Tag: believeland

It’s the God Damn White Sox

On By Chris ElliottIn baseballLeave a comment

How do you lose to the damn White Sox? Who still suicide squeezes? Two in a row. Jesus Christ. This will easily be the most frustrating season as an Indians fan. It makes me want to drink bleach at times.

Let’s be honest. This division is the Indians. No one is going to win it other than them. But losing back to back games to the White Sox is worse than Rickey Davis trying to get a triple double on his own basket. Oh well, we will complain about these issues till playoff time…When’s Miller come back?

Is Naquin for Real?

On By Chris ElliottIn baseball1 Comment

Tyler Naquin is off to a pretty good start for a guy that for all intensive purposes lost his MLB job a year ago and struggled to get it back. And if it was not for an injury to Lonnie Chisenhall, he would not have received this opportunity. Naquin is taking advantage of it though. As of