Wizblog

C.C.'s Blues

C.C. Sabathia's early season meltdown continued tonight, and the Indians are playing like a team without a leader. As horrendous as the Tigers start was, they have pulled even with the strangely lackluster Tribe. The Tigers are finally finding their hitting strokes, an outcome dreaded by Tribe fans for days now, as they looked down the schedule and saw the resurgent Tigers coming, and then glanced out to the Indians' unsettled bullpen, and to their shell-shocked ace starter.

My thoughts are with Sabathia, who must be wrestling with all sorts of personal, competitive issues, in addition to the pressure of the contract year hanging over him. He is carrying around the weight of the missed opportunity in a home start in Game Five of the 2007 ALCS to put the Indians into the World Series. That's heavy stuff. He's coming back from a season in which he led the majors in innings pitched. That's heavy wear and tear. He's trying to lead his team to another playoff. Did I mention the nine figure free agent contract that everyone says is in the bag for him, but that he doesn't have yet?

Sabathia cut off negotiations with the Indians when the season started, using the well-intended rationale that this would prevent him from being distracted by the contract situation. Only he knows if that has worked or not. For his sake, I'm hoping he figures out soon just what the distraction is.

UPDATE 4/17: Call it scratch for the itch...salve for the burn...whatever. The Indians badly needed a game like this tonight. The luck of the draw meant I was in the customary seat in Sec. 259, watching the Indians hit like they haven't since the opening series, as they rocked the Tigers 11-1 on a balmy evening in Cleveland.

Wedge had called a rare closed-door meeting before the game, presumably to remind the team that before they can play well they must pull their heads out of their asses, where they had been stuck for most of the last two weeks. It seems to have worked. This looked like the team we watched in 2007.

Posted by dan at April 16, 2008 11:27 PM | TrackBack