J.R. wrote:From DENVER LOU:

Just thought I'd send you a few of my thoughts while here at Spring Training.

Had a very nice day visiting with JR at Disney yesterday. It Was HOT!!

Very difficult trying to get tix this year. Ticket brokers buying up big blocks and selling them. Teams getting lazy. Tix are sold at a "Premium", i.e. champs and playoff tyeams command higher prices, then scaled down as the teams "weaken". Went to see Cards/Braves at Disney. Game day tix to the berm were $36. To get decent seats, if available, you should go directly to a ballteam's ticket window. Son John took care of all tix arrangements and he said it was a real pain this year.

Saw the Tigers/Nats. Tigers are tough. Nats seem weak, just a couple of impact players.

Werth looks like a Biblical Moses. Long hair, long beard. He is also not a gold glove. They tried him in CF one game and quickly moved him to RF.

Zimmerman is a quality ballplayer on both sides of the ball.

Nats did not do anything until the "scrubs" came in. Some of their youngsters look good. Bryce Harper appears to be a very good hitter. He looked good when we saw him and "they" sent him down right after the game. Did not see Strasberg (sp?).

Speaking of good hitters, Braves' McCann is top shelf in my opinion. He is a hard out.

Jason Michaels is the Nat's LF. He did not "shine".

Nats tried to stop the Tiger's offense so they brought in Chad Durbin. He got rocked. Five runs, 5 frozen ropes. You get the idea.

Saw the Blue Jays/Braves. #1 Valbueno (sp?) played SS. Didn't really do anything of note. The rest of the team was made up of #45-99.

Cards had a couple interesting guys. Komatsu. He came to hit! Will swing at the first pitch everytime up if it's over. Impressive. Carpenter hits for distance.

Astros seem to have nothing. Look forward to seeing them in the AL Central next year. They had one guy, Bryan Johnson, a young long ball hitter fair or foul. Doesn't hit enough fair.

Astros brought in Travis Buck to PH. 0-1.

Carlos Lee seems to be their only threat.

St Patrick's Day at Disney saw Mickey dressed in green leading the commemorative pitcher out to the mound.

Disney got rid of the obnoxious organ. No more "Suzie Q".

Saw Nat's rookie Ramos, the guy who was kidnapped in the offseason.

Braves up and comer is a Joey Terdoslavich. Waiting to see that name on the back of his jersey.

Saw three teams who wore only the traditional white home unis at every home game.

All National Anthems we heard were sung "straight". Fans had been complaining about individual "renditions".

Was at Viera (Nats) on the 21st. They did not do special recognitions. I was going to wish a Happy Birthday to Sonny but then wondered if anyone remembered him, especially for the memorable catch in Canal Park a couple years ago.

Constanza was with the Braves. Saw him 3 times. Never did anything. He waves at pitches and is lucky if he can get it out of the infield.

Keep saying this every year. The quality of baseball played in ST seems to be worse every year. Wonder how some of these guys got this high.

Thanks, for THAT Denver Lou share, J.R..


Next time anyone sees him, chide him for not mentioning which way the flags were blowing.....or not.




The 2012 edition of The Cleveland Indians are close to breaking camp to play the real games.

I feel lucky.

It was refreshing to read Lou's impressions and thoughts of spring training once again. Thanks Lou (and JR for posting).

Yes, thanks Lou and post some more willya?

Masterson's start mixed bag in loss to Brewers
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | 03/26/12 6:34 PM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Outfielder Noriachika Aoki's RBI triple off Indians setup man Vinnie Pestano in the ninth gave the Brewers a 6-5 win in Cactus League action on Monday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark.

The Brewers broke through against Indians Opening Day starter Justin Masterson, but the Tribe delivered a hanful of counter punches.

Masterson, who is scheduled to start against the Blue Jays when the Indians open the season at home on April 5, limited Milwaukee to one run over the first four innings before slipping in his final two frames. The sinkerballer stretched out to six innings -- his longest outing of the spring -- but allowed five runs in the process.

With that go-ahead triple, Aoki has 11 hits in his last 17 at-bats (.647) after going 5-for-32 (.156) to start the spring.


