Random Thoughts - 6/19

And the beat goes on . . .

The Cleveland Indians have been hot and it hasn’t taken the Cleveland media long to once again show its lack of class . . .

On June 4th the Tribe fired hitting coach Eddie Murray . . . since his departure the Indians have been swinging a hotter stick - and The Plain Dealer is making sure the public knows it . . . they now have a box inside the sports section showing the players batting average under Murray and since Murray was fired . . . yes the statistics have improved, however it has been only 15 days since Murray has been gone . . . are the Tribe hitters going to keep this up for the remainder of June, July, August, September, and of course October when the Tribe goes to the World Series? . . .

My only question is this – when the Indians bats begin to cool down, will The Plain Dealer run a special box showing the decrease in batting averages? . . . I highly doubt it . . .

Here is something else to chew on, bench coach Buddy Bell left around the same time as Murray to take over as manager of the Kansas City Royals . . . maybe the Indians are playing better ball now that Bell is gone . . .

Take it easy Tribe fans . . . the Indians have won eight in a row and are the hottest team in baseball . . . however, the majority of these wins have come against a weaker opponent such as San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies . . . starting Monday, the Indians begin playing teams a few levels higher, such as Boston, Detroit, New York, and Cincinnati, than the roadkill they have just splattered . . .

Back in May, the Yankees went on a hot streak however it was a bit deceiving as they piled on the wins against the likes of Seattle and Oakland . . .

Now don’t get your wigwam all upset Indians fans . . . I will say, the Tribe has improved since April . . .

By the way, whatever happened to Albert Belle? . . .

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers open its season on Tuesday night at Eastwood Field . . . the Scrappers are the defending New York-Penn League Champions . . .

One former Scrapper who is playing some good ball is Ryan Church . . . Church is now with the Washington Nationals . . .

Like I said last week, even if the Pistons go down 2-0 against the Spurs, they were still not out of the series . . .
Phil Jackson could spin it all he wants, the fact is that he rejoined the Lakers because of: 1) money; and 2) Jeanie Buss . . .

Why isn’t the NBA as exciting as it was during the 1980s and 90s? . . .

Michael Jackson is one lucky person . . . he was fortunate enough that the alleged victim’s family was not credible . . .

What are the odds of the NHL playing next year? . . .

John Madden hit for the cycle this week when it was announced he will be the analyst for Sunday Night football on NBC starting in 2006 . . . Madden has worked for CBS, FOX, ABC, and now NBC . . .

How many days until the start of the NFL? . . .

I rolled into the City of Brotherly Love this past week for a conference . . . nice city but poor service at restaurants . . . we waited, on average, of at least 25 minutes from the time we placed our order until we received our food . . .

The best service was at Pat’s Cheesesteaks . . . Pat’s has been in business since 1930 . . . in fact, the establishment appeared in Rocky . . . the scene - Rocky just signed to fight Apollo Creed . . . so Rocky meets Gozzo outside of Pat’s and Gozzo gives him $500 to use for training . . .

Looks like William Rehnquist is going to announce his retirement next week . . . the Washington Post has a story of the three possible replacements . . . Washington Post

Finally, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there and especially to my dad who is the best . . .

Until next time . . . the beat goes on . . .