Here is a warning to anyone that actually follows this blog:
What is going to follow is a baseball rant. If you have no interest in this sort of thing, you are welcome to stop reading now.
Really... last chance...
Okay... Here I go...
![](http://pics.livejournal.com/robertab/pic/00006p5e)
W! T! F! In order to meet the all holy trade deadline, just as the start of the second half of the season was beginning to show promise--winning streak and all, Larry Dolan
has gone and pissed away Cy Young Award Winning Cliff Lee! As Dolan sits and counts his money, I wonder if his conscience allows for the fact that a great number of now former Cleveland Indians fans has publicly denounced a team that in many instances has been followed for decades--whole lives. The frustration felt in response to yet another front office money making scheme at the expense of loyal ticket-buyers is just too great for some to continue to be disregarded in favor of big business. After all, in today's age of overemphasized trading, exorbitant player salaries, and free agency, there's very little to be loyal to. We find ourselves rooting for the chosen jersey as players come and go or are forced to go so that owners and corporations (Progressive Field: give me a break) can eclipse what is supposed to be sports entertainment with so much commerce. And though it's been stated that no cash was involved in the deal, consider the savings in payroll now that the Dolan's no longer have to compensate a pitcher of Lee's status.
On Bruce Drennan's All Bets Are Off, the outpouring of emotional response from both the host and the fans was overwhelming. I have not seen Drennan that fired up in a while. One caller brought up the great point that in a week's time, the Indians' front office has managed to trade away Rafael Betancourt, Ryan Garko, Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco, and gotten little in return save for a handful of not-yet-ready-for-the-majors mediocre farm players.
Drennan went even further in his predictions that the thoughtless and selfish actions of Dolan and Shapiro will result in Progressive Field (a beautiful and worthy facility) becoming like old Municipal Stadium--with nobody in the stands. I loved that Drennan said that in the pending press conference that Shapiro was to give in a short while, he had better not hear that "this team will be a contender inside of three years." Enough already with the rationale that we are "building a team." What about right now? There's just a little less than half a season to go. I don't believe that it's over. So the message from the powers that be is that subsequent seasons and the almighty dollar are much more important than the here and now. They've written this season, one of the worst in Drennan's opinion in terms of player performance, completely off and presumably plan to sail through to October without any concern for wins or losses. It seems they just want to get it over with. I, for one, was kind of enjoying the little winning streak we had been experiencing, for what it's worth. I hope that we can pull some sort of hope from that "powerhouse pitcher," Carl Pavano. I wish the tribe lots of luck.