Cavs Load Up on 'Bigs' - Possible Trade Bait?

OK, so it’s J.J. Hickson.

Message boards and talk radio shows are loaded with folks crying “foul” over Danny Ferry’s decision to select the power forward out of North Carolina State. Everybody needs to calm down. It’s one player, and, no matter who the Cavs selected with the 19th pick, they weren’t going to get someone who would instantly elevate the team to championship caliber.

There’s still work to be done. Seeing a scorer like a Michael Redd in a Cleveland uniform next season would be cause for excitement. But don’t give up hope, Cavs fans. A couple of moves that Ferry made later in the night may yet pay dividends. He sent a 2009 second round pick to Miami for the draft rights to Kansas forward Darnell Jackson, and then purchased the rights to Kansas center Sasha Kaun from Seattle. Both were second round picks.

Jackson is intriguing. He’s 6-8, 250, and averaged 11 points and almost seven rebounds a game (tops on the team) for the NCAA champion Jayhawks. More important, he put up those numbers on the national stage, and was part of the pressure-cooker that is the NCAA tournament, all the way through the Final Four and the title game.

Kaun (6-11, 250) averaged seven points and four rebounds as a reserve center. He’s apparently headed to Moscow to play, but could develop into a long-term project. Or, he could be trade bait. So could Jackson. So could Hickson.

Assuming Hickson stays with the Cavs, however, he’ll be expected to be a solid "rotational" player, as Ferry put it. And that may be why Cleveland passed on selecting GlenOak and Ohio State product Kosta Koufos, who later went to the Utah Jazz. Rather than have Koufos intern behind Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a few years, Ferry apparently felt a player like Hickson could establish himself in the rotation and make a contribution right away. Hickson led the Wolfpack in scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (8.5) and blocked shots (1.5) as a freshman, so I’m not sure what more fans would ask him to do at age 19. He's an athletic player with basketball skills and strength who the Cavs had rated very highly.

Regardless of who was drafted, it’s not likely that Ferry’s offseason activities are finished.

If You're Gonna Wear Throwbacks, Wear the Right Ones

While we learned the stunning news of Tiger Wood's physical condition requiring him to have more surgery and sit out the remainder of the season after winning the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff. . .and that Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner will have to sit out even longer than expected. . .and that the Indians dropping another game leaves them 7-1/2 games out (and closer to last place than first). . .we turn our attention to one of the really crucial aspects of sports: throwback uniforms.

Recently when the Indians and Padres donned their oldies during their weekend series, they matched 1978 garb. Well, the Tribe simply couldn't compare to the Pads on that score. Cleveland trotted out in their very ordinary solid blues with boring block letters, while San Diego got jazzed up again in those old yellow and brown combinations. Nasty, those Padres jerseys, but memorable. I was living in the L.A. area in those days, and when Steve Garvey left the Dodgers for the Padres, he never looked quite right in that taco combination.

I know the Indians have worn them before, but if you're going to pull out something that recalls the '70s, there's nothing like the '75 attire. The stylized lettering, the blue and red versions, and, of course, the all-red uniforms worn, memorably, on opening day when Frank Robinson hit a home run in his first at bat as player-manager, were unlike anything else worn in team history. Boog Powell said the all-red version made him look like "a giant tomato." Not a bad assessment. But hey, it was the '70s. They weren't alone in their garishness, however. The Oakland A's were best known for the trend with their all-yellow and all-green combinations in 1971 (actually adapted from the franchise's uniforms in 1963, when they were located in Kansas City). The A's were joined in '71 by the Baltimore Orioles' bizarre all-orange outfits. And the Pittsburgh Pirates donned all-yellows and all-blacks in the late '70s.

The Chicago White Sox, not to be outdone, had all-blacks among their many combinations in the late '70s and early '80s, which, memorably, featured shirt collars and, for one game in August 1976, shorts (left). It was the ultimate sandlot softball look, which is pretty much what all the multi-colored major league uniforms recalled during that era. And let's not forget the baby blue road uniforms favored in those days by the likes of the Phillies, the Rangers, the Royals and, yes, the White Sox. What a time.

