Doing The Byrdman In Erie

The Byrdman giveth and The Byrdman taketh away. Paul ‘The Byrdman’ Byrd

Alright, now we’re playing some frickin hardball! The Tribe got after it last night, led by The Byrdman. Lots of things to like about the The Byrdman. First and foremost, he throws strikes. I love to see a pitcher working in the strike zone. The Byrdman said he has, “below average Major League stuff.” But, the Byrdman trusts that stuff. Imagine if some pitchers with “above average Major League stuff” trusted their stuff as much as Paul Byrd does. There is nothing more frustrating than watching a ridiculously talented guy nibble around the corners and run up his pitch count (I will submit C.C.’s Game 1 performance as evidence. Note the 85 pitches in 4 1/3 innings).

Secondly, I love the old fashioned windup he comes with. Doing little things like double winding to get in the hitters heads. Lovin it Byrdman. Third thing that you have to love about The Byrdman is that he’s a nutty guy (would you expect anything else from a junk baller named Paul Byrd?) The guy isn’t Bill the “Spaceman” Lee nutty, but he’s worth some ink every couple of days. Well played tonight Paul, well played.

The Jake was transformed into a rock concert once again. Can you say enough good things about Indians fans at this point? Now that’s home field advantage. Let’s hear ya Cleveland!!

Tim Wakefield was terrifying last night. The first three innings were my worst nightmare. Nothing is more painful than watching your teams’ sticks die a slow, painful death as Wakefield’s 60 MPH knuckleballs are staging a 9 inning limbo contest. That’s why the excitement went through the roof at the Jake (actually, the Jake doesn’t have a roof, but you get the point) when Wakefield’s knuckleballs started drunkenly dancing into the limbo poles in the Bottom of the 5th.

I need to give shout outs to two Indians players who contributed in the 5th:

1. Johnny Peralta. Hats off to you Mr. Shortstop man who spells his first name funny. Peralta has been producing great at-bats all Postseason and great production. Defensively (not traditionally Jhonny’s strong suit), I’ve only yelled for the return of Omar Vizquel once so far in the playoffs, and Peralta has turned a lot of double plays with Asdrubal.

2. Casey Blake. The guy looks like a lumberjack and moves like a science teacher. Yet, he somehow manages to be productive every single year. Will his numbers wow you? No, will you get 20-25 homers with 80-90 RBI’s every year and stellar defense wherever he plays? Yes you will. Huge homer off of Wakefield.

My excitement over the Tribe has reached dangerous levels. Failure now would really damage my sports psyche. Part of the reason I’m so hooked is the Tribe’s dominating pen (minus Mr. Borowski of course, but Joe’s been getting it done so far). Jensen Lewis gave up a homer last night, but really settled things down when the Red Sox looked like they were going to make it a ballgame. The brothers Rafael are just sick. Betancourt is off the hook right now (any Red Sox fans making HGH allegations yet?). Can’t put into words how huge this is in the playoffs.

C.C.’s turn to pitch game 5 against Beckett. Time to step up C.C. Are you really a Cy Young candidate? Go Tribe!! For any Tribe fans out there who have caught the fever, I have to plug

Let’s Go Tribe and Indians 24/7 again. Reading these guys break it down and reading the other fans’ comments is the way to do the playoffs. Go Tribe!!!