Published: Friday, December 31, 2010, 6:04 PM     Updated: Friday, December 31, 2010, 6:07 PM

CLEVELAND,  Ohio — Right-hander Justin Germano had a choice to become a free agent or accept his outright assignment  to Class AAA Columbus. Germano chose to go to Columbus and the Indians will invite him to spring training on a minor league contract.

Germano went 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 23 appearances, including one start, for the Indians last season. It was his first big-league action since 2008 when he went 0-3 with a 5.69 ERA in 12 games, including six starts, for San Diego.

He spent 2009 pitching in Japan.

The Indians used Germano mostly as a middle to long reliever. He joined the Indians from Class AAA Columbus on July 30 and helped manager Manny Acta’s bullpen have a strong second half. 

In his first 11 appearance with the Indians, Germano’s didn’t allow an earned run. He struck out 18 and walked four in 16 2/3 innings in that stretch.

Germano started last season at Class AA Akron. He moved to Columbus and went 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 17 appearances, including six starts. He struck out 37 and walked 10 in 53 1/3 innings.

 

By News-Herald staff
Community@News-Herald.com

Mark Shapiro, president of the Cleveland Indians baseball organization, recently spoke to Pamela Malone’s Chagrin Falls High School Sport Management Class.

He covered a wide variety of topics including preparing for a career in the sport industry and the many facets of a professional sports team. In addition, he discussed the progression of his 20 year career path with the Indians.

By News-Herald staff
Community@News-Herald.com

Mark Shapiro, president of the Cleveland Indians baseball organization, recently spoke to Pamela Malone’s Chagrin Falls High School Sport Management Class.

He covered a wide variety of topics including preparing for a career in the sport industry and the many facets of a professional sports team. In addition, he discussed the progression of his 20 year career path with the Indians.

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Indians Snow Days will end on Jan. 2.

More than 40,000 people have attended the winter fun festival thus far — and another 20,000 are expected this week with students on Christmas/holiday break.

The inaugural Snow Days features: “The Batterhorn” — an ice covered tubing slope, “The Frozen Mile’ — a winding ice skating track, a straw maze and Slider’s Snow Zone. All the attractions offer outdoor family fun that takes place on Progressive Field, the Indians’ home.

“We really want people to come down, have a good time and enjoy this winter wonderland — something they wouldn’t have a chance to do normally at any other major league facility,” Indians Snow Days Project Manager Kurt Schloss told NewsChannel5/

NewsChannel5 found kids, families and groups alternately taking part in the winter activities on Monday — then warming up around gas-fueled campfires and by drinking hot chocolate.

Even Ohio governor-elect John Kasich bundled up his family for a visit.

“As soon as I read about it in the newspaper, I said to my wife — this will be a great thing to attend,” said Kasich.

In conjunction with Snow Days, the Indians are also publicizing their “Snow Years Eve” packages, which will take place on Dec. 31 at Progressive Field. Click on this link for more information:  http://bit.ly/gh6AeJ

Be sure to play the extra video beneath the video box to hear more from the Indians and John Kasich about Snow Days.

Published: Monday, December 27, 2010, 6:59 PM     Updated: Monday, December 27, 2010, 9:02 PM

(Note: Marty Cordova hit .301 with 20 home runs for the Indians in 2001)

Marty Cordova spends his days and night at the hospital, hanging on every word from the doctors and looking for hope wherever he can find it. His 15-year-old daughter was in a car accident and has been in a coma for 11 days.

“If anybody knew her or met her for one minute, you’d realize what a sweet kid she is,” said Cordova, who spent nine years in the majors and was the 1995 AL Rookie of the Year with the Minnesota Twins.

On the morning of Dec. 16, Ashley McAdam was heading to Herriman High School just outside Salt Lake City. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a friend that was hit by a truck as it pulled into school. In addition to the head trauma, she broke her jaw, elbow and thighbone.

Cordova, who lives in Las Vegas and works for a company that designs mobile applications, rushed to her side after he heard the news. He has spent the past six or seven nights in the hospital.

So far, she has been unresponsive. Cordova and Ashley’s mother, Tamara McAdam-Burleigh, have set up a Facebook page titled “Supporting Ashley McAdam,” where people can offer support. Friends and family have written dozens of messages and posted songs, photos and videos.

