Golden Age of Baseball

Have you ever been to a place where Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Bob Feller, Tris Speaker, and Nap Lajoie were all present in some form? You cannot say yes if your answer was either “Card Show” or “Cooperstown”. While both places are great, they are not historic landmarks. Okay maybe Cooperstown is, but none of them played ball there.

I’ve been in a baseball nostalgia for quite some time. Starting to sort all the early 60’s cards has only made the hunger for vintage even stronger. I’m starting to get into pre-war baseball. Watching “The Golden Age of Baseball” shows makes the hunger that much more insatiable. I could try and buy a bunch of pre-war cards, but I want more history. What I want is actually in my backyard.



(Re)Built by Osborn Engineering in 1910 (whom also built Comiskey, Fenway, and Yankee Stadium among others) League Park had 21,414 seats. Originally it was a wooden facility that had 9,000 seats prior to 1910. The Tribe called it home from 1910 through 1946. From 1946 till 1951 the Tribe split their games between League Park and Municipal Stadium. Much like older stadiums, the dimensions were incredible; 290’ to right, 385’ to left, and a fantastic 460’ to dead center. Many would think that lefties had a power alley. Nope, if they wanted to hit a homer the ball had to clear a 60 foot fence onto Lexington. Good luck with that lefties.



Unfortunately Municipal Stadium won and League Park was completely demolished in 1951.

So what happened to this forgotten relic of baseball’s past? Let me show you my adventure to League Park….

But first a little prologue…

All last night I psyched myself up for this small trip with the thought of “shit, I’ll be on the same land that Ruth, Gehrig, Feller, Lajoie, Speaker, Young, and many others have played ball….how the hell would I pass this up?” Pretty easy actually, it’s not in the best of neighborhoods.

The east side of the city isn’t the best place to be. In fact, coming home from a concert a few years ago, I was stopped at a red light maybe 10 blocks south of the park when a cop pulled up, looked at me and said “You should probably get the hell out of here as fast as possible.” Thoughts of what might happen raced in my mind as to what could happen. I flip flopped all day whether I wanted to go or not. I gave it the green light after I saw photos and stories of past accomplishments of Young, Joss, Lajoie, Speaker that all took place at League Park.

Driving to League Park is pretty simple if you know the city, which I do. I parked on a one way street just north of the park, which back then would have been the third baseline. Although League Park is simply a field now, I got nervous walking up. Ghosts from years past I suppose. First thing I noticed and walked directly up to was this:



Home Plate. I actually had thought there was a plaque in the ground to dedicate the former field, but I guess not. Kicking some dirt up around home plate, the same dirt former members of the hall did was neat.

Two things remain, the first base wall and the former ticket office.




The 1st base wall is held up by metal supports that were put in. I'm not sure when, but they look pretty recent. The ticket office was supposedly turned into a recreation room. Ideally I wanted to go inside, but there was various groups of youth football with parents and all the doors were either boarded up or sealed. I will eventually one day see the inside of the building. Maybe.



Here's an closer view of one of the supports found on the length of the wall.



More supports down the first baseline all the way to the ticket office. You'll notice the lighter molding that runs down the wall. I believe that was part of the grandstand that ran down the line and turned into field box seating. Not entirely sure though.

After I checked out the wall and walked up close to hopefully find a lose brick on the ground for a keepsake (no luck) I walked out the exit gate onto E.66. Turning around and checking out the architecture from 100 years ago was amazing. Imagining what I'd be looking at with a full park surrounding the exit was even more special.



Another small detail I really enjoyed about League Park was the brickwork on the outside frame. The patterns of the bricks was fascinating and definitely gave the deserted and demolished old park some character in it's afterlife.



Taking a brief walk down the street I was able to get to the ticket office. Trust me, I glanced everywhere for a possible way in. Not entirely sure if I found an entrance what I would have done...I didn't want to risk getting arrested for trespassing, but something this old and the history behind it might be semi worth it. But then again, probably not.

Finally I reached the front of the old building, at the corner of E.66 and Lexington.



Next to the building (which had some fencing off done, but was mostly falling apart) was this Historic Landmark and RENOVATION sign. Supposedly $1.8 million was put aside for a renovation project in which the grounds would house softball/baseball fields and a new ticket office. Again, supposedly the whole project would cost the city $18 million. It never happened, and honestly will never happen. Too much corruption and other issues at hand. And with the economy the way it is, who wants to fix up an old park, for no solid reason?



