While at Jacobs Field a couple weeks ago I bought a copy of the new CD "Oh Say Can You Sing?" which features 11 major league players singing pop songs in various styles. You've probably heard about it because among the performers are Ben Broussard, Coco Crisp, and Omar Vizquel. I'm going to offer a few comments on each of these three tracks, ignoring the rest of the CD.

Broussard leads off the CD with his performance of "With or Without You", the well-known U2 song. Ben plays lead guitar and provides all of the vocals. Frankly, he does a pretty good job, considering he picked a song that almost everyone knows. He could have picked something way better. His singing is extremely straightforward--non-emotional, but clear and precise. I definitely wouldn't call this beautiful music or anything, but it holds up very well in comparison to most of the other tracks on the CD.

Coco Crisp's original rap "We Got That Thing" is one of only two original songs on the CD (along with Jimmy Rollins' rap "Wish List"). The track also features the beat-boxing talents of Ben Broussard. This is probably the highlight of the CD, just because it's original and slightly hilarious. It's not because of Coco's literary talents. His rap has a decent "sound" but his rhymes are mediocre, at best. A sample:

You'll win if you play on my team,
'Cause I bring more drama than Stephen King,
I play the center like Kareem,
And I like it when the crowd screams.

And this is one of the cleverer lyrics. One other thing I'd mention is that it's unclear--to me, at least--which of the background noises is Broussard beat-boxing. They should have made it more obvious. I've seen clips of Ben doing his thing, and he's really good!

The other track of local interest is Omar Vizquel's rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls' "Broadway". Omar does the vocals and plays the drums. Now, when I played the CD in the car one day for a few of my friends, the sound of Omar's heavy Spanish accent cracked everyone up. I have to admit; I would have advised Omar to choose a song in his native language. I respect that he fancies himself a Renaissance man, what with the painting, and the singing, and the cooking, and the baseball, but he comes off pretty silly in this song. He kind of sounds like Cheech.

I'm not sure what kind of person would truly enjoy this CD for its music, frankly. Someone with bad taste, I guess. I definitely enjoyed it for its comedy value, and because I'm obsessed with anything related to the Indians. Of course.

It's official: the Cavaliers have hired Danny Ferry, namesake of the Danny Ferry Memorial Cavaliers' White Guy Hall of Fame, as General Manager, and will not be creating any higher-up positions for Larry Brown or anyone else. This development has its good and bad parts, most of them pretty obvious, but here they are anyway.

The good:

• Whereas Ferry has little or no track record in front office moves, Larry Brown has a somewhat bad track record and is known for favoring premature, rash decisions like trading LeBron for a box of cigars. In other words, I prefer Ferry to Brown.
• Ferry previously worked for the best-run franchise in the NBA, as the #3 front office man.
• Having played for Gregg Popovich his last three seasons, he is likely familiar with the system employed by Mike Brown, who learned under Popovich.

The bad:

• Ferry was a player as recently as two years ago. He has had alarmingly little time to learn a new job, let alone become the top decision maker.
• I'm not sure how much this matters, but as a player, Ferry did not play the style of basketball we want to see among our Cavaliers: for a so-called "shooting specialist", his offensive numbers were notoriously underwhelming. His career Offensive Rating (106) and Defensive Rating (106) were equal to the league average over the same span.
• The fact that he played most of his career as a Cavalier makes this hire reek of public relations, something Dan Gilbert seems to care way too much about.

So clearly I am ambivalent. The Cavaliers could have done better, but they could have done a lot worse. That's based on what I know now. Ask me again in a few months.

For the third part in our series of interviews with 2005 draft picks of the Cleveland Indians, we have Jensen Lewis, a starting pitcher from Vanderbilt University. Interestingly enough, "Jensen-Lewis" is the name of a modern furniture store on the west side of New York City. I'll probably end up being dragged there by the Official Dad of the Mistake by the Lake Sporting Times next year. A web-stupidity gem lies on their "Contact Us" page. It reads, "Sorry, but we cannot respond to e-mails sent from outside our zip code range (NY, NJ, CT area). We encourage you to visit our store to place your order."

Anyways, Jensen the player was the 102nd overall pick and currently makes his home in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had an excellent ERA of 2.62 in 2005, giving up a line of only .218/.299/.304 in the SEC--whose hitters had an average line of .297/.380/.447. Boyd Nation rated the SEC as the nation's best conference. Given that environment, Lewis's numbers are all the more impressive. According to every source I can find, Lewis was able to perform this way due to his exceptional control.

