Old Man Damon
Corey Barnes
The “Johnny Damon” listed on the Indians’ 25-man roster is not the Damon you think it is. Oh sure, he’s about the same height as the chap who played for Boston. Even has the same batting stance. But this guy swings the bat like he’s trying to hit a fly with a tennis racket and runs with all the urgency of a drunken tortoise. At 38 years old, Damon is clearly out of his prime, which the Tribe brass knew when they signed him April 12. But it’s worse than they feared; Damon is playing for his Footnote Team and honestly should not be on the roster.
The Footnote Team is the club that a player signs with when he either cannot let go of the game or simply wants another paycheck. More importantly the Footnote Team is not the place where people will remember him. Here’s a great example: Babe Ruth. The Sultan of Swat played his first six years for the Boston Red Sox before a curse-bestowing trade sent him to the Yankees. The Bambino crushed 659 homers over 15 years with the Pinstripes. However, what most people don’t know (or choose to ignore) is that in 1935 Babe Ruth played 28 games for the Boston Braves. That’s right; the King of Crash hit a comatose .181 for Boston, though he did add on six more homers. But no one remembers that month in the National League; people only care about that House he built in the Bronx and the legend he became.
To be clear: I am NOT comparing Johnny Damon with Babe Ruth. Frankly no one would get those two confused. I am however pointing out that as Damon is to the Indians in 2012 so too was Ruth to the Braves in 1935. Let’s take a look at Damon’s numbers with Boston and New York (2002-2009):
Averaged 147 games, 24 stolen bases, 66 walks, .290 BA, .362 OBP, .449 SLG
I would love to have that Damon on the roster. He played fast and loose. Damon (and his Sampson-like beard) was a huge reason the Red Sox outmuscled the Yanks in the 2004 ALCS and won the World Series. He signed that lush $52 million/four year with the Bombers after the 2005 season then helped them win the 2009 World Series. Damon spent 2010 with Detroit and 2011 with Tampa Bay. Let’s take a look at his numbers those years:
Averaged: 148 games, 15 stolen bases, 60 walks, .266 BA, .340 OBP, .409 SLG
Over the past four years his average and on base percentage have been steadily dropping and this year he may have finally bottomed out. Through 22 games with Cleveland, Damon’s numbers read as follows: 0 steals, 9 walks, .151 BA, .239 OBP, .228 SLG. Clearly his age is showing.
I do not want to discredit Damon’s role in the clubhouse. He is a veteran player and there is great value having a guy around who has already earned some jewelry. Nor am I trying to discredit his place in history. Damon has more career hits than Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Luis Aparicio. Whether or not he is Cooperstown-bound is a discussion for another day. If he does get enshrined though, you can bet a bucket of balls that he won’t have Chief Wahoo on his cap. Cleveland is just the last destination on Damon’s long train ride through the majors. For the sake of this team’s chances, I hope he gets to the station soon.
Phil Dawson Deserves Better
On Monday, fourteen year veteran Phil Dawson signed the Cleveland Browns’ franchise tender for $3.81 million which ensures he will be back for the Orange and Brown in 2012. Phil Dawson is the only player left from the Browns’ return in 1999. He is one of my favorite players of all time. I wish he had gone elsewhere.
For over a decade, Dawson has kicked in the rain, sleet, snow, and wind that constantly attack Cleveland Browns Stadium like a biblical plague. He has been reliable as the daily paper, converting an astounding 97.6% of his extra point attempts and 83.1% of his field goals. Number 4 is directly responsible for 1,155 points. Only Lou Groza has scored more points for Cleveland in his career (1,349). He has gone out every year with a solemn façade and a workman’s attitude. If Cleveland is still a blue-collar town, then Dawson is the consummate blue-collar worker. He has been the Browns’ rock all these years, the only piece of consistency in the locker room, and we don’t deserve him.
