van Dyck: White Sox unretire Aparicio’s No.11 for Vizquel

This time it’s the No. 11 of Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan Hall of Famer. It will be worn by countryman Omar Vizquel, with the blessing of the former great shortstop.

The White Sox also “unretired” Harold Baines’ No. 3 in 1996 and 2000 when he returned to the team. Baines coaches first base and still wears his jersey number.

How will this affect his Hall of Fame chances?

Shaw: Kenny Lofton was exciting, but he will have tough time getting into baseball Hall of Fame

The impact sound of Kenny and the kasual glance…

Unfortunately for Kenny Lofton, there’s no “Most Exciting” category for entry into Cooperstown.

If there were, he might have slid across home plate in Seattle in Game 6 of the 1995 American League Championship Series and right through the door of the Hall of Fame.

Admission to the Hall, as Tim Raines was reminded yet again in the most recent vote when he pulled in 30 percent of the affection, is a far more tedious process for all but an elite few. Seventy-five percent of the vote is needed for induction.

The problem for Lofton isn’t that he was no Rickey Henderson. Nobody was. The pressing issue for Lofton is that as good as he was, he wasn’t Raines.

...A brief comparison: Lofton had 2,428 hits, an on-base percentage of .372 and drove in 781 runs.

Raines had 2,605 hits and an on-base percentage of .385. Raines not only drove in nearly 200 more runs and stole nearly 200 more bases but had nearly 400 more walks. He had 1,330 walks to 966 strikeouts. Lofton finished his career with more strikeouts than walks.

Raines played six more seasons, so that skews the numbers. But the point is if Raines is having trouble moving the Hall of Fame needle, even more difficulty awaits Lofton.

Peppy and Passionate at 90: A Conversation with Baseball Living Legend Bullet Bob Feller

“Peppy and passionate” Isn’t that the line Pepitone used to seduce Diana Sandre?

Blunt, resolute, and feisty, with large glasses, a slight paunch, and receding white hair, Feller is a man with secure opinions. Fresh from his most recent Cooperstown visit, he says that Pete Rose is a “liar” and “problem” who irreparably disgraced baseball by betting on it and that Rose should remain barred from the Cooperstown shrine (there is talk of a possible reconciliation).

“Pete Rose is not in and he shouldn’t be. Betting on baseball is worse than anything else that I can think of, much worse than taking performance-enhancing drugs. He is a liar and a troublemaker for the game. The commissioner should let him fall by the wayside and just go away.”

He has been vociferous in his condemnation of steroid users in baseball. On the same day as our interview, Manny Ramirez was outed as the latest representative of the 500-homers club to allegedly test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, joining Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. Ramirez also breached baseball’s drug policy this year, serving a 50-game suspension. Rafael Palmeiro failed a 2005 test. Barry Bonds’ urine sample was seized in a 2004 raid and shown to be positive.

“Barry Bonds should also be banned for life,” says Feller. “I´m not surprised by Ramirez´s flunking of the test, none of the news surprises me. They have been lying about it for years and years. This generation wants instant gratifications. Before their sixty they will all be dead, after years of pumping themselves full of things that are eating up their organs. It is all part of our society´s demand and need for conspicuous consumption. It´s a mess.”

Keith Law: Top 100 prospects

NO.  PLAYER
1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS
3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE
4 Buster Posey, C, SFO
5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX
8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA
9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY
11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC
13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI
15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN
17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS
19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN
20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR
21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL
23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM
24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK
25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL

Scouting reports for the top 25 should be free, I think.

Kenny Lofton: “I was not a cheater”

Slapnicka hitter rules!

An argument could be made he belongs in baseball’s hallowed Hall.

Now more than ever.

In light of Mark McGwire’s admission to using steroids and human-growth hormone while setting home run records, and with other high-profile players being suspended for banned substances, Lofton’s statistics may be viewed differently by Hall of Fame voters once he becomes eligible for induction.

Lofton hopes so.

“I was a guy who never did it (steroids), never tried to do it, never wanted to do it but I played against guys who obviously were doing it,” he said. “My competition level had to be at a certain level to be able to compete with those guys who were cheating.

“I was not a cheater, so hopefully they’ll take a look at that and see what I did under that period and hopefully they take that into account.”

