Top

Jim Thome

August 26, 2011 by · Comments Off on Jim Thome 

Jim ThomeJim Thome, When Jim Thome Cleveland Indians left to sign with the Phillies as a free agent, was asked by a reporter if he believed the tribe would allow him back in a couple of years.

It took more than a few – nine to be exact – but Thome is coming back, perhaps as early as Friday night. The Indians put in a claim for the resignation of Thomas, and then made a deal with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night to acquire a player to be named no later than October 15.

“Jim Thome is a Hall of Fame caliber person,” Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said in announcing the operation on Thursday night.

Acquiring Thome, who will be on Saturday 41, makes sense in the wake of a foot injury to designated hitter Travis Hafner.

“We’ve had some preliminary talks with the Twins before Hafner got hurt,” said Antonetti. “Once I was injured Travis, Jim became more clear to attack us.”

Earlier this month, Thome became the eighth player in history to hit 600 homers. It has since become one more. He was batting .243 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs in 206 innings. Most likely to DH most of the time of the tribe, but has suffered several injuries in recent years and is not used in every game.

“We have to manage your playing time,” said Antonetti. “We will work with Jim to see what the right balance. But do not play every day.”

Thome is doing and 3 million this year, of which about 500,000 and has not yet been paid. He also had the right to reject the offer in terms of his contract.

“It is important to note that Jim had a no-trade clause,” said Antonetti. “They have to come to Cleveland. He could have been in Minnesota. He was very excited. He was dismissed to return and join the team, like his family.”

Thome came through the system of exploitation of the Indians and the tribe played for 12 seasons, becoming the franchise leader in home runs with 334. When he was not always treated kindly by the fans when he returned to play at Progressive Field.

“I’m really hoping that Jim is greeted with a standing ovation from our fans,” said Antonetti. “That’s what you deserve. I’m sure our fans will embrace.”

Antonetti said that the Twins “, you can choose from a relatively short list of players” to complete the operation.

Antonetti is still trying to make other arrangements for exemption?

“We are still looking for ways to improve the team,” he said.

TV Ratings Soar

Assistance to Indians is directed towards an increase of more than 300,000 people, probably about 25 percent, but the more positive news in terms of fan interest is the classification of the club on television.

According to SportsTime Ohio, the scores are almost 100 percent in the STO broadcast of the game compared to last year. In combination with the 12 games broadcast on WKYC, ratings have increased by over 50 percent.

STO says it is reaching an average of about 200,000 spectators over 18 years. Seeing the interest seems to be holding, despite the club began to lose its grip on first place last month.

The August 11 game against the Tigers was the second most watched game of the season with a rating of 9.4, second only to the April 30 game against the Tigers.

The August 7th game against the Texas Rangers is No. 3 on the list with a score of 9.1, and 05 August game against the Boston Red Sox is the game of the fifth year with a view of the index 8.7.

This month, the tribe has dominated the first half ranking in northeast Ohio. Of the five issues (programming includes 20 programs on the local ABC, NBC and Fox outlets) for the week of August 1, four games of the Indians.

Of the five broadcast during the week of August 8, three games of the tribe. For these two weeks, the Indians are the games only locally produced shows to appear in the top 20.

Nobody to blame

When a team is inundated with injuries, the coach sometimes carries an unfair burden of responsibility.

General manager Chris Antonetti said there was no basis for making such judgments about Lonnie Soloff head coach.

“When you look at the nature of our injuries, so many are traumatic,” said Antonetti. “Jason Kipnis is the first player in our DL with a hamstring injury since 2008.

“We were able to control many of the soft tissue injuries. But what we’ve been getting a lot of traumatic injuries. You can not control Jonathan Sanchez Shin-Soo Choo hit with a pitch in the exact spot that breaks finger thumb. I’m not sure how to do anything about those things. ”

Keel steers the ship

It is no coincidence that manager Manny Acta, rarely loses control of his emotions.

“All my friends are exalted jail or dead,” he said. “I’m in my second job as director of baseball.”

LIVING WITH ERRORS

The Friday night, replays showed that all crew members of the arbitration at Comerica Park was lost at least one call on the bases.

Not all calls went against the tribe, but that’s not the point.

“That’s not something we can control,” said Antonetti. “Ultimately, everything is won or lost due to the way we play.”

That does not mean obvious blown calls are ignored. Antonetti revealed that the Indians sometimes complain of the commissioner’s office, either by phone or in writing. Sometimes the answer admits a mistake of the arbitrators, but that does not change the outcome of the work.

Bottom