The Brewers struck for one run in the first inning, when Nyjer Morgan ripped a pitch from Masterson down the right-field line for a one-out triple. Slugger Ryan Braun followed with a run-scoring groundout to put the Indians behind early, 1-0. Masterson settled in from there until losing command of his sinker in the fifth.

Masterson opened the fifth inning with a walk to Edwin Maysonet, who later crossed the plate on a single from Braun. Brewers designated hitter Travis Ishikawa brought two more runs home with a double off Masterson to straightaway center field, pushing Milwaukee to a 4-1 lead. Taylor Green added an RBI double off Masterson in the sixth.

The RBI single for Braun marked only his second run-scoring hit of the spring.

Brewers catcher George Kottaras, who started in place of Jonathan Lucroy, went 2-for-4 at the plate to improve to 11.-for-25 (.440 average) since his 1-for-12 start to the spring.

Brewers left-hander Chris Narveson -- the projected fifth starter -- yielded four runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings against the Indians. He became the first Milwaukee pitcher to log at least six innings this spring, and continued a strong run for the club's rotation. The Brewers' projected starting staff has now combined for a 2.67 ERA this spring.

Cleveland broke through for its first run off Narveson in the third inning, when Jack Hannahan -- back in the lineup for the first time since March 15 after a bout with back tightness -- doubled to the wall in left-center field. Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera later drove Hannahan in with an RBI single up the middle.

The Indians added two more runs in the sixth inning -- courtest of a towering two-run homer off the bat of Carlos Santana. In the eighth inning, Cleveland pulled the game into a 5-5 deadlock when Felix Pie came through with an RBI single off Brewers reliever Kameron Loe. The hit plated Ryan Spilborghs, who reached base earlier in the frame due to a throwing error by the pitcher.

Up next for the Indians: With only two starts left this spring, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (1-3, 7.24 ERA in five Cactus League outings) is looking to end his inconsistent preseason on a strong note for the Indians. He will take the mound on Tuesday, when the Tribe heads to Glendale for a 4:05 p.m. ET tilt against the rival White Sox. Bullpen hopefuls Jeremy Accardo, Robinson Tejeda and Henricus van den Hurk are also slated to pitch for Cleveland.

Cleveland Indians lose to Brewers, 6-5; Justin Masterson ready for Opening Day
Published: Monday, March 26, 2012, 7:10 PM Updated: Monday, March 26, 2012, 8:08 PM
By Paul Hoynes, The Plain Dealer

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Right-hander Vinnie Pestano gave up a two-out, run-scoring triple to Norichika Aoki in the ninth inning Monday as Milwaukee beat the Indians, 6-5, at Goodyear Ballpark.

The Indians tied the game, 5-5, on Felix Pie's RBI single in the eighth. Ryan Spilborghs scored the tying run. The Tribe has lost four straight Cactus League games and five of the last six.

Justin Masterson, in his second-to-last start of the spring, went six innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. He struck out four, walked one and hit two batters. Masterson allowed one run in the first four innings before giving up three in the fifth and one in the sixth.

"I started getting underneath the sinker in the fifth inning," said Masterson.

It was not a great outing, but manager Manny Acta announced that Masterson was ready to start the season opener April 5 against Toronto at Progressive Field.

"Masterson got stretched out and he's ready to go," said Acta. "He threw 98 pitches. He threw some good sliders today and he's ready to throw 100-plus pitches on Opening Day."

The big right-hander will make one more spring training start, but he won't throw as many pitches as he did Monday.

"I'm ready for the season," said Masterson. "We know what we're doing out there, we just started rushing in the fifth inning. My arm was dragging. . .that's why I got underneath the ball. It's an easy adjustment to make. I think we're right where we need to be."

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Nyjer Morgan's triple past first and Ryan Braun's ground out to short. Asdrubal Cabrera's two-out single in the third made it 1-1 following Jack Hannahan's double.

Braun's RBI single and Travis Ishikawa's two-run double made it 4-1 in the fifth. The Indians answered with a run in the fifth against Chris Narveson on Jason Kipnis' RBI grounder. Aaron Cunningham opened the fifth with an infield single and Hannahan doubled him to third.

