Clevelander17

I was in the unique situation of working for all three companies in the early 2000s, starting in 2000 with SeaWorld the year before it was sold, then working three years for Six Flags, and finally working the first year for Cedar Fair. Anheuser-Busch was far and away the best company to work for and their management knew best how to operate a park IMO. Supposedly they tried to buy the Geauga Lake side, but those plans fell through unfortunately. So they sold their half to Six Flags, a company whose incompetence in leadership was truly amazing, and whatever they were trying to do with the combined park failed miserably. By the time they sold to Cedar Fair, the park had earned a terrible reputation and was not in great shape. I believe that Cedar Fair could have tried to make it a successful regional park, but that was never their intention. So I think there's plenty of blame to go around.

Areas of Cleveland are thriving to the west because of the institutions located directly in those neighborhoods. And as for Cleveland Heights, I've long argued that the "uphill" neighborhoods of East Cleveland would actually be better off joining with Cleveland Heights than Cleveland, but that's a nonstarter for multiple parties involved. Fair enough, but this a failure of leadership that goes back several decades and would have had to counteract forces that few other urban suburbs and neighborhoods have had success in fully fighting back. University Circle didn't start booming until well after East Cleveland had already gone past the point of no return and the majority of city's architectural assets were demolished a long time ago.

I think it's a gross oversimplification to state that the current leadership is the reason why East Cleveland is in such bad shape right now. It's not as if the bordering areas of Cleveland just to the north are thriving. East Cleveland has suffered from significant disinvestment due to decades of flight and the zero sum income tax system that exists in Northeast Ohio. Simply transferring East Cleveland over to Cleveland may bring some stability, but that alone will not be enough to seriously turn things around for citizens. Cleveland itself doesn't have the funds to properly service the neighborhoods within its current borders.

That A+ rating is old news, they're running ads against him now: https://www.nrapvf.org/articles/20160701/nra-launches-ad-in-opposition-to-ted-strickland Portman isn't really a moderate, though that's a semantics argument and your qualifier is important. I guess only in today's GOP do people like Portman and Kasich look sane. Bottom line for me though is that he won't be voting for any of Clinton's Supreme Court nominees.

Very strange show at times, but really good. And you have to pay attention to everything because there are witty cultural nuggets hidden in every scene.

Well that's wonderful, I think it's problematic when players manipulate midseason trades like this. The Tribe got hosed and the Brewers probably did as well. I hope the Tribe plays the Rangers in the ALCS and old adage of good pitching versus good hitting rings true.

In the long term, I agree, I hate giving up a prospect haul for a guy that gives you three innings...per week. But if it buys the Tribe a title this year, I don't care about next year. In regards to Texas, while I'm still very bitter about how everything went down with Lucroy, and while I won't go as far as you in wishing bad on him, I was thinking the same thing. Dallas' summers are awful, and even worse for him is that, well, he is a catcher, and wearing that equipment in the heat is no joke.

Tribe DFA'd Juan Uribe and quietly (I think?) picked up Brandon Guyer. I really like this pickup. His .241 batting average is deceiving; he has an on-base percentage of .347 and he does particularly well against left-handed pitching. Not a huge splash, but certainly upgrades the lineup a bit. It looks like maybe Ramirez takes over the 3B spot on a permanent basis?

To be clear, I'm not even sure that the discussion was really about playing time. It seems that Lucroy thinks he's worth more than what he'll be paid next year (and he's right on that), so he was trying to use some leverage to get out of that player option. That's fine, but the Indians couldn't give up the same haul for a half-year rental. What makes the Miller trade so beneficial is that they've got control of him for the next few years. If Lucroy is dealt at the deadline, I really hope it's to the Mets and not the Tigers or Rangers. And as for that Miller trade, the Indians now have arguably one of the best back ends of the bullpen in baseball. I still think they desperately need another bat (even upgrading catcher slightly with a guy like Suzuki would work for me), but this team has the pitching pieces in place to really dominate in the postseason.

Maybe not a bad idea, he projects to be ready as soon as next year.

Why did you take him? For future seasons as a keeper? Supposedly his power has not developed yet as expected, however I read some analysis that because he has a hitch in his swing he'll benefit from the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium.

I really wanted Lucroy and that situation annoys me. I guess I don't have a major problem with players having across-the-board no-trade clauses, but when it's only for certain teams, it really messes with a league's competitiveness IMO. Even worse, now one of the Tribe's rivals might land him. Milwaukee gets screwed, too.

Well it looks like the outlet mall plan at Bridgeview Crossing in Garfield Heights fell through. I still think that should be IKEA's spot!

A lot of my old college buddies from SWO are posting about FC Cincinnati on social media these days. Looks like they're having a blast going to games. Wish Cleveland had something like for soccer, not sure what venue would work though.

I watch Mr. Robot and I think it's pretty good.

It's odd to me that that wouldn't be enough to prevent Goodell from reinstating him.

Why is there a four game suspension that comes with his reinstatement? Is that automatic?

I like what the NBA is doing here, but if it plays out like I think it might (New Orleans gets it for 2017 and Charlotte somehow "earns" it back in 2019), it could mean an even longer wait for the game to return to Cleveland. Not sure how New Orleans jumped in and became the front-runner to fill in for 2017, but I don't think that's right. The Western Conference has hosted it much more frequently than the Eastern Conference in the past decade or so, and this would be the 3rd time in roughly the same span that New Orleans has hosted.

I think the weather helped with perceptions too. I remember early Monday morning (or maybe it was Sunday morning?) when some of the media were in town and it was raining, one of the hosts (may have been Brian Williams) pointed out the rain and essentially said "typical rainy Cleveland." After that, except for one or two random overnight bursts of rain, it's been nothing but blue skies, sun and warmth.

The other thing I like about going after Lucroy with thoughts of it being an investment in next year is that Yan Gomes, even before this injury, even before the terrible first half, has been on a slow but steady decline offensively since 2013. He's pushing 30, which isn't that old, but I don't think there's any guarantee he'll ever come back to 2013/2014 form. Lucroy had a slightly down year last year (at least for him), but he's bounced back and plays a solid defensive catcher. Considering how little production this team has gotten from catcher this year, he'd be a huge additive boost. I like Jay Bruce, but he would come in and have to play a position where the Tribe already has average to above-average offensive production.

I can see both sides of the argument. This team is playing so well right now and there's no guarantee that adding a guy like Lucroy or Miller makes a huge difference during the regular season. However with the nature of the postseason, I do think adding another bat or bullpen guy could help. So do you put future at stake for one shot at a title in 2016? For what it's worth, Lucroy has a club option for 2017, and with many of the current roster players locked up well past then, on paper the Tribe is set up well for next year, too.

There was some talk yesterday of getting Lucroy from Milwaukee, which would be huge. I'd do it as long as the Tribe didn't have to give up anyone off of their 25-man roster.

Can't believe that this thread has been quiet for over two weeks. The Indians are rolling again after winning road series in Detroit and Kansas City. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but at this point I think the Tribe are in great shape in the AL Central really playing for home-field advantage now. Some fun stats: -If the Tribe played .500 ball from here on out, they'd win 90 games. -After the Tribe ends its long road trip Sunday in Baltimore, they will end the season with 39 home games and 26 road games.

Mad Greek closing in Cleveland Heights to be replaced by Barrio's first eastside location: http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/07/19/40-year-old-mad-greek-to-close-cedar-fairmount-space-goes-to-barrio-tacos

There's one bagel place on the east side, and if you know about it, then you know that there isn't a need for any others. ;)