“Igor” Gonzalez asked to be reinstated to play Double A

Former major leaguer Juan “Igor” Gonzalez asked the Baseball Federation of Puerto Rico be reinstated to play in the upcoming season of Double A ball

Tras cuatro años en el retiro profesional, González viene de jugar en el torneo Clase A. After four years in retirement career, Gonzalez has played in the tournament Class A.

El anuncio fue hecho durante la convención de la Federación, en la que se discutió el tema de los profesionales y reinstalados en el torneo. The announcement was made during the convention of the Federation, which discussed the issue of professionals and reinstated in the tournament.

PD: Long after leaving the Indians, Mudcat Grant still pitches his fondness for Cleveland

“When I met Billie Holiday, she had a sprained ankle,” Grant recalled. “Larry (Doby) took me in her dressing room. He introduced me. She thought I was the nicest southern gentleman that she’d ever met. But when they called her to go on stage she had a sprained ankle and she was hopping, so I picked her up and I took her on stage and she loved me forever after that. And I wrote home and I told my mom, ‘I said, mom, I took Billie Holiday on stage,’ and she said, ‘Boy what you been smokin?’”

MLB: Acta a hit with fans at Town Hall

Just give Acta his Master of Fine Arts degree already!

But once that club is assembled, what kind of manager is Acta? One season-ticket holder inquired about Acta’s policy on bunting, noting that his predecessor, Eric Wedge, tended to avoid the tactic.

This would have been an opportunity for Acta to simply tell the fan what he wanted to hear, but instead he turned the tables on him, asking him if he would let one of his best hitters bunt with a man on first and none out in order to get the runner into scoring position. The fan answered in the affirmative, and Acta quickly told him he was wrong, before launching into his sabermetric-aided beliefs. He said unless the hitter in question is batting below .240, the stats suggest that you’re better off letting the hitter swing away.

“People think it’s the absolute right thing to bunt [in that situation],” Acta said, “but you need to check the stats. Back in the day, we didn’t have computers, we didn’t have Twitter, we didn’t have Facebook. They’ve come up with some things that make you open your eyes and not play like Casey Stengel used to play.”

EV Tribune: Mesa unveils plan to keep Cubs; vote Monday

Mesa’s plan was developed after months of talks with the team to prevent the Cactus League’s most popular team from accepting a bid from investors near Naples, Fla.

The $84 million plan was drafted on requests that the Cubs had to develop a Wrigleyville-themed complex, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. The city would own the stadium and training facilities. Mesa maintains the current training facilities, but Brady said the team wanted to take that expense and gain advertising rights at the new complex.

Pirates trade Bixler, sign Donnelly

The Pirates have traded Brian Bixler to the Indians for Jesus Brito in an exchange of infielders, clearing space on the full 40-man roster for the signing of free-agent reliever Brendan Donnelly, which was made official this afternoon after he passed his physical.

Ding, dong, the Bix is dead!

Joe Charboneau involved in altercation at North Ridgeville bar

Please don’t tell me he opened an eye with a beer bottle.

Former Cleveland Indians player Joe Charboneau was involved in a fight last Thursday at a North Ridgeville bar, officials said Tuesday.

Police Capt. Allan Dent wouldn’t give details about what happened when police were called at 9:16 p.m. to the Century Tavern, 33312 Center Ridge Road.

“There was an incident that’s under investigation,” Dent said. “There was a fight that involved two people and both were taken to the hospital.”

Dent declined to give any other details citing the open investigation, but did say that no charges had been filed as of Tuesday.

According to the North Ridgeville Fire Department, the two people involved in the fight were transported to St. John West Shore Hospital in Westlake.

S. Korean baseball team vows gold medal in Asian Games

The manager of South Korea’s national baseball team said Friday that he will select the best players to win the gold medal at this year’s Asian Games.

“I’ll select players based not on their name value, but on quality of their play, regardless of whether they are in the domestic league or in foreign leagues,” said manager Cho Bum-hyun at a press conference. Cho led the Kia Tigers to a Korean series championship last year and automatically became the national team manager.

“I will check every player’s condition before I submit the final roster by September,” he added.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has to submit the 60-man preliminary roster by June 30 and the final list of 22 players by Sept. 30 to the organizing committee of this year’s Asiad. The 2010 Asian Games kick off Nov. 12 for 16 days in Guangzhou, China.
..
Young baseballers, including Choo Shin-soo of the Cleveland Indians, will compete for the 22-man roster. He will be exempted from his two-year compulsory military service if he and other Korean players win the gold medal.

