Mistake By The River

The greatly ballyhooed and well over hyped turnpike series between the Cleveland Indians and our lovable losers, aka, the Bucs, commenced last evening with a whimper, then a bang, and then another whimper. Sadly, the bang and the second whimper both belonged to MLB's poorest excuse for a cleanup hitter, Mr. Adam LaRoche. Much ado about nothing.

That LaRoche leaves the bases jammed during a rally in the bottom of the ninth is as equally typical as it is inexcusable. We can all banter back and forth regarding organizational philosophies, and what the definitions of words like "now" and "near future" are, but the bottom line here is that situations like last night are games that can be won, and just aren't. Last night's loss has nothing to do with the trade of Nate McLouth, the trade rumors of Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez, or whether the Bucs are serious about latin American superstud, Miguel Sano. It's all about execution. Something that is expected from stars and role players. Ask the guy across town who, like LaRoche, also wears #25 and some facial hair. The similarities end there. You'll probably find him sipping something frothy out of a rather large silver trophy right now. He'll tell you all about execution.

A guy like LaRoche can put up 25 homers and 85 RBI's year after year, but until he starts getting that base hit when the game is on the line, he's just another mope trying to fill up a stat sheet...holding down the cleanup spot on a 70 win team in the process.

Quick Hitters:

• Remember a young, flashy, top of the rotation guy named Ian Snell? Naw, me either. Sadly, the mercurial Snell is probably another bad start or two away from complete obscurity.
• How about Pedro Alvarez getting bumped up to AA Altoona after less than a half season of pro ball? Alvarez will most likely be a September call up when the rosters expand to 40, and he very well may be in a Bucco uni on opening day 2010. Oh crap, and I just bought my Andy LaRoche jersey...