Written by Brian McPeek

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I’ve decided to take the high road. 

Rather than belabor the LeBron James betrayal (documented so very well right here by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski) I’ve decided to move on.  

My inspiration, as is so often the case for me (and as family and close friends will most surely attest), is religion. Well, religion in the form of a country song that pretty much perfectly sums up my feelings for Brother James and his band of miss-stepping miscreant friends/advisors. 

Thank you to Jaron and the Long Road to Love for ‘Pray for You’. It’s beautiful, poignant and oh so applicable: 

I haven’t been to church since I don’t remember when 
Things were goin’ great ‘til they fell apart again 
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do 
He said you can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you 
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn 
Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them 
 
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill 
I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the head like I’d like to 
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls 
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls 
I pray all your dreams never come true 
Just know where ever you are Bronny, I pray for you 

 

 

There’s a chance I changed ‘honey’ to ‘Bronny’ a couple times because it just fits. And I can already see the three BFFs with those ‘his and hers’ tattoos.  

Yeah, I wish them nothing but misery. That’s just how I am. We all deal with loss differently. One day I’ll get over it. But until that day comes I’ll be listening closely for the sound of ligaments and tendons tearing in South Beach. 

Lou Gehrig Never Had This Issue 

David Huff was deprived a spot-start against the Tigers Sunday because he couldn’t control his Twitter account. 

Now, I’m not sure what’s more surprising: that David Huff was the best choice from down on the farm to get a start Sunday or that he wasn’t bright enough to hold onto the opportunity. But the Indians apparently advised Huff that he’d be given the opportunity to throw line drives all over the park and also asked him to keep it to himself.  

Within 15 minutes the news was posted on Twitter. 

Huff’s agent says the Twitter account isn’t Huff’s. That may very well be the case. It could also be that Huff allows an agent or family member access to his account and that Huff never intended for the news to be posted.  

"If word got out about Huff possibly throwing a spot start on Sunday, it was not David's doing," Huff's agent, Jim McDowell, wrote in an e-mail to MLB.com. "He did not post anything on Twitter about any of this; in fact, his own account was terminated over a month ago. And if stuff gets out and circulates over the Internet or Twitter or whatever, well, welcome to 2010." 

But none of that really matters. 

The fact is that Huff was asked to keep the news to himself and he did not.

The Indians had a differing view on the tweet. They were miffed that a mere 15 minutes after giving Huff the news and telling him to keep it to himself, it was posted on the Internet.

Manager Manny Acta and assistant general manager Chris Antonetti chose not to respond to questions about Huff's tweet.

"At this time," Acta said, "we feel it's better for David to work on his delivery at Triple-A."  

Ouch. 

And while I shudder at the thought of Mark Shapiro browsing Twitter on his laptop or phone and searching for transgressions from his employees, that’s basically what happened. Companies approach social media applications differently but most of the time they don’t take kindly to employees either bashing the organization or providing insider information via a social media website.  

My company doesn’t tolerate it and your company probably doesn’t either. And while this isn’t some employee of Coca Cola providing secret ingredients to the public it is a transgression in that Huff was simply asked to keep it to himself and did not.  

Someone from the organization saw it and passed it along and it clearly pissed off somebody in high places. Hence, Jeanmar Gomez got the start Sunday while David Huff stayed in Columbus probably doing a slow burn. 

About That Start 

Gomez has struggled all season in Columbus but apparently the Detroit Tigers are tonic for a pitchers’ soul right about now. Gomez gave the Indians seven strong innings as the Tribe completed a rare four game sweep of Detroit on Sunday. 

Gomez didn’t allow an earned run (the Tigers’ two runs scored following an Andy Marte error at first base), gave up just five hits and walked one while striking out four in 93 efficient pitches. 

The kid earned an impressive win in his Major League debut. 

That’s not a bad boost of confidence to take back to Columbus for the 22-year old from Caracas, Venezuela. 

I Like It 

I’ve given the Indians a good amount of well-deserved hell this season (when I’ve bothered to talk about them at all). But in the interest of fairness I have to say I’m enjoying this approach to the second half. 

I don’t want to see guys like Russell Branyan taking at bats from Matt Laporta. I don’t care if Michael Brantley is hitting .140. I want to see him accrue another 150-175 at-bats through September. Give kids like Gomez a look and run those kids out there every day to gain experience and learn something. Take stock in what you have when it’s all said and done in October. 

Four game sweeps are not going to be the norm by any means. But you’ll at least give yourself a chance to evaluate performances based on more than just a few token appearances. 

Incidentally 

Branyan is back where he’s comfortable in Seattle. No, not in that specific town or at first base. He’s back on the disabled list after (get this) hurting his foot while closing his hotel room curtains. 

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: you have to be careful with curtains. 

What a tool. 

Mark my words: before he retires Russell Branyan will end up on the DL as a result of a pudding-eating incident. 

Pads a Crackin’ 

We’re inside two weeks until the Browns hit the practice field in Berea in preparation of their 2010 season. 

That means we’re only about five weeks away from the first “Colt McCoy” chants reverberating around Cleveland Browns Stadium when the Browns face the Rams in their first home pre-season game. 

Ah yes. Football season in Cleveland.