EMH Elyria Medical Center630 East River Street, Elyria(440) 329-7500

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EMH Avon Health Campus1997 Healthway Drive, Avon(440) 988-6660

When it comes to emergencies, every second counts. That’s why EMH Healthcare has three full-service ERs in Lorain County—to provide the emergency care you need—close to home. Our locations in Elyria,Amherst and Avon are staffed by board certified physicians and feature on-site laboratories and imaging departments for faster test results.

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When an injury hits close to home…it’s good to know your ER is too.

1Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

WEOL FORCAST MAGAZINEWEOL FORCAST MAGAZINESPRING 2011 PREVIEWSPRING 2011 PREVIEW

A Publication of AM 930 WEOLA Publication of AM 930 WEOLVolume 12 Issue 3

PRESIDENTGeorge Hudnutt

VP/GENERAL MANAGERLonnie Gronek

LOCAL SALES MANAGERTim Alcorn

EDITORKatie M. Loftis

ASSISTANT EDITORSCraig AdamsTim Alcorn

Tom HutchisonBruce VanDyke

FEATURE WRITERSJim Allen

Tim CalderwoodBob Daniels

Jim Rosenhouse

COVER DESIGNBozCorn Productions

PUBLISHERDouthit Communications

LORAIN COUNTY SOFTBALL PREVIEW . . .pg.3

LORAIN COUNTY BASEBALL PREVIEW . . .pg.6

LAKE ERIE CRUSHERSTim Calderwood reflects on the 2010 season & tells us what exciting events we can look forward to this year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 8

CLEVELAND INDIANSJim Rosenhaus gives us hope in the young - yet experienced Tribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 12

BASEBALL SCHEDULESLAKE ERIE CRUSHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 10

CLEVELAND INDIANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 15

LORAIN COUNTY IRONMEN . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 16

WEOL BROADCAST SCHEDULESSUNDAYS WITH THE CRUSHERS . . . . . . . .pg. 9

FROM THE DUGOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 12

Mr. BaseballCameron Zima carried on the great tradition of pitchers at Vermilion High

School. He had the lowest era of any local hurler in 2010-0.38. He was 6 and 1with 3 saves. Cameron also was an excellent hitter with a .423 batting averageand 3 triples. He has received a full-ride academic scholarship to Wake ForestUniversity.

Miss SoftballMelissa Rennie is the first Wellington player to be named Miss Softball. She

blasted 23 home runs in her 4-year varsity career and had high batting averageseach year, topped by a .428 her junior season. She was a major reason thatWellington was the state runner-up her sophomore season when she batted .398with 6 home runs. Melissa is already excelling at the Division I collegiate level. InFebruary of this year, she was named Big 10 co-Freshman of the Week for herimpressive stats at Ohio State where she is the catcher.

ABOUT THE COVER:

FORECAST2011 Spring Preview

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine2

"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, wehave observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a form of 'ball'. Let usgo forth for awhile and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms.The game of 'ball' is glorious."-Walt Whitman

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Craig R. AdamsOperations Manager

AM930 WEOL

3Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

By: Bob Daniels

Softball fans can onlyspeculate about which teamswill dominate as the 2011high school season drawsnear.

But there's one thing theyknow for certain: this seasonwill be much different thanany in years gone by.

The reason? The pitchingdistance is being movedfrom 40 to 43 feet thisspring. This conforms to theNCAA, professional andinternational pitching dis-tance and it will change thehigh school game in severalways.

Most noticeable, LorainCounty coaches say, is thenew distance will result inmore offense because theextra three feet will takesome zip off fastballs. It willgive batters more time toread pitches and create morebunting opportunities - a bigpart of the fastpitch game.That's because pitchers havean extra three feet to coverin fielding their position andthe bunter has what amountsto a three-foot head start.

The rule will also givehitters and runners an extrasecond or two to advance, sothere will be new emphasison base running and steal-ing. And because of theincrease in offense, positionplayers will be under much

more pressure and thereforewill need to have improvedskills.

"I've wanted the changefor a long time," said NorthRidgeville's Norm Frindt,the dean of Lorain Countysoftball coaches. "It's beenproposed several times, butit was always rejected. Nowthe national association(National Federation ofHigh School Associations)says the new distance has tobe implemented this year."

