Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."
Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).
We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.
For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.
Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.
"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."
One of the brightest moments of Wayne Krivsky's short career as Reds general manager was his heist of second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Indians for a player to be named later. Since the trade, he's provided Cincy with a good bat and a great glove at second base.
That trade was more than three years ago, but with a Cleveland-Cincinnati series looming this weekend, Phillips still has some harsh words for Eric Wedge, his manager in Cleveland and still the Tribe's skipper today. Without being specific, Phillips says that Wedge and the Indians, "Wouldn't let me be me." More of his quote (from the Dayton Daily News) is after the jump
This is my Mark Shapiro autograph. He signed it for me while I was at work, a month or so before the season began. I talked to him about baseball for a while, and he mentioned medical reports and how he thought Kerry Wood was going to be really healthy and strong this season. He shook my hand, and he is a gracious gentleman. I want to preface this post with this, because it is my job to stop making excuses now and start going WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO THE BASEBALL TEAM over the Internet.
I am not looking forward to buying a facetious, Detroit Lions-esque t-shirt about how great we were in the preseason or something when we finish the season 0-162. Tonight's Wahoo Messenger is after the jump. Tomorrow's Wahoo Messenger will just be a big picture of LeBron James.
Honestly, I'm not even sure we can call Shapiro's statement a vote of confidence. His exact words were, "Right now, I feel the answers are here with Eric, our coaching staff and these players." The key phrase here is, "right now." As in, maybe that's how Shapiro feels at the moment but if this keeps up, anything might happen.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know... That the Giants suddenly don't look so awful. They've won five in a row, tied with the Cardinals for the second longest active winnings streak in the majors. (Yes, the Red Sox have won nine in a row, but unless you somehow missed the endless highlights on SportsCenter, you know all about their 16-11 victory over the Yankees.)
Randy Johnson failed in his bid for win No. 297, leaving down 2-0 after just 3 1/3 innings, but the Giants bullpen gave up one run the rest of the way, while the offense put together a decent performance. The Giants are 8-8, having righted themselves quickly after going winless on their first six-game trip of the year.
Despite Johnson's rough outing -- and he's been just inconsistent enough that this quest for No. 300 could take a while -- the Giants have won with pitching. Their ERA during the winning streak is 1.37, including a pair of dominant games from Tim Lincecum.
It's almost like he never existed. I moved to Ohio a few years ago, at the height of Pronkamania. Travis Haftner was the superhero of Cleveland, had his own candybar, and had just hit sixty-two grand slams in three games. Now you can go into any discount clothing store and find Hafner's jersey (in both "Hafner" and "Pronk" varieties) on the discount rack beside C.C. Sabathia and Casey Blake. It's not like he's injured, it's like he's gone. Like he never existed.
Well, it is 2009 and Project Donkey is back, ready to hit .117 with 0 homeruns and 2 RBI in 162 games! Tonight's Wahoo Messenger is after the jump! In PRONKVILLE~!
Look at the look on his face. Even he's thinking, "Ugh, why did you guys hire me? Haven't you been watching baseball for the last eight years?"
The sun rose this morning, and Kerry Wood hasn't taken the mound for the Indians since last weekend because of back problems, and I'm gonna go ahead and say he'll be out for the first two months of the season and 90% of September. This should come as a surprise to only newborn babies and the mentally incompetent, but hey, there's no reason to overreact. It's just a nagging back injury, and the Tribe is playing it safe by keeping him out. I'm going to skip the b.s. and just overreact now, so when Grady Sizemore misses the middle of the season with missing groin and Travis Hafner's foot falls off I can blame it on Wood and move on with my life.
Next Big Thing is MLB FanHouse's look at emerging teams, trends and stars in 2009.
No one has lit up the baseball offseason quite like the Cleveland Indians, am I right, folks? From the signing of a Cubs infielder to the signing of a Cubs relief pitcher, all signs point to another AL Central division title and World Series Trophy for the increasingly bored-of-victory Northern Ohio sportsosphere.
Consult the film Major League or just ask me ... sometimes it rules being a fan of the Cleveland Indians. Last night's game and bare knuckles brawl with the Tigers was a great example of that. If you didn't see what went down, please visit our good friends at WaitingForNextYear for a video recap.
The minute it happened I signed onto AIM and told fellow Dugoutist Jon Bois about what was going down. His comments sum it up as well as I could hope to: "Gary Sheffield is like Barry Bonds Jr., and if I can't see somebody beating up Barry Bonds at least I can see this."
With the Indians in full 2009 mode after trading CC Sabathia to the Brewers, there's a lot of speculation going around Cleveland about changes that will be made with the team. Some guys may have new addresses come August 1st, and players that are still on the team may have new roles.
One of the rumors going around is that shortstop Jhonny Peralta's days at shortstop may be numbered, and that the team is planning on moving him to third base in the future. It's a rumor Jhonny's manager Eric Wedge denies.
"He's our shortstop. I don't see us making any change anytime soon," Wedge said. "I see a guy who is doing everything he can to be the best he can be."
"As [first base coach]Luis [Rivera] has continued to get a better feel for the league and different players he's helped Jhonny better position himself. He's doing a better job of being in the right place at the right time. There is always going to be that ball that is just off the glove. But he's as good as anybody in the game, if not the best, at the routine play."
So Peralta is good defensively, but only if the ball is hit right at him? I understand Wedge wants to support his player (especially considering that player is hitting .341 with 5 homers and 20 RBI since moving to the cleanup spot), but a move to third base would make a lot of sense.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
One of the brightest moments of 
Now we're really rolling. April is over, the weather is getting nice, and managers are marching on to the hot seat in pairs. After 
Starting Five
It's almost like he never existed. I moved to Ohio a few years ago, at the height of Pronkamania. 
Look at the look on his face. Even he's thinking, "Ugh, why did you guys hire me? Haven't you been watching baseball for the last eight years?"
With the Indians in full 2009 mode after trading 
