Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Joe Tait's last game..Indians looking to bounce back.

So far so..good? Cavs off to a slow start but have picked it up and are within 3 at the half. Joe Tait is doing the play by play for what will be his last game as the announcer for the Cavs, and the least they could do is put up a fight and make it fun for Joe.

Listening to basketball never felt so good. (Side note: Indians tied going into ninth and by the time i post this will hopefully pull out the win) Joe Tait has made listening to the Cavs easy and often times better than actually watching them live or on TV. This season has been rough for the Cavs and to add insult to injury Tait has been out for most of the season due to illness. While his fill-in (can't remember his name nor do i even care) has done a decent job, he is no where near the caliber broadcaster that Tait is. There is just no way anyone will be able to fill the large shoes of Joe Tait.

Tait lives about 10 miles from my home in Lafayette, Ohio. I worked at a gas station for two years that is about a mile away from his home. He frequently stopped by to buy lottery tickets and i swear the man never said more than 4 or 5 words. But when he did, i got chills down my spine. From his catch phrases to his signature sign-off, Tait will be missed greatly. All the best to the hall of fame broadcaster.

Now to the Indians. This year us Tribe fans have been spoiled by the great play of these scrappy Indians. Before this season i had never heard of Vinnie Pestano or Jack Hanahan, I know who they are now! In the past two games Pestano has come on to pitch two scoreless innings of relief and has showed that he could be a lifesaver for the Indians this season. Hanahan has been a solid 3rd baseman so far defensively and has shown that he isn't completely worthless at the bat. Good signs.

Starting pitching is going to be an issue all year. During our 8 game winning streak our starting pitching was phenomenal, while i don't think this can go on all season it's a good sign to see some early success. It remains to be seen whether they'll be able to keep it up once mid season comes around and we start seeing the best of the best.

THE BULLPEN!!! This will most likely be the strong point and most solid group for the Tribe this season. With one of the best closers in the league last season, Chris Perez, and our set-up guy Tony Sipp has continued to be consistent this year. Pair those two with the aforementioned Vinnie Pestano and we have quite a deadly combination. Also cannot leave out Rafael Perez who has also shown some guts early this year as well.

If we can keep up the solid and timely hitting to back up what should be shaky starting pitching, the Indians could surprise some people and make a late run at the playoffs.

Well that's all for now. First post. Gonna try and do this on a daily basis or weekly basis. Depends on how well the Indians do. While this was primarily a Cavs and Tribe post I'll try to be more diverse and expand to other things like the NBA Playoffs.

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Peace!