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Forbes: Baseball's Most Intense Rivalries

And she calls herself a Dodgers fan......

I am not sure if you heard about this, I barely did, but anyways, apparently Forbes (don't ask, I don't know why they did it) made a list of the most intense baseball rivalries. According to the article, their formula was...

"To calculate our list, we looked at every season since 1950 and tabulated how many times the two clubs had finished first and second in their division and how often they'd finished the season within five games of one another. Weighted equally with those two stats in our methodology is how much the meetings matter to fans--in other words, how much extra money people are willing to pay for a ticket."

Anywho, there are some surprises in my opinion, and I am not talking about the Red Sox vs. Yankees not coming it a #1, but I may be talking a certain team that appears at 3 and 4. Here is the list...

10.) Oakland Athletics & Chicago White Sox
9.) New York Mets & Atlanta Braves
8.) Houston Astros & St. Louis Cardinals
7.) New York Mets & Philadelphia Phillies
6.) Chicago Cubs & St. Louis Cardinals
5.) Pittsburgh Pirates & Philadelphia Phillies
4.) Chicago White Sox & Cleveland Indians
3.) Detroit Tigers & Cleveland Indians
2.) New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox
1.) San Fransisco Giants & Los Angles Dodgers

As for its brief explanations...

3. Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians

One-two divisional finishes: one
Close season finishes (five games or less): 15
Current ticket markup: 15%

Until the American League broke apart into divisions, these two were almost always overshadowed by the specter of the Yankees and Red Sox. The Tigers' World Series appearance in 2006 and the pennant race between the Tigers and the Indians the following year stoked the rivalry a bit, but it's a large step down from the first two rivalries on our list. While the teams finished within five games of each other 15 times from 1950 to 2008, they've only finished first and second once.

4. Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians

One-two divisional finishes: eight
Close season finishes (five games or less): 10
Current ticket markup: zero

This rivalry's best moments likely came in the fictional Major League films, in which Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) and Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) led the Indians into the playoffs against the vilified White Sox, who they then defeated in the sequel. Life imitated art during the mid-1990s as the two teams duked it out atop the American League Central, though neither ever went on to win a World Series during the rivalry of the 1990s. The commissioner threw a monkey wrench in this rivalry in 1969 when he moved the Sox to the American League West, where they'd stay until 1994.

The article also has a quote from 1 major leaguer, and for whatever reason, they chose this guy...

"No matter how bad a season it is for the Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox, these teams' fans turn out in high volume for divisional contests. For less celebrated rivalries, like the Indians and Tigers, local and national fans often don't take as much notice unless a coveted October appearance is at stake.

"If you're in L.A., Chicago or New York, you get the constant bombardment about the match-ups, and many more people are interested in those games because they have established a connection with them," says the Cleveland Indians' Jensen Lewis, a set-up reliever now in his third Major League Season. "For a mid- to small-market team, the rivalries are most intense when you're in a pennant race."

Lewis cites the 2007 showdown between the Indians and the Detroit Tigers, when Detroit were the defending American League champs and Cleveland held a small lead late in the season. "We had our biggest crowds of the season for that three-game series," says Lewis. The Indians won the series and went on to win the division."

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/28/baseball-best-rivalries-lifestyle-sports-baseball.html

(To view the actual list, you have to click on the "In Depth" link)

So anyways, I just thought I would share that. I am not sure I completley agree, and maybe they are right that the media over hypes some things, it still feels like some of those rivalries are a little bigger than the Indians. I also think the Indians and Yankees is worth mentioning, but A.) it was probably bigger before the divisions changed formats and B.) for the same reason that the Cardinals and Cubs got bumped down, for the most part, its been pretty one-sided, though I think the 2007 playoff series was a pretty classic example of whatever rivalry exists there.

P.S. I am starting to get worried about this 2009 ballclub.

I hope Kelly got a cut of Cliff's Cy bonus...

Welcome back. I made this post in part because I check this page daily, so I know when the blogs I read have been updated, without having to check them all individually, and I am sick of seeing that Fox News video every time, so I needed something fresh.

There are 2 days until President Bush moves back to Texas, and about 77 or so days until the Indians open the season against Bush's former team, the Rangers, in Arlington. Coincidence? I don't see how it could be. I wonder if George will throw out the first pitch.....