The NFHSA, of whichthe Ohio High SchoolAthletic Association is amember, mandated thechange in 2009. The newrule said state associationscould choose to adopt it in2010 and that every statemust be throwing from 43feet by this season.

Many states did adopt therule last spring. TheOHSAA, at the urging of theOhio Fastptich SoftballCoaches Association, votedto wait until this season.

"Softball is the only highschool sport I can think ofwhere the dimensions aren'tthe same as they are at thecollege level," saidKeystone coach Jim Piazza,who led the Wildcats to theDivision II state champi-onship in 2006. "Football,basketball and baseball arethe same as they are in col-lege. Why not softball?"

Amherst coach BillMatthews added that scoresare going to increase.

"A few of the best pitch-ers will continue to domi-nate because they're the bestpitchers," he said. "But therewon't be as many of them.This will force pitchers to bebetter and force teams tohave more pitchers. I think itwill really hurt teams thatdon't have good pitching."

Elyria coach Ken Fenik,the only Lorain Countycoach to have won two statetitles (2002 and 2009),agreed.

"There are going to be alot more runs and stolenbases and the catchers willneed a better arm," saidFenik. "Now pitchers can'tbe just pitchers, they'll have

to be good defensive playersto field their position. I don'tthink average pitchers willhave as much success asthey had in the past."

As always, area highschools have the kind of tal-ent that will adjust readily tothe change.

A highly unscientific sur-vey of people who know thegame say the teams mostlikely to succeed this seasonare the same ones that beensuccessful in the past. Thattranslates Keystone, Elyria,Midview, Amherst andColumbia.

Division II Keystone,under Piazza's has a strongcore of juniors that includes

2011 LORAIN COUNTY SOFTBALL PREVIEW

See Softball on page 4

Photo courtesy of Chuck Humel - The Chronicle-Telegram

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine4

Erin Pond, Kenzie Conrad,Bee Shaw and Bri Buckley.

Division I Elyria wouldseem to be on course for asixth straight appearance inthe Sweet 16. The Pioneerswelcome back senior pitcherKristen Boros, along withjuniors Darien Ward, AlyssaBarker, Alanna Williamsand Taryn Harshberger.

But to return to the Sweet16 for the sixth year in arow, Elyria has to get pasttwo other strong Division Iteams in Amherst andMidview.

The Amherst Cometsunder coach Bill Matthewshave one of the area's toppitchers in junior Jen Sutton,one of the better hitters insenior Amanda Arendt and atop-shelf catcher in sopho-more Katie Hoerig.

Midview, which earnedits first district champi-onship and Sweet 16 appear-ance last season, hopes to goback to the Clyde regionalwith the senior class it hasbeen waiting for.

Middies coach Mike Iveswelcomes back pitcherSydney Mencke, infielderDelaina DiVencenzo andoutfielder Grace Turner. Theroster might or might notinclude infielder-pitcherDanielle Herwig, who saidshe was undecided aboutreturning for her senior sea-son.And Columbia lost one ofthe area's strongest batteriesin pitcher Jen Solanics andcatcher Emily Nagle, whograduated.

But don't feel sorry forcoach Ken Richardson andthe Raiders. Returning thisspring are seniors Jenny Kusand Danielle Riolo, alongwith junior Sarah Viccarone.And the team still has strong

pitching in sophomoreChristine Lyzen and juniorKalyn Thompson.

Others to keepyour eye on:Elyria Catholic (coachBrian Daw) - The Panthershave a strong group of sen-iors that includes LexiKaczay, Jasmin Filiaggi,Emily Taylor, jr., CourtneyYun and Molly O'Malley,among others. O'Malley isexpected to be their No. 1pitcher.

