Cleveland Indians news and notes: Saturday, June 22

1

The Indians won 5-1 last night, getting 7 strong innings from Scott Kazmir and a single from Jason Kipnis that broke the game open in the bottom of the 7th. Michael Bourn and Mark Reynolds each had a pair of hits, Joe Smith and Vinnie Pestano each worked a scoreless inning in relief. The Tribe has now won 7 of its last 9 since the 8-game losing streak, and with Detroit losing last night, the Indians are only 3 games out of 1st place.

A box score for the game is here. Take note of Scott Kazmir, who has struggled to work deep into games this year, using just 95 pitches to get through 7 frames.

Ryan's recap points out how few Major League innings many of the Tribe's starters have thrown in the last couple years.

In his recap for the Plain Dealer, Dennis Manoloff points out that this is the first time Kazmir has gotten through a start without talking walking anyone since May 9.

2

Other Indians links:

Jordan Bastian's notes from Friday at MLB.com include word that Asdrubal Cabrera hopes to be back before the end of the month, and Chris Perez looked better in a bullpen session Friday and is nearing a return.

Also at MLB.com, Anthony Castrovince writes about former Indians All-Star Carlos Baerga, who will be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame before tonight's game.

Doug Lesmerises of the Plain Dealer takes a look at Danny Salazar, who's pitched pretty well since being promoted to Columbus six weeks ago and couldn't eventually land in the Indians' starting rotation.

3

In a bit of sad news for the Indians, the Tigers have decided to once again parts ways with Jose Valverde. The Big Potato has been designated for assignment, and while he may choose to report to Toledo, he's most likely done in Detroit. Bless You Boys' Kurt Mensching has some details, along with other roster shuffling for the Tigers.

4

LGFT Bartolo Colon is having a great season, he has the lowest walk-rate in the American League and is one of just four pitchers in baseball to have pitched two shutouts this season (Adam Wainwright, Aaron Harang, and Justin Masterson are the others). Grantland's Jonah Keri takes a look at how Colon is doing it, finding a bit of good fortune, but also showing legitimate quality, especially for someone 40 years old.

5

Did you know that the ball Kirk Gibson hit into the right field seats in Dodger Stadium to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series has been missing ever since that night? Dozens claim to have it, but the story with the most validity belongs to a man who long since lost the ball he brought hom that night. Writer David Davis had tickets for that game, seats in the very section where the ball landed, but he wasn't there. He's been on a quest to find the ball, a quest somehow tied to the tragedy that led him to skip that game. His story at SB Nation: Longform, home to some of the finest sportswriting out there.

6

For this week's list, let's take a look at movies of the early 70s (1970 to 1974). This was an interesting time in the American cinema, because many of the studios had high profile flops in the late 60s and began giving younger filmmakers more creative control in exchange for movies that wouldn't cost as much. For my tastes, many of the more popular films of this era still hold up well. Here are my personal favorites:

6) The Conversation - Co-star John Cazale was in five films before his death, all of which were nominated for Best Picture.

5) Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks made this and 'Young Frankenstein' in the same year.

4) The Taking of Pelham One Two Three - If you've only seen the Denzel Washington remake, find the superior original.

3) The Sting - Newman and Redford in the con man classic.

2) The Godfather: Part II - One of the greatest sequels of all time...

1) The Godfather - ...but to me, the original is even better.