Dawson has been as loyal as the family dog but has been treated to nothing but mediocre football his entire professional career. He turned 37 in January and only has a few years left in the NFL. With the Browns expected to rebuild (again) this upcoming season, there is little chance Dawson will be able to get another chance to kick in the playoffs. When Cleveland franchised him before the 2011 season I was happy; I figured the team was coming together and had an outside chance to make the postseason. The following 4-12 season made the team a maelstrom of uncertainty. This time however, I understand that we cannot be selfish anymore. Dawson deserves a legitimate shot to win a championship, whether it be with Dallas, Denver, New York, or parts in between.
Cleveland is always afraid of losing its favorite players. Sometimes they leave for money like Jim Thome did in 2002. Some players are simply released by the team like Omar Vizquel. Some have to be dealt like CC Sabathia to get picks or prospects. Some have a nationally televised special to commemorate their treachery. The point is we are always afraid that the men we pay to see will leave someday for one of the “cool” cities like New York or Chicago. It has left us insecure, gun-shy, and afraid to buy replica jerseys. But with Phil Dawson we cannot afford to be selfish anymore.
We should trade Phil Dawson. It breaks my heart to type it but the decent thing to do is give him a real chance to win the Lombardi Trophy. It’s not going to happen for him here. Do not get me wrong, I believe that someday the Browns will be in contention for the Super Bowl annually. But it’s not this year and honestly it’s probably not going to happen during Phil’s career. So we need to let someone else offer him the happiness we cannot provide. Sometime this season a kicker on a contending team is bound to get hurt. When that happens, Cleveland GM Tom Heckert should pick up the phone and offer Dawson for a draft pick. He is easily worth a second rounder, maybe an arm can be twisted for something earlier than that. People will write nasty tweets and radio call-in shows will talk about how mad they are about the deal. Dawson will make a statement about how his heart will always be on the North Shore, how he would not trade his time in Cleveland for anything in the world. It will be the truth, but some part of him will be happy. He deserves to be happy.
I know this reads like the Browns and Dawson are breaking up, but truth be told that’s not an unfair description. He has been nothing but faithful to this team, but he deserves more than we can offer. Maybe he can be like Thome and return to a raucous fanfare in a couple years with some jewelry in tow. But right now, he is a great kicker on a lousy team. He has earned the right to kickoff the Super Bowl and I hope that he does soon. Just not for Pittsburgh.
Drew Gooden
Milwaukee Bucks forward Drew Gooden has two triple-doubles in his career, both against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Top 5 Cleveland Wins of the Past Decade
Corey Barnes
In the hallowed and oft maligned history of Cleveland sports, emphasis is always placed on the defeats. They are legion and have nifty nicknames that I will not mention here (you know what they are). But in all that mess, among the teary nights and broken hearts, the clubs that call Northeast Ohio home have won a few games from time to time. The following is a list of the top five wins for any professional Cleveland sports team in the past decade.
Rankings were determined by the following criteria: points were assigned for playoff victories, comebacks, overtime, rivalry games, and how well I remember the contest.
Number 5 - Cavs over Wizards: 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 6
For the first time in the LeBron James Era, the Cleveland Cavaliers had reached the playoffs. Their first opponent was the Washington Wizards and their leading scorer Gilbert Arenas. A hard-fought series favored the Cavs 3-2 entering Game Six in Washington. Regulation ended with the game tied at 107 and in overtime Cleveland was down two facing their last possession of the game. The Cavs worked the clock low with a few passes. The ball was kicked to Damon Jones (jump to the 13:18 mark) in the corner who did not hesitate in launching a three-pointer. Before Cleveland could collectively scream, “You put the potential game-winning shot in an ice-cold Damon Jones’ hands?!?” the ball fell through the cylinder. The Cavs led 114-113. The Wizards quickly inbounded the ball and crossed into the frontcourt. A buzzer-beating heave from Agent Zero struck iron and the Wine and Gold celebrated the team’s first playoff series victory since 1993.