Alex Rubin: The Indians originally drafted you out of high school in 2002, why did you choose not to sign then? This decision has since paid off, but what effect has the clear interest of the Indians had in you?

Jensen Lewis: Obviously, as an 18 year old, I knew there were some areas in my game that needed to develop a little more, but when you get an opportunity like that to play for your childhood dream team, then the decision gets a little tougher. In the end, I knew that 3 years at Vanderbilt would benefit me in the long run and also I was real serious about getting my college education. Ultimately, it looks like its worked out for the best in both areas.

It's an honor to know that the Indians have such an interst in me and selected me as high as they did. It's just more motivating to get better and you get a lot more excited knowing that you are just a few steps away from achieving your life-long dream. I'm ecstatic for the opportunity and I have to thank the entire organization for giving me a chance. Now I just have to go out, put the work in, and make the most of it.

AR: Do you intend to sign with the Indians this time around?

JL: Absolutely. We agreed to terms last Friday and I'll officially sign this coming Friday or Saturday in Cleveland. I'm relieved the process is over and now I can just focus on getting out there and pitching.

AR: If I do say so myself, you have excellent taste: according to your official bio, one of your favorite movies is Major League. Do you have a favorite character and/or quote from the movie? Would you wear #99 in honor of Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn?

JL: Major League is by far my most favorite movie of all time. I watch it every night before my starts, so its sort of become a good luck charm as well. My favorite character is actually "Wild Thing" and I like Willie Mays Hayes just because he reminds me a lot of Antoan Richardson, our centerfielder from Vanderbilt, with his speed and leaping catches. I'm not sure if I'm worthy enough to wear the famed #99 that Vaughn wears, but maybe one day!

AR: How did you become a Tribe fan despite growing up on the wrong side of Ohio? Who is your favorite all-time Indian?

JL: Actually, I lived in Medina Ohio til about 1990, so from a very young age we were close to Cleveland. My first ever game was at old Cleveland Stadium when the Indians didn't draw too many fans so I was baptised into Indians baseball at a very early age. I've always grown up loving Cory Snyder, Joe Carter, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Carlos Baerga, Omar Vizquel, Charles Nagy, and now C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Jody Gerut to just name a few. Anytime I could get my hands on Indians cards, I would do anything for them.

Probably my favorite Indian of all time is Omar Vizquel. I have his replica Indians jersey that I proudly wear to any game, and was crushed when I found out that he signed with the Giants. Ironically, the compensation pick given to the Indians with his departure was the one they used to pick me, so there's a little silver-lining to that. I just will always remember his bare-handed plays and his full-out diving stop in the '97 World Series at Florida to keep the Indians ahead. I just remember Bob Costas going nuts when he made the play and it was definitely the difference maker.

AR: Last season Cleveland drafted fellow Vanderbilt Commodores Jeremy Sowers in the 1st round and Jeffrey Sues in the 14th. Are you friends with either Sowers or Sues? And have you talked to them since being drafted? Are you looking forward to a possible 1-2 punch of Sowers and Lewis once again?

JL: Yeah, I'm actually really good friends with Jeremy. I've talked to Jeremy ever since he got drafted: just picking his brain about the minors and day-to-day stuff. But not until now did it really start coming to fruition that we might have a chance to get back into the same rotation again. Obviously with a player of his caliber, I've got a ways to go, but I learned so much from playing and watching him at Vandy. He's got such great poise and command of all his pitches and he doesn't make mistakes if at all. He's just a great guy, a great teammate, and it would be awesome to be able to get that 1-2 punch back.

Welcome to the second in our series of quick interviews with players recently selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 2005 Draft. Our first edition starred Mississippi State's Joseph Hunter. Today, we feature Joe Ness, starting pitcher from Ball State University and 6th-round pick. Ness was a hotter commodity before his senior season, due to a great summer in the Great Lakes League. Still though, Ness finished 2005 with a 4.01 ERA and solid peripherals (8.83 K/9IP 3.41 BB/9IP).

Ness, from Logansport, Indiana, passed his physical yesterday and officially signed with the team. Joe is likely in Mahoning Valley as I speak, preparing to dominate.

Alex Rubin: Who did you root for growing up?

Joe Ness: I grew up being a Chicago Cubs fan. My dad took me to Wrigley when I was in grade school and have been a fan since that experience.