Still a topic of hot debate, however, is the multi-colored jersey worn by the Houston Astros for 12 seasons, from 1975 through 1986. They're symbolic of that entire era, and were certainly unique among all the brazen color combinations sported by MLB teams in the '70s and '80s. Personally, I was never bothered by them, and I lived in Texas during part of that stretch and was subjected to images of the Astros in those uniforms perhaps more than most people. But a lot of people hated them, and they eventually disappeared.

I've never been much of a Yankees fan, but they still wear the most distinctive uniforms in baseball. The Dodgers are right there with them, of course. And, I have to acknowledge the Tribe for their return to the classic Indians script jerseys in 1994, when they moved to Jacobs Field and began their resurgence as a championship franchise.

Want a fun way to waste some time? Check out the "Dressed to the Nines" section of the Baseball Hall of Fame Web site. You can view renderings of every uniform ever worn by any team. Some cool ones, and some terrible ones. But an enjoyable trip down memory lane.

Grady Being Grady, and Tiger Being. . .Well, You Know

One of the mysteries of the first two months of the baseball season was the inability of Grady Sizemore to get things rolling. The Indians' centerfielder is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the majors, and, with a batting average hovering around .250, he was performing at a level far below expectations.

That's changed of late, and, with it, so have the Tribe's offensive fortunes. He's not alone in picking things up, of course. Ryan Garko, Jamey Carroll and Casey Blake have shown important signs of life as well, to go along with the solid hitting of Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo.

But as Grady goes, so goes the Tribe, and his hot streak continues of late, just as -- no coincidence here -- the Indians have won two consecutive series. His batting average has gradually climbed to .266, and his 17 home runs (five in his last five games) rank second in the American League.

Baby steps, to be sure, but Sizemore must continue to sizzle if the Indians are to climb back into contention in the A.L. Central.

Playoff classic

When we last wrote about the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods had just climbed back into contention after a remarkable finish to Saturday's third round. It's no surprise that he sank a putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force an 18-hole playoff, and no surprise that he won that playoff to claim his 14th major victory.

But what a great story. Mediate was Everyman for a day, if not for a weekend, and twice almost pulled out the victory -- once on Sunday, and again on Monday. His engaging demeanor and the way he handled the spotlight with such optimism and grace made the golf world fall in love with him, and, truth be told, root for him to win the first major of his career. Mediate has 15 PGA Tour victories, so he's no slouch, but he's also 45, and only the Nicklauses of the world won majors that late in their career. Well, maybe until Tiger is that age.

Mediate battled Woods tooth-and-nail throughout the day and actually led the playoff by one stroke heading to the 18th hole. But he drove his tee shot into a bunker and opened the door for Woods to tie it up, which, of course, he did. No one handles the pressure of the big stage better than Tiger Woods. One extra hole was all that was needed for him to wrap up his 65th career win, which, oh by the way, moved him past Ben Hogan for third place on the all time list, eight behind Jack Nicklaus and 17 behind Sam Snead.

An honor for C.C.

Amidst all the contract talk -- will the Indians trade him or keep him? -- C.C. Sabathia was honored as the A.L.'s Player of the Week Monday, after winning a 1-0 complete game victory over Minnesota last Wednesday and outdeuling Greg Maddux and the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He issued only one walk in 17 innings in the two games, while fanning 15 to pass Charles Nagy on the team's all-time strikeout list. Sabathia leads the A.L. with 97 strikeouts in 99-1/3 innings pitched (also a league best).

Unparalleled Excellence

Saturday's amazing finish by Tiger Woods to Round 3 of the U.S. Open was stuff of legend, yes, but in some ways not surprising, because it's the kind of thing we've come to expect from this giant of sport. Certainly in my lifetime no athlete has risen to transcend his sport over such a prolonged period of time as has Tiger, and Saturday's superhuman display just added to his legacy.

First came a ridiculous 70-foot eagle putt on the 13th hole to put Woods back in the running. Four holes later he one-hopped a chip on 17 for a birdie, and then he drained a 30-foot eagle putt on 18 to give him the outright lead heading into today's final round. Who does this stuff? Only Tiger, year after year after year. Michael Jordan certainly set the bar high during his playing days, but even basketball players have to admit they're only as great, ultimately, as the teams they play on. Golf is an individual sport, and the mental grind can be overwhelming. To witness what Tiger does, and the way he rises to the occasion on the sport's biggest stages, is simply breathtaking.

