The greatest Indians third baseman, Al Rosen, dead at 91

One of the All-Time Indians’ greats is gone.

Al Rosen, perhaps the greatest Tribe third baseman of all-time, passed away Friday night at the age of 91. While his career was relatively short, his impact on the game goes far beyond just his 1953 MVP award for the Indians, and his 1987 Executive of the Year award with the San Francisco Giants.

Rosen encompassed the game of baseball throughout his life, and with Bob Feller, was a true ambassador of the game of baseball.

In honor of Rosen, here’s a piece I originally wrote in January of 2013 documenting the best third basemen throughout the history of the Indians’ organization. Obviously, cream rises to the top, and so did Rosen. Here are my rankings of the best Indians’ third baseman, and my ode to Al Rosen.

Cleveland Indians State of the Union at the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario

Can Michael Brantley rub off on Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn? I sure hope so.

You can almost smell it, can’t you.

If you close your eyes and take a deep breath, you can catch a distant whiff of baseball at Progressive Field; the hot dogs covered in Ball Park Mustard, the leather of freshly oiled baseball gloves, and the fresh cut grass of finally coiffed turf.

You can hear it too, that symphony of sound that any true baseball fan dreams of on the coldest of nights during the dead of winter.

If you tilt your head just right, you can hear a Corey Kluber fastball popping into Yan Gomes framed glove. You can catch the crack of Carlos Santana‘s bat after working a 10-pitch count before lacing a home run. There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing spikes on cement, or the tapping of a bat on home plate, or a sliding runner, or a middle infielder and basestealer hitting the bag at the same time.

It’s almost spring here at the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario, and while the North Coast has been overcome by what can only be described as the second ice age, visions of baseball sugar plums have begun to dance in our heads.

Spring training has arrived.

The Cleveland Browns logo, the sports media in Cleveland and beyond, and Kendrick Perkins–EHC Podcast 12–2/24/2015

Really?

WFNY’s & FoxSportsOhio.com’s Rick Grayshock joins the show with our first podcast talking Cleveland sports. We dive right into it, talking how the sports media portrays Cleveland, why the Browns should (or shouldn’t) change the logo, the role of Kendrick Perkins, Josh Gordon, and whether or not J.R. Smith can keep it together in 2015 and beyond.

Rick was a co-founder at WFNY, along with Scott Sargent and Andrew Schnitkey. Make sure you check out all of their stuff at http://www.waitingfornextyear.com. There isn’t a better all-encompassing Cleveland sports website on the interwebs. You can also check out Rick’s work at FoxSportsOhio.com.

Subscribe to EHC the Podcast on iTunes right here.

Subscribe to the Everybody Hates Cleveland YouTube channel right here.

Check out the podcast, after the jump:

5 Reasons to watch Saturday Night Live’s 40th Anniversary Special

Saturday Night Live.

Is there anything more uniquely tied to Americana than those three words.

Over the past 40 years, SNL has done something that’s unmatched in Hollywood: it’s lasted.

The cast is ever-evolving, but thanks to the stewardship of Lorne Michaels and a host of revolutionary ideas that include satirical commercials, news (you’re welcome Jon Stewart), skits and mostly avant garde musical performances, Saturday Night Live has become something akin to the game of baseball.

While times have changed over the years the one thing you can always count on is Saturday Night Live.

Here are five things to look forward to during tonight’s special:

The Cleveland Indians starting rotation battle–EHC Podcast 11–2/13/15

Carlos Carrasco looks to build upon his 2014 breakout season

The Cleveland Indians rotation.

It almost needs a line all to itself.

Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber helped morph a “rag-tag” group of unproven starters into one of the best rotations in the league, and heading into 2014, it looks like the Indians boast one of the best rotations in baseball.

The top three of the rotation look locked behind Kluber, with Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer looking to build upon a season in which they took definitive steps in their growth as potential aces in their own right.

Carrasco finally shook the baggage that he’d been carrying since the Indians acquired him in 2009 in the Cliff Lee trade, and nearly matched Kluber’s numbers start-for-start during the last eight weeks of the season. While he still has a long way to go to prove the consistency that goes along with the term “ace,” he certainly has the pedigree and stuff to do just that. The only question with the fireballing righty is his head, which has gotten in the way in the past.

Cleveland Indians’ Corey Kluber anchors staff with few questions

With the gray haze of February weighing down the North Coast, and six more weeks of Winter looming thanks to that dumb ground hog in Punxsatawny, it’s hard to believe that this is the last Sunday Drive that will end without professional baseball players reporting for duty in Goodyear, Arizona.

