shortfall is the fifth fewest in history, trailing Nellie Fox (four), Pie Traynor (four), Billy Williams (two) and Jim Bunning (two). Those four eventually made it to Cooperstown, but Bunning and Fox ran out of time on the BBWAA's ballot and were elected by the Veterans Committee, which can be its own box of snakes.

I watched Blyleven win 19 games for the Indians in 1984. I still don't know how he did it. They lost 87 games that year and finished 29 1/2 games out of first place.

Blyleven's shortstop was Julio Franco, who made 36 errors. His closer was Ernie Camacho. Manager Pat Corrales had to come out in the ninth inning of almost every save situation and punch Camacho in the chest to remind him to forget his curve, slider and change-up and just throw his 98 mph fastball.

"No, tricks, Ernie," Corrales would scream.

Writers vote the way they do for many reasons. I believe the growth and interpretation of statistics has become more and more a factor in the process. It's one thing to watch a player throughout his career. It's another to put his statistics through a series of mathematical hoops to prove a point.

Blyleven was a Hall of Famer the day his career ended in 1992. He's still one today even if five votes say he isn't. A look at the percentage of votes he's received over the last 13 years show how the writers have been slow to warm to him: 18 percent in 1998; 14 percent 1999, 17 percent 2000; 24 percent 2001; 26 percent 2002; 29 percent 2003, 35 percent 2004; 41 percent 2005; 53 percent 2006; 48 percent 2007; 62 percent 2008, 63 percent 2009 and 74.2 percent in 2010.

I watched Alomar for the three years he played in Cleveland from 1999 to 2001. There was nothing he couldn't do. He hit for average and power. He stole bases. He played defense as if he invented the concept.

Was he a diva? Certainly. He's still the only player I've seen who caused a clubhouse ruckus because he didn't feel his pitcher hit a Cincinnati batter as hard as he'd been hit by a Cincinnati pitcher. Still, to watch Alomar and Omar Vizquel play the middle of the diamond for three years negated a lot of pettiness.

Drama and Alomar were never far apart. There was the spitting incident with plate umpire John Hirschbeck. When the Indians traded him to the Mets after the 2001 season, his drop in production was startling. Then came a lawsuit by a former girlfriend that he had AIDS.
These things may have cost Alomar votes, but they won't keep him out of Cooperstown. He missed by only seven votes this year.

BBWAA writers with 10 years experience are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. They can vote for as many as 10 players on the ballot. Here's mine:

• Alomar: He could have won the AL MVP in any of the three years he played in Cleveland.
• Blyleven: I don't understand why he's had to wait so long.

• Harold Baines: Career .289 hitter with 2,866 hits. He would have been an automatic Hall of Famer with 134 more hits.

• Andre Dawson: The Hawk was the only player elected by the writers this year. The late Hall of Fame baseball writer Jerome Holtzman told me Dawson was one of the few players he'd ever covered who could inspire a bad team to be better than they were. Eight Gold Gloves, 438 homers, 1,591 RBI and 314 steals helped the cause.

• Barry Larkin: Shortstop with good power. He hit .353 in the 1990 World Series when the Reds upset Oakland.

• Edgar Martinez: Has there ever been a hitter who has scared more Indians fans than Martinez?

• Jack Morris: Like Blyleven, I can't understand why Morris wasn't elected a long time ago. Critics say his ERA is too high. All I know is he was the winningest pitcher in the 1980s. That means he dominated his craft for 10 years.

• Tim Raines: I missed his prime years with the Expos. The stats say he's the best leadoff hitter this side of Rickey Henderson.

• Alan Trammell: I was voting for Trammell before Larkin came on the ballot this year. Quality player for a long time.

• Lee Smith: Before Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, there was Lee Smith and his 478 saves.

