Archive for the ‘Cleveland Indians’ Category

I’m continuing to slug the ball in May. I’m now hitting over .400, which is nice – but it won’t last. A recent series with the Texas Rangers in Arlington saw me go 7-9 in the first two games of the series, but only 1-4 in the last game. However, that lone hit happened to be a home run. I’ll check in again once the month is over.

Another month down, and we’re still clogging up the basement of the Central Division. We went 14-15 in May, which is better but no where near great. Personally, I’m a little down on my stats, but I shouldn’t be. I’m hitting .388 (best in the league) with 17 doubles, 17 homers and 57 RBIs. I had 17 doubles and 18 homers in 12 more games all of last year, so I’m well on pace for an MVP-candidacy run. I lead the league in batting average and RBIS, and I’m second in home runs. This picture features me turning on a very high fastball against the Angels. If our pitching staff can every get straightened out, we have  the offense to win games – but I don’t have high hopes.

Well, April is over and I’m getting hot. I’m now batting .380 with 11 doubles, 8 home runs, and 24 RBIs.I’ve also taken 2 walks, which is how many I too all of last year. In all, I’m looking good. I’m second in the league in doubles, homers, and RBIs, which is nice. We won two of three against the Royals to end the month 8-14, tied for worst in the AL Central division with Minnesota. We’re also second worst in the power rankings (just ahead of the Florida Marlins). Man, maybe I oughta take my big bat and get out of here…

– Bud Daniel

Well, it’s crisis averted, for now. I’m now hitting .365 and have slugged 4 homers since my last post. We also  nearly swept the Twins at their place, but came up short in a rally to end game three of the series. We were down 6-1 when I came to the plate in the eight inning (we scored our first run when I was listening to the announcers talk about a shutout, pissing me off to the point that I blasted a dinger into the left field bleachers. That’ll teach ‘em). We had a runner on first and I hit a single to extend the inning (we had one out at the time). Matt LaPorta knocked me to third and brought in the run to make it 6-2. Later, I scored, along with LaPorta to make it 6-4. We ultimately made it 6-5 before falling short.. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all. Or most of them, for that matter.

- Bud Daniel

Despite what the above picture would tell you, I am now batting under .300. I don’t know what changed, but I need to do something. My team is counting on me, and after we lost eight straight games, it’s getting stressful. We’ve now won two in a row against Oakland, but I’m not confident because my bat continues to grow colder. I hope I can get it turned around quick!

- Bud Daniel

So much for setting the league on fire. Coming out of spring training, I’m hitting around .340, but it’s mostly been on dink singles and the occasional double. I have a hit in all six games we’ve played thus far, but I’m not pleased. I had zero RBIs until game six of the 2011 campaign.

The sixth game (after we dropped the last two of our opening series with the World Champion White Sox – we won our season opener – and the first two to the A’s) was in Oakland. It was another relatively poor showing, but I had one good swing and I made it count. I blasted a 465 ft. three-run dinger to give us a 5-2 lead. We ballooned it to a 9-2 lead before our bullpen blew it and we lost our fifth straight game, 12-9. Damn bullpen.

- Bud Daniel

Well, spring training is over, and man did I rake the ball. Here’s my final spring line:

• Bud Daniel – .478, 19 2Bs, 16 HRs, 55 RBIs in 30 games

Compare that to my 2009 season stats.

• Bud Daniel – .332, 17 2Bs, 18 HRs, 66 RBIs in 73 games

I think I’m ready for the regular season.

On a side note, I’ve been moved back to first base. Apparently I’m now the team’s top first baseman. I wish they’d stop moving me around!

- Bud Daniel

I figured this was as good a time as any to unveil Bud Daniel’s baseball card.

Enjoy!

This is Bud Daniel, just checking in from spring training. I’m off to a raucous start here so far, and it looks like I could have a great season ahead. Here’s my current line.

B. Daniel – .517, 11 2Bs, 6 HRs, 26 RBIs in 13 games

If you extrapolate that to my half-season’s worth of at-bats last year (316 vs. 58 this spring), we’re talking 33 homers and 141 RBIs. Now, if we took that to a full season (barring injuries), I could end up with 65 dingers and 200+ RBIs. Right. I’ll believe that when I see it. I think my first hypothetical line (33 and 141) would be a more likely seasons worth of production. Hell, if I get 20 homers and 100 RBIs I’ll be ecstatic.

In other news, my fielding has come along nicely. I’ve yet to make an error this spring, but my arm’s accuracy could use some help.

All in all, it looks like I might be able to help my team towards a pennant race, so long as our pitching holds up. That is the issue, isn’t it? We’ll see what happens.

- Bud Daniel

Well, my rookie campaign is over, and I didn’t win Rookie of the Year. The White Sox won the World Series and we didn’t even make the playoffs. On the bright side, I have some impressive numbers to stand by.

In 73 total games I hit .332 with 17 doubles, 18 HRs, 66 RBIs, and ended the year on a 24 game hitting streak. On the flip side, it looks like I’m going back to the outfield this season. I don’t know about that, since I felt so comfortable at first.

All in all, it was a good first year, and a good learning experience. We’ll see if going back to the outfield helps or hurts my offense this season. I was errorless at first in the majors but had three errors in right while in Double-A with Akron. I’ll have to work on my range more then I did at first. I did, however, continue to work on my arm strength all season, anticipating this event, so it hasn’t totally blindsided me. On to my second year!

- Bud Daniel