That’s right, real Major League baseball players are about to make real news, and the Indians appear to have a team that could be newsworthy in 2015.

The offseason has been…slow.

In the past, I’ve absolutely destroyed the front office for their lack of hot stove movement when the team seemed perched to make noise with a little tinkering.

My bluster of big free agent signings and trade potential is usually met by the Biffs and Bonnies and their button down approach, (in my best I know more than you voice), “Well Jim, the Indians don’t have the money and careless spending and nobody goes to games and fantasy baseball approach and…blah…blah…blah.”

Being a fan has always been about bravado. There’s nothing about being a fan that should involve sense, especially if you are a Cleveland Indians’ fan. So let me state the following.

Cleveland Cavaliers bolstered by Kyrie Irving–EHC Podcast–2/01/15

LeBron reacts to Kyrie’s three-pointer

The Cleveland Cavaliers are starting to look like a team to beat in the East. If it weren’t for the Atlanta Hawks 19-game win streak and their 40-8 record, most eyes would be focused on the team playing their home games at Quicken Loans arena.

The Cavaliers sport a 10-game win streak of their own, and thanks to some fantastic trades pulled off over the past month by general manager David Griffin, the team is finally starting to mesh together.

At the forefront of this big move by the Cavs is the “Big 3.” Over the past three games, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love have all carried the offensive load in an important game.

On Wednesday night, the LeBron-less Cavs won a huge game against the Portland Trail Blazers with Kyrie Irving’s historic performance. His three-pointer with six-seconds left gave the Cavs a 97-94 lead, and gave Irving an NBA leading 55-points this season.

For the first time in his young career, the 22-year old grabbed the team but the scruff of their neck, and dragged them to the win-column. It was something to behold, and a long time coming.

Francisco Lindor: how he will effect the Cleveland Indians line-up–EHC Podcast 10–2/1/2015

(Francisco Lindor photo courtesy of Lianna Holub Photography & Design)

The Cleveland Indians have a problem on their hands: What are they going to do with shortstop extraordinaire Francisco Lindor if he forces his way in the Indians line-up?

I didn’t say it was a bad problem, did I?

Lindor has been a staple at the top of both the Indians’ prospect charts as well as the major minor league prospect charts since he was drafted in 2011. With Lindor a fixture at Columbus, it’s likely that he won’t spend another year listed as a “prospect.”

The Indians have handled him with kids’ gloves from the start. He’s spent time at each minor league level over his past four seasons, and while he hasn’t spent a full season at each stop, he’s had to earn his promotion every year.

And he’s earned it.

Johnny Manziel and Josh Gordon are complete idiots–EHC Podcast 8–1/25/2015

Two idiots

Saturday started off as an innocent enough day for the staff at Everybody Hates Cleveland. The three #EHC founders got together to talk a little bit about about Johnny Manziel.

My, oh my, how things can get complicated.

What was supposed to be a fifteen minute podcast discussing Jeremy Fowler and Pat McNamanon’s ESPN piece in which 20 “Browns’ sources” threw darts at Manziel’s unprofessional and moronic behavior, it turned into a 30-minute rant on Manziel, Gordon, and the future of the franchise.

Seems pretty prophetic at this point.

On Sunday, reports began surfacing that Josh Gordon failed yet another drug test, which would put him in line for a 16-game suspension. Yesterday, Steve, Mike and I talked about what the Browns should do with Josh Gordon prior to the suspension.

Gee, I wonder what we’d say now?

Here’s the minutiae:

Cutting ties with Josh Gordon

Gordon will never wake up in time. Perhaps this will wake up Manziel…Nah.

Josh Gordon has failed another drug test.

Are you surprised?

Really?

Are you?

If Gordon’s suspension proves true, and there’s no reason to believe that it’s not, it will be his fourth suspension as an NFL player in three years, and third by the NFL. The Browns recently suspended Gordon for the final game of the 2014 season after showing up late…again…for the Saturday morning walkthrough.

Browns WR Josh Gordon flunked another drug test and now will be subject to a one-year banishment, per league sources. More on ESPN @ 6 pm.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2015

I haven’t even mentioned his suspensions in college, which included both an offseason suspension, as well as his ultimate demise at Baylor, when he was kicked of the team…for pot.

That’s six suspension in five years.

Does anyone see a pattern here?