Bob Toth | On 15, Feb 2016

If there wasn’t piles of snow on the ground finally in northeast Ohio, Cleveland area residents might sense a little spring in the air as baseball fans are in the home stretch before players begin arriving in Florida and Arizona for their preseason sessions.

While the players may have had a chance to rest, the work continued on at Did The Tribe Win Last Night last week, as we continued our countdown to Indians’ Opening Day and profiled several roster candidates and minor leaguers, while also glancing at the past works of Chris Perez, David Riske, Dave Roberts, Julian Tavarez, Jensen Lewis, and others. Enjoy!

Stories You May Have Missed Last Week:
2/8/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 56 (Craig Gifford)
2/8/16 – Indians Sign Stammen to Compete for Bullpen Spot (Bob)
2/9/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 55 (Bob)
2/9/16 – Sean Brady is a Young Pitcher with Potential (Laurel Wilder)
2/10/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 54 (Bob)
2/10/16 – Petition Seeks to Get Feller Presidential Medal of Freedom (Vince Guerrieri)
2/11/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 53 (Bob)
2/11/16 – Thatcher Seeking a Chance to be One of Tito’s Lefties (Bob)
2/12/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 52: Catching Up With Dave Roberts (Steve Eby)
2/12/16 – Spring Invite Paulino May Provide Pitching Depth (Bob)
2/12/16 – Indians Add Reliever Hunter in Series of Friday Moves (Bob)
2/13/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 51 (Laurel)
2/13/16 – Luis Lugo Looking to Continue Climb Through Indians System (Bob)
2/14/16 – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 50 (Bob)
2/14/16 – After High School Indians’ Career, Wakamatsu Joins New Tribe in the Pros (Bob)

Last Week in Tribe History (Bob):
February 8, 1931
February 9, 1914
February 10, 1884
February 11, 2013
February 12, 2009
February 13, 1878
February 14, 1870

Podcasts You May Have Missed:
Do You Wahoo? – Playoffs Round 2 (feat. Bob and Vince)

Spring Training Player Profiles (40-man and non-roster invites):
Cody Anderson – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 56 (Craig)
Shawn Armstrong – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 51 (Laurel)
Dylan Baker – Baker Looking to Bounce Back from Lost Season (Bob)
Carlos Carrasco – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 59 (Danny Madden)
Joba Chamberlain – Chamberlain Hoping to Make Squad and Erase Images of “Bug Game” (Craig)
Michael Choice – Cleveland Has a Choice in Their Spring Training Outfield Mix (Bob)
Kyle Crockett – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 57 (Bob)
Jarrett Grube – Grube Looking to Build on Strong Second Half with Clippers (Bob)
T.J. House – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 58 (Danny)
Michael Martinez – Martinez Returns for Second Spring in the Sun for the Tribe (Bob)
Jeff Manship – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 53 (Bob)
Ryan Merritt – Merritt Progressing on More Than Merit Alone (Bob)
Felipe Paulino – Spring Invite Paulino May Provide Pitching Depth (Bob)
Roberto Perez – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 55 (Bob)
Anthony Recker – Recker Looks to Catch on in Cleveland as a Reserve Backstop Option (Bob)
Giovanni Soto – Countdown to Indians’ Opening Day – 65 (Bob)
Joe Thatcher – Thatcher Seeking a Chance to be One of Tito’s Lefties (Bob)

Spring Training Minor League Profiles:
Greg Allen – Indians Have Another Smooth Tribe Outfielder in Greg Allen (Laurel)
Claudio Bautista – Claudio Bautista Slowly Climbing Through the Minor League Levels (Laurel)
Sean Brady – Sean Brady is a Young Pitcher with Potential (Laurel)
Mitch Brown – Mitch Brown Looking to Build on Second Half Success (Bob)
Yu-Cheng Chang – Yu-Cheng Chang Needs a 2016 Without Injury to Demonstrate True Skills (Laurel)
Yandy Diaz – Could Yandy Diaz Be a Future Solution at Third Base? (Danny)
Luis Lugo – Luis Lugo Looking to Continue Climb Through Indians System (Bob)
Mark Mathias – Mathias Made Most of Time at Mahoning Valley (Bob)
Dorssys Paulino – Paulino Progresses in First Full Season in Outfield (Bob)
Luigi Rodriguez – Luigi Rodriguez: On the Rise or Organizational Man? (David Freier)
Nellie Rodriguez – Young Tribe Slugger Rodriguez Plays with Something to Prove (Bob)
Luke Wakamatsu – After High School Indians’ Career, Wakamatsu Joins New Tribe in the Pros (Bob)
Tony Wolters – Wolters Looks to Bounce Back After Injury-Ridden Season (Danny)

1948 Cleveland Indians weekly rewind

For those who have followed the story of the 1948 Indians throughout our recap, you may remember that the early portion of the season drenched the Cleveland club and the team has spent all season trying to make up rained out games from all across the east half of the United States.

During this stretch of play, they are entering a brutal 16-game stretch filled with doubleheaders to make up some of the washed out contests, and will be doing so against some of the top talent in the American League. On their final full east coast trip of the year, several opportunities for wins present themselves to the Tribe, but an overworked and exhausted bullpen has become frighteningly unreliable. In addition, the club is banged up, with Ken Keltner and Joe Gordon nursing injuries. Bad play leads to three straight losses to the lowly White Sox, a bit of foreshadowing as the club arrives in Boston and gets handed two tough defeats in a three-game stretch.

Outfield Becoming New Core for Tribe’s Future (Mike)
Paige Shuts Out Chicago For Second Time; Indians 1, White Sox 0 (Vince)
Indians Close in on New Attendance Heights (Mike)
Lemon Loses Game in Ninth; White Sox 3, Indians 2 (Vince)
Feller Knocked Around By Sox; White Sox 8, Indians 1 (Vince)
Tribe Falls Just Short, Just Half Game Ahead of Boston; White Sox 4, Indians 3 (Vince)
Indians Head to Fenway to Open 16-Game Road Trip (Mike)
Paige Releases Book, “Pitchin’ Man” (Vince)
Stephens Homer Gives Boston Walkoff Win; Red Sox 9, Indians 8 (Mike)
Lemon Shuts Down Sox and Regains First Place; Indians 9, Red Sox 0 (Mike)
Tribe Miscues Early, Has Boston Take Game Late; Red Sox 8, Indians 4 (Mike)

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***
1948 American League standings (as of the end of day, August 26th)

TEAM	W-L	W-L %	GB
Boston	72-47	0.605	—
Cleveland	71-47	0.602	0.5
New York	70-47	0.598	1.0
Philadelphia	69-51	0.575	3.5
Detroit	56-58	0.491	13.5
St. Louis	46-69	0.400	24.0
Washington	46-73	0.387	26.0
Chicago	40-78	0.339	31.5

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

Photo: vanmeteria.gov