AR: Were you excited to be drafted by a midwestern team?

JN: I was definitely happy to be drafted by a team in the Midwest. Playing in the Cleveland area will be great for friends and family to make road trips without having to travel too far. I am very excited to play for the Cleveland Organization. It's a great organization and I have heard the fans are the best.

AR: Boyd Nation, in Baseball Prospectus, named you as one of the best picthers inthe NCAA despite playing in one of the most extreme hitters' parks in the country. Why is Ball Diamond (Park Factor of 142) so hard on pitchers, and how has it affected your statistics?

JN: Pitching at Ball Diamond can be extremely difficult because the wind is constantly blowing at our field, and a majority of the time it is blowing out. So, it's easy for a pitcher to make a good pitch and the ball still leave the yard. Pitching at Ball Diamond didn't effect my statistics all that much this year mainly because I knew how to pitch in that park, and it is something that I have gotten used to in my three years at Ball Sate. I gave up a majority of my homeruns early in the season because my mechanics werent smooth and I was leaving a lot of fastballs up in the zone. Once I figured my mechanics out, I was able to get the ball down in the zone and be more effective. Pitching at Ball Diamond takes a while to get used to, but once you get the feel for it, it's not that bad of a place because you expect the unexpected every time the ball is hit.

AR: In 2003, the Indians selected a former teammate of yours, Brad Snyder. Have you two spoken at all since the draft?

JN: I have spoke with Brad a couple of times since the draft. I spoke to him the night of the draft and then a few times after that. The best conversation I had with him was when I called him with a couple of questions and he was at the airport getting ready to fly to Akron, because he had just been promoted to Double A. I am very excited and hope to get the chance someday to be in the same uniform as Brad just as we were three years ago.

AR: How does being the 184th overall selection compare to your pre-draft expectations?

JN: Being drafted 184th is certainly an honor. Although it is an honor, I had hoped to be drafted much higher before the season started because I had a solid sophomore year and great summer in the Great Lakes League. To sum up my feelings on being drafted 184th, I would have to say it was a relief because I didn't have the season that many people thought I would. So I am very excited and happy to get this chance to play Major League Baseball.

AR: If for some reason you're unable to play baseball professionally, what do you see yourself doing?

JN: Well, hopefully I can go on to have a successful career in the majors, but if it came down to it, I could see myself coaching and maybe teaching. But whatever it is, baseball will definitely be a part of my life.

AR: And finally, if and when you make the majors, what music will be playing when you take the hill?

JN: That's a difficult question because there are so many songs that I would love to hear thundering out of the speakers at Jacobs Field, but I would probably go with "Till I Collapse" by Eminem, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica, or "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. Any of those would be my preference.

In the first of a series of short interviews with various 2005 Cleveland Indians draft picks, we have the 48th-round draft pick from Mississippi State, Joseph Hunter. Hunter hit .348/.401/.410 in 2005 for the Bulldogs as a junior. Hailing from Germantown, Tennessee, Hunter obviously lacks power but is known for his good defense in centerfield. He also enjoys Seinfeld and Saved by the Bell.

Alex Rubin: What are the chances you end up signing with the Indians? What were the odds that you thought you would be drafted?

Joseph Hunter: No, I have not made up my mind yet of signing or not. I am going up to the Cape to play in order for the scouting director and others involved with the draft process to see me play. They didn't get the chance earlier because I had a broken thumb at the time the came to watch me play. But I want to sign, and hopefully before the end of the summer I will get the chance to.

To tell the truth, I thought that I would get drafted at the begining of the first day but came to find out that for certain reasons things don't always go as planned. But that's life and God has a plan for me. Hopefully, things will work out by the end of the summer and I can start my career. If not and worse comes to worst, I can always go back to school.

AR: I noticed you're a fellow Seinfeld fan, do you have a favorite episode?

JH: Favorite Seinfeld episode... either "The Parking Garage" or the one when Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer all have the bet of who could "last the longest," but I forgot the name of it. [Ed: "The Contest"]

AR: What do you consider your strengths?

JH: I would like to consider myself a five-tool player, but I feel that my power numbers have not been up to par the last couple of years.

AR: Mississippi State's Dudy-Noble Field is a very strong pitchers' park (Park Factor of 70), what makes it this way and what kind of effect has it had on your statistics?

