Buy shares in a future Triber!

This link comes from Joe at Cincy Reds Cards (among other card-related blogs):
http://walkoffbalk.blogspot.com/2008/01/minor-league-pitcher-wants-you-to-own.html

Randy Newsom, a minor league reliever for the Indians affiliate Aeros, is selling shares in his future as a Tribe member (or any other MLB team, really). For $20 a share, you can invest in this player, helping him offset his bills while he hones his skills. According to "The Enquirer," he would have to make $1.2 million a year before you would get your $20 back (and really, after fees, it's closer to $25) for each share. There are only so many share to go around, too. He is the first player to actually sell shares of himself, but this could be something that takes off.

I bit the bullet and bought a couple. I figure, the worst that can happen is I buy the guy a tank of gas...

More info can be found at RealSportsInvestments.com and the original article from "The Enquirer" is HERE.

Indians Uniform Number - 4 (Part 1 of 3)

There are about 30 players who have worn the Number 4 jersey. Because the list is SO long, I decided to break it up into manageable chunks! Each post will feature approximately 10 players, some of whom you've seen before (yes, already we have 'repeat' performers). As I did with the #3 players, I will save my final decision until after all players have had a chance to grow on you (some like heroes, some more like a fungus).

So, without further delay, I present the first set of #4's:

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Bill Cissell - 2 seasons (1932-1933) - Cissell came to the Tribe after playing 5 seasons with the White Sox. He played in 131 games his first year, grabbing 78 runs, 173 hits, 35 doubles, six triples and six homers. He only struck out 25 times and scored 93 RBIs, netting him a 320 batting average. The next year, he played in 19 fewer games and his average fell to .230, though he still smacked in 6 homers and struck out only 29 times.

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Bill Knickerbocker - 4 seasons (1933-1936) - The name alone should garner this guy extra points! He came into the majors with Cleveland, batting .226 his first year. The next year, he batted a career-high .317 with 188 hits in 146 games. In 1935, he "fell" to .298 and then to .294 before the Tribe traded him off in 1937. In his last year as a Triber, he stood at the plate 618 times! 618 times and still managed to keep a .294!? (81 runs, 182 hits, 35 doubles, and 73 RBIs)

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Bill Sudakis - Part of 1 season (1975) - "Suds" (as he was called) basically sucked. It was not entirely his own fault, though. His talent was masked by the fact that he spent much of his MLB career battling knee problems. Honestly, it's a wonder he lasted 8 seasons in the majors. His biggest plus was that he could switch-hit and play at either in-field corner. He played 20 games for the Tribe and managed to scrape together a .196 average.

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Bob Nieman - Parts of two seasons (1961-1961) - In 1951, he broke into the majors by hitting his first two at-bats for home runs at Fenway park (the first MLB player to do so ever). 10 years later, he played in 39 games for the Indians, ringing up a .354 average (65 at-bats for 2 runs, 23 hits, 6 doubles, and 2 homers (10 total RBIs) while striking out only 4 times! Unfortunately, the next year, he played in only 2 games. Now, he only had one at-bat, but managed to snag an RBI *AND* strike out at the same time. I guess if you have to walk away with a .000 avg, it's nice to have an RBI to go with it...

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Brian Dorsett - 1 season (1987) - The Fleer card shown is from baseball-almanac.com. He only played in 5 games for the Indians (and only 163 games in his entire career). He had 11 at-bats, scoring 2 runs with 3 hits, a homer, 3 RBIs and 3 strikeouts. He left the Tribe batting .273, which we have seen is better than a bunch...

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David Bell - parts of 2 seasons (1995,1998) - For starters, he shares his name with two other "David Bells" - an alleged ghost of Bell House in Georgia, and former Triber David (better known as BUDDY) Bell. He began his MLB career with the Indians by stepping up to the plate twice and getting nowhere fast (goose-egg average). The Tribe traded him to the Cardinals, and in 1998, they picked him back up again. This time, he batted 340 times for 37 runs, 89 hits, 21 doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs. He scored 41 RBIs and struck out 54 times. The Tribe sent his .262 average to the Mariners later that season.

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Domingo Ramos - Part of 1 season (1988) - Ramos played in 22 games as a Triber. Despite pulling a .261 (which in the 80's was probably nothing short of a miracle for the Indians), he was released that same year.

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Gene Desautels - 4 seasons (1941-43, '45) - He served as backup catcher, but still batted in 60+ games from '41-'43. In 1944, he enlisted in the Marines and in July, 1945, he rejoined the Tribe, though he only played in 10 games that year. He managed a paltry .111 average in '45, which was way off from his previous .201, .247, and .205 (respectively).

