The B-List: 8/18-8/20

Written by Steve Buffum

The Indians have won two of their last three series. The last time I was able to say that, I was still wearing a winter coat to work. In the Monday edition of The B-List, Buff takes a look back at the weekend set with the D-Rays. He makes observations about the latest closer of the week, Pronk's mashing, Garko's emergence, and Marte's resurgence. Enjoy.

I know it's "just Tampa." It's still starting to become fun to watch this team again (starting Saturday).

1) How Not To Productions presents: Not THAT guy!

In the continuing saga of How Not To Close, Eric Wedge gave journeyman Brian Sikorski a shot at the closer's gig. You may remember that I liked Sikorski when he first arrived, in that he seemed to have strikeout stuff and threw strikes.

However, I soured on him after that because of his propensity to get hit: after giving up three taters in two games late July-early August, that pretty much told me what I needed to know about the man reader Jim Barrett dubbed "Helicopter Guy." One hopes that the defense contractor makes more reliable pitches than the Journeyman from Japan.

Look, here's all I ask: I am not a tremendously observant fellow. I forget which side of the plate Franklin Gurierrez stands on, or how old Paul Byrd is. I have trouble distinguishing Joe Inglett from the batboy. If I can tell that a guy has peaked and is not truly Reliably Good, shouldn't this be bloody obvious to people who are actually paid to notice such things?

Anyway, Sikorski was terrible and got no help from Chinless Davis, and we lost another game in which we had a lead after the 8th inning, dropping our record in such games to 2-80. Okay, that's not true, but we DO lead the majors in games lost in such a manner. Let's stop doing that, yes?

By the way, for reader Gus Brooijmans out at CERN: Brian Sikorski got the loss Friday, but was credited with a Hold. Jason Davis got a Blown Save. If there is a stat more meaningless than the Hold, I would like to know about it. The Hold makes the Game Winning RBI look like the gold standard of meaningful baseball statistics.

2) I mean THAT guy!

Have I mentioned that I like Tom Mastny? Let's hear what the critics have to say:

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The B-List: 8/18-8/20

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