The teenage driver of the car broke her collar bone, and a passenger in the back seat needed back surgery. The truck struck the car right where Ashley was sitting.

“She’s the victim of a tragic accident,” Cordova said. “What I want is for people to see that this can happen to your own kids. Hug your kids spend time with them. And pay attention when you’re behind the wheel of a car. Anything can happen.”

Ashley has been in intensive care since she arrived at the hospital. Doctors have told Cordova that different people respond in different ways to brain injuries. Her eyes have fluttered open in the last few days, but she is still not responding to voice commands or requests to squeeze a hand or blink an eye.

“They’re hoping she’ll come back 100 percent, but there’s no way to tell what her brain is going to do,” Cordova said. “There’s no magic shot. There’s no surgery to help. Only time can tell.”

Eventually, the plan is for her Facebook page to include information on where people can donate money to help with what Cordova expects to be a massive medical bill.

Cordova broke into the big leagues with the Twins in 1995, hitting .277 with 24 homers and 85 RBIs to win rookie honors. He drove in 111 runs the following year and also played with the Blue Jays, Indians and Orioles before his career ended in 2003.

Cordova said Ashley would often accompany him to the ballpark as a youngster, though he wishes he could have spent more time with her during a baseball career that required so much travel and moving.

He returned to his hometown of Las Vegas after retirement and is working for Bent Pixels, which has partnerships with the UFC and other companies to develop mobile applications. He travels to UFC events, and said Ashley often went with him to the fights.

“She’s the perfect kid,” he said. “This sounds so cheesy. She doesn’t even cuss. She doesn’t do anything wrong. She’s a sweet kid with a great personality.

“She’s a little shy. She’s getting a lot of attention now and she just doesn’t know it yet. There’s really a lot of people are touched by the fact she’s just a sweet kid.”

 

BY JIM INGRAHAM
jingraham@MorningJournal.com

In case you hadn’t noticed, this is not exactly The Golden Age of Cleveland Sports.

As we enter the final week of 2010 it’s abundantly clear that we stink again. The Indians were a last place team, the Cavaliers are a last place team, and only the intrastate ineptitude of the Bengals has prevented the Browns from being a last place team.

That’s right, another year has come and gone without a Cleveland team winning a championship. In fact, another year has come and gone without a Cleveland team even PLAYING for a championship.

Championship? What’s that? How about a winning season? Let’s think baby steps.

Assuming the Browns lose their last two games to finish 5-11, and assuming the Cavs continue to lose at their current rate — a .276 winning percentage — they will finish the season with a record of 23-59. The Indians were 69-93. All of which means that sometime in the future you can one day tell your grandchildren, “You think this is bad? This is nothing. I remember back in 2010, when the three Cleveland professional sports teams were a combined 66 games under .500.’’

Cleveland has had three professional sports teams for the last 40 years, dating to the Cavs’ maiden train wreck (15-67) through the NBA in 1970-71.

In only three of those 40 years have all three Cleveland teams had winning seasons in the same year. Over the last 40 years the only time the Indians, Browns, and Cavs all had winning seasons in the same year were 1976, 1994, and 2007.

That’s it.

In those 40 years, moreover, the Indians, Browns, and Cavs have had a total of 46 head coaches or managers. In other words, for the last 40 years, Cleveland has averaged over one coach or managerial firing every year. And it’s getting worse, not better.

If Browns coach Eric Mangini gets fired after this season, it will mean that all three Cleveland professional sports teams will have fired their coaches or manager in the span of 16 months. Continued…

Cleveland hasn’t won a championship in a major sport since the Browns — one of just four teams to have never appeared in the Super Bowl (never mind winning it) — won the NFL Championship in 1964.

That’s 46 years in a row without a Cleveland sports championship of any kind. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s very good.

Heck, just since 2001 teams from Boston have won three Super Bowls, one NBA Championship and two World Series.

Not to Scrooge up your Christmas or anything, but if you’re a Cleveland sports fan, the kicks just keep getting harder to find.

So the next time some outsider complains about the “woe is us’’ attitude of Cleveland sports fans, punch him in the nose. Just kidding! I would never condone physical violence of that sort. Throw a pie in his face.