South Korean draft law exempts male players from mandatory military service if they win an Asian Games gold or at least a bronze medal in the Olympics.
..

As baseball will be excluded from the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2010 Asian Games will be the only chance for the 27-year-old Choo to be exempted from mandatory military service.

Only wait, why would Cleveland let Choo participate- only the WBC is authorized for MLB players. Although maybe the fact a Gold Medal exemption would mean he wouldn’t have to leave the Indians when it’s time for him to fulfill his military duty will lead to the Indians to let him go and play.

Bert Blyleven staying positive on Hall of Fame prospects

Blyleven, 58, failed today for the 13th time to receive the necessary number of votes in annual balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America and thus will be on the outside looking in again — or more likely, sitting in a broadcast booth, working and circling for the Twins — when Andre Dawson is enshrined July 25 in a sunny, Sunday ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y. Dawson’s name was marked on 420 of the 539 ballots, 15 more than the 75 percent (405) he needed to gain election. Blyleven, in his strongest showing yet, got 400 votes for 74.2 percent.

“I’ve got to stay positive with it,” Blyleven told me when I phoned him shortly after the results were announced. (Full disclosure: I have voted for the Hall since 1991 and have put an X next to Blyleven’s name since he became eligible in 1998.) “It’s come up a long way, so that’s very nice. … Only five votes short. There’s not much you can say.”

Then Blyleven cracked wise: “Well, you can string ‘em up so they never vote again.”

Anyone want to forward him Marriotti’s address?

Yahoo Sports: Duk: The top 10 playoff disappointments of the 2000s

Next up are the most disappointing playoff teams of the decade, a group that crept close to the promised land before leaving all of their fans to wonder what might have been. We weighed a number of factors before including each member, but please note that this list does not include any World Series teams. It’s our view that an AL or NL title can rarely be viewed as a total downer. (We’re sure, though, that fans of the 2002 Giants, ‘03 Yankees, ‘04 Cardinals and ‘06 Tigers would like to disagree.)

Sports’ Forrest Gump (Globe: His Splendid Moment)

Life is like a box of Cracker Jack: how big of a prize you get depends on how much you prize it.

At 76, former Red Sox outfielder Carroll Hardy is in stellar health, but he knows his obituary is all but set in stone.

The only man ever to pinch hit for Ted Williams.

“I’m kind of excited by it,’’ says Hardy, a glint in his eye. “I think it’s funny.’’

He’s been described as having the good fortune of Forrest Gump, and for good reason. Hardy also played one year in the NFL and caught four touchdown passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle. He pinch hit for a young Yaz and a rookie Roger Maris. He was tutored by the legendary Tris Speaker, coached for the volatile Billy Martin in Triple A Denver, and hit a walkoff grand slam at Fenway Park. He was even responsible for a change in the NFL draft.

EV Tribune: Mesa puts Cubs batting cages on hold

Mesa is refusing to upgrade a ballpark used by the Chicago Cubs unless the team enters more serious negotiations to keep spring training here.

The city was about to sign off on roughly $684,000 for semi-enclosed batting cages but on Thursday decided to hold off until top Mesa officials meet the Cubs in Chicago on Friday.

The city had expected the Cubs would welcome improvements that the team requested, Mayor Scott Smith said. But he noted that when a Chicago sports columnist asked Cubs manager (sic - he’s team president) Crane Kenney about the batting cages, no comment was given.

“The silence that came out of Chicago and the Cubs was deafening,” Smith said.

SI/Andrecheck: If you wait too long to sign free agents, you may be waiting forever

While waiting for a team’s young nucleus to come together before adding free agents seems like a good strategy, teams that adhere to this can get stuck in a perpetual cycle of rebuilding. Huntington’s Pirates have been in that rut for the past 17 years. It costs a lot of money to retain decent players with six or more years of MLB service. However, it’s difficult to construct even a .500 team with only young players ineligible for free agency. Hence a team with a rebuilding mantra may be constantly letting free agents go and avoiding major signings because they are not one or two players away from playoff contention.

Interesting take.

AP: Nunnally completes Acta’s staff

CLEVELAND—The Cleveland Indians have hired Jon Nunnally as their hitting coach.

Nunnally spent last season as hitting coach for Triple-A Columbus. He has been with Cleveland’s organization for three years since retiring as a player in 2006.