After seeing League Park and not really being able to poke around as much as I would have liked to, I decided to check out the wall one more time. That and take a photo of my personal favorite area of the former park. The player's tunnel.

The player's tunnel was connected to the dugout on the first base side. Here's how I think the dugout tunnel works: First pair of stairs connects to the dugout which leads down to the tunnel itself. It angles left and another pair of stairs leads the players up behind the tunnel to the dressing room. Again this is my estimation so I'm not 100% sure. Here's the photos, you tell me what you think.



Dugout to the tunnel stairs well.





Pretty sweet hole that leads to the middle of the tunnel. If you didn't know it was there, that'd be a bad fall.



Back stairwell that I assume leads to the locker room.

One last photograph of the ticket office, which I will re-visit eventually.



While many dedicated baseball fans know what's located at Yawkey Way or Waveland and Addison, I believe E.66 and Lexington tops them all.

Larry Doby and Pancakes

I love breakfast foods. I could eat breakfast foods any day of the week at any time. Pancakes are the stand alone favorite. I also really like baseball cards, as evidenced by this blog.

1997 was the ultimate climax of passion between pancakes and baseball cards. The place was Denny's. I was 10. It was magical.

I do not know how I got this card, but I'm sure it had to do with a promotion going on TV or the paper and my dad catching wind of it. 1997 was Cleveland's duty to the sporting world to host both the MLB and NBA All Star Games. The MLB All Star Game was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby breaking the color barrier in baseball. If you care to read how I feel about the lack of support Larry gets from MLB, click here. If not, keep reading.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of breakfast foods. Denny's was the one stop shop for breakfast all day errydayy 24/7. And they were the primary place for a Limited Edition Larry Doby card.



I have never seen this photo of Larry before. I love everything about it. The jerseys, old Municipal Stadium in the back, the 3D feel, the black and white aesthetic.



The back makes the card even better. It states what Larry did over his career. His stats line lists Total Bases and On Base Percentage, but has dashes. Why even bother putting that if it won't be listed? Disregard the smudge on the card. Pretty sure it's glue. It's on the wrapper anyways, no big deal.

Nothing could make this card better. Well, actually something could. CAN U SAY 1/1 DENNY'S BREAKFAST MOJO HIT??!?!?!? I bet if I put this up on Ebay I could easily get $500, if not more. PANCAKE CASE HIT.



Before I made this post, I did look on Ebay and Checkoutmycards.com and found out that some dude in Chicago has this card on Ebay for $4.98, lol. Too bad this awesome card doesn't double as free pancakes for life.

Player Collection: Sowers

I am a player collector for the most part. I did the whole MLB Showdown bit since 2000. The cards I need now don't even exist anymore (read: super rare promos). This left me with collecting Grady Sizemore cards, which I've done since 2004. I honestly haven't purchased any since probably the middle of last year. None of the new cards are even worth the time or the price. So I decided to re-start my Jeremy Sowers collection.

I started collecting his cards around mid 2005, I believe. My grand total for Jeremy is 6 cards.

2005 Carolina All Star Card with the Kinston Indians

2004 Bowman Sterling (which I paid $15 for in 2005 at a card show)

2005 Bowman DP&P Signs of the Future (lol) Auto

2005 Topps Personal Endorsements Auto /497

2005 Topps Turkey Red (Red Version) Auto /300

2005 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor (4x) /225 (177, 123, 062, 036)

All in all that's not really that impressive. Then again, neither is Sowers career to date, but he's my favorite player, so he gets a pass. Within the last two weeks, I've added quite a few nice cards to my collection.

The first being the card in the upper left hand corner. Yes it's a parallel. Usually I don't like parallels at all. However, I do think the Topps base design this year is quality. The red border I think also adds to the picture of the card, along with our "retro" themed jerseys. Here comes the homer part, it's serialed to 25 too.


This card has two different versions. This one is serialed to 299. The other is a die cut which is serialed to 61. I haven't seen the die cut on ebay in quite some time. I've always like the design of this card and the simplicity of it all. I'm not sure if it's an on card auto or not, but it doesn't matter, no ugly silver sticker, so that's a positive.

Last but not least is this one. I've always wanted to own an Exquisite card. They are the Ferrari of the sports card world. And when I saw that Sowers had an autograph in any Exquisite product I got excited because a) it's exquisite b) it's Sowers and c) it's going to be relatively cheap. The card ended up selling for a bit over $12. Ironic that it's with Andrew Miller, WaxHeaven's main man, who himself has been bounced around quite some time after being touted as the next big thing. The fact that there is only 10 of these cards is neat too. Add a big plus to the fact that both of these dudes are lefties, and I'm sold.

