I read a comment today that I thought was unfair to the recently deceased Dick Jacobs, former owner of the Indians. It stated that the Indians never went after pitching in his era and since I knew the facts, I thought I would lay them out.

Here are the pitchers the Indians acquired for the following seasons, 1994-2000, the Jacobs-owned era at Jacobs Field.

1994-Signed Jack Morris (Won 10 games, released right before the strike so he could tend to his farm, a mess mentally), Signed Dennis Martinez (won 32 games in three years, blinded Kirby Puckett in 1996)
1995-Signed Orel Hershiser (Won 45 games in three years, actually signed him post-strike in April of 1995), Traded for Ken Hill (A forgotten Indian, started 11 games after the trade deadline and was 4-1, was the winner in the "Tony Pena Playoff Game", won Game 4 in the ALCS, 7-0, against Seattle, lost the first World Series game (Game 4) I ever attended, giving up 3 runs in a 5-2 game)
1996-Signed Jack McDowell (Struggled to win 13 games, then got hurt and disappeared, still remember his band was named "Stick Figure")
1997-Signed Mike Jackson (Future closer, there used to be a guy that sat in the bleachers in a full Jackson uni, pants and socks, as well)
1998-Traded for Dave Burba (Won 56 games the next 4 years, made fun of me once at Tribe Jam), Signed Dwight Gooden (Won 8 games, then 3 the next year, actually saw Doc beat the Cubs the last time the Indians went to Wrigley, of course, his career record against the Cubs was 28-4!), Traded for Steve Karsay (Future setup man, closer, then starter, then closer, then...)
1999-Traded for Ricardo Rincon (OK, Grandpa Charlie should have used him against Ichiro in 2001)
2000-Signed Chuck Finley (Won 16 in 2000, got beat up by wife later), Traded for Jason Bere (Won 6 games after the deadline) and Bob Wickman (Future closer, nicknamed "The Jaws of Life" and "Wicky Wicky Bob" in my Eric Cartman "Wild Wild West" tribute)

Debate all you want if these deals sucked and some did. And the talent given up, Casey for Burba, Giles for Rincon, Sexson for Wickman may have looked good later if they remained in Cleveland. And the most obvious gaffe, not trading Jaret Wright for Pedro Martinez. Shortly thereafter, the Red Sox unloaded a young Carl Pavano for Pedro. But the fact is, they added pitching every year. The Hill, Bere and Wickman deals blow open the idea of a lack of trade for pitching help at the deadline. And don't forget callups of Chad Ogea, Brian Anderson, Albie Lopez and especially Jaret Wright helped during some of those seasons.

So, I think Jacobs being allergic to acquiring pitching is a lame argument.

Meal of Links

"The Hangover" does have some nice closing credits. Here are 10 movies with notable closing credits.

Cellophane can be fun. Especially for the kiddies.

Turner Classic goes the social networking route. Is that where I bitch about Time Warner cutting off the last minute of "Duel" on my DVR. OK, it was only the part where Dennis Weaver contemplates things, but if I had TiVo, I think it would have realized the movie was still running! I saw the ending on YouTube.

The Voice of Reason at Fox



Exercise Yard

Can NBA teams copy the Magic's style of play? It's not that easy.

Visitor

11 Down: Original host of "The Price Is Right" (10 letters) Answer: Bill Cullen