That he pulled off Saturday's tour-de-force on a bum knee that buckled on him on the 15th tee and caused him to wince in pain and use his driver as a cane was even more surreal.

"The stuff he does, it's unreal," said Rocco Mediate, who watched his once-comfortable lead over Woods evaporate from the group right behind Tiger's. "It's just the most amazing display of athletic, mental power that there is, that there ever was."

Maybe Tiger will win the Open today, maybe he won't. It matters to him, of course, but it doesn't matter to us. There are dozens of phenomenal athletes in sports today, and there have been thousands over the years, but Tiger is the best, plain and simple, and the most dominant in a particular field that sports has ever seen.

Witnessing LeBron James is cool, but to witness Tiger Woods is to witness history.

Charlie Jones

Last weekend the sports world lost one legendary broadcaster -- Jim McKay -- and later in the week it lost another. Charlie Jones, long-time announcer of the American Football League and countless other major assignments on ABC and NBC, died Thursday night in his home in La Jolla, Calif.

Jones' first major assignment was covering the AFL for ABC in 1960, and he followed the league to NBC in 1965. Like McKay, he contributed to ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and later did similar assignments for NBC's "Sports World." His resume also included the Olympics, the World Cup, and more than 25 college football bowl games.

Jones, like many of his era, had a distinctive, one-of-a-kind voice that became synonymous with major sporting events. Like McKay's, his was a comfortable, reassuring delivery that transcended the events he covered. And, like McKay, he exuded joy in his on-air style, making the broadcasts he anchored even more enjoyable to watch.

The Big Hurt of 2008

Along with the news Thursday of Victor Martinez heading to the disabled list came the double-whammy item of Josh Barfield, he of the Monday call-up from Buffalo, heading to the DL as well. Barfield sprained the middle finger on his left hand trying to check his swing Wednesday. Poor guy couldn’t even last a week in his latest audition as the Tribe’s second baseman. So Jamey Carroll (left) takes over, and the honest truth is he’s been as dependable as anyone else in the infield. Carroll had four hits in Thursday’s drubbing of the Twins and was 8-for-9 in the three-game set to raise his season average to .273. Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon Journal recently wrote a nice article about Carroll that’s worth a read.

Martinez’s faulty elbow came as news this week, although he’s apparently been plagued by it much of the year. Why he and the team weren’t more forthcoming about the problem earlier in the season is anybody’s guess. Has it affected his hitting? “Just look at the numbers and you’ll see,” he said Thursday. Trainer Lennie Soloff said Martinez has been playing in pain and didn’t want to come out of the lineup. Nobody does, but doesn’t there come a time when you have to pull a guy for his own good?

The Beacon Journal’s Sheldon Ocker quoted manager Eric Wedge in today’s edition as saying that “whether you shut a guy down depends on whether he is better than the alternative.” Wouldn’t the player’s overall health and well-being be more of a factor? One presumes Wedge considers that a given, but, the way the team kept sending the likes of Martinez and Travis Hafner onto the field with injuries this season, one also wonders.

Meanwhile, it comes to this: Called up from Buffalo to replace Martinez and Barfield were -- wait for it -- catcher Yamid Haad and infielder Jorge Velandia. Haad was hitting .159 with the Bisons, although he did hit .301 in 35 games last year. He’d previously been to the majors with San Francisco. Velandia, shown here wearing a Pirates hat when he was in their minor league system in 2005, was signed last month after being released by Toronto and was hitting .235 in 16 games at Buffalo. He’s also suited up for San Diego, the Mets, Oakland and Tampa Bay in his career. (Question: Should the fact that Asdrubal Cabrera was left in Buffalo be interpreted as a statement by Tribe brass about this season?)

POLITENESS AWARD: Referring Thursday to the absence of Hafner and Martinez, Ben Francisco said, “We have to be tough with our two biggest hitters out of the lineup.” It was a nice thing to say, considering Francisco has actually been the biggest hitter in the lineup.

