Being a Cleveland Indians fan can't be the easiest thing right now. As if the fact that the Tribe are scuffling their way through another long season at 42-60 isn't enough, a familiar feeling crept into the collective psyche of Indians fans everywhere on Wednesday afternoon.
NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.
In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.
Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.
"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'
"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the... Team that should have more doctors on staff. Lofty expectations turned sour when major keys to the Indians lineup went down with injury in 2008. Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Fausto Carmona, and Jake Westbrook all lost significant time to various maladies. The health and or hasty return of these guys, and the continued health of Kerry Wood are crucial to the Indians having any success in 2009.
The Cleveland Indians are struggling, and things keep getting worse. Players are going down to injuries left and right, the White Sox are at the top of the division, and if they don't pay attention they could end up behind Detroit AND Kansas City. So what's the cause? Who is to blame?
Well, Yankees Chick blames Kyle Farnsworth. Matt Snyder (Dugout SN: AlongCameASnyder) has his own ideas. But once again it is The Dugout who cuts through the melodrama and bias of sports writing on the Internet to bring you the true story; a story of intrigue that could only have been birthed in the depths of the most deductive scientific minds.
Join us for part 1 of 10 Little Indians, after the jump.
Apparently the ghosts of deceased Native Americans finally decided to take matters into their own hands in regards to team names like "Braves" and "Indians" this baseball season. I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the insensitivity of these names because that's neither my inclination nor my job.
Still, it's quite eerie they way these two franchises in particular have been plagued this year.
Both were expected to be contenders for the World Series, chock full of fantasy gems. Instead the disappointments and injuries are plentiful, and sometimes hand-in-hand.
The most recent casualty is Victor Martinez, and he already fit the bill as a bust. He's normally picked in the first five rounds (earlier many times). His owners have been treated with pathetic numbers this year relative to expectations (.277, 0 HR). And now he's on the DL with a bum wing (inflamed right elbow, if you must know ... but "bum wing" is so much more fun). The catcher could be out until the All-Star break, so this is a big blow to both the Tribe and your fantasy squad. Unfortunately, I believe you have to sit on him in fantasy, because he's liable to get hot when he does come back and no one will give you anything valuable for an injured bust in a trade.
The Cleveland Indians haven't been having much luck with elbows lately, as the team recently found out they've lost starter Jake Westbrook for the season with an elbow problem, and now elbow problems may rob them of Victor Martinez for some time.
While it initially seemed like Martinez had re-injured the hamstring that landed him on the disabled list earlier in the year when he had to leave Wednesday night's game after running out a ground ball to first, it turns out that Victor aggravated an elbow injury he's been dealing with for a while now.
''Victor has been having right elbow soreness and pain,'' manager Eric Wedge said, adding that Martinez aggravated the injury on a swing. ''It's something he has been battling all year. But Victor is a tough cookie, one of the toughest players I've seen.
''They'll [MRI] scan him [Thursday], and we'll go from there. So we don't know how it will play out.''
Martinez wasn't available for comment after the game yesterday, but Wedge said the elbow has been bothering for a while, which may help explain why he's only been hitting only .208 in his last 21 games, and has seen his average drop from .356 on May 1st to it's current .278. The elbow is also probably a factor in Victor's lack of power this season, as he's yet to hit a home run after averaging over 20 a season the last four years.
While during the first few weeks of the season I was of the opinion that the Cleveland Indians were going to bounce back from their slow start, now that we've gotten into the second week of June, and nothing has changed I'm no longer so sure about that. While Cleveland's starting rotation is still performing well, the offense doesn't look like it's going to get out of it's rut anytime soon.
Which is enough to make you wonder: With the trade deadline less than two months away, is it time for the Indians to start shopping C.C. Sabathia?
There have been rumors that while they're not actively shopping him yet, that Mark Shapiro has let it be known amongst other general managers that he's willing to listen.
The Indians are already going to be without Jake Westbrook for the rest of the season thanks to his elbow (and let's not forget Fausto Carmona who is also on the disabled list), so it might not seem like the best timing to move another starter, especially Sabathia, but the odds of C.C. returning to Cleveland when he hits free agency this winter are pretty slim. Not when you look at the way the Yankees pitching staff has performed and figure they'll probably be willing to break the bank for him.
If I was Shapiro, I would definitely be working the phones right now just to get an idea of what I'd be able to get for Sabathia( which may not be much, honestly, seeing how teams don't like to give up young talent anymore and C.C. is a free agent at year's end), though I probably wouldn't pull the trigger on anything quite yet. The Indians don't have to leave their own division to see an example of an offense that was dormant to start the season, but has become red-hot now that summer has arrived (the White Sox). There may still be hope yet.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
Los Angeles Angels (39-25) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (37-26) - 10:05PM Est.