Avon (coach KenMatuszak) - The Eagleshave considerable talentreturning in seniorsMackenzie Brua, MackenzieWentz, Kelsey Matuszakand Rachel Rogers, plus jun-ior Hailey McAleer. Of spe-cial interest is the return ofjunior Brittanie Fowler, whowas the team's No. 1 pitcheras a freshman. She playedlast season but was unable topitch because of an arminjury.Avon Lake (coach KevinAtkins) - Shoregals'returnees include seniorsLaura Fraser, Sarah Busch,junior Caitlyn Shelar, andsophomores AllisonTheberge and AnneWennerberg.Brookside The Cardinals

are headed in the right direc-tion after a 15-victory sea-son. The heart of the squadthis year is expected to becatcher Salena Kauffman, aCleveland State recruit, andoutfielder Kayla Chrosniak.Both are seniors.

Clearview (coach DennyMyers) - Back for theClippers this year areBreanna Colon, AlexWilson, Paige Schaffer,Morgan Hemming, AlexisRenney, Lauren Kokinda,Kristen Whalen, JeneePerry, Nikki Kent and EmilyRoush.

Firelands (coach JudyDostall) - Making up theFalcons' core this spring willbe Taylor Morris, NicoleMyers, Emily Loosli, EmilyArlington and SamanthaDostallLake Ridge (coach SueBus) - Returnees includeEmily Kurtz, Terra Sotto andAlexa Malinowski.

Lorain (coach PamJackson) - The newly recon-stituted Titans can choosefrom among former AdmiralKing and Southview playerswho include Kelsey Drwaland Brittany Washington.

North Ridgeville (coachNorm Frindt) - The Rangershad perhaps the area's No. 1freshman battery last season

in Kailey DeMarco andJenna Yost. Yost returns afteran off-season injury. ButDeMarco might not pitchbecause of an injury of herown.

Oberlin (coach JosieEiskamp) - The Phoenix lostat graduation last spring.But they still have juniorshortstop Kayla Jackson,one of the best hitters andall-around players in thearea.

Open Door (coach KenTrigg) - The Patriots lacksignificant experience, butkeep your eye on pitcherAlyssa Overs.

Vermilion (coach RogerWright) - Returnees fromlast season include AmandaWright, Madi Virgin, SaraKovarik, Kate-Lynn Urgo,Robyn Oates and ChristineHoholski.

Wellington (coach TimWulfhoop) - This isWulfhoop's first season as avarsity coach, but he hasbeen coaching youth softballfor years. The Dukes lost aton of talent at graduation,but they also have talentreturning in outfielderJessica Davis and pitcherOlivia Wulfhoop.

SOFTBALLfrom page 3

Photo courtesy of Chuck Humel - The Chronicle-Telegram

5Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine6

By: Jim Allen

Lorain County baseballis blessed to have two play-ers who earned first-teamAll-Ohio honors as juniorslast year, Tyler Beck andIan Mezlak.

Beck hit for a .500 aver-age last spring for 16-10Avon Lake, with 40 hits,including 12 doubles, and29 rbi. Another leadercoming back for theShoremen is outfielderMike Britt who blasted 9doubles last season.

Mezlak had some of thebest stats in the state inleading Clearview to an 18-8 campaign and a PacStripes title. Ian batted.671 with 51 hits, 11 dou-bles, 8 triples, 39 rbi and 10stolen bases. On themound, Mezlak went 6-1with a 1.75 era and 44strikeouts. The Clippersalso have DominicDominguez who posted a 7-2 mark with a 2.67 era and38 strikeouts while at theplate, R.J. Presutto drove in29 runs.

Already bestowed aDivision I scholarship toKent State University isElyria High's JakeNeuschaefer. Jake is sodedicated to baseball thathe passed up his senior year

of football, another sport inwhich he gained acclaim asa junior. Last season,Neuschaefer batted .421with 32 hits, 10 doubles, 3triples, 5 home runs and 17stolen bases. Other promi-nent Pioneers includeJordan McDonald who hit.426 with 43 hits and 12stolen bases and AllenRister who recorded 2 saveswith a 1.91 era. Elyria was14-13 in 2010.

The county's winningestteam last year wasVermilion at 23-4. JeffKeck, who will be inductedinto the Northeast OhioBaseball CoachesAssociation Hall of Famethis summer, guided theSailors to the West Shore

championship. The victo-ries at Vermilion shouldcontinue with outstanding4-year varsity catcherMadison Montgomery whohad 31 hits with 10 doubleslast year. Always strongSailor pitching will includeCory Fox who was 5-0 witha 1.71 era and 48 strikeoutswhile Nick Dlugosz posteda 1.93 era in his first varsityseason. Mitch Novak stole28 bases.