JH: Yes, Dudy-Noble is very much a pitchers' park. It does have its positives and negatives though: the fact that it is a graveyard allows me as an outfielder to run down a lot of flyballs, but at the same time it stops a lot of mine from going out. The reason it's such a graveyard is, in my opinion, because of the skyboxes that were added post-[Rafael] Palmeiro and Will Clark era and they stop any wind at all from blowing out. But the fact is that the wind blows in almost all the time. I do think that they need to bring the fences in a little bit like Ole Miss and Tennessee did. It helped their power numbers and really seemed to help a lot of thier players to get drafted higher.

AR: And finally, when you reach the major leagues, what will be your at-bat music?

JH: I guess when I reach the majors the music I would walk out to would be something from 2-Pac, can't go wrong there and that seemed to work for me this year. But I can't say, I'll probably change my mind by that time.

Sorry for the long delay between updates; things should pick up pretty soon, thanks to a little project we've got in the works involving the Indians' draft. In the meanwhile, things are looking peachy for the Tribe. You may find it surprising that, while inching their way up the real standings, they have actually surpassed the White Sox in Baseball Prospectus' Adjusted Standings. These are standings based on third-order winning percentage, which predicts a won-lost record not just from runs scored and allowed, but more specific team statistics, as well as strength of schedule. Here are BP's AL Central Adjusted Standings (as of this morning):

              W     L     Pct
Minnesota    37.8  25.2  .600
Cleveland    35.5  27.5  .563
Chicago      35.9  29.1  .552
Detroit      33.2  28.8  .535
Kansas City  27.8  36.2  .434

Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus' Playoff Odds Report (which supposes how well a team is likely to perform for the rest of the season using its third-order win percentage and remaining schedule, then runs one million simulations of the rest of the season in order to approximate each team's odds of making the playoffs) has the Indians winning the division about 12.6 percent of the time, and winning the AL wild card about 15.7 percent of the time, giving them about a 28.3 percent chance of making the postseason. Here are the current, actual wild card standings:

              W    L   Pct   GB
Minnesota    37   26  .587   -
Boston       36   29  .554  2.0
Texas        35   29  .547  2.5
Cleveland    33   30  .524  4.0

One way of looking at this is that the Indians will have three obstacles to winning the Wild Card: the second-place team in each of the three divisions (currently the Twins, Red Sox and Rangers, but quite possibly, at some point in the future, the White Sox, Orioles, or Angels). The Playoff Odds Report, however, suggests that we needn't worry too much about the second-place finisher from the West, as it gives both the Rangers and Angels each about a 2.5 percent chance of taking the Wild Card (compared to the Tribe's 15.7 percent chance). Basically, I see the Indians needing to overtake two teams, one in the East and one in the Central. And frankly, I think the harder task will be moving up in the Central. I believe it would be a fair adjustment of expectations for Indians fans to begin rooting for a second-place finish in the division instead of a division title, since even the second-place finish would give us a very good chance of seeing some playoff action.

One more set of standings I would like to comment on:

         W   GB
Ketchup  7   -
Onion    4  3.0
Mustard  3  4.0

These are, of course, the Hot Dog Race season standings as of yesterday (I have no idea what happened at last night's game). I would simply like to point out that Mustard, as the clear fan favorite, personal favorite, and true representative of the city of Cleveland, is posting one of its worst showings in recent memory. Ketchup has no business at the top of these standings (what are we, Pittsburgh?) and is clearly doping. That's right, I said it. Now, since there have been Hot Dog Races at 54% percent of home games so far this season, we can guess that there are about 30 more races left. That is plenty of time for Mustard to get its act together, but I would like to see this happen sonner rather than later.

(Actually, given Hot Dog Race Logic, which tells us that whoever is in last place when they round third base will win the race, perhaps it is a good sign that Mustard has fallen behind early.)

See you next time!

The Indians seem to have played a lot of extra-inning games lately, and by lately I mean "ever since that four-game series with the Twins in which three of the games went into extras". Last night they beat San Diego with two dinky runs in the top of the 11th. This got me to wondering just how much extra work the bullpen has had to endure. So here's a summary of the team's innings pitched over the last fourteen games (IP will have to suffice since I don't have the patience to add up pitch counts):