Anyways, there are also less than 25 days until Pitchers and Catchers report, which is wonderful news. And while I of course would enjoy a Steelers victory this evening, a super bowl victory won't even be as exciting to me as some come from behind win in May could be.

So anyways, I don't know how I often I will post, but if there is some news I feel like putting here, so goes it....

First, while just looking at the Texas Rangers site to see if tickets were available for opening day, in what could be a 5 hour drive for you (how much for a flight from Houston to Dallas?), the top story on the Rangers website is that they are attempting to sign Omar Vizquel to a deal as a utility infielder. The Rangers, as I am sure you know, asked 2008 Gold Glove winning shortstop Michael Young, to move over to third base, to make room for some hot prospect. So signing Omar would serve as a good fit, so he could give this kid days off, and is there really any one you would rather have mentor a young kid SS than Omar?

Now, the point at hand... For legal reasons I should mention I got this information from Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer, and was pointed in that direction from the DiaTribe blog on the right.

"As the Indians ponder how to divide up the catching duties between Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach, they are considering this: Shoppach will catch Cliff Lee, Martinez will handle Fausto Carmona. Lee had a Cy Young season throwing to Shoppach in 2008 (when Martinez was mostly injured), and Carmona won 19 games in 2007 pitching primarily to Martinez.

In 2008, Carmona had a 7.39 ERA (39 innings) throwing to Shoppach compared to 4.57 (63 innings) to Martinez. In 2007, Carmona had a 2.74 ERA (210 innings) with Martinez, and gave up nine runs in five innings to Shoppach. So there seems to be a reason to pair Carmona/Martinez.

There also is data for Lee/Shoppach. In 2008, Lee had a 2.13 ERA (198 2/3 innings) with Shoppach compared to 5.84 ERA (24 2/3 innings) with Martinez. In 2007, Lee was at 7.35 ERA (74 2/3 innings) with Martinez, 2.78 (22 2/3 innings) with Shoppach."

Interesting information there, and if the Indians decide to follow through with this, if I were writing the opening day lineup, it would look like this...

1. Sizemore - CF

2. Derosa - 3B

3. Martinez - 1B

4. Peralta - SS

5. Hafner - DH

6. Shoppach - C

7. Choo - RF

8. Fransisco - LF

9. Cabrera - 2B

Peralta was too good after taking over the clean-up spot to take it away from him, and Travis has a lot to prove anyways, so I think that could be pretty close to how it looks, though 6-8 could be mixed up.

Two other things worth mentioning. Andy Marte's name is almost never brought up, it too many, it would be an absolute shock if he makes the roster. The only chance he has is for Derosa, Peralta or Cabrera to get hurt, and he still might be out of luck. Also in the never get mentioned category is Dellucci, who, as has been said, if the Indians are going to give Garko, Barfield and Derosa looks in the outfield, while I expect Dellucci to make the team, I would be surprised if he is still on the team by the end of the season.

Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer also reported that the Indians looked into signing Brad Penny, but he had more interest in playing for the Red Sox, so for him to sign with the Indians, they were going to have to shell out a good deal more than the $5 mill for 1-year Boston gave him. The Indians also looked in to Jon Garland, someone I had interest in, but didn't want to give him the multi-year deal he so desires (and has yet to get). One last not from Hoynes "Adam Miller, however, is favored to win the [7th and final bullpen] job. The Indians are still buzzing about the way he threw in the Dominican Republic this winter. They think he can benefit from being around Wood." The other 6 are of course Wood, Perez, J. Lewis, Bentancourt, Smith and Kobayashi.

And finally, as pointed to in the DiaTribe too, with less than 25 days until Spring Training, the following players are still unemployed, and in many cases, their markets and potential value, is probably shrinking. Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hudson, Bobby Abreu, Brandon Lyon, Orlando Cabrera, Ben Sheets, Andy Pettite, Joe Crede, Jon Garland, Ken Griffey Jr., Pedro Martinez, Ivan Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, and many more.

Anywho, thats all for now. Hope you enjoyed it, feel free to reply here or there.

Always,

Chris P.P.W.