Keystone also enjoyed a20 win season, 20-9, whilepicking up the Pac Starschampionship. JuniorCaleb Shillace hit .393 with42 hits, 6 home runs, 40rbi, 10 stolen bases and a2.60 era on the mound. TheWildcats are deep in pitch-

ing with junior BrandynSittinger who had a 2.68 eraand 37 K's, Mike Cordywho went 4-1 with a 1.81era and 36 K's and CodyDill with a 2.49 era.

Consistently goodAmherst was 18-8 for asecond straight season.Tyler Bires is an outstand-ing all-around player, KyleHagerich hit 4 home runsand drove in 23, RobbieJanscura tagged 3 triples,while Andy Dito did the jobon the mound and at theplate.

Avon and Columbiawere both 16-12 last year.The Eagles have several topreturnees including pitcher

2011 LORAIN COUNTY BASEBALL PREVIEW

See Baseball on page 7

Photo courtesy of Linda Murphy - The Chronicle-Telegram

Jordan Musser and one ofthe county's top hitters as asophomore last season, JoelYeagley.

Columbia has a coupleof top hitters back in juniorZach Bican who batted .407with 37 hits and 5 HR'salong with Ryan Severowho had 30 hits, including3 triples. On the mound,Tyler Shope fanned 33.

Two returnees for 12-10Wellington are going to beteammates in college, too,as Ryan Bliss and JustinKidd are going to continuetheir careers at OberlinCollege. Bliss, with a .407batting average, had 33 hitsand stole 16 bases. As apitcher, Bliss struck out 51and had a 2.56 era. Kiddwas the winningest

Wellington pitcher with a 5-1 record. He also had a.313 batting average and ateam high 24 rbi. OtherDuke standouts shouldinclude Austin Fullen, ClayWright and Jaron Antill.

Firelands had a fresh-man sensation in 2010, JoeSan Felippo, who hit 382with 4 HR's, 29 runs and 17stolen bases. ChristianHertrick had 30 hits with 12stolen bases and a 3.05 eraon the mound while fellowjunior Kyle Smith stole 12bases.

The first Lorain HighTitan baseball team will becoached by formerSouthview mentor BradTernes. One of his toppitchers from last year,Chris Browning, struck out41 while Alec Nieto alsodid well for the Saints asdid Andrew Coon and Jeff Fraley for the Admirals,

Fraley fanning 33. JuniorCollin Bryant brings cre-dentials as a catcher whilethe Titans will have twosophomores who startedvarsity as freshmen lastyear, Nick Billingsley atSouthview and Ryan Oskoat Elyria Catholic.

Speaking of freshmen,Midview's Eric Lauerblasted 4 HR's as a ninthgrader. Jake Stracenskystruck out 54 and posted a3.24 era for the Middies.

Elyria Catholic ishappy to have 2-year letter-men Ryne St. Marie andScott LaMoureaux alongwith Ryan Rock and TomStrasko, who has devel-oped well as a pitcher.

Brookside's bestinclude man for all sea-sons, Luke Ackerman, ahustle player with power,and Hunter Skolnicki who

will be in his 3rd season asshortstop although just ajunior.

Veteran NorthRidgeville players includecatcher Justin Hobart andpitcher Josh Dietz.

Oberlin returns one ofthe county's top hitters inZach Walsh who fashioneda .433 average.

Open Door juniorPreston Phillips had 4triples in 2010 while MicahStoneburner and JoeyUntalasco are other primePatriots.

Leaders at Lake Ridgeinclude Matt Nathal andJim Booth.

A reminder to all springsports coaches to emailresults to jimallen@road-runner.com for use on ourshows at 7:13 a.m. and 5:30p.m. during the week and8:00 a.m. on Saturdays.

7Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

BASEBALLfrom page 6

Photo courtesy of Steve Manheim - The Chronicle-Telegram

Photo courtesy of Steve Manheim - The Chronicle-Telegram

By: Tim CalderwoodVoice of the Crushers

The Lake Erie Crushersfinished with 50 wins intheir second season inNortheast Ohio, but there isa number that stands outmore than any other toManager John Massarelli,one. 2010 marked the firsttime in his tenure as a man-ager in the Frontier Leaguethat a team he led failed tomake the postseason. Despite closing with aflourish, winning a fran-chise record eight straightto conclude the campaign,establishing new leaguerecords for fielding per-centage and double playsturned, the Crushers fin-ished in fourth place in thetough East Division, alsoestablishing a league recordfor lowest batting averageat . 229.

Pitching carried LakeErie throughout 2010 withfour players landing in theleague's top 10 for ERA.

Jeff Cinadr tied for secondwith a 2.21 mark out of thebullpen. Josh Robertsranked fifth at 2.62, withAlberto Rolon right on hisheels in six with a 2.65

clip. Travis Risser finishedat 2.70, good for eighth inthe league. Overall, LakeErie finished with a teamERA of 3.56, tied for sec-

ond best in the league.Speedster Dom Dugganposted a team record 48stolen bases and wascaught just five times. Heled the league in swipes.

Starting pitcher MattSmith hurled a one-hitcomplete game shutout onthe season's final day, bet-tering Kalamazoo 8-0. He

did not allow a hit until adeflected infield singlewith two outs in the sev-enth. Smith also set a newteam mark for strikeoutswith 12.

Even though Lake Eriedidn't reach the postseason,fans flocked to All ProFreight Stadium. Attendance climbed to159,580. The Freight wasalso home to a mid-summerconcert featuring CountyMusic superstars AlanJackson and Joe Nichols. Jodam Rivera, JoshRoberts, Jeff Cinadr,Andrew Davis, and TravisRisser represented the teamat the All-Star Game withRivera and Davis compris-ing the starters on the leftside of the infield. Daviswas also a member of the2009 All-Star team.

The team again vaultedinto the national scene witha promotion aimed at

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine8

TThhee LLaakkee EErriiee CCrruusshheerrss

See CRUSHERS on page 9

Photo courtesy of Scott Evans

LeBron James. Keep L-B-Jin the C-L-E night was heldon the eve of NBA freeagency with the Crushersdonning Cavalier themeduniforms. John Massarelli

appeared on ESPN's FirstTake to discuss the event.

General Manager RyanGates was chosen as theFrontier League's Executiveof the Year, leading to apromotion. Gates, the firstever employee of theCrushers, slid into the role

of General Manager for theBowling Green Hot Rods,Class-A affiliate of theTampa Bay Rays. SecondBaseman Drew Saylorbecame the second consec-utive player to be honoredfor his work in the commu-nity, following in the steps

of Gordie Gronkowski byearning the FrontierLeague's Fran RiordanCitizenship Award.

2011 promises to be fullof excitement as well. TheCrushers will serve as thehosts of the FrontierLeague's showcase with theAll-Star Game. The eventwill begin on Monday, July11 and culminates with theAll-Star Game on July 13.A new team joins theleague in the JolietSlammers, and the leaguehas rewritten the rosterrules.

On the field, Lake Erielooks to return to the cham-pionship form of 2009.Players slated to be backwith the Crushers includemost of the pitching staffand the entire starting rota-tion. Josh Roberts tied forthe team lead in wins witha 10-5 mark, and logged137.1 innings. The FrontierLeague All-Star formerly ofthe Marlins organizationstarted 21 games. MattSmith also tallied 10 victo-ries, boasting a 3.66 ERAto go with his 10-7 record.He tied for the team lead in

9Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

See CRUSHERS on page 10

CRUSHERSfrom page 8

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine10

strikeouts with 90. Alberto Rolon also notched90 strikeouts. He began theyear at the back end of thebullpen but stepped into therotation and started 10 con-tests. He fell victim tosome hard luck as a starter,but finished 3-4 in 95innings. Travis Risser, alsoa Frontier League All-Star,recovered from some timeon injured reserve after theAll-Star game to log 113.1innings and finished withan 8-4 record. He had neverstarted before 2010.

