At times the team has looked just plain clueless. In the eighth inning of a blowout loss to Detroit last week, Indians outfielder Manny Ramirez advanced from first to second base on catcher's indifference, then began walking back to first and was tagged out. Ramirez explained later that he thought the batter, Jim Thome, had fouled off the pitch, even though Thome hadn't even swung. Fielding errors, stupid baserunning, no timely hitting. All those blunders led general manager John Hart to issue a harsh review of his team in late July.
Mental mistakes start with the players, but the manager has the ultimate accountability.
This is unacceptable. It is hard to believe that the Indians are only two years removed from their magical '95 season, when they had a 100-44 record and marched to the World Series. Then, in a span of nine months beginning last July, Cleveland lost three key players. Hart traded second baseman Carlos Baerga, lost cleanup hitter Albert Belle to free agency and dealt leadoff man Kenny Lofton for fear that Lofton would follow in Belle's footsteps. So much for the best-laid plans.