Archive for November, 2010

No, I will not call it Progressive Field. On Thursday night, after Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat visit the Cavaliers at the Q, the Indians are offering $10 unlimited ice skating and snow tubing at Snow Days. On top of that, there will also be $3 beer(!), $2 soda and $1 hot dogs available. That’s a pretty sweet deal for all involved, but I can’t help but feel a little hosed as a Tribe fan. Where’s my $3 beer on a hot summer day? Ticket prices in Cleveland are some of the lowest in baseball, and that’s a good start. However, [...]

While were on the “giving thanks” cruise ship, this would be a great time to mention that Fansided (the network where Deep Left Field calls its home) has teamed up with Site5 to donate to the Boys and Girls Club of America. Site5 has been a tremendous asset to the Fansided network with their web hosting, and they are helping Fansided again with this charity drive. Fansided’s goal is $5,000, although we would like to surpass that. Fansided and Site5 have already donated the first 10 percent of the goal. Now, if you’re like me, you’d never blindly support something [...]

While this past season may not leave the average fan a lot to be thankful for, if you haven’t noticed I’m mostly a glass half-full kind of fan. With that in mind, I feel that there is plenty to be thankful for as an Indians fan. As far as last season goes, we Tribe fans can at least take solace in the fact that we stayed out of the cellar. Six teams in the league finished last in their division, and we weren’t one of them. I am thankful that the Indians have never finished in last place in consecutive [...]

Yeah, it’s time for the obligatory Thanksgiving post, only instead of boring you with how I’m thankful for my family and my blessings this year (and I am thankful for all that), I’d rather talk about what I’m thankful for with the Indians. It’s been a trying season, but there are things to be thankful for, so let’s dig right in, in no particular order. If you’ve been reading Deep Left Field for any length of time, you should know my fondness for now former Indians.com beat writer Anthony Castrovince’s work, and how I prefer it to any of the [...]

The Indians were kind enough to invite me to the Snow Days media day yesterday. The Indians have transformed Progressive Field into a winter wonderland with a toboggan chute (called The Batterhorn) going from the left field bleachers into right field, an ice skating course (the Frozen Mile), as well as a snow maze and child-friendly ice rink. They threw in a fire pit on the home run porch and plan fireworks nights and will be blaring Christmas music (ugh) the whole time. There’s also a “Snow Zone” where you can make snowmen or have a snowball fight (presumably). Having [...]

The Indians added five players to the 40-man roster yesterday, protecting infielder Jared Goedert, LHP Nick Hagadone, RHP Josh Judy, RHP Corey Kluber and RHP Zach McAllister. The 40-man roster now stands at capacity, meaning the Indians will most likely not add a player via the Rule 5 draft this year. Here are some quick thoughts: While none of the adds were a shock, I was surprised to see Goedert added, since I had figured the Indians had dismissed him as an option as the third base starter since he did not receive a September call-up. However the Indians must [...]

Source: Yardbarker.com The Indians had been saying all along that they weren’t concerned about right fielder Shin-Soo Choo’s military service requirement, a law of South Korea that requires all able-bodied men under the age of 30 to serve 30 months in the military. Their faith was rewarded as Choo led the South Korean team to the gold medal at the Asian Games. Although I can’t find any links to the actual law (and I doubt I’d be able to read Korean anyways), this seems to mean that Choo and his South Korean teammates will be exempt from service. This is [...]

So the Indians announced some new additions a couple days ago, a move that won’t help the standings but may help sales. The Indians unveiled their new uniforms for 2011, and while they are getting mostly positive reviews, on the whole it seems a little half-assed. Probably the most noticeable change is the dropping of the  grey road jersey with the script “Cleveland” lettering and replacing it with a block “Cleveland” and what seems to be a bit darker shade of grey. I wasn’t a fan of those uniforms in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s but this one is [...]

Fresh out of work and bored, I was rummaging through Keith Law’s Top 50 free agents (only for those with ESPN Insider, sorry) and was just about sick. For those who are wondering why the Indians have been awful for two years — there can’t be many of you — look at this: four of the top ten free agents this offseason are former Indians. Cliff Lee (1), Victor Martinez (5), Carl Pavano (7) and Jake Westbrook (10) have all been cast off by the current regime in order to focus on the future, as well as to make sure [...]

Source: Yardbarker.com I’m not dumb. I knew this day was coming. You could see it from a mile away. Hell, I’m surprised it took this long. Andy Marte was removed from the 40-man roster today, making him a free agent. Of course, this means nothing. Marte is El Gato – he has nine lives. He’s been designated for assignment before, and no team claimed him. There’s a chance we could still see Marte in the organization next year. But for all intents and purposes, we’ve seen the end of the Andy Marte era (which spanned five years – FIVE!). For [...]