Taylor Green pushed Milwaukee's lead to 5-2 in the sixth off Masterson with a RBI double, but Carlos Santana closed the gap with a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 5-4.

Edwin Maysonet started the winning rally in the ninth with a single. He scored easily on Aoki's long tripe to center.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

The Indians revealed their choice for third base on Tuesday, when the club optioned prospect Lonnie Chisenhall to Triple-A Columbus. That move signaled that Jack Hannahan is in the plans as Cleveland's Opening Day third baseman.

The Tribe also optioned first baseman Matt LaPorta to Columbus and reassigned outfielder Chad Huffman to Minor League camp. With the three moves, Cleveland whittled its roster to 43 players with a week remaining before camp breaks in Arizona.

The 23-year-old Chisenhall is viewed as Cleveland's future starter at third base, but the team believes he still has room for development. This spring, the Indians wanted to see improved plate discipline from the young third baseman, but he hit just .205 (8-for-39) with 16 strikeouts against one walk in 16 games.

Chisenhall -- the Indians' first-round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft -- hit .255 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in 66 games for Cleveland last season in his first taste of the big leagues.

Hannahan, 32, hit .250 with eight homers and 40 RBIs in 110 games last year for the Indians, but finished the season by hitting at a .368 clip over the final six weeks. This spring, the third baseman was limited for a spell with back tightness, but he has hit .300 (6-for-20) with one homer and five RBIs in seven games.

Hannahan returned to the Tribe's lineup on Monday and went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles. By sending Chisenhall down to the Minors on Tuesday, Cleveland will be able to get Hannahan the necessary at-bats over the next week to prepare him for the start of the season.

Once the Indians signed veteran first baseman Casey Kotchman over the winter, LaPorta was a long-shot candidate to make the Opening Day roster as a bench player. The 27-year-old LaPorta was thrown into the left-field mix this spring, but he continued his ongoing struggles in the batter's box, hitting .167 with 11 strikeouts in 14 games.

LaMarte is done.

Maybe someone who follows the minors closely like CIV could tell us if the Brewers had any prospects back then who have become MLB players, and how they are doing.

I was all in favor of Shelley Duncan starting in leftfield based on a few home runs but unfortunately Duncan's batting average just fell under (.200) and he is now averaging (.195). That was not quite what I had in mind when I made my choice.

Maybe Vladdy isn't such a bad idea. He might not be able to field like he used to but he can still hit. In 562 at bats last year he only struck out 56 times but only walked 17, but that's Vladdy. Never met a pitch he didn't like. 30 doubles, 13 homers. Next to Choo, Vladdy would most likely be our second best hitting outfielder. If the price is right, he might be worth a look. Too bad spring training has pretty much come and gone.

Would Choo be willing to move into left field? Would he be asked to?

I think I'd like to see Vlad in Cleveland rather than in Japan this year.

Duncan(0-4) was the last batter today against Matt Thornton. Three pitches...three swinging strikes.

The powder- puff bats thrashed against the wet paper bag again today and the bag won.

These guys are awful...awful...awful.

Santana is borderline embarassing.

But wait!!!! It's only spring training. They're getting ready to throw the switch.

A lot of good players found new homes this year. It's obvious we had nothing to barter with. The farm system's home grown crop leaves much to be desired. UGH!

Next to Choo, Vladdy would most likely be our second best hitting outfielder. If the price is right, he might be worth a look. Too bad spring training has pretty much come and gone.


Vlad does not play in the field. Has not for years !

LOL @ LaMarte

Looks like we're close to locking up last place in the 2012 Cactus League.

15th place.

We have six wins, going into March 28th.


Good thing these games are meaningless.

Oakland is about to lock up the Cactus League title.

They have Manny.

Joe posted a response on the CC trade in Minor Matters or Articles. And I added my 2 cents. We couldn't have got too much more since they were unwilling to deal their SS of the future. And don't forget we got 4 for 1 so took quantity instead of quality. I can pull out my BA Top Prospect guides and see who was on their Prospect list at the time.