Jodam Rivera andAndrew Davis are positionplayers who have been withthe Crushers from the

beginning. Both anchor theleft side of the infield andwill bring familiar faces tothe lineup every day. Thepossibility also exists forfan favorite GordieGronkowski to return. LakeErie traded for the manwho hit 19 homers in theheart of the 2009 lineup.He split time last yearbetween Worcester of theCan-Am League andGateway in the FrontierLeague.

The third season ofCrushers baseball opens onMay 19 at Windy City. Theteam will appear at homefor the first time on May27 with the first ever meet-ing against the JolietSlammers.

CRUSHERSfrom page 9

s

11Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

Jim RosenhausPregame Host/Producer

As the 2011 seasonbegins, the ClevelandIndians are looking to makemajor strides back to play-off contention with theyoungest roster in majorleague baseball. Normallythat would be a dauntingchallenge, but due touncommon experience foryoung players in 2010 and asuddenly rich farm system,the Tribe is brimming withhope as the new campaignis at hand.

The 2011 Indians willfeature most of the samenames that completed 2010.During the offseason,Cleveland's front officemade very little noise onthe free agent market. Onlyoutfielder Austin Kearns,infielder Orlando Cabreraand pitcher Chad Durbinwere signed to major leaguefree agent contracts, allsigning just one year deals.

While that might seem likea frustration for newGeneral Manager ChrisAntonetti, he says nothingcould be further from thetruth."We feel we have a greatgroup of talented youngplayers on our roster andthat was evident at theDecember Baseball WinterMeetings when severalteams reached out to us andinquired about our youngprospects," said Antonetti."It's incumbent upon us tohelp them develop and helpthem achieve their potential.When discussing acquiringveteran players, we decidedit has to be the right veteranthat can contribute in thelineup and provide leader-ship in the clubhouse. Wedon't want to bring in anexperienced player just tobring in a player. If that'sthe case, we are betterserved by giving our youngplayers the opportunity to

perform and develop."Why the optimism over theyoung talent? The Indiansdrafts of 2009 and 2010have been universally grad-ed extremely high throughbaseball. Plus, difficult

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine12

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See INDIANS on page 13

trades the past 3 seasonsbrought a high number ofquality prospects into thesystem, prospects that arenow beginning to fillprominent roles.

Two of the tradeacquired prospects who arelooking at 2011 as thebreakout season in themajor leagues are first base-man Matt LaPorta and out-fielder Michael Brantley.Both were acquired fromthe Milwaukee Brewers in2008 as part of the tradethat sent CC Sabathia to theBrewers. Both have seenmajor league time the pasttwo seasons with theexpected ups and downsany young player faces.But this year, both enteredspring training with goodhealth and experience, acombination that could leadto solid results. For LaPorta 2011 is a radi-cal departure from the earlyseason a year ago. At thattime, the former 1st rounddraft pick was still rehab-bing from two surgeries andwas not 100% healthy at thestart of the season. Thatwas not the case as springtraining began last month."This year I started workingout early in the off seasonand I feel great," saidLaPorta. "It helps to pre-

pare for a season inNovember instead of rehabfrom surgery. Last yearwas a learning experience.In some ways it was nice togo through adversity at thebig league level and learnhow to handle it. That'swhere you find your truecharacter and what you'remade of. "

For Michael Brantley, thesigns of what could be instore were on display overlast season's final twomonths. The speedy out-fielder hit .292 with 26 runsscored, 15 RBI in 46 gamesafter a third and final callup from the minor leagues.That momentum carriedthrough to the off seasonwhere Brantley went towork with a purpose."I want to be in better shapeand gain weight to hit withmore power this season,"explained Brantley, the sonof former major leagueplayer and hitting coachMickey Brantley. "Some ofthat comes from changesI've made to my swing andmy dad has been a tremen-dous help in that area. Heis my backbone and theheart and soul of my swing.We were constantly lookingat video to find tendenciesto make sure we make theright adjustments."Brantley could find himself

at the top of the Indians bat-ting order coming out ofspring training, dependingon the health of outfielderGrady Sizemore, who isstill on the mend after sea-son ending, microfracturesurgery in early June.Sizemore is expected toreturn early in the season, ifnot in time for OpeningDay. Also coming backfrom knee surgery is catch-er Carlos Santana. Theswitch hitter was one of themost highly regardedprospects in minor leaguebaseball when 2010 began.After almost two months inthe major leagues he didnothing to disappoint, hit-ting .260 with 6 HR and 22RBI in just 46 games whiledisplaying a strong throw-ing arm behind the plate.Add in a healthy Travis

