Feel-Good Stories from a Not-So-Good Tribe Season

Now that the Indians' every-other-year funk is out of the way, a few upbeat notes from an otherwise disappointing season:

Cliff Lee. Duh.

Kelly Shoppach. Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity. The guy proved that he's an every-day big league catcher. Anybody notice that his 21 homers was tops among A.L. catchers? One of the best acquisitions the Indians have made this decade.

Jamey Carroll. Don't look now, but Carroll (left) had a better batting average than Grady Sizemore or Ben Francisco. Again, he took advantage of an opportunity (when Asdrubal Cabrera fizzled early and Josh Barfield went down with an injury) and made the most of it. Whodathunkit?

Shin-Soo Choo. Quietly the best hitter on the team down the stretch. In fact, in just over half a season, he had 14 homers, 66 RBI and 68 runs scored to go along with a team-best .309 batting average. Should come into 2009 with a starting outfield spot all sewn up.

Jhonny Peralta. I wasn't exactly in his camp early in the season, but he settled down and put up some solid numbers (like Carroll, posting a better batting average than Sizemore). I'm not a big fan of his at short -- I happen to think that his growth spurt a few years ago hindered his quickness and mobility -- and hope that he meant what he said this week when he told reporters he'd be willing to consider a move to third base if that's what's best for the team. Good for him. He would instantly become a solid presence at the hot corner, both defensively and offensively.

Grady Sizemore. I'm torn on this one, because his batting average took a disconcerting drop, but he still managed to put up big numbers for an average team. A career-best 33 homers, with 90 RBI and 38 stolen bases. Excellent defense, tremendous hustle. Cornerstone of the team.

Jensen Lewis. Hey, he produced as the closer when asked to do so. After the nail-biting adventures of Joe Borowski and company all season, Lewis got the job done, with 13 saves and a 3.82 ERA. Don't know if he'll be there next year, but the team could do worse, as we all know.

Scott Lewis. OK, call it beginner's luck. But he pitched like a seasoned veteran at the end of the season. In fact, he was as good or better than Cliff Lee in his late-season starts. Maybe it was a flash-in-the-pan thing, I don't know. But it was fun to watch, after a year of disappointments.

Casey Blake and CC Sabathia. Both good guys, who left fond memories behind, and now are in the N.L. playoffs. Good for them, and give Mark Shapiro credit for sending them places where they had a chance to taste the postseason. I hope they meet in the N.L. Championship Series, and may the best man win from there.

Finally, does anyone remember Jorge Velandia? It was that kind of season in 2008....

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.