In the meantime, as a public service, and because it’s never a good thing for a given fan base, no matter how high the frustration level, to end a calendar year with a lot of negative vibes floating around, here’s a brief look at the state of Cleveland’s three sports teams, ranked in order from “closest’’ to “furthest’’ from being a good team again.

BROWNS

In a league specifically designed to make bad teams good as quickly as possible, it’s almost impossible to be as bad as the Browns have been for as long as they have been. But they do have two key pieces in place: a really rich (if clueless) owner, and a proven winner and franchise builder in Mike Holmgren.

Their first draft under Holmgren was their best since returning to the NFL (they don’t even HAVE a second best draft in that period). In Colt McCoy it looks like they have a Brian Sipe-style leader and winner around whom to build. And it’s reasonable to assume that with another solid draft, perhaps a coaching change, the continued guiding hand of Holmgren, and the judicious signings of a couple impact free agents, they could be back in the hunt soon.

The good: They finally are accumulating some above average NFL players. Continued…

The bad: They are competitively hampered by being stuck in the same division as two of the best-run franchises in the league: Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

INDIANS

This is what you get when you are financially challenged, and your drafting and player development systems produce nothing for most of the last 15 years. However, there is some talent on the roster now, and more on the way. But the pressure is constantly on club officials, who even when everything is clicking smoothly only have a narrow window in which to win, before the team’s stars become too expensive, and are traded away.

The good: Stable, creative, hard-working front office baseball decision makers who, given proper resources, could make this work.

The bad: Ownership that is passionate and well-meaning, but cripplingly under-financed.

CAVALIERS

Post-LeBron they are back to pre-LeBron, which means they are essentially an expansion team. The roster is filled mostly with what would be bench players and spare parts on most NBA teams. They have gone from a 60-win team to total irrelevancy. The biggest concern is that the next two years are wasted, should team officials refuse to acknowledge that what’s needed now is a total rebuild. This is not the time to go looking for Band-Aids or quick fixes by signing expensive, aging veterans in the misplaced hope that the team is one player away from contention. Please, no more Shawn Kemps.

The good: The owner has lots of money, and a history of spending it freely. That bodes well for when the team is to the point where it’s worth spending on again.

The bad: The owner is also emotional and reactionary, two dangerous qualities for the owner of a professional sports team.        

jingraham@MorningJournal.com Continued…

BY JIM INGRAHAM
jingraham@MorningJournal.com

In case you hadn’t noticed, this is not exactly The Golden Age of Cleveland Sports.

As we enter the final week of 2010 it’s abundantly clear that we stink again. The Indians were a last place team, the Cavaliers are a last place team, and only the intrastate ineptitude of the Bengals has prevented the Browns from being a last place team.

That’s right, another year has come and gone without a Cleveland team winning a championship. In fact, another year has come and gone without a Cleveland team even PLAYING for a championship.

Championship? What’s that? How about a winning season? Let’s think baby steps.

Assuming the Browns lose their last two games to finish 5-11, and assuming the Cavs continue to lose at their current rate — a .276 winning percentage — they will finish the season with a record of 23-59. The Indians were 69-93. All of which means that sometime in the future you can one day tell your grandchildren, “You think this is bad? This is nothing. I remember back in 2010, when the three Cleveland professional sports teams were a combined 66 games under .500.’’

Cleveland has had three professional sports teams for the last 40 years, dating to the Cavs’ maiden train wreck (15-67) through the NBA in 1970-71.

In only three of those 40 years have all three Cleveland teams had winning seasons in the same year. Over the last 40 years the only time the Indians, Browns, and Cavs all had winning seasons in the same year were 1976, 1994, and 2007.

That’s it.

In those 40 years, moreover, the Indians, Browns, and Cavs have had a total of 46 head coaches or managers. In other words, for the last 40 years, Cleveland has averaged over one coach or managerial firing every year. And it’s getting worse, not better.

If Browns coach Eric Mangini gets fired after this season, it will mean that all three Cleveland professional sports teams will have fired their coaches or manager in the span of 16 months.