For parents, sons, daughters and all generations, baseball still matters: Bill Livingston

For parents, sons, daughters and all generations, baseball still matters: Bill Livingston
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer
December 19, 2009, 8:29PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- My Aunt Wilma was the youngest of eight children who grew up in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, while my father was the oldest. They were still the closest of them all.
She and my dad were drawn together by a love of reading, usually from the Collier's, Life and Saturday Evening Post magazines that surrounded them, and by baseball, to which each gave a lifetime of devotion.
My dad was a St. Louis Cardinals fan, born and died one. They were the team of the entire Southwest because of the reach of KMOX on the AM radio dial in the years before baseball expansion.
My aunt had no interest in the first major-league Texas team, the Houston Colt .45s, who soon were re-named the Astros. But the Texas Rangers were different. They were her team from the moment the old Washington Senators plopped down within easy driving distance of her until she died last month at the age of 86.
This will be my first Christmas without her. The stock of wisdom and laughter in the world went down when she left it.
I was able to spend an afternoon with her this summer in Texas, when she was in an assisted-living facility. She could still get around in her small apartment, and she had a TV set there. I am sure she had the Rangers schedule close at hand. Long after she was widowed, she passed her nights in the company of Nolan Ryan's fastball, which could bring the heat like the sweat-popping, eye-glazing 100-degree Dallas nights outside.
She rooted for the Indians when they reached the World Series in 1995 and 1997. She said it was because she had family here, but I also think it was because she could relate to the exquisite frustration of excellence that went unrewarded. She had seen Ryan and the young, still-precocious Alex Rodriguez toil valiantly in lost causes night after night.
She and her daughter Sissy visited Canton to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame several years ago. I made sure to set up a trip to Jacobs Field, too. The Tribe was out of town, but Aunt Wilma remembered how my dad would schedule his vacation so he could watch the daytime World Series games on television. Seeing the place where a World Series was played, in person, seemed to be her own field of dreams.
We started at the Bob Feller statue, in which Feller is rearing back to throw the hard one. His leg is just beginning its high kick. He knew how far his fastball might take him, and he was anxious to get started on the journey. Every Depression kid could relate to that leggy, hungry drive for success.
An RBI League (the initials stand for Returning Baseball to the Inner City) game was going on at the park. That was ironic. In earlier generations, more people followed baseball than the other sports combined. Every sportswriter can tell you he gets more mail from female readers about baseball than anything else. It used to transcend age, place and gender.
We took photographs of each other in the press box and stared out at the beautiful ballpark. Then we "borrowed" some paper napkins with Chief Wahoo's face on them, which she kept as souvenirs.
Richard Jacobs, the man who gave the park its name, is gone now, and so is his name on the building, and so is my aunt. After she died, I contacted the Indians staff and thanked them for their kindness years ago. Tribe communications director Curtis Danburg replied, "Sometimes we take for granted the impact this place and the game of baseball has on people."
He got that right.
My aunt kept saying, "I can't believe I'm in Jacobs Field, where they played the World Series!" Then, her hands would flutter up, and she would clasp them over her heart.

NDIANAPOLIS -- Manny does hats.

Looking as dapper as Frank Sinatra, or Humphrey Bogart in one of those old black-and-white detective movies, the Indians' new manager met the press Tuesday at the winter meetings wearing a black fedora to go along with his black jacket, shirt and pants.
"I like hats," said Acta.

Acta moved easily through the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott. He seemed to know everyone. He bumped fists with Jim Bowden, the general manager who hired him to manage the Nationals in 2007.

"I said when we hired him he was going to be the next Jim Leyland and I still feel the same way," said Bowden.

Acta couldn't take two steps in the crowded lobby without somebody hugging him, shaking his hand or interviewing him. He was a man in his element.

When Acta sat down at his designated table to talk to reporters, someone said Tony La Russa had been drinking out of a can of nearby Pepsi during an earlier interview. Acta grabbed the can and rolled it on his sleeve.

"I want to rub a little of him on me," he said.
Then he started talking about the Indians.

"The first thing we need to do is stop dwelling on the guys that left," said Acta, "because they're not coming back. We need to embrace the new kids that came aboard and are already ready to contribute at the big league level, and to face what it is.

"That's the type of team and market that we are. This is what we're going to do. We need to work hard, out-smart, out-work, out-scout, whatever we have to do to stop from falling into the excuse that we just don't have the right payroll."

The Indians' payroll is expected to be somewhere between $56 million and $65 million. Last year it was $85.1 million.

The list of players no longer here is long and familiar. Yet Acta does not think the Indians are starting over.

"I just don't agree when people are saying that we're rebuilding," he said, "because we have a lot of pieces in place."