Bill Livingston: This writer won’t hustle for Roberto Alomar as a first-ballot Hall of Famer

Doctored Livingston, I presume?

Roberto Alomar is on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. I can’t vote for him.

A .300 lifetime hitter and often a magician around second base, Alomar played like poetry in motion for most of 1999-2001 with the Indians. At least that was so until his emotions and the muddled processes inside his head turned the poems into graffiti. Then, the magician made the Indians’ chance to win disappear.

I will vote for Alomar next year if he doesn’t make it. But not this time. First-ballot inductees are the cream of the crop, the ultra-elites. A player who hurt his team’s chances to win and gave less than his best in the decisive game of a playoff series doesn’t qualify as the very best.

...When Mark Shapiro was named the new general manager after the season, replacing John Hart, I brought up Alomar’s fifth-game performance in a meeting. Shapiro admitted that Alomar did not give his all that day. He knew the player was a diva, and traded him before the next season.

Although he hit only .190 in the ALDS, Alomar hit .336, a career high, in the 2001 regular season. He never came close to it again as a full-time player in the three years he had left. That was a surprise.

It was also karma.

Rays acquire C Kelly Shoppach from Indians

The Tampa Bay Rays are closing in on a deal for Kelly Shoppach of the Cleveland Indians, according to major league sources.

Shoppach, 29, hit .214 last season for the Indians, with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs. He appeared in 89 games.

Marc Topkin reports its a done deal for a player to be named later

Indians’ Sizemore blames theft for racy Web photos

Almost nothing to see here. Move along.

Steamy photos of the Cleveland Indians’ Grady Sizemore have popped up online, and the All-Star center fielder complains they were stolen from his girlfriend’s e-mail.

Sizemore tells The Plain Dealer of Cleveland that the nearly nude pictures were meant only for her. He told the newspaper Sunday night that legal action is being taken.

A Web site still featuring a dozen photos of Sizemore in various states of undress Monday morning also posted a note from a Major League Baseball investigator asking that they be taken down. The message said the pictures were stolen from a personal computer and directed the site to preserve any related records in anticipation of a criminal complaint.

BPro: Indians Top 11

Five-Star Prospects
1. Carlos Santana, C
Four-Star Prospects
2. Lonnie Chisenhall, SS
3. Alex White, RHP
4. Jason Knapp, RHP
5. Nick Hagadone, LHP
Three-Star Prospects
6. Hector Rondon, RHP
7. Lou Marson, C
8. Jason Kipnis, OF/2B
9. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
10. Michael Brantley, OF
11. Zach Putnam, RHP

Four More:
12. Jess Todd, RHP: Todd is a short, squat reliever acquired from the Cardinals, and one who reached the big leagues in short order, but his ceiling is probably as a seventh-, maybe eighth-inning set-up man.
13. Nick Weglarz, OF: Two years of non-performance have dropped him significantly, as a ton of walks can only get you so far. As a first baseman or left fielder, Weglarz needs to show more.
14. T.J. House, LHP: He was an over-slot lefty from 2008 who showed solid stuff in his full-season debut; he’s a good breakout candidate.
15. Jason Donald, SS: He’s always been a bit overrated, and profiles best as a nice utility type.

1. Carlos Santana, C

For Feller, Navy was easy decision

Page 2: Did you miss baseball in your time at sea?

Feller: Baseball is only a game, a game of inches and a lot of luck. During a time of all-out war, sports are very insignificant. Life comes down to honesty and doing what’s right. That’s what’s most important. Our Constitution is more important than baseball. Although these days, I don’t think most people could tell you the first three words of the Constitution!

Levin: A Cleveland View of the Sabathia-Lee Matchup

Brutal:

As we await the first pitch of the 2009 World Series, you will forgive us Cleveland fans if we’re not quite sure how we feel about this Game 1 matchup. At the moment, we’re merely dubious, but we’ll be feeling a whole range of emotions when C.C. Sabathia(notes) and Cliff Lee take the mound on Wednesday night. There will be an irresistible pinch of excitement, watching the players we’ve spent years rooting for reach this pinnacle. There will be sadness, watching them achieve it with other teams — and for other teams’ fans. Over the course of the game, there will be some fun moments watching “our guys,” but in the end, that’s going to give way to an all-abiding sense of disappointment.