To this day I do not know what is more confounding: the fact that such an important moment came down to the self-proclaimed best shooter in the world or the fact that he delivered in the clutch despite not having played a second the whole game. The flimsy argument can be made that we should have known then that James is allergic to the fourth quarter but it was for the most part chalked up to nerves and youth. I remember going out to my driveway the day after the game, measuring the distance to an NBA corner three and serving up airballs while yelling, “Jones for 3!” That was a great game.
Number 4 - Browns over Steelers: 2003 Week 5
If asked to pick a word to describe the 2003 Cleveland Browns I would go with “underwhelming.” Expectations were high coming off the reborn franchise’s first playoff appearance the year previous but the team struggled out of the gate, dropping three of their first four games. Fans were justifiably nervous entering the nationally televised Week 5 matchup against the hated Steelers in Pittsburgh. The Browns, however, refused to be intimidated. The Orange and Brown struck early going up 10-0 in the first. The best offensive play came just before half time when quarterback Tim Couch scrambled nine yards for a touchdown punctuated by a crowd-silencing spike and flex. The Browns, clad in their glorious orange pants, led 23-10 at the half. The signature moment of the game however was Daylon McCutcheon’s 75-yard pick six at the expense of Tommy Maddox. Cleveland ran away for a 33-13 victory. Couch finished with 208 yards and two touchdowns. The team won only five games all year but this one certainly meant the most to Cuyahoga County. That was a great game.
Number 3 - Cavs over Magic: 2009 Eastern Conference Finals Game 2
2009 was supposed to be the year for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team finished 66-16, including a 39-2 home mark. The national media wanted to see the LeBron-led Cavs to square off against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. All the Wine and Gold had to do was roll through the Eastern Conference. They swept the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks back to back. Many Cavs fans (me) thought the team was lucky in that they could avoid the Boston Celtics and instead play against some tall chap named Dwight. Then the Orlando Magic inexplicably beat the Cavs 107-106 at the Q in Game 1. In Game 2 the Cavs came out hot and at one point led by 23 points. Yet the relentless shooting of Hedo Turkoglu and the three point shooting of Mickael (f***ing) Pietrus kept the Magic in the game. Turkoglu hit a late jumper that gave Orlando a one point edge with exactly one second to go. No time to dribble, no time to head-fake, just a simple catch and release. Mo Williams found James about three feet behind the three-point arc where he uncorked a line-drive-buzzer-beating-game-winning-series-tying-heart-stopping three pointer (at the 2:56 mark). The Cavs walked away with a 96-95 victory.
Few people believed the Cavs could pull this one off with so little time left. We had been burned before; we were snake bit by failure. “The NBA in Cleveland: Where Despair Happens,” you get the idea. I sat in my college dorm with friends hoping for the impossible. When that shot fell through the net everyone just lost their minds. We were a jumping, screaming maelstrom of joy. It didn’t matter that we were two hours from home; it felt like we were right there in Loudville basking in playoff victory. That was a great game.
Number 2 - Tribe over Yankees: 2007 American League Division Series Game 2
Home field advantage is always more pronounced in baseball than any other sport. The rules naturally favor the hosting team and players have more experience with the unique nooks and crannies of their park. This advantage was taken to new limits during Game 2 of the 2007 American League Divisional Series. The Indians led the New York Yankees one game to none entering a battle of pitching studs: New York’s Andy Pettite and Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona (at least that’s what we called him back then). The Pinstripers took a 1-0 lead on a Miguel Cabrera homerun and the Tribe was stifled most of the night by lockdown Yankee pitching. The Yankees led 1-0 entering the bottom of the 8th with Joba Chamberlin on the bump for the visitors. Right about then the Fourth Plague of the Cuyahoga arrived. Midges swarmed the field tormenting the players, most significantly Chamberlin. The Yankees asked the Indians for some bug spray and were given what I can only assume was the last can on the retail shelf. It was not very effective. Grady Sizemore stood on third with two outs and Victor Martinez at the plate. Chamberlin continued to be pestered by the …. y’know….pests which resulted in his second wild pitch of the inning allowing Sizemore to score the equalizer. The game was tied and headed to extra innings.