Hafner and the Indiansshould improve on last sea-son's run total of 646, whichwas just 12th best in theAmerican League. Of course the mainstay ofanything the Indians dooffensively is outfielderShin Soo Choo. In 2010,Choo posted his secondstraight season of hitting.300 while stealing 20 orbases and clubbing 20 ormore home runs, the firsttime that's been accom-plished in back to back sea-sons in franchise history.What does he do for anencore?"My goal is simple," saysChoo. "I want to performbetter than last year. I wantto be better every year Iplay in everything I do.

13Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

See INDIANS on page 15

INDIANSfrom page 12

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine14

15Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine

That means less strikeouts,more walks, better defen-sive and better throws fromthe outfield." And after two 90 plus lossseasons, what does Choothink about his surroundingcast this year?

"Yes we have youngplayers, but they got theopportunity to play everyday," he explains. "Thisshould make them better,more comfortable. Iremember when I was try-ing to become a good majorleaguer, I felt comfortablewhen I knew I was playingevery day."

While the Tribe looks forimprovement offensively,confidence is high for apitching staff that finishedstrong in 2010. The Indianshad the fourth lowest teamERA in the AmericanLeague from the All StarBreak to the end of the sea-son last year. The bullpensettled in to become a force,keyed by the emergence ofChris Perez as one of the

premier closers in the game.The flame throwing right-hander recorded 23 saveswhile notching an ERA of1.71, 2nd lowest in theAmerican League. As heprepares for the new seasonhe absolutely believes therecan be a carryover from lastseason's strong finish.

"It gives you confidencewhen you can perform latein the year, "says Perez. "Itsays a lot about our team,with everyone fighting forjobs and still enjoyingbreaking into big leaguestogether. The strong finishis something to build off of.It doesn't matter we areyoungest team in baseball.We proved we can be suc-cessful in stretches, now wejust need to make the goodstretches last six monthsinstead of two months."

If you need some per-spective on what could bein store for the current edi-tion of the Tribe, how aboutchecking in with the man-ager of the great teams ofthe mid 90's, MikeHargrove. Grover was hired

in the off season as a spe-cial consultant to help atspring training and bring hiswealth of winning experi-ence to the franchise that heled to a pair of World Seriesappearances. He was inmuch the same position cur-rent manager Manny Acta isin today when he becamemanager of the Tribe in theearly 90's. He knows what'spossible if this new wave ofyoung talent is handledproperly.

"The key is experience,"says Hargrove. "You mustgive young players time todevelop. Remember,Manny Ramirez and JimThome were not readywhen we brought them up. They could hit, but defen-sively, settling in and beingconsistent, they werenowhere near what theywould become. But wehad the time to let themdevelop on their own sched-ule and you saw the results.You can't shortcut thatprocess. I see similaritieshere. Choo got that timeand he is so much betternow than when I saw him in

Seattle. He had the toolsback then, but experiencebrings it together. Givethem some breathing roomand see what happens. Ithink the process now issimilar to what it was then.The fact that we have MarkShapiro, Chris Antonettiand Manny Acta is a posi-tive. All three are goodmen who make a lot ofright decisions and I thinkit's going to work.

For Manny Acta, 2010brought some frustrationsearly, but also gave him thechance to learn the organi-zation as a new managerand give more young play-ers than he planned exten-sive experience. How willthis year be different?

"They know me and Iknow them, especially theyoung kids who got abreak," said Acta the daybefore exhibition gamesbegan in Goodyear,Arizona. "Now is the timeto change the mentality.Forget about payroll, forgetabout youth, let's just winballgames. It's time."

INDIANSfrom page 13

Spring 2011 FORECAST Magazine16

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