Game 129: Athletics 7, Indians 0

Boxscore

Brooks Baseball PitchFX - Zach McAllister

What an embarrassment.

OK, we know that the Indians are woefully deficient in talent in several areas. We know that the rotation has been brutal, and the offense almost as bad. Those are things that a manager by and large cannot control. Yes, he can try to deploy players in order to maximize their abilities, but when you have a 25-man roster peppered heavily with dreck, you have no choice to but to put dreck in the lineup.

But there are some things a manager should be able to control, with the attitude of the players being the foremost part. Do the players hustle? Do they play every game the same way? Do they avoid fundamental short-cuts, such as back-handing a ball in the dirt? Even a bad major-league club should still play hard, because they should take pride in their play, no matter what the outcome. Even in the dog days of August with many losses in their memories and many more awaiting in September.

It's not Manny Acta's fault that the Indians were constructed so horribly, but he's responsible for how the Indians played tonight. Dumb errors, indifferent (or worse) play...those things fall on his shoulders, and if he doesn't correct them immediately, he's going to lose his players and eventually his job. I would hope that the paint is peeling in the clubhouse right now, because this team needs a tongue-lashing.

So what of the game? Indians pitchers had 16 strikeouts, but were lacking the other types of outs, as they allowed seven runs on 11 hits and 3 walks. Five of the Oakland hits were for extra bases, including two home runs. Zach McAllister, the team's ace by default, couldn't get out of the fifth inning. The Indians got eight hits, but could never string any of them together. In the fourth, the first two Tribe batters got on, but the next three struck out. Lather, rinse, repeat - it's nothing much different the other 20 losses this month.

Source: FanGraphs

Comment of the Game Thread:

I’m sitting here, seething. Being shutout again I see. This team is totally whipped. They’ve just crawled into a hole and pulled the turf up behind them, and our manager has evidently been enabling them. I’m just plain fed up with this wussy-assed team. Look at the lineup. No, they’re not a playoff caliber team but they are certainly capable of playing .450 ball. Why aren’t they? Because they’re whipped. They have quit fighting.

If we get shut out again this is when a manager explodes and tells the clubhouse staff to send the after-game buffet to a homeless shelter because they deserve it more than this hang-dog crew. I would send them back out on the field to take hitting and fielding pratice and have the pitchers shag flies in the outfield for as long as it takes for them to show some spark, some anger. I would schedule extra work before and after the games until they realize the only way to get relief is to tear into their opponents and beat the crap out of them. If I was manager I would tell my players the other teams’ are laughing at them because they are so whipped. I would happily make them so angry at me that they would have to take some of that anger and animosity out on their opponents.

I want this team to hate losing as much as I do, and I hate it a lot! I hate this!

by LeftyCatcher on Aug 28, 2012 9:38 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Game Thread Stats

Roll Call: YoDaddyWags, johnf34, westbrook, gte619n, kennesawmountainwahoo, 7foot3, Ryan, palcal, PortlandVinny, Joel D, JM614, emd2k3, ahowie, TheVanillaGorilla, LeftyCatcher, APV, hans, bmgiblinindians
Total Users: 18
Total Posts: 131
Total Threads: 1

Name	# of Posts
johnf34	36
Joel D	26
palcal	12
APV	10
gte619n	8
Ryan	7
westbrook	7
emd2k3	4
LeftyCatcher	4
kennesawmountainwahoo	3
ahowie	3
TheVanillaGorilla	2
bmgiblinindians	2
PortlandVinny	2
YoDaddyWags	2
7foot3	1
hans	1
JM614	1