ENCOURAGING NEWS: Grady Sizemore has been swinging a hot bat of late. He’s batted .342 (13-for-38) with three homers and six RBI during a nine-game hitting streak. . .Jake Westbrook had Tommy John surgery Thursday in Los Angeles to repair his right elbow. See you in 2010, Jake. . .Fausto Carmona is expected to make a rehab start next week. . .Aaron Laffey picked up his fourth win last night in the 12-2 shellacking of Minnesota. His ERA is 2.83. If Jeremy Sowers can make a strong showing tonight in the series opener against San Diego, perhaps the pitching will hold things together yet this season. . .Still, you have to wonder how long C.C. Sabathia will be in a Tribe uniform. Despite three straight losses by the White Sox, the Indians are 6-1/2 games out, and the spate of injuries doesn’t bode well for the stretch run. As Tribe fans learned with Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, there’s no hometown discount when it comes to star players and contract negotiations. If the Indians can get value for Sabathia as they look to 2009, you couldn’t blame Mark Shapiro for pulling the trigger on a deal that brings some solid prospects or experienced big leaguers to get things back on track.

Random Notes

The LeCharles Bentley era in Cleveland ended before it started. A mysterious tour with the Browns came to an abrupt halt Wednesday when he asked for, and was granted, his release. Go figure on this one. Bentley didn't say much, and neither did the Browns. What was said was rather cryptic, on the part of all parties. GM Phil Savage called it "a chapter that finally comes to an end," said the team had "some closure" and acknowledged that it "just didn't work out." Asked by the Plain Dealer's Marla Ridenour if he had requested his release, Bentley replied, "Why would I do that?" OK, we get it, everybody's saying the right things. But this had to be one of the weirdest odysseys in Browns history. Well, it's over. Good luck to Bentley, and Go Browns. . . .

2008 has gradually shaped up to be a season that Victor Martinez would rather forget. A .278 batting average, with no homers and 21 RBIs? Hardly Martinez-like numbers. He strained a hamstring on Opening Day, and it's clear he's never been 100 percent since. Now he's scheduled to have an MRI on a right elbow inflammation that forced him out of Wednesday's loss to Minnesota. It flared up after an awkward swing in the first inning. Manager Eric Wedge later revealed that the elbow has been an issue for Martinez for a while. The question now is whether the combination of the hamstring and the elbow might land Martinez on the disabled list. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, a tip of the cap to Aaron Laffey. The young lefthander moved into the starting rotation when Jake Westbrook was lost to injury. Laffey was honored as the AL Rookie Pitcher of the Month for May, when he was 3-2 with a 0.79 ERA. Opponents hit just .220 against him over 34 innings during the month. Overall he's now 3-3 with a 2.98 ERA, and has most likely cemented his stay in Cleveland. . . .

Apparently Stark County's Kosta Koufos made a wise decision when he chose to leave Ohio State for the NBA after just one season. Word is his stock continues to rise and that he's looked good in personal workouts for NBA teams. Winning the MVP while helping lead Ohio State to the 2008 NIT Championship was a stroke of timing genius. Todd Porter of the Canton Repository recently wrote that NBA teams are focusing on wingspan more than height when it comes to big men in the draft. In other words, the fact that Koufos is a shade over seven feet tall is one thing; but the fact that his wingspan is almost 7'6" is more significant. Koufos has excellent skills for a post player, including his ball handling and his outside shooting ability. A number of mock drafts have Koufos going in the first round -- in at least one of those, to Cleveland. He'd be an intriguing pickup for the Cavaliers, who will need to groom a replacement for Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the next couple of years. If he falls to them in the draft, it could be another gift from the basketball gods for the franchise. . . .

An interesting side note to the NBA Finals is the presence of Ira Newble on the Lakers' roster. The former Cavalier, traded to Seattle in the deal that brought Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak to Cleveland, later signed with the Lakers and is enjoying a second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. He's mostly a practice player and has logged a grand total of one minute in the postseason for L.A., but he's admittedly got the best seat in the house for the grand stage, and, if nothing else, he can boast of playing with the two best players in the league -- LeBron James and Kobe Bryant -- over the last two seasons. And Newble isn't alone as a former Cavalier enjoying the ride -- Chris Mihm is still with the Lakers, also in a benchwarming role. The two were teammates in Cleveland during the 2003-04 season.