Oh yes, there’s going to be anger. In fact, there already is. Anger at a Cleveland Indians team that was picked to win their division four years in a row, yet managed just one winning record in those four years. Anger that we’ve made the playoffs just once in nine seasons — I’m already counting 2010 — and almost went to the World Series in that one winning year. Almost. Anger at a general manager who just announced the hiring of a manager who was cast away by the worst organization in the game. Anger at an ownership group perceived as too thrifty to pay top-dollar for a name like Bobby Valentine, just as they were too cheap to keep these two lefty aces on the Cleveland roster.

Perhaps most of all, there is anger at the sports gods who ordered up another kind of special humiliation for Cleveland fans. Two true aces emerge, after dozens of seasons without any aces. Our boys bring home the Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons — which never happens! — only to be traded away in consecutive seasons. Yes, this outrage, it’s juicy. Much worse than that 43-0 homecoming drubbing the Steelers gave the Browns in 1999, far more inexplicable than the Indians’ three-game collapse to lose the 2007 ALCS. This one, it’s special. Just like blowing the World Series with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in 1997’s Game 7, it’s a screwing that’s been saved just for Cleveland fans and nobody else. And don’t think we’re not pissed about it.

Lots of Indians went to the postseason this year, you see. The Dodgers lineup had three — Manny Ramirez(notes), Casey Blake(notes) and Ron Belliard — not to mention our all-time home run leader, Jim Thome(notes), on the bench. Victor Martinez(notes) went with the Red Sox, while Rafael Betancourt(notes) went with the Rockies. The Cardinals had Mark DeRosa(notes) and Ryan Ludwick(notes). And now, the coup de grace, an all-bartered-away-Indians matchup in Game 1 of the World Series. Two guys who could never put it together for the Indians — or was it the other way around? — battling it out for all the marbles. Yeah, you’d be angry, too.

Justice: Astros have a very bad day, and that’s being kind

It’s not Rainbow Guts throwupback uni-day already...is it?

Manny Acta was the guy they wanted. The Astros liked everything about him. His presence and personality. How he forged relationships with players. His ability to run a game.

I said from the beginning that there was no right answer in this search for a new manager. Manny Acta would have been terrific, but then so would Phil Garner, Bob Melvin, Tim Bogar, Jim Fregosi and a dozen or so others.

But the Astros settled on Manny Acta. Ed Wade and Tal Smith went through the list and the interviews and decided he should be the guy to lead the Astros through an important period in their history.

There’s no use surgarcoating what happened these last 48 hours. Drayton McLane refused to offer Acta a three-year contract. He offered two, and even when the Cleveland Indians offered three, he held firm.

This is the first time McLane has ever attempted to hire a manager or general manager that was being sought by other clubs, and he wouldn’t get into a bidding war.

...Why he decided to draw the line at three years is absolutely amazing considering the millions he has thrown at has-beens Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, etc. It’s a funny time to get religion. I wish he’d taken a similar tough line when negotiations began with Carlos Lee, but that’s another story.

Acta Era Begins – Indians Name Manny Acta as Manager

Woo-hooo! Best Cleveland acta since Jim Backus...at least!

Let the Many Acta era begin. Today the Indians made it official, hiring the 40-year-old as their manager. Team spokesman Bart Swain said Sunday that Acta has signed a three-year contract with a club option for 2013. Additional terms were not disclosed.

Acta was fired by the Washington Nationals in July. The Indians chose him after a second round of interviews over former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Indians Triple-A manager Torey Lovullo.

The team was set to talk to Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly. Acta also interviewed for Houston’s opening.

“We are very excited to have Manny Acta as our Major League manager,” said Executive Vice President and General Manager Mark Shapiro. “After speaking with an impressive array of candidates, we feel that Manny is a very strong and experienced leader who possesses great energy and enthusiasm along with tremendous communication skills and a positive mindset that will command a presence in the dugout, clubhouse and with our fans.”

Hoynes: Veteran manager Bobby Valentine a finalist for Cleveland Indians’ vacancy

This calls for a little Woo-Woo!

Bobby Valentine, whose New York Mets reached the World Series in 2000, is one of the finalists for the vacant Indians manager’s job.

Valentine, 59, it has been learned, will come to Cleveland this week for a second interview. He is expected to be one of “three to five” finalists to interview with GM Mark Shapiro and assistant GM Chris Antonetti.

...Manny Acta, fired as Washington’s manager in July, and former Indians third baseman Travis Fryman, the Tribe’s Class A Mahoning Valley manager for the last two years, are believed to be two of the other finalists.