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George Strickland - Appeared in our 'countdown' previously wearing the #3 uniform. For the sake of argument, his #4-wearing days produced his 2nd highest (.238) and second lowest (.167) averages in his career. That has nothing to do with the selection process for me, but I thought it was a neat tidbit I hadn't looked at before. For those of who may have slept a little since I posted his stats in the Uni-#3 segment, here are Strickland's Tribe stats: 7+ seasons (1952-1960) - Strickland's best seasonal average came in 1953 (.284) and the next year, he helped the Tribe get to the World Series. Not really a power hitter, he provided consistency during his career. He averaged 28 runs, 61 hits, and 2.75 homers per season with Cleveland. His long career with the Indians continued after he was released as he served as acting manager for an ailing Birdie Tebbetts.

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Houston Jimenez - Part of one season (1988) - He batted in only 9 games, going 1 for 21. At least his one hit was a home run. But with such disappointing output (we're talking a .048 avg here), the Tribe let him go. Of course, you would think the Tribe might have clued in to the fact that in the previous year, he went 0 for 6 in five games with the Pirates. Then again, this was the Tribe of the 80's... Ouch.

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Indians Uniform Number - 3 Earl Averill

I know that the choice for all-time Indian with a #3 on his jersey may have seemed pretty cut and dry, but there were at least two other players that could have taken the top spot. Plus, this list boasts not one, but TWO names cursed with innuendo in the vein of Rusty Kuntz (no pun intended):

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Bob Rothel - Part of one season (1945) - Rothel had a career total of 10 at-bats in 4 games, all with the Tribe. He got 2 hits and was walked 3 times, which kept his avg down to .200 but gave him an OBP of .385 - an interesting contrast in statistics.

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Dale Mitchell - 11 seasons (1946-1956) - As I have documented on here, Dale Mitchell was the first card I ever paid money for. The picture is from my collection and you can read the story by reading my first post on here ever! :-) In college, Mitchell set the OK Sooner records for career avg (.467) and for senior-year avg (.507). In his rookie year, he played in only 11 games while racking up a .432 avg (without any triples or homers, no less). Throughout his Indians career, he had SEVEN seasons with .300+ averages, and never struck out more than 21 times in any season. In fact, he struck out only 116 times for 3,960 at-bats (that's only 3%!). He appeared in two all-star games (1949, 1952) and two World Series' as an Indian (1948,1954). Never a big home-run hitter, Mitchell was more of a line-drive, "Git R done" kinda guy, posting five seasons with 20+ doubles, and five 55-plus RBI seasons. He would have most likely grabbed up the honors for All-Time Uniform #3 had Earl Averill not played for the Tribe.

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Dutch Meyer - 2 seasons (1945-46) - Meyer came to the Indians after being discharged from service. He played in 130 games with 524 at-bats, bringing a .292 average by the end of the season. During '45, he had 153 hits, 29 doubles, 8 triples, and knocked in 7 home runs. This guy was ready to play some ball after serving his country. In '46, he played in 72 games and his average fell to .232. The Indians traded him to the Yanks.

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Earl Averill - 10+ Seasons (1929-part of 1939) - Averill came into the majors when he was 27 years old. In his time with the Tribe, only three seasons did he hit below .300 (1935, 1937, 1939). And even in 1937, he hit .299. He still holds Tribe all-time records for total bases (2401 not counting walks, 3126 with walks), runs batted in (1084), runs (1154), and triples (121). Add in his 3rd all-time Tribe leader in hits and doubles. Then, for good measure, top it off with the 4th place team record holder in home runs and walks. For dessert, let's toss in 6 All-Star appearances, including one in which he smacked a ball off Dizzy Dean's toe, breaking it. He was inducted into the HOF in 1975, and the Indians retired his jersey number that same year.

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Eddie Robinson - 2 full seasons and 3 partial seasons (1942, '46-'48, '57) - He played in 8 games each for his first two seasons with the Indians. In '47, he hit 14 homers and brought in 52 total RBIs. He then went on to help the Tribe win the World Series in '48 after batting in 83 RBIs and 125 hits in 134 games. He is most notoriously known for not lending Larry Doby his first baseman's mitt (according to snopes and other Internet sources). In '57, he played for three teams (Tiger, Indians, Orioles) but his best run during that time was during his 19 games in Cleveland (batting .222 versus batting .000 for the other two teams).