Who'da thunk it? Barfield Back, Cabrera Gone

The merry-go-round continued for the Indians Monday, as Josh Barfield returned to the fold from his exile in Buffalo. Although hitting only .255 as the Bisons' leadoff hitter, Barfield will get the chance to win back the second base job that eluded him after a disastrous start in '07. Back to Buffalo, meanwhile, goes Asdrubal Cabrera, he of the sparkling glove and, this year, the .184 bat. It's simply a reversal of roles from a year ago, when the two switched places in the other direction and Cabrera sparked a late-season surge by the Tribe, both in the field and at the plate.

One wonders, though, if the tandem won't be together in Cleveland someday -- Barfield at second, Cabrera at short. Both have a long way to go before that scenario even hits the radar screen, however. For now, Barfield joins Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo as former Bisons now trying to lift the Tribe offense.

Cliff Lee did just enough to get the win Monday night in Detroit, earning the Indians a split of their four game series with the Tigers. Lee pitched around a one-hour rain delay to get in the required five innings and run his A.L.-leading record to 10-1. His excellence continues, as evidenced by his 2.52 ERA.

That's two series splits in a row, to Texas and Detroit. That's better than the awful 3-12 mark the Tribe posted while losing five consecutive series in the three preceding weeks.

Griffey belts #600

It was about time -- that's all I could think. There was a time when I, and just about everyone else, expected Ken Griffey Jr., not Barry Bonds, to challenge Hank Aaron's lifetime home run record. Fate had other ideas, as an injury-plagued Griffey watched the enigmatic Bonds pass him by. Still, 600 is 600, something only five other players have done, and Griffey's arrival in the club is long overdue. He's a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, and one of the all-time greats, a member of the All-Century Team at age 29! By that time he had already amassed 398 home runs in 11 seasons with Seattle. Since then he's hit only 202 homers in nine years with Cincinnati. Who thought he would average only 22 home runs a season over that span? But it is what it is, as they say, and 600 home runs is certainly a cause for celebration, and a tip of the cap to one of the best ever.

The Triple Crown Remains as Elusive as Ever

Big Brown was a big bust at the Belmont. The disappointment hung like a cloud over the track and, one sensed, over just about anyone viewing on television. From the start, he was in an awkward position, as Da' Tara jumped in front and moved to the rail. At one point it appeared that Big Brown made contact with the leader and had to pull back a bit. A move to the outside around the first turn seemed to give Big Brown the position he would need to surge to the front, but the surge never came. As the crowed roared in the hope that the colt would put on a burst of speed around the far turn, Big Brown instead began to fade. Jockey Kent Desormeaux eased up and guided him home at the back of the pack, knowing the "foregone conclusion" of a victory -- so arrogantly proclaimed by trainer Rick Dutrow -- was not to be.

As much as anything, the result confirmed the greatness of the 11 previous Triple Crown winners, along with the realization of how difficult a feat it is to pull off racing's hallowed trifecta. In the 1970s we were spoiled, first by the incomparable Secretariat, then by Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Three Triple Crown winners in one decade. . .and none in the 30 years since. The schedule -- three races in six weeks -- along with the varying distances and track conditions make it a grueling test. And seeing Big Brown simply run out of gas was a testament to how truly great Secretariat was. Just recalling Chic Anderson's famous call of Secretariat's blowout victory at the '73 Belmont ("He is moving like a tremendous machine!") elicits chills. (Watch it here -- it's simply amazing.)

But Big Brown wasn't up to the task, joining the ranks of recent predecessors like Funny Cide and Smarty Jones. Da' Tara won for only the second time in eight starts, a 38-1 long shot stealing the show on a day when racing fans longed for a coronation. Casino Drive, considered earlier in the week to be Brown's biggest threat, was scratched because of a bruise on his left hind foot. Once that news became known, people were expecting to witness history. But it wasn't to be.

It's disappointing, in one way. But folks in the racing game weren't crying. While expressing admiration for Big Brown, few sympathized with Dutrow or his employers, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings. To find out why, read Peter Thomas Fornatale's op-ed piece in Saturday's New York Times.

Are the Indians still playing?

Well, sure. It's just hard to get excited about them, that's all.

One day, they pummel an opponent. The next, they lose. Then they win. Then they lose. And so on. And so on. And so on.

Yesterday they couldn't hold on in a tight game at Detroit. Rafael Betancourt (left), who has been as terrible this year as he was amazing last, erased all doubt by surrendering a late grand slam in an 8-4 loss. Well, thanks, Rafael. The suspense was killing me, anyway.

