Friday, June 23, 2006
Quit? The Indians? Naw...
By John Chandler
So C.C. Sabathia says he quit in Wednesday's disastrous third inning. Yeah, I did, too. I quit watching.
The Cubs (28-43 if you're keeping score) nickel and dimed Sabathia for 9 runs. It was the worst outing of his career. Now, we know why.
"What's inexcusable? For me not to make pitches. For me to be giving up," Sabathia said. "That's something as a pro I should never do. I would like to apologize to everybody. I lost focus."
Is this post game revelation a little disturbing to hear? Of course. The last thing the Indians need is for their ace to throw in the proverbial towel. But is it an accurate account of that torturous third inning? Not close. C.C. may have lost focus, as he said. But more to the point, he lost his defense. Then he fell on the sword to protect them.
With runners on the corners and one out, Ben Broussard charged a grounder to the first base side of the pitcher's mound. He said his first thought was double play, but then gunned home to a rather surprised Victor Martinez. The catcher saw what Ben didn't: the runner never strayed far from third. Everyone was safe. Ronnie Belliard made matters worse, fielding the next grounder, then freezing as Chicago scored.
If this kind of mental lapse was isolated, the whole thing could be excused. But bad defense now plagues the Indians every night. Errors are epidemic. And the pitchers are suffering because of it.
Take Jason Johnson. Now, this is not to make an excuse for his struggles. 8 losses in 9 starts pretty much speak for themselves. (Remember, he was not comfortable pitching "under the microscope." I'd chalk up Johnson's Tribe tenure as a bad experiment).
But, at times, defense did fail him. Johnson is a sinker ball pitcher, and relies on ground ball outs. Unfortunately for him, the Indians infield doesn't exactly excel in that department (the Indians rank 24th in team defense).
Where am I going with this? The issue here is not C.C. admitting to quitting. That question is better put to others. Did this team buy into all the talk coming from the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this winter? Perhaps.
Call it the Offseason of Overhype. Just hope we don't have to call them quitters. That's a label that no big leaguer should want to wear.
Remember, you can Sound Off to us on the Toyota Sports Sunday. E-mail your comments to 5sports@newsnet5.com and we'll run them Sunday nights at 11:32 pm, on NewsChannel 5.
So C.C. Sabathia says he quit in Wednesday's disastrous third inning. Yeah, I did, too. I quit watching.The Cubs (28-43 if you're keeping score) nickel and dimed Sabathia for 9 runs. It was the worst outing of his career. Now, we know why.
"What's inexcusable? For me not to make pitches. For me to be giving up," Sabathia said. "That's something as a pro I should never do. I would like to apologize to everybody. I lost focus."
Is this post game revelation a little disturbing to hear? Of course. The last thing the Indians need is for their ace to throw in the proverbial towel. But is it an accurate account of that torturous third inning? Not close. C.C. may have lost focus, as he said. But more to the point, he lost his defense. Then he fell on the sword to protect them.
With runners on the corners and one out, Ben Broussard charged a grounder to the first base side of the pitcher's mound. He said his first thought was double play, but then gunned home to a rather surprised Victor Martinez. The catcher saw what Ben didn't: the runner never strayed far from third. Everyone was safe. Ronnie Belliard made matters worse, fielding the next grounder, then freezing as Chicago scored.
If this kind of mental lapse was isolated, the whole thing could be excused. But bad defense now plagues the Indians every night. Errors are epidemic. And the pitchers are suffering because of it.Take Jason Johnson. Now, this is not to make an excuse for his struggles. 8 losses in 9 starts pretty much speak for themselves. (Remember, he was not comfortable pitching "under the microscope." I'd chalk up Johnson's Tribe tenure as a bad experiment).
But, at times, defense did fail him. Johnson is a sinker ball pitcher, and relies on ground ball outs. Unfortunately for him, the Indians infield doesn't exactly excel in that department (the Indians rank 24th in team defense).
Where am I going with this? The issue here is not C.C. admitting to quitting. That question is better put to others. Did this team buy into all the talk coming from the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this winter? Perhaps.
Call it the Offseason of Overhype. Just hope we don't have to call them quitters. That's a label that no big leaguer should want to wear.
Remember, you can Sound Off to us on the Toyota Sports Sunday. E-mail your comments to 5sports@newsnet5.com and we'll run them Sunday nights at 11:32 pm, on NewsChannel 5.
Posted at 2:22 PM
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