A NEW SEASON

It's still very cold here in north central Ohio but I'm starting to get excited about the new baseball season . We made some decent acquisitions and if Pronk and Martinez can get back to form , we should have a contending team. There are some question marks , but with all the players going to spring training , they hopefully will be settled. A lot will depend on Travis Hafner. We need a bat in the line-up that tends to worry the opposition when he on deck. Pronk did just that a couple years ago. Not so much lately. If he is as healthy as he says and can get his swing back he should take care of one question mark. Jhonny Peralta can hit the heck out out of the ball but he's so inconsistent . He seems to hit the long ball a lot more often when he's not trying to. Of course , that's a basic fundamental , but I'm sure it's not that easy when your job depends on it and you're facing a 100 MPH fastball ! I guess that's the difference between the better than average players and the long lasting superstars. Pitching. You have to have some bats but most baseball people will agree that pitching and defense win in the long run. Back-to-back -to- back Cy Young winners . Has any team ever done that ? Yes !! Toronto in the AL , '96-'97-'98.In the NL , Randy Johnson won 4 straight with Arizona and Greg Maddux , Cubs '92 and Atlanta '93-'94-'95. The Dodgers nearly did it 5 times in the 60's . So can Cliff Lee make it 3 for the Tribe ? If he can perform like he did last year , and get some more run support , I think so ! But for now we'll have to wait for spring training and see what happens.