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Manager not buying theory that Indians play better without pressure
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009
KANSAS CITY, MO.: Everybody has heard it, and lots of fans buy into it.
The conventional wisdom in Cleveland goes something like this: ''The Indians can't win until they're out of the race, and the pressure is off. That's why they can trade their best players in the middle of the season and finish strong.''
Those who adopt this attitude have the numbers on their side. Since July 21, the Tribe's record is 19-12, compared with 36-57 before that date, even though Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Garko, Rafael Betancourt and Ben Francisco have been traded.
''I hear that,'' manager Eric Wedge said Tuesday. ''In '05, not one person thought we'd be in it at the All-Star break, and with a week to go we were right there. In '07, every game meant something. That's the way it is in the big leagues.''
Wedge's attitude is that players perform with stress all the time just to maintain their status on the team and to stay in the majors.
''For people to say these games don't mean anything and that there's no pressure is ridiculous,'' Wedge said. ''They're getting paid to play, and people are paying money to watch them, so every game means something.''
The other issue is this: Two years in a row, the Tribe has traded away one or more key players yet began winning with a less experienced and seemingly less talented roster.
''That's just hard to understand,'' Wedge said. ''We're more athletic now, and our bullpen has settled down. The starters are also going deeper in games.
''After the trades, we became a different team. We've run a little more, gotten people to be more active. I think for a while, we thought we wouldn't be able to score unless we hit home runs. But we were too one dimensional. Now, we've learned we can score in other ways.''
The bullpen followed by the rotation began the team's skid early in the schedule. It also didn't help that three starters will end up missing most or all of the season with injuries: Jake Westbrook, Anthony Reyes and Scott Lewis.
''We have better arms in the bullpen now,'' said Wedge, referring to newcomers Chris Perez, Jess Todd and Tony Sipp. ''They don't have to be perfect [with their location]. That's real. I can also say that from a rotation aspect, we've become more stable.''
The current rotation of Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona, Jeremy Sowers, Justin Masterson and David Huff is keeping the Indians in games longer.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters. Follow the Indians on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Indians.
KANSAS CITY, MO.: Everybody has heard it, and lots of fans buy into it.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Naples, FL
Posted 06:25 AM, 08/26/2009
I have long maintained that the idea that players have no pressure to perform if the team is no longer in the pennant race is no more than an old wives tale. I never played above the high school level but lived and died with every at bat, every chance I had in the field and every pitch I threw. there may be an odd exception but don't tell me there is no pressure on a guy even if its for next years contract or a spot on the roster.