It’s also believed the Indians have contacted Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly, but it’s unclear if they’d have to wait until the Los Angeles is finished with the postseason to formally interview him.

Shapiro said he’d like to have a manager in place by the end of the World Series. The Indians fired manager Eric Wedge with six games left this year. The Indians went 65-97, their worst finish since 1991.

Cardboard Gods: Wilker: Don Hood

And yes...we called it the “Don the Hood” card.

This 1977 card frightened me a little when I was a kid. In most baseball cards from those days, the subject looked directly at the viewer, or else was engaged in some sort of action on the field. More often than not, blue sky was visible. None of these norms are present in this representation of Don Hood. In fact, his pants provide the only evidence that he might be a baseball player, but even those could be part of the haphazard outfit of, well, a hood, an emaciated coke-frazzled hood, perhaps, who is waiting to issue threat-backed demands in a dank alley outside a rundown disco. I mean, what could be in his left hand behind his back? When I ponder this question, the possibility of the answer being a baseball ranks far behind such other possibilities as a broken beer bottle, a switchblade, or even a switchblade comb.

I always wanted a switchblade comb. (What, would you rather I delve into the subject of Don Hood? Don Hood had a lifetime 34-35 record after recording a loss [upon giving up two unearned runs due to a Buddy Biancalana error] in his last appearance in the very last game of the very last season of his decade in the majors.) They sold switchblade combs in comic books, but for some reason I never got my act together to send away for one. I didn’t have a pile of money lying around, I guess, and what money I did have I spent on purchasing Don Hood’s likeness in cardboard, along with thousands of others cards. Maybe I understood that somehow if I did send away for a switchblade comb, the reality of the object, as opposed to the unassailable hypothetical notion of it, would be weighted with disappointment.

Let’s Go Tribe: Fire Everyone! - Mark Shapiro

A+!

Of all the installments in this series, this is the one where it’s most tempting to beg off and admit, this might just above my pay grade.  I’ll be honest, I can’t say with much confidence whether Mark Shapiro should be fired.  What I can say is that there are definitely good reasons to fire him.

Before we get to that, better face up to some hard facts.  If you’re going to fire Shapiro, you have to believe that a better option is available.  Chris Antonetti is the heir apparent, but you fire Shapiro and keep Antonetti only if you think that in keeping Antonetti, you preserve the best parts of Shapiro while rooting out his shortcomings.  Heck, maybe that’s actually the case, but I personally couldn’t say.  It doesn’t seem likely.  And if Antonetti was the instant front-runner for most any GM opening, what would that make Shapiro if he were available?

...

The sum of these observations is this one, frightening, inescapable conclusion:  Shapiro has not given us any concrete reason to believe that he knows how to put people into critical positions who are capable of evaluating, developing and coaching real talent — the kind that can thrive at the major league level.  Without people in key roles who are possessed of that kind of judgment and talent, it doesn’t make any difference how good your organizational processes are or how much class-acting you do.  We cannot contend on a diet of trade-acquired minor leaguers and recycled starting pitchers alone.  If these things weren’t clear five years ago, or even one year ago, they ought to be crystal clear now.

I am just a scribe, neither scout nor coach, not a baseball executive and certainly not a former major leaguer.  So I don’t really know what’s wrong with the Cleveland Indians.  But it’s a problem if Mark Shapiro doesn’t know either.  And as much respect for him as I have, I’m not at all convinced that he does.

SI VAULT (1954): The Twilight Of The Gods

“Attention, please!” boomed the impersonal voice of the loudspeaker at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, breaking in on the second game of the Indians’ Sunday double-header with the New York Yankees. “Today’s paid attendance is 84,587, the most that ever saw a regular season major league game.” The crowd applauded but quieted down when the speaker boomed again. “Attention, please. Today’s attendance, including passes, is 86,563, the most that ever saw a major league game.” This time the crowd was permitted to cheer its own magnificence without interruption.

This impressive compliment fully digested, the largest crowd that ever gathered to watch a baseball game went back to the fascinated contemplation of what had brought most of them to Municipal Stadium in the first place—the Cleveland Indians’ effective demonstration that they are a better team than the five-time World Champion New York Yankees. As drama, it might very well have been entitled The Twilight of the Gods. While a band played brassily in left field, the Yankees followed Thor and Wotan into eclipse.

Yeah, 1954 was totally the end of the New York Yankees. Totally.