Kenny Lofton walked to open the bottom of the 11th. Franklin Gutierrez singled and the runners advanced on Casey Blake’s sac bunt. Grady Sizemore was intentionally walked and rookie supreme Asdrubal Carbera popped out. Travis Hafner stepped up to the plate and delivered a walk-off single to right for the Indians. That was a great game. Plus two games later the Indians eliminated the Yankees and led to the creation of this musical gem.
Number 1 - Cavs over Pistons: 2007 Eastern Conference Finals Game 6
The number one win should not come as a surprise to anyone as this was the victory that got a Cleveland team to the title series. Coming off LeBron James’ superhuman 48 point performance in the Palace, the Cavs knew the Detroit Pistons’ defense would focus on the guy from Akron. Someone else would have to stand up. It turns out someone else wears number one. Rookie Daniel “Boobie” Gibson went off during Game 6, scoring 31 points including a perfect five for five from range. The game was tight for the first half and the teams entered intermission tied at 48. Cleveland led by one after three periods but simply out-shot the Pistons the rest of the way outscoring the visitors 31-16 in the final period. The noise level kept increasing with every shot as the Q started to realize that there would be no infamous “The ___” phrase associated with this game except maybe “The Conference Title.” The final horn sounded and confetti fell on Cleveland’s 98-82 win.
I realize that fondly remembering this game may be difficult. I know what happened in the NBA Finals in 2007; I know what was on ESPN on July 8, 2010; and I know how many games we lost last year. But I did not know that then. When the Cavs won the conference I was a 17-year-old kid who finally got to enjoy a significant playoff win. We as a city had to wait a long time for a team that good, and we loved it and everyone on it. Everyone. The memory is perhaps more bittersweet in retrospect, but I still remember driving home to see the end of the game while listening to Joe Tait go hoarse from calling Gibson’s name all night. No matter what has happened since then, on June 2, 2007 the Cleveland Cavaliers were the toast of the sports world. That was a great game.
Was I right? Was I way off? What did I forget? Tweet at me, bro @Corey_Barnes
My Projected Tribe Lineup
1. Michael Brantley
2. Asdrubal Cabrera
3. Shin Soo Choo
4. Carlos Santana
5. Travis Hafner
6. Casey Kotchman
7. Jason Kipnis
8. Grady Sizemore
9. Lonnie Chisenhall
In 1987 the Cleveland Browns won the AFC’s Central Division.
Midwestern Teams Rise and Fall
The above graph shows the win totals for the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers since 2000. Both teams have experienced lottery picks and the NBA Finals in the past decade and interestingly enough, their pattern has been an almost perfect mirror image. Consider the following
- The Pacers made the playoffs every season from 2000-2005 including a Finals appearance vs the Lakers in 2000. In that same time frame the Cavaliers failed to make the postseason, finishing no higher than 9th in conference.
- In spring 2006 both clubs made the postseason: the Pacers dropped a first round series to the Nets while the Cavs handled the Wizards before falling to the Pistons. The baton was passed and the two teams began to move in different directions.
- In 2007 the Wine and Gold made it all the way to the NBA Finals before being swept by the Spurs in four games. They then proceeded to make the playoffs every year through 2010. Over that same period the Pacers finished no higher than third in the Central Division and did not record more than 36 victories.
- The 2011 postseason may have been a second turning point with the Pacers slipping in as an 8-seed and the Cavs playing plenty of golf in May.
If tonight’s game was any indication, the Pacers may be an up-and-coming team in the division while the Cavs… well no doubt plenty of Cleveland scouts are paying close attention to college basketball this year .