Cleveland hasn’t won a championship in a major sport since the Browns — one of just four teams to have never appeared in the Super Bowl (never mind winning it) — won the NFL Championship in 1964.

That’s 46 years in a row without a Cleveland sports championship of any kind. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s very good.

Heck, just since 2001 teams from Boston have won three Super Bowls, one NBA Championship and two World Series.

Not to Scrooge up your Christmas or anything, but if you’re a Cleveland sports fan, the kicks just keep getting harder to find.

So the next time some outsider complains about the “woe is us’’ attitude of Cleveland sports fans, punch him in the nose. Just kidding! I would never condone physical violence of that sort. Throw a pie in his face.

In the meantime, as a public service, and because it’s never a good thing for a given fan base, no matter how high the frustration level, to end a calendar year with a lot of negative vibes floating around, here’s a brief look at the state of Cleveland’s three sports teams, ranked in order from “closest’’ to “furthest’’ from being a good team again.

BROWNS

In a league specifically designed to make bad teams good as quickly as possible, it’s almost impossible to be as bad as the Browns have been for as long as they have been. But they do have two key pieces in place: a really rich (if clueless) owner, and a proven winner and franchise builder in Mike Holmgren.

Their first draft under Holmgren was their best since returning to the NFL (they don’t even HAVE a second best draft in that period). In Colt McCoy it looks like they have a Brian Sipe-style leader and winner around whom to build. And it’s reasonable to assume that with another solid draft, perhaps a coaching change, the continued guiding hand of Holmgren, and the judicious signings of a couple impact free agents, they could be back in the hunt soon.

The good: They finally are accumulating some above average NFL players.

The bad: They are competitively hampered by being stuck in the same division as two of the best-run franchises in the league: Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

INDIANS

This is what you get when you are financially challenged, and your drafting and player development systems produce nothing for most of the last 15 years. However, there is some talent on the roster now, and more on the way. But the pressure is constantly on club officials, who even when everything is clicking smoothly only have a narrow window in which to win, before the team’s stars become too expensive, and are traded away.

The good: Stable, creative, hard-working front office baseball decision makers who, given proper resources, could make this work.

The bad: Ownership that is passionate and well-meaning, but cripplingly under-financed.

CAVALIERS

Post-LeBron they are back to pre-LeBron, which means they are essentially an expansion team. The roster is filled mostly with what would be bench players and spare parts on most NBA teams. They have gone from a 60-win team to total irrelevancy. The biggest concern is that the next two years are wasted, should team officials refuse to acknowledge that what’s needed now is a total rebuild. This is not the time to go looking for Band-Aids or quick fixes by signing expensive, aging veterans in the misplaced hope that the team is one player away from contention. Please, no more Shawn Kemps.

The good: The owner has lots of money, and a history of spending it freely. That bodes well for when the team is to the point where it’s worth spending on again.

The bad: The owner is also emotional and reactionary, two dangerous qualities for the owner of a professional sports team.        

jingraham@MorningJournal.com

 

CLEVELAND – The family of former Cleveland Indians player Bob Feller is saying thanks to everyone for their support after his passing earlier this month.

Feller was 92 when he died of complications from leukemia on Dec. 15.

The Cleveland Indians posted this statement from Feller’s family on the team’s website Friday:

“The Feller family would like to thank everyone for their warm wishes in the wake of Bob’s passing. In addition to being a national baseball icon, Bob Feller was a husband, father, and grandfather. He will be remembered for his intelligence and charm, grit and seemingly limitless memory — and we all yearn to hear just one more of his larger than life tales. Baseball was his deepest love, and kept him remarkably active right to the end. As a father, he lovingly taught the game to his three sons. Most recently, he returned to the mound and threw his grandson batting practice at age ninety.

“Bob’s family was larger than us though, extending to Cleveland and well beyond. He loved the city and its people. We know we are not alone in our sadness, and look forward to celebrating his illustrious life with you in the coming months.

“Lastly we would like to thank Cleveland Clinic and Hospice of the Western Reserve, for the care they afforded our entire family, and the members of the Cleveland media for respecting the family’s privacy. Most importantly, we are indebted to the Cleveland Indians for supporting Bob and his family throughout the years.”

Sincerely,
The Feller Family