He started naming names: Shin-Soo Choo in right field, Grady Sizemore in center, Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop, Jhonny Peralta at third, Travis Hafner at designated hitter.

Then he turned to the farm system with Carlos Santana, Hector Rondon, Nick Weglarz, Carlos Carrasco and others. The Indians' youth and farm system was as important as the third guaranteed year GM Mark Shapiro gave Acta in prying him away from Houston in November.

Some forms of perfection come with flaws.

Acta knows that Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona, his two most experienced starters, have to prove they can still pitch and win in the big leagues. He has to piece together the rest of the rotation from the suspect talents of Justin Masterson, David Huff, Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers, Rondon and Carrasco.

In the middle of the lineup, Travis Hafner must rediscover himself after two years of injury and poor performance. Left field has to be settled among Trevor Crowe, Michael Brantley and Jordan Brown. Matt LaPorta has to recover from two surgeries and prove he can play first base every day. No one knows if rookie Lou Marson is an everyday catcher.

In the bullpen, closer Kerry Wood needs consistent work and Rafael Perez needs to leave last year's demons behind. Jensen Lewis has to keep the ball in the park and Tony Sipp and Chris Perez must prove their hot streaks last season weren't mirages.

Then there is the biggest problem of all: how to deal with Sizemore's pirated Internet pictures to his girlfriend?

"I haven't seen them, because that's really not going to help me win one more game," said Acta. "I think it's sad, people using stuff like that to basically get into people's private lives. But you have to be aware of it."

Acta said he'll go to spring training with the idea of winning the AL Central. He expects the same from his players.

"We don't want to compete, we want to win," he said. "That's what we want to establish."

Lovullo's right! - Oct 23

Associated Press
CLEVELAND -- Torey Lovullo wants a chance to manage the Cleveland Indians after spending the last eight seasons working in the club's farm system.

"I'm familiar with the setting," Lovullo said Friday, after interviewing a second time with general manager Mark Shapiro. "This team is a lot further along than some might believe."
Lovullo emphasized his desire to take the job if it's offered to him.

"I have prepared for this and am ready," he said, adding that playing for seven different managers in eight seasons, including Terry Francona, helped mold his managerial philosophies.
Francona guided the Boston Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 and '07.

"What you really learn is what not to do," Lovullo said. "You learn from them all, but Terry's ability to communicate and relate to players is special."

Francona was a special assistant to Shapiro between jobs in Philadelphia and Boston.

Lovullo managed 35 players at Triple-A Columbus who played this year for Eric Wedge, who was fired with six games left in his seventh season as Cleveland manager.

The constant shuttle was caused by injuries and poor play by the Indians, who finished 65-97, their worst record in 18 years.

Some players sent down told Lovullo they had lost confidence after being yanked in and out of the lineup or moved from position to position.

"I like to get a lineup and try not to change it," Lovullo said. "I'm big on team chemistry. I want players to know I have their back, that they can play relaxed and comfortable. ... But I expect an effort every day. This team can look different, act different and play different."
Better relief pitching would be a welcome change.

When Cleveland won the AL Central in 2007, Joe Borowski led the league with 45 saves and had a group of reliable relievers setting him up. Last winter, Shapiro signed Kerry Wood to a two-year, $20 million contract -- and the new closer got only 26 save chances all season.

"The biggest challenge to an AL manager is knowing how to run a bullpen," Lovullo said. "You try and put guys in a role in which they are comfortable."

Lovullo thinks he can get the team to start better than the 11-21 record it had by mid-May.
"The last few days of spring training, you have to change the mindset and prepare as if it is already opening day," Lovullo said. "I'd like to take the team on a three-day trip, like we were going on the road."

Lovullo made his major-league debut with Detroit in 1987. He also played for the New York Yankees, Angels, Seattle, Oakland, Cleveland and Philadelphia, before one final season in Japan. In 303 big-league games, mostly as a utility infielder, he hit .225 with 15 homers and 60 RBIs.

He became an Indians minor-league instructor in 2001 and a year later guided Columbus (Ga.) to the second-half championship in the Class A South Atlantic League.

He was manager of the year in 2004 at Class A Kinston (N.C.) and again in 2005 at Double-A Akron, where he guided the Aeros to an 84-58 record and the Eastern League championship.