So...

My computer died, again. This time it seems that the motherboard crashed, after I dropped $350 to get a complete repair by the Geek Squad.

I wanted to blog about those Spectrum Autographs of the Kim Kardashian and other girl from Playboy. I think they fucking suck. They are the most prized possession out of the lot, but why? Because they've been seen naked or because they are good looking? Pretty fuckin lame if you ask me.

The Tribe traded Cliff Lee and a 4th OF'er today. We got 4 prospects. One of which is Knapp. Meh. I understand the reason the trade was made and to be honest, I fully agree with it. Although I think we could have gotten better players, not on a level of Kyle Drabek, but at least other areas of need.

Another tangent I don't understand is about the Tribe is why did we have Garko even try and play LF this year? He's a 1B by nature. Choo-Dellucci-Sizemore-Francisco is your OF. Throw in Derosa, Crowe, Carroll, and then Laporta. Dellucci is gone (thankfully). Derosa is gone, unfortunate but it was his last year and we weren't going to keep him around. Crowe is in AAA. Carroll might not even be able to play the OF, I have no idea. Garko is gone (thank god again). And Laporta is being groomed for 1B? What?

We aren't going to compete this year, and we aren't going to compete next year. 2010 is going to be exactly like 2002 where we evaluate talent and see who we have and what our strengths are. With all the potential talent being built up, I honestly feel that 2011 is going to be a solid year. And this feels weird since I'm the most pessimistic Cleveland fan.

Also, please dear god hire a real development staff for our pitchers because something isn't translating from AAA to the Majors. Reminds me of 2004 when Eddie Murray was our hitting coach. You remember that? Yeah, I tried to block it out too.

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Last note, for those of you guys going to the National, I will be there bright and early on Sunday, the only day I do not work. Hope to meet some of you and possibly do a case break? Make some trades? Let me know if you are attending!

Wedgie Watch™

12 of the last 14 have been losses.

The All Star Break couldn't come soon enough. And to be fair, it's only a break from this horrendous season, round 2 starts right after.

Why does Josh Barfield not get any playing time? Why is he still on the Indians 40 man? What purpose does he even serve as an Indian if he isn't being utilized? Can we please trade him for some prospects? Milwaukee, will you call Mark Shapiro and take Barfield off our hands, please.

Oh yeah, Eric, you've got a mutiny amongst your crew.

Photo Credit: Cleveland Blog.

Wedgie Watch™

(Thanks to Waiting For Next Year for the photo).


The clock is ticking here in Cleveland. The late honey-moon of last season is over after the wonderful playoff parade in 2007 happened. This was going to be year the Tribe were really the sleepers, again. Well sitting in last place with our heads in our faces doesn't seem very promising. Derosa trade done and dusted. White flag up and our doors are wide open for the 29 other GM's to come and speculate who is available to deal.

Let the rumors begin. And thanks to ESPN the ball is rolling. Start up the rumor of Victor to Boston, again. Cliff Lee, have fun pitching somewhere else. I don't think either of these will happen, but I'm sure ESPN will love to dream up these rumors.

What needs to happen:
Garko gone.
Francisco gone.

Wedge....probably gone.

7 years, 1 playoff appearance. Wedge has done plenty of good things for the club, mostly fostering young talent and helping in the community. But only one of those helps the on field progression of the club. Even in 2003 when he was appointed he had trouble managing his pitchers. I gave it about 2 years before he'd catch on. It's 2009, and he still makes baffling choices. Granted, this year more than ever he's not really had many great choices to choose from.

Could I manage our pitchers better than Eric? Probably not, no. But there has got to be a learning curve? As said before, there hasn't been much talent in the 'pen for Wedge to go to. Wood hasn't been what we envisioned. The majority of the rest of the staff has underperformed or just performed to their average, however you want to look at it.

Taking that into consideration, the Tribe's Pythagorean Wins and Loss Record is 36-41. 5 Games under .500. Good for about 7 games out of first place. A lofty, yet reachable goal; especially in this division. That's quite a bit of dumb luck to have not gone our way. If we continue to play the way we've played in the second half of the last two years, there is a slim chance the Tribe could make a push. It'd be awesome if it happens to get the fans excited about the team and getting more people at the empty park.