Step back for a moment and it's easy to see that this season ain't exactly on cruise control. The Tribe's number one starter is 3-8, their number two starter in on the disabled list, and their number three starter, Jake Westbrook, is now out for the season. Their number three hitter, who hasn't exactly been hitting, is on the DL, and their number four hitter has no home runs. Their middle infielders can't decide who's going to hit worse, so their utility man is seemingly always in the lineup.

It's a long season, and nobody's showing signs of running away in the A.L. Central, so the Indians aren't out of it. But it's June, and the team is still stumbling along. Note what Boston did in their recent series with Tampa Bay. They reconfirmed their status as champions and sent the Rays packing with their stingers between their legs. There appear to be no such playground bullies in the Central Division.

Jim McKay

There's little I can add to the volumes of praise that flowed from the sports world and the nation after word came of the death of legendary sportscaster Jim McKay, who died Saturday at the age of 86. He was, quite simply, one of the voices of a generation of sports fans who were drawn to their TV sets in the era of three networks and little else, and he was the defining voice of ABC Sports. Seeing clips of his work being played this weekend, and hearing the sound of his voice, took me, and millions of other fans, back to a simpler time, before the din of noise that is 24 hour televised sports. We eagerly anticipated the stories that McKay would deliver, regardless of the topic, and trusted his sure, steady demeanor. His groundbreaking work on "ABC's Wide World of Sports," and his understated, sobering reporting of the 1972 Olympic tragedies in Munich cemented his reputation as one of the greatest reporters of his time -- and all time. The voices of McKay and Chris Schenkel, his colleague at ABC, were comfortable and reassuring, week after week. They're both gone now, and, with them, our fond memories of a golden age in televised sports.

Could the Indians' Bats Be Coming Alive?

The Indians exploded for 17 hits to outlast Texas, 15-9, in a wild one in Arlington Wednesday night. Manager Eric Wedge announced the other day that the Tribe's hitting slump was over, but that it wasn't obvious because the hits just weren't falling in, and the team wasn't winning. Well, they left no doubt last night.

Call it beginner's luck, call it the scouts not having had enough time to watch him, call it what you want, but Ben Francisco is on a tear. He was 5-for-6 Wednesday to raise his average to .343 on the season. Wherever the ball has been thrown, he's hit it, and usually hit it hard. Francisco has been a fixture in the lineup and will remain so as long as he's hitting. Amazing stat check: He already leads the Indians in doubles (13) despite having played in only half of the team's games.

Nice to see as well: Ryan Garko's 4-for-5, 6 RBI performance. He's bumped his average up to .260. Garko needs to continue his strong hitting for the Indians' offense to shift into high gear. And give David Dellucci credit. He had two more hits Wednesday, including his sixth home run, and he now has more RBIs this season (22) than Victor Martinez (20).

Speaking of RBIs, Casey Blake has managed to knock in 37 runs to lead the team, despite his low batting average. He's on a pace to drive in 100 runs, something he's never done in his career.

And what to make of Cliff Lee? The lefthander raised his season record to 9-1, while his ERA rose right with it, to 2.45. To be fair, Rangers Ballpark is a hitter's paradise, and Lee got knocked around for six runs before exiting after six, but still got the win. Over time, hitters adjust, too, so scouts are no doubt getting a line on Lee and forwarding it to their coaching staffs. It was nice to see Lee get the run support he needed Wednesday night after all the times he's bailed his teammates out this season. Here's hoping C.C. Sabathia gets the same tonight in the final game of the series.

Red Wings do it again...

A tip of the cap to the Detroit Red Wings, who defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Wednesday night to capture their fourth Stanley Cup title in 11 seasons, and their first since 2002. They jumped out to an early lead and held off a furious Pittsburgh rally as time ran out.

But what a rally it was. Marion Hossa's power play goal with 1:27 remaining pulled the Penguins within one. Pittsburgh had already pulled Game 5 hero Marc-Andre Fleury from the net to create a 6-4 skating advantage, and they put on one last, furious attack to try to tie the game up as the seconds ticked away. Sidney Crosby's last second backhand attempt was deflected wide by Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, and Hossa's desperation attempt to tip it in trickled harmlessly across the crease as the horn sounded.