• 5/23 - Elarton 5.1, bullpen 3.2
• 5/24 - Westbrook 6.0, bullpen 5.0 (extra innings)
• 5/25 - Millwood 4.2, bullpen 5.1 (extra innings)
• 5/26 - Sabathia 8.2, bullpen 2.1 (extra innings)
• 5/27 - Lee 6.0, bullpen 3.0
• 5/28 - Elarton 6.0, bullpen 3.0
• 5/29 - Westbrook 7.0, bullpen 2.0
• 5/30 - DAY OF REST
• 5/31 - Sabathia 7.2, bullpen 1.1
• 6/01 - Lee 5.0, bullpen 3.0
• 6/02 - Elarton 7.0, bullpen 5.2 (extra innings)
• 6/03 - Westbrook 7.0, bullpen 1.0
• 6/04 - Davis 4.2, bullpen 3.1
• 6/05 - Sabathia 6.2, bullpen 5.1 (extra innings)
• 6/06 - DAY OF REST
• 6/07 - Lee 7.0, bullpen 4.0 (extra innings)

Now, I don't particularly have a point, but what we can learn from this information is that in spite of all the extra innings, the bullpen has not necessarily been overworked. Well, maybe just a little. They've covered 48 innings in 14 days, or about 3.5 innings per day. That's counting off days, though, which have helped. Basically, each reliever is being asked to pitch 3 innings a week. Is that normal? It seems reasonable to me.

One point I do want to make is that, when you have the best bullpen in all baseball, as the Indians do, perhaps you want your bullpen to carry a higher-than-usual percentage of the workload. I suspect that with today's "convential wisdom", bullpens that shoulder higher workloads do so because their starting pitchers are bad, not because the bullpens themselves are good. In other words, it's blasphemy for a manager to go to the bullpen early without needing to. The Indians' starting pitchers are good, for the most part. But does that mean they must be left in the game for the requisite 100 or so pitches every time out? I'm just asking; not suggesting one way or the other. By getting into a lot of extra-inning games lately the Indians have made it a moot point anyway.

A quick note about the MLB draft. I can't pretend to know anything about any of the individuals players the Indians selected yesterday. I can't even pretend to be able to infer anything about them from their statistics. And there are very few sources whose analysis I trust--certainly not MLB.com. Just about the only thing I can judge about the Indians' draft picks is the type of player they are (college vs. high school, pitcher vs. hitter, tools vs. performance, etc.). That and whether or not they have a cool, obscure, or hilarious name. In the first regard, I feel the Indians did a good job, and I'm excited to see they targeted a lot of slugging types. In the second regard, I'm slightly disappointed, as the Indians nabbed only Nicholas Weglarz (from Canada) and a few borderline guys, while the rest of the teams scooped up the likes of Thomas Italiano (A's), William Startup (Braves), Zachary Zuercher (Cardinals) and so on.

12:45 PM post script: If you are a Baseball Prospectus subscriber, read Nate Silver's column today for the most level-headed and insightful analysis of the 2005 Indians I have yet seen.

In our continuing quest to uncover every bad joke Dan Gilbert makes during press conferences, I've dissected last Thursday's press conference announcing Mike Brown as the new head coach of the Cavaliers. Well, at least I listened to Gilbert's speech, then Mike Brown started talking and he was like "blah, blah, blah." Anyway, Gilbert opens in magnificient-style. His very first words of the press conference were,

The real story is that interest rates are falling dramatically, and you may want to refinance your mortgage. 5.5%: lowest in 40 years. [awkward silence] Um... but anyways, thought I'd get that plug in.

He can never resist a good mortgage joke. But then again, who of us can?

Gilbert then got serious and began to describe the process of hiring a head coach, and why Mike Brown is the right man for the job. Of the new coach, Gilbert said, "Just a few things, as we start and introduce Mike, basically 'what Brown can do for you' [awkward silence]." Quickly backtracking, DGilb added, "Um... Mike Brown, as we all know is a very defensive-oriented coach." Which is important, because as we all know, DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

For the photo-op following Gilbert's speech, he hands Coach Brown a Cavaliers football. Why? Take it away Dan!

I guess we're supposed to do some kind of photo stuff here, for a moment. Just because everybody always gives the cap thing, we decided, we went into the store today, and because, you know, he's our newest Cleveland Brown. Get it? Football Brown? [awkward silence]

These three mammoth bombs increase Dan Gilbert's totals to about 0 for 50 on jokes so far in his short tenure as majority owner. Most people at this point would remark that he has nowhere to go but up. But fortunately for Cavaliers fans, I believe DGilb is so completely devoid of comic timing and wit that his "low" may never be realized. His worst joke can't actually be communicated in human language.