Now Shapiro believes that this is just a stutter in his Master Plan™. And to be honest to him and his resume with the Tribe so far, I believe it. His worst deal so far has been Brandon Phillips to Cincy. Lately he's dropped the ball with some of his Free Agent signings...Dellucci, Kobayashi, Wood (to an extent). And I don't think I've ever been excited about his high round draft picks. Except Sowers, but I'm biased on him. So I'll give Mark a pass, he's earned it.

Or has he? What about that contract that looms on our heads in the form of Travis Hafner? What is the deal with those injuries over the last few seasons? That huge power surge from 05-07 and then silence for awhile. Rumors swirled that it could have been attributed to steroids, I'm on the fence about it. He's always been a big dude, but that sharp decline, at least to me, sets off a red-flag. What do we do with a guy who is going to be owed nearly 10+ million a year until 2013! For the lack of his playing time lately and the fact that the guy is useless in the field, we are paying a shitload of cash for a DH. We are not New York(s), Boston, or LAA. We are a mid-level market team. While I wouldn't mind seeing Hafner being dealt, I don't know what we'd get. Also, even though he doesn't play often, the runs he'd produce would not be able to come from somewhere else in the lineup. At least not this year.

The only thing I know is that 2009 has not been kind to the Tribe. So with that said, what now for the Tribe? Does Eric Wedge really deserve to be fired?

Where are they now....

Over a year ago I was all about Topps Finest. The first box I pulled contained the coveted Jay Bruce Redemption. Over the course of time I pulled plenty of other nice stuff. A lot of the autographs were of minor league dudes. So since a year has passed, I'm going to see what they are doing.

Sam Fuld.

Drafted by the Cubbies.

Last year at this time: Playing in AAA hitting .222.310/.317/.627.
Currently: Still at AAA (Iowa) and hitting .286/.358/.399/.758 in 283 AB's. 16 XBH with 0 homers. For some reason I love guys who do not hit homers. He's walked 10 more times than he's K'd (32/22 split) and has 20 SB's only being caught 5 times.

Outlook:
He's currently on the Cubbies 40-Man, so a September call-up is most likely in the future. Although he'll really have to impress Lou come September due to him being 28. The rest of Iowa's OF is really awesome. Brad Snyder, So Taguchi, Jason Dubois, and a guy named John-Ford Griffin. Not really sure where Fuld ranks in terms of prospects for the Cubs, but I'd imagine that it's not very high and he'd end up being a bench guy.

Jonathan Meloan.


Last Year: Meloan was starting for the Dodgers AAA club. His numbers were 50 IP with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP (47K/27BB). He was later dealt to Cleveland in the Casey Blake deal.
Currently: I haven't even looked at his stats in Columbus until right now. I was going to write about how his numbers were much closer to his 2007 numbers (2.03 ERA, 91K's in 66.2 IP), but no. I wish he was putting up something to that stat line. Instead he has a bulky 5.65 ERA in 43 IP. In this time he's gotten 35 K's. Glad to know that the Tribe isn't the only team with bullpen woes. Our AAA club is bad too. Wonderful.

Outlook:
Meloan will probably make it up here sooner or later. I'd assume if things keep going the way they are going, Meloan will get a chance to shine at least by September, especially since the Indians are trying to do anything necessary to keep our heads above water. Who knows maybe Meloan will baffle hitters up here with the Tribe and we'll have a solid cog in the bullpen to round out the rest of this frustrating year.

Larry and Jackie

What is so special about Jackie Robinson?

-Broke the color barrier in MLB.
-1947 ROY
-1949 MVP (7 other times to be top 20 in MVP voting)
-6 time All-Star
-Career Averages of .311/.409/.474

When people mention baseball, Jackie Robinson usually is one of the first players mentioned. Not only was he fantastic player on one of the most historical teams (Brooklyn Dodgers), but he did what nobody thought was possible when he broke the color barrier in '47. And it still shows today how much people think of him when they shell out thousands of dollars for game used items. Even in the sports card world, Jackie Robinson commands top dollar. And he should.

Perhaps it's just me, but there is someone getting overlooked here. That same year, another African American played in the Majors, a few months after Jackie. He was the first colored man to play in the American League.



Larry Doby. A 13 year career that encompasses:
-Averages of .283/.386/.490
-6 All Star Games
-4 MVP Votes (29th, 8th, 12th, 2nd)
-253 Career Home Runs

Larry has been honored by being selected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame (1998). He is one of Cleveland's most famous sports figures. The Indians honored him back in 2001 by selecting him to the franchise's 100 Greatest Indians.