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George Strickland - 7+ seasons (1952-1960) - Strickland's best seasonal average came in 1953 (.284) and the next year, he helped the Tribe get to the World Series. Not really a power hitter, he provided consistency during his career. He averaged 28 runs, 61 hits, and 2.75 homers per season with Cleveland. His long career with the Indians continued after he was released as he served as acting manager for an ailing Birdie Tebbetts. Another contender, had Averill skipped the Tribe.

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Lyman Linde - 2 seasons (1947-48) - In 1947, Linde pitched in ONE game, and managed to accrue a 26.99 ERA. Yes, you read that correctly - Twenty-six point nine-nine. Ouch. Comparatively speaking, his follow-up season's 5.40 ERA actually looked amazing. He never batted in 1947, and in '48, he batted twice. Anyone care to guess his avg? Yeap, goose-egg... I could not find a picture of him, though I am not really surprised.

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Mickey Vernon - 3 seasons (1949-'50, '58) - Vernon batted .291 in his first year with the Tribe, hitting 18 homers, getting 170 hits, 27 doubles, and 83 RBIs. In his next season, he dropped to 90 at-bats with 17 hits, watching his average drop to .189. In his return to the Tribe in 1958, he got 49 runs on 104 hits while bringing in 55 RBIs. His .293 avg netted him a place on the '58 AL all-star team.

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Rusty Peters - 6 seasons (1940-1946) - His name can't help but invoke that of another player with an oxidized sexual reference. Ironically (given his name), he played as an all-round utility player. All innuendo aside, Peters' average hovered near or just above the .220 mark during his time with the Tribe. During his 6 seasons with Cleveland, he averaged about a 10% hit-bats ratio (except in '46, where he had no hits for 21 at-bats).

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Woodie Held - 6+ seasons (part 1958-1964) - Another innuendo-related name graces the #3 uniform for the Tribe. Throughout his Indians career, Held batted near or above .240 each season except his first. During his tenure, he posted 4 seasons at 100+ hits and 3 with 80+. He also posted double-digit doubles every season except his first. Same holds true for homers (3 of which were 20+). The downside is that he also managed to post 100+ strikeouts for 3 seasons. Still, an all-around trooper.

Indians Uniform Number - 2 Luke Sewell

Picking the All-Time player in a #2 uniform was tough. If Peralta, who once said that every other "Johnny" spelled THEIR names incorrectly, can keep posting numbers like he has, I have a feeling he may very well earn his way to the top of the list. I know there will be people who are going to disagree with my choice, regardless of which player I select, but I have to give the nod to Luke Sewell. Here, we have a player who ended his first season as a .000 and stayed around long enough to have a great stolen base record, incredible strikeout (or lack thereof) record, and play 20 seasons as an ACTIVE catcher (and we all know stories of catchers burning out knees, etc). (Read Uniform 2, Part 1) (Read Uniform 2, Part 2)

On the last day of the giveaway...

My sincere apologies to David A in Ohio, who has waited so very patiently for his Tribecards 12 Days Giveaway pack. When I set out to do the gift packs, of course, the goal was delivery by Christmas, but the response was so awesome, time quickly got away. And then, I came to the request for an All-Cleveland version. The Browns and the Buckeyes were pretty easy to fill (as I did not have many to begin with, you understand). But, filling out the rest of the gift pack with Indians proved to be more difficult than I had thought. It was not for lack of cards (I have tons), but rather how to select cards from the mass of duplicates I have on hand! Unlike some of the other giveaways, I have a huge surplus of cards to choose from when it comes to the Tribe.

Do I include the HOFers (Feller, Lajoie, Eckersley, etc)? Do I go for the players I watched as a kid (Jacoby, Charboneau, Thornton, etc)? What about some of the great all-time Tribers (Carter, Vizquel, Alomar, etc)? And, should I throw in current players (Hafner, Martinez, Sabathia, etc)?

I began by jotting down the players that came to my mind first and foremost (Feller, Doby, Belle, Barker, Charboneau, Thome, Sizemore, Lofton, Hafner, Young, Lajoie, Robinson, Buddy Bell, etc etc). For the record, that happens to be the order in which they popped into my head (who knows why!). Of course, as I was rifling through the cards, I would invariably find additional players that I thought should be included. As you can see, I soon had a list of players that could fulfill several "12 Days" gift packs, and as I sorted through the cards, I found myself hard-pressed to select "only" 12 of any given player, let alone go through the pain of selecting the final 3, 2, and 1 day of Christmas. Of course, no matter which players were chosen to be included, it meant leaving other 'pack worthy' players behind.

But, in the end, I created a smorgasbord of players - some current, some recent (and not-so-recent) past, some classics. Basically, I followed my gut. And, seeing as how this is the last gift pack going out for the 2007 holiday season, I am going to leave the whole package as a surprise!