It's pretty much a consensus that Tropicana Field is far and away the worst "baseball stadium" in the big leagues, but don't tell that to the Rays. They love the place, as they've gone 24-10 there this season. The road, on the other hand, has not been so kind.
Outside of the Trop, the Rays are only 13-16 and they find themselves in the midst of a nine-game road trip that has not been kind. After being swept by the Red Sox to start it off, they won two in Texas before losing yesterday. To make matters worse, the frustration is starting to show. The Rays are just an angry team.
After getting into a brawl with the Red Sox on Thursday, they were fighting themselves yesterday as Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro had a disagreement about, hell, I don't know, the best Doritos flavor?
Cleveland Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook was just placed on the disabled list for the second time this season earlier in the week, and for those amongst the Cleveland faithful who were hoping Westbrook would be able to rejoin the team in a few weeks, things aren't looking too good right now. While the Indians medical staff has formed their own opinion on Westbrook's elbow, it's never a bad idea to seek out another opinion, which is exactly what the Indians are doing.
Seldom is a pitcher's injury announced with the accompanying information that he is being placed on the disabled list immediately. Also, visiting famed surgeon Lewis Yocum is not routine procedure.
Head trainer Lonnie Soloffsaid that Westbrook will be examined by Yocum on Friday in Southern California. For now, that is all the team is saying.
So the Indians aren't saying much, but by sending Jake to see Dr. Yocum they've pretty much said all they need to. Yocum's claim to fame in baseball, aside from his day job as the Angels team doctor, is the amount of Tommy John surgeries he's performed on Major League pitchers throughout his career.
If the Indians are sending Westbrook to see him, it's safe to say that they weren't big fans of what they found when examining his elbow.
The Cleveland Indians pitching staff has the second-best ERA in the American League right now, and they've been doing it without Jake Westbrook. Well, just as the team was expecting to get it's complete starting rotation back, they had to go and place Fausto Carmona on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday after he strained his hip covering first base on Friday night.
While placing one of your best pitchers on the disabled list is never ideal, especially when you're struggling to score runs like the Indians are, at least Carmona was only being placed on the 15-day disabled list instead of the 60-day. You have to stay positive, right? Well, for you Indians fans who were hoping you'd only be without Fausto for a few weeks, I have some bad news for you. It's more likely that Carmona isn't going to be back for four weeks.
An MRI exam revealed a moderate strain of an exterior muscle in Carmona's left hip, Lonnie Soloff, Cleveland's head athletic trainer, said Sunday.
"The good news is that there was no damage to the interior, which would have been much more serious," Soloff said. "If all goes well, Fausto should be able to start playing catch in about seven days."
The news isn't that bad, though, because as I said earlier Jake Westbrook is scheduled to start on Wednesday as he returns from his strained left ribcage, and Aaron Laffey hasn't been half bad filling in for him. Laffey's record is only 2-3, but he has a 1.60 ERA with 20 strikeouts, 6 walks, and a WHIP of 0.89. Aaron's been pitching so well that there's word general manager Mark Shapiro, who's ready to start wheelin' and dealin', may look to move veteran Paul Byrd before the trade deadline.
Being a Cleveland Indians fan can't be the easiest thing right now. As if the fact that the Tribe are scuffling their way through another long season at 42-60 isn't enough, a familiar feeling crept into the collective psyche of Indians fans everywhere on Wednesday afternoon. 
NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
The Cleveland Indians are struggling, and things keep getting worse. Players are going down to injuries left and right, the White Sox are at the top of the division, and if they don't pay attention they could end up behind Detroit AND Kansas City. So what's the cause? Who is to blame?
Apparently the ghosts of deceased Native Americans finally decided to take matters into their own hands in regards to team names like "Braves" and "Indians" this baseball season. I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the insensitivity of these names because that's neither my inclination nor my job. 
The Cleveland Indians haven't been having much luck with elbows lately, as the team recently found out they've lost starter 
While during the first few weeks of the season I was of the opinion that the Cleveland Indians were going to bounce back from their slow start, now that we've gotten into the second week of June, and nothing has changed I'm no longer so sure about that. While Cleveland's starting rotation is still performing well, the offense doesn't look like it's going to get out of it's rut anytime soon.
Cleveland Indians pitcher 
The Cleveland Indians pitching staff has the second-best ERA in the American League right now, and they've been doing it without 