However, when it comes to collectibles, Doby doesn't have much out there. Back when the All Star Game was in Cleveland in 1997, I got to go to the Fan Fest. There's always a card show and all the top brands are there giving promo items out. I received a 5 card set of Jackie Robinson. 1997 was the 50 year anniversary of the color barrier being broken. You would think that with the ASG in Cleveland, there'd be something for Doby too. Nope, not at all. Since the inception of Jackie Robinson Day back in 1997, every team has retired the number 42, and in April, every African American player puts on a 42 jersey to signify the relevance of Jackie.

There is no Larry Doby day. Only the Indians wear a number 14 jersey to commemorate Larry's entering the Majors.

A search on Ebay of Jackie finds many cards from new releases (Sterling, Premier) with Game Used Items, Cut Autos, and even Base cards. A search for Larry Doby and you'll find a few cards from 2004, an MLB Showdown card, and an 04 Sweet Spot Patch. What sucks about the patch is it's from his time with the White Sox while clearly his picture above has an Indians "C" cap on. Way to go UD.



It's a shame really that Larry Doby doesn't have more cards in new releases. Maybe the card companies can't get Doby items to put onto cards or there just isn't much Doby items out there, but I'd love to see more Larry Doby items in releases in the future.

Carl Pavano and YOU!

Carl Pavano is an Indian. I don't know why this happened, but it did. This signing better be no more than $2 million for this year alone.

After I wrote those sentences, I decided that I would try and make this article talking about the positives about Pavano, and how he should do somewhat decent this season with the Tribe. Perhaps our pitcher's park will somewhat suit his pitching and he can blossom and we'd either keep him and make a great post-season run and win it all, or if we somehow flop, we deal him out when his trade value is at an all time high thanks to his amazing CC-esque half of a season and get some nice return value.

But no. Nothing do I think will help Carl Pavano in his time in Cleveland. Although, it will be pretty awesome seeing Carl Pavano jersey shirts at the ballpark. I'm not going to lie either, I'll probably buy one, just for comedic value.

Dan Plesac, please come out of retirement and play for the Tribe.

EDIT:

The contract is $1.5 million with incentives that could kick it up to $5.3 million if he exceeds 130 Innings Pitched and 18 starts. I could see both being reached, but I surely hope not.

Michael Aubrey's time as a Cleveland Indian are done as he was bumped off the 40 man for Pavano's signing. Aubs has never been healthy for a full season, and at age 27 and only reaching the Majors once, I don't see him making a team. Sad end to a promising career.

Derosa, Yankee Stadium, Transfer Window

I've been in New York City over the last few days to celebrate New Years. While I no longer have any money left in my bank account, my liver, or a kidney which I might have sold on the black market to give myself more cash to spend in the city, it was a great time.

I did make it up to Yankee Stadium, which just to say I got there is something special. Unfortunately, the stores around the stadium do not sell any Cory Lidle shirts.

While I was celebrating the New Year, the Cavs lost a game in Miami, the English Premier League's Transfer Window opened, and the Tribe traded for Mark Derosa.

I have tickets for the Cavs game tonight 7 rows off the bench, and if they lose tonight I'm not talking about them the rest of the season.

As for the other Cleveland Team making positive moves, the Indians acquired Mark Derosa from the Cubbies. We only gave up RHP Jeff Stevens, RHP Chris Archer and LHP John Gaub. I had only heard of Stevens before this, because he was on the Olympic Team with LaPorta. Unfortunately Stevens one appearance was a blown save and he wasn't used again. With Randy Newsom tearing up our farm system, Stevens seemed that his time with us was running out. The other two are much lower in our farm system and don't have bad numbers, but whether they pan out won't be known for at least another few seasons.

Mark DeRosa on the other hand is an alright pick up. Obviously he won't get near his last season, which was the best of his career. I doubt Mark will be with us past this season, due to him being 34 and a free agent after this season. Plus we have Wes Hodges about a season away from coming up and hopefully doing more than Andy Marte could ever dream of.

With DeRosa's acquisition, this no longer means Peralta and Asdrubal will be moving to 3B and SS respectively. In doing so, I really strongly feel that Josh Barfield might not be with us when Spring Training opens up in about a month.

