Morning Rundown: Just Wanting to be Wanted

And that is why Aaron Cunningham is on the roster. Not really, but never under estimate the power of fundamental baseball. Jimmy Leyland said it was a great call by Manny and of course because it worked, it was a brilliant call as Lou Marson was able to score on the suicide squeeze. 

“I’d do anything for this team,” he said. “If they want me to rub [baseballs] down or whatever, I’ll do it. To be able to do something, to come in late in the game like that, and be able contribute, it’s unbelievable.”

I mean, how bad do we kill this guy? Day in and day out he's been on this roster from the start and because he never plays or gets to hit much, his numbers look like dirt. He does play often as a defensive replacement, but he rarely gets his at-bats. So when he does get some sort of consistent playing time, we kill the guy when he doesn't do something.

But now he gets the chance to be the hero and he comes through, perhaps in one of the biggest games of the year. A game that if the Indians turn this around and make a run, they'll look back on and point to this as the starting point.

And all the guy really wants to do is be a part of the team and contribute so people like us don't rub dirt in his face game after game. And now everyone will celebrate him and if he gets cut, laugh because they think he deserves it because his numbers are dirt. 

Here he is saying he'll rub baseballs down for this team just to contribute or do whatever it is the Indians want him to do.

I have a lot of respect for him. If the Indians end up getting rid of him today, I can't say I will disagree with the move or argue for them to do something else, but I certainly will respect him as he goes out and thank him for his service. He deserves that much.

Random Details...

This is why Casey Kotchman is on the roster. Okay? Good? Are you satisfied? Good.

Think Detroit caught a little bit of the Tribe flu? How about starting six of their nine innings with a runner on base and not getting a single run from that? Their only runs were a two-out home run. It's like, give me more of that, right? All of them were singles though and five times it came off of Ubaldo.

More times that not it was routine how he would work out of it, but he got a double play in one inning, the previously shown play. Other than that he simply worked around the trouble. One of his two walks by the way? Came in that inning where he got the leadoff hitter out and the other came after two outs even with a runner on. So both walks were with one more out left to get and in situations that were not liable to come back and bite him if he didn't work around it.

I did not get a chance to see it as I was on my way back home from class, however Tom Hamilton seemed to make a big deal about Vinnie Pestano after he recorded the double play. He noted Pestano doing some stretching and then proceeded to blame five straight balls that included a walk on the fact that he looked "not right" or perhaps hurt. We will see if anything comes out of it, but the only thing I can think of is when he jumped into the air to the field ball and just tweaked something. Either way, after making us sweat to death, Pestano came back real quick and got the out he needed.

One of those "for your info" types of things. Travis Hafner has now hit 12 triples in his career. But just to show you that Progressive Field is not much of a "triples" park, last night he hit only his third triple at home. Coming into the year, he had just one triple at Progressive Field. He doubled that total in less than eight months. Even though he's a big guy, that's a big difference. Crazy...

Joe Smith totally deserved that sixth win of the season. You have to be really good to know that you can give up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera because Travis Hafner is going to triple in the next inning. I mean, that's serious precognition there.

You should also note that Joe Smith got the first two outs of the inning. Pestano didn't and got out of it, just like Ubaldo did all night. Smith did not escape unscathed, just saying man.

Chris Perez doesn't count. He's his own guy and his hair nulls anything else.

All of this hoopla and we haven't mentioned the fact that Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits and Carlos Santana had a pair. Granted Cabrera was essentially a non-factor as his three hits didn't produce any sort of run production as he didn't score or knock in a run himself, but that isn't his fault. Santana did manage to not only knock a run in, but score himself.

Despite his early hitting woes, Santana has managed to reach base every single game this month, either by walk or hit. So there's that.

[RANDOM RUNDOWN]

As you saw by now, the Indians acquired Brent Lillibridge from the Boston Red Sox yesterday and today we're expected to learn who he'll replace on the roster. He's already taken the 40 man spot of Lonnie Chisenhall, who was transferred to the 60 Day Disabled List. He could take Aaron Cunningham's roster spot, which makes yesterday's game winning suicide squeeze that much more interesting as it seems like every time he's on the brink of losing his job (if you can call it a glamours job?) he does something meaningful.

The Indians like his versatility, certainly not his career .212 average and .279 on-base percentage.

"Versatility, man," Acta said. "He's a guy we've seen in our division the last couple of years. He can play the outfield. He can play the infield. He can run. It's a guy that we'll welcome here."

It sounds as if he is taking Aaron Cunningham's role as he is taking the "late inning left field defensive replacement role" that usually goes to Aaron Cunningham. In fact when Cunny is listed on the roster that is his position LILFDR. Lil' FDR? That sounds like a good idea for a cartoon. Or a subplot on Parks and Recreation.

It could also be Shelley Duncan or Jose Lopez, who I wouldn't rule out. Lopez seems to have love here and while I think more people outside the organization (IE myself and some fans) would prefer The Dunc Tank over someone like Lopez or Cunningham, he could really be axed if Cunningham isn't. Acta certainly doesn't like the media singling out Cunningham.

"We haven't made the decision yet," Acta said. "We're working through that. [On Wednesday] we'll have a move for you. Can you bring up a couple of more names? He's not the only one. We have 25 guys in there."

"I don't see anything big on the horizon," Perez said. "It might be a piece here or a piece there -- like Lillibridge. Maybe a starter that's not on anybody else's radar. It seems like the same four or five teams are trying to go for the same guys. We usually don't win those battles." 

If you win with what you have, none of this matters. So why not just win with what we have for now and see where the chips fall.

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