"I think it’s how you finish, not how you start."

Eric Wedge uses his own words to perfectly frame his managerial career here. His horrible April starts have contributed to the Indians playing catchup for virtually his entire occupation here. And the two seasons which are touted as his best, both ended in collapses of, if not epic, fairly significant proportions.

The 2005 team which had 51 losses heading into August, only lost 18 the final two months of the season (remember Scott Elarton's 5-0 September). Unfortunately, Grady Sizemore dropped a fly ball in KC to start the final week, then they lost 6 of 7 and resulted in Ozzie Guillen giving Tribe fans the choke sign. And in 2007, the blowing of the 3-1 lead against Boston in the ALCS. So, even in the good times, ugliness was just around the corner. His other seasons were nondescript, until this year's slide.

There are several things I did not like about Wedge as manager (besides rarely wearing a uniform, overall twitchiness, and language):

Strategy: How many times did I have to see Casey Blake tossed out on a hit-and-run? He also eschewed the bunt. His base coaches didn't know when to send a guy and when to hold them. I was at 2 games this year where the first-base coach's laziness cost us baserunners. Not the third, but the first-base coach!

Bullpen: Way, way, way too late in making a move. I'm of the school where you can let a guy get of his own mess, but Wedge never made the move fast enough. Jeremy Sowers is a perfect place to start. Earlier this season, he had stretches of going only 4 or 5 innings before blowing up. If you know you have a 5-inning pitcher, get someone ready! And those were winnable games. Too many times, Sowers would be about to or actually lose the lead before a change was made. If you carry 13 pitchers, use them.

Fringe Players: Why did he fall in love with Bill Selby, Lou Merloni, Joe Inglett, Mike Rouse and Chris Gimenez? Can't figure that out. Again, in a season considered good, Rouse hit .118 in 2007 and took a roster spot until August. Matt LaPorta could call up Gimenez in July of this year and ask him how it was going in the majors. Amazing.

Favorites: Grady Sizemore finally broke down this year. Yet, Wedge escapes blame for trying to play him every inning of every game for several seasons. And Sizemore absolutely killed the Indians this year by playing through those injuries. His handling of Brandon Phillips and Andy Marte was abysmal. Josh Barfield may be scarred for life, as well.

Calling Out Players: Shapiro: "Fans want to see those, on the shirtsleeve, they want to feel the frustration, they want to feel the emotion, and Eric, to protect the players, didn’t often do that." Uh, Mark. Tell that to Jhonny Peralta. I always say the team knows it's over when players start getting called out in the media. Even Sam Rutigliano did this. Wedge did this more in 2009 than I care to remember. Always a bad sign.

Lineups: Let's see if Ryan Garko plays in the outfield more than 15 times the rest of his career. This year, the craziness was at its height.

Don't weep for Wedge though. He's 41 and can grind out fatherhood for a year and get paid $1.3 million. And he will resurface somewhere. The Royals, Nationals and Pirates may look at his almost .500 career record and salivate at the possibilities.

Meal of Links

It keeps getting harder to keep up with these things. Now the Missing Link has been disproved.

This is even better regarding live music. Hulu broadcasts the ACL Music Festival. The Dead Weather appears Sunday.

A Ramones biopic is in the works. I think that would be interesting.

LeBron and his high school coach talk about "more Than A Game". We should feel lucky. It's here and in limited release tomorrow.

Lindsay Graham talks about Glenn Beck. Limbaugh, too. With video.

James Franco will appear on "General Hospital". Not just once, but for two months! I sense a ratings boost.

Terrell Suggs intercepts a Ravens team photo. I think it's pretty funny.

Exercise Yard

Joe Mauer and the art of stealing signs. Verlander needed to put one inside to Kubel. That would have ended it real quick.

Visitor

65 Across: D'oh (15 letters) Answer: Homer Simpson Cry