Speaking of a month long, this month should be a very exciting one for Tottenham. Harry Redknapp's honeymoon with us is over after not getting dumped by West Brom over the weekend 2-1. This game showed just how horrible our fowards have been and it is crucial we sign a foward who does more than just "run around". The midfield needs a defensive cog ASAP. Yes Luka is fantastic and much stronger than anyone thought the little Croat could be, but he can't do everything. Jenas is garbage. Bentley is about as good as, well nothing. He needs to ride the bench and actually watch the game and see what a right mid is all about. And please, no more expensive signings (Bellamy, Downing). They would not be worth our time and would only put us exactly where we were pre-Martin Jol era.

UD Black Diamond Hockey

I bought five packs of the newest Black Diamond Hockey last Tuesday from a card store in Streetsboro. Nice card store and have been going to them occasionally for the last 3 years. The store itself has gotten a face lift on the inside and looks really nice now. It's on Route 14, and coming from the West, is just past Route 43, on the right side in a small strip of stores.

Anyways, my big pull was a quad jersey of Thomas Vanek (Buffalo). I've never pulled a Quad Jersey out of a pack, although I do own a few quad jerseys. The pull happened in my second pack, which was unusual, as I never really hit for anything in my first two packs.



After the first 4 packs, I decided to try one more pack, out of hope I get another decent pull. Sure enough, this pull was better than the Vanek Quad Jersey. A level 4 Black Diamond Rookie Card of Derick Brassard, who was a strong candidate for the Calder Cup. Unfortunately, he is out of the year now due to hurting his shoulder in a fight about a week and a half ago. That is the worst thing to happen for him and for Columbus, since the team is showing signs of promise between him and Ryan Mason between the pipes



I don't have enough time to blog about the current Browns season and recent firings of Savage and Crennel, but there will definitely be a solid blog in the near future. Between them and Tottenham, I don't really know what to say about my sports teams. And I refuse to blog about the Cavs, because the moment I dedicate a blog to them, they'll start doing bad. I have been watching every game and am completely lost for words the way the team is performing.

Also hope to put up a series of blogs about the Indians whole system and what I hope to be done for our 2009 campaign.

Goodbye Casey Blake

I didn't find out about the Xavier Nady deal until 12pm today. I don't think the Bucs got the better end of the stick, but at least Tabata has some hype around him. Hopefully Huntington knows what he's getting himself into, I'd hate for him to be stuck with an Andy Marte type player.

As for the Tribe, it really has been a rough rough year. While I'm more of a narcissist when it comes to anything Cleveland sports, I was actually optimistic about this season. Bad idea.

Since falling flat on our faces in April, May didn't get better. June sucked. And then comes the best part of the year, July. In July we've had our two bright spots Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee honored in the All-Star game. Our brightest spot for the last 7 years, CC Sabathia was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers for promising OF prospect Matt Laporta and some other scrubs who will probably break into AAA but not much higher than that.

With talk about others being dealt, Casey Blake found himself on the chopping block today, and was dealt right quick to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was never a huge fan of Blake, but I truly respected the way he carried himself. Soft spoken and a true team player. I remember when we signed Aaron Boone and Blake without a qualm changed his position to the corner OF. And he turned into a very productive outfielder with his rocket of an arm.

What we got in return is Single A catcher Carlos Santana (awesome name) and reliever turned starter Jonathan Meloan.

I'm actually pretty excited about this deal. Not only are we in desperation for catchers in our system (wish we still had Max Ramirez), but unlike the few we have in the minors, Santana is pretty promising. He started his career off as an OF but quickly was made into a catcher. Apparently (according to rotoworld) he is still green behind the plate, but his numbers on offense seem to make up for this (.323/.431/.563). He's currently 22 right now and will most likely report to either Kinston or Akron. If he goes to Akron I'll really need to attend a game seeing as how we have Hodges, Newsom, and Laporta down there. Plus it's a 20 minute drive for me.

When I heard Meloan's name I recognized it but couldn't remember why. My first Topps 2008 Mini-Box contained his autographed card (along with the hype of Redemption number 2!). Prior to this year Meloan was considered a top reliever prospect, but the Dodgers decided to try and turn him into a starter. With some mediocre results put up this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see us continue to utilize him as a stater, and if it is deemed a failure (read: most likely will fail), we should send him back to his normal position as a reliever. I am expecting Meloan to be sent to Buffalo.

As much as I'm going to miss Casey Blake, I'm not going to deny that I think now was the best time to deal him.