It was great theater, and a fitting end to a hard-fought, well-played series. The Penguins are young and likely to compete for the crown again next year. In the meantime, congratulations to the Red Wings, winners of the Stanley Cup for the eleventh time in franchise history.

Hockey's Appeal On Display Monday Night

"Don't know much about his-to-ry, don't know much bi-ol-o-gy..."

And -- I'll admit it -- hockey, either.

Let's face it, I can't go around claiming to be a hockey guy. I never played the sport, except for the old Bobby Hull tabletop version, with all the steel rods and plastic guys and the overhead scoreboard/puck drop feature. I can't even stand up on skates, much less swing a stick while doing it.

But even I know there are few things more exciting than the Stanley Cup Finals. Last night's epic game between Pittsburgh and Detroit provided ample evidence.

Petr Sykora's goal in the third overtime (left photo) gave the Penguins a dramatic 4-3 win to keep their hopes alive and send the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6 Wednesday night. Third overtime! Almost 110 minutes of clock time. And none of it boring.

This after Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot punched in the tying goal with 34.3 seconds left in regulation. Detroit had taken a 3-2 lead in the third with two quick goals and looked poised to claim their fourth Stanley Cup title in 11 years before Talbot’s stunner extended the Penguin’s season for a few minutes -- and, as it turned out, for at least one more game.

Apart from all the remarkable, edge-of-your-seat action that took place between the nets, even a novice like me knows that Marc-Andre Fleury (right photo) played one of the most memorable games in goal in Stanley Cup history, stopping 55 of the 58 shots the Red Wings fired at him. “That was the game of his life,” said teammate Ryan Whitney. Good timing, that.

It occurred to me as I watched Game 5, and as I have watched the other games in this series, that hockey -- despite its status as the “fourth” of the major sports in the U.S. (note that I did not say “in North America”) -- is perhaps the one of those four that is the most true to its origins, the least spoiled by marketing and big money and pampered players.

Pro basketball is populated by better athletes than in generations past, no doubt. But players routinely travel. They foul at alarming rates. Few players are great outside shooters anymore. The college game is more interesting, and usually more exciting.

Baseball has been soiled by steroids. The strike zone is the size of a postage stamp. Pitchers are forced to serve up grapefruits for hitters to feast on. Banjo hitters and journeymen pitchers routinely earn millions.

Football is close to what it once was, but we seem to hear the antics of a Terrell Owens or a Pac-Man Jones more than anything else. And you never saw Johnny Unitas slide.

But you watch a hockey game, and you get the sense that it’s still very much the game that was played in years past. I realize that the NHL has discussed rule changes that would encourage more offense. But a check’s a check. A pass is a pass, a deflection’s a deflection, a save is a save. Face-offs are wonderfully chaotic and rough. Benches are separated by mere feet, and teams still line up to shake hands when it’s over.

Have any hockey players used steroids? Probably. Do they have run-ins with the law? I’m sure some do. Do stars get preferential treatment? I wouldn’t know it if I saw it, but my guess is, yes, they sometimes do.

But the beauty, speed and skill of the game remain constant. Like I said, I’m no expert, and I can’t promise that you’ll see a steady stream of hockey posts on this blog. But Monday’s game was one for the ages. And, for all the excitement of the moment, you could imagine Howe, Hull, Orr, Gretzky or Lemieux out there with the Penguins and the Red Wings (perhaps minus the helmets, in some cases), going toe to toe, loving every minute of it.

I may not be the hockey fan that some people are, but even I can appreciate the genuine nature of the game. And I’m definitely looking forward to Game 6 Wednesday night

Think This Year Is Bad? Check Out These Tribe 'Stars' of '67...

The Indians lost 6-1 to Kansas City on Sunday. They dropped two of three to the Royals and tumbled to 25-31 on the season. ESPN's Jayson Stark recently wrote that since the introduction of the wild-card playoff system, only 13 of 104 teams that had losing records at the end of May went on to make the playoffs. Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer boldly opined today that if the Indians return home on June 10 more than six games out of first (they're five out as of this writing), they should look to the future and trade unsigned veterans like C.C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd. Not sure how popular that would be among the Tribe faithful, but I'm inclined to agree.

With such dire news coming out of the Tribe camp these days, I couldn't resist pulling out a few more items from yesteryear -- when dire news was the order of the day. These photos are from the 1967 Indians yearbook, which was actually a pocket folder with individual color photos of, presumably, the team's top players going into the season. On the backs of the photos were printed the career stats and a brief bio of the players. While there were some solid performers in the bunch, the collection that season was pretty much made up of nobodies and never-would-bes.

Of the nobodies, the name I remember best is that of Gus Gil. When I pitted the Tribe against opponents with my trusty baseball card game during '67, Gil was often penciled in at second base (that is, when I was giving the equally illustrious Vern Fuller a night off). He only lasted one season in Cleveland, thanks to a .115 batting average. He managed to hit .222 with the Seattle Pilots the next season before finishing up with two forgettable seasons with the franchise after they moved to Milwaukee. I love this from his bio: "One of the brightest infielders the Indians have ever acquired is this young second baseman who bears a strong resemblance to all-time Indian great, Bobby Avila." That's the best selling point they could come up with -- that he looked like somebody? Also mentioned: the fact that Gil was a draftsman during the off-season. Players up to and during that era typically held down off-season jobs to make ends meet.

Next up was another light-hitting infielder, Pedro Gonzalez. I guess he wasn't always a light hitter; Gonzalez did bat .277 in part-time duty for the 1964 New York Yankees, who won the A.L. pennant before losing the World Series to St. Louis. He was also a .300 hitter three times in the minors, peaking at .371 with Modesto in 1959. Gonzalez was traded to the Indians early in the '65 season and was out of baseball after the '67 campaign, bowing out with a .244 career average. The bio on the back of Gonzalez' photo described him as "a smiling, polite resident of the Dominican Republic." I wasn't aware that the country was otherwise populated by frowning, rude people, but I guess the Tribe's PR staff felt it was important to point that out. He is also referred to in the bio as "Speedy" Gonzalez. Nothing like trotting out a few stereotypes. This obviously wasn't the era of political correctness.

I have little recollection of Bob Allen, really. A check on Baseball-Reference.com reveals that he was a lefthanded reliever who had experienced modest success as a starter during seven minor league seasons, compiling a 57-46 record during that time. His major league totals in parts of five seasons were 7 wins, 12 losses and a 4.11 ERA. Like Gonzalez, Allen would be out of baseball after this 1967 season, when he was 0-5 despite a 2.98 ERA in 54 innings. In this day and age, a 2.98 ERA would earn a pitcher a lucrative contract, but this was 1967, after all. Of course, in those days players didn't necessarily leave the game because they couldn't cut it anymore. Many left for purely economic reasons, to start other careers while they were still young. That's hard to fathom today, when utility infielders like Jamey Carroll make a million bucks a year, but such was the case in that day and age. Six-figure salaries were rare, and the free agency boom was still several years away.

Equally undistinguished was the career of Steve Bailey, who pitched in 32 games for the Tribe in 1967 -- and one more in a lateseason stint in '68 -- never to see the majors again. He, too, had experienced modest success in the minors, winning 43 games over six seasons. "This high-kicking relief pitcher is a resident of Lorain, Ohio," says his bio, which goes on to document that he pitched his Lorain High School baseball team to the state title his senior year, during which he threw successive no-hitters at one point. Bailey won 2 games and lost 6, with a 3.88 ERA, during his brief time with the Tribe. Of course, this was the era of the pitcher -- Bob Gibson and Luis Tiant posted unthinkable ERAs of 1.12 and 1.68, respectively, in 1968. So ERAs around 4.00, like Bailey's and Bob Allen's, weren't considered to be as impressive as they would be in today's offense-oriented game.

Regardless of the less-than-illustrious stats of Tribe players of this era, they were still our heroes, from "Our Tribe," as Pluto dubbed the team in his 1999 book by that name. And they wore what I think are some of the coolest uniforms in team history. Don't ask me why, but I loved the vests, the abundance of red, and the Chief Wahoo emblem sewn on the front. It's probably the connection to my childhood that causes me to recollect them with such fondness, but the uniforms alone made the dog days of the 1960s bearable. After all, the '67 Indians finished in eighth place in the then 10-team, pre-division American League, 17 games behind the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox.