It was brought to my attention by a follower on Twitter that the Indians started June in a rough way. After winning their first game, they dropped eight straight. Then the series against the Rangers turned around, and so did the month. After starting 1-8, they ended 14-5. Overall it looks average with a 15-13 record. But it's slightly above .500, and where the Indians sit right now is more than slightly over .500.

But guess what? They're also sharing first place as the calendar flips over to July. Three months down, three more to go. Halfway through and the Indians are in this thing. Not just in it, but in it. June Swoon? How about a June Boom.

INDIANS - 4 | WHITE SOX - 0

W: Justin Masterson (4-0)

L: Chris Sale (5-7)

[BOXSCORE]

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The Indians beat the Orioles in the opener of their series behind the strong hitting of Mike Brantley and the reticulated pitching of Ubaldo Jimenez.  In today’s B-List, Buff admits that “reticulated” is not actually an adjective that describes pitching, but he is not entirely sure that the standard adjectives apply to Ubaldo Jimenez’ pitching.  Or that Ubaldo Jimenez’ actions actually constitute pitching.  Basically, Buff doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.  Read the column anyway.  It’s better than depending on Rich Hill.

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When trades are completed, it’s not very often that the player to be named later winds up being the best player a team receives. That is the result of the CC Sabathia trade in 2008 to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Indians received Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson and a player to be named later.

A lot of things fell into place for the Indians with that fourth piece of the trade. The trade stipulated that if the Brewers made the playoffs, the Indians could pick the player. If the Brewers missed the playoffs, they would decide who to send to the Indians. The speculation of who was on the list includes names like Jonathan Lucroy, Taylor Green, Mat Gamel, and Michael Brantley, a light-hitting outfielder in Double-A Huntsville. With Sabathia’s help on the final day of the season, the Brewers beat out the Mets for the wild card spot by one game. The Indians, as we all know, chose Michael Brantley as the PTBNL. Lucroy has been solid, but Green and Gamel have not amounted to much of anything.

If you’re looking for a reason why the Indians have been mostly irrelevant since 2007, you can look back at this trade as a big reason why. Matt LaPorta (note how he has three A’s in his name – ironic, no?) never panned out, battling injuries and the inability to hit a slider. Rob Bryson is still toiling in the Indians minor league system. Zach Jackson managed -0.6 WAR in 63.1 innings with the Indians, was traded to Toronto, and has never been heard from again.

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If you build it, they will come.

Right right right. Field of Dreams, it's actually "If you build it, he will come," but let's not split hairs. We've all heard the term before.

In real, present day baseball though, it goes along the lines of something like this.

If you buy it, they will come.

The Indians definitely purchased more than they purged this past offseason. Their idea was that if they bought it, maybe the fans would come. They also thought they'd win a few more games and better contend for the playoffs, but that alone would create some interest and fan support.

The number one criticism with the Dolan family has always been the same. Why do they not spend any money?

Let's be clear, the Dolans spend money, they just leave it up to the management to utilize what their allowed to spend in what way they want. Management knows they can't compete with the "Buy it and they will come teams" in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. So why do that?

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