They hated each other. It was hardly a secret, from their days in the National League in the early 1960s. Gaylord Perry had been the talented pitcher of the San Francisco Giants; Frank Robinson, the five-tool outfielder of the Cincinnati Reds.
The narrative came easily: the fiery, outspoken black child of the U.S. civil-rights era vs. the white farm boy from the deep South. But was that fair?
As we often do during these dog days of summer, with an emphasis on the doggish part during the week of the Major League All-Star Break, we scour the inter-webs to find anything that resembles relevance. Often we come up short, but that's exactly how we discover the news of the weird and other quirky types of things that pique our interest, as a result of perfect timing, if for no other reason. Occasionally, I might catch a glimpse of what another scribe is doing, and that inspires me. This week's inspiration comes courtesy of MLB.com's senior Indians writer, Jordan Bastian.
Len Barker is still the man. The Indians will have to wait a little longer for a no-hitter. It looked as good of a chance as the Indians have had in a long time on Sunday into seventh inning.
It’s been a while since we’ve shared a Lazy Sunday together. It’s been a busy summer, with a perfect storm of work and personal life conspiring to sap me of nearly all of my free time, so I’ve unfortunately had precious little chance to write. I hope you’ve missed this column as much as I’ve missed writing it, and if I had my way there would be 6,000+ words up here at least once a week. I still have interviews with several minor league players and coaches to write up as well, and you’ll hopefully be seeing those again on a regular basis very soon. I’m not one for excuses though, so let’s jump right into what you actually came here for on this Sunday morning; a look at our 2nd place Indians leading up to the all-star break.
When you consider the events of the first three months and two weeks of the 2013 season, it’s rather incredible that the Indians are even in the hunt. Battling injuries, streaky play, and players not meeting expectations, the Tribe has bobbed and weaved through the season to this point and trails by just 2.5 games in the AL Central race. One of those players that has battled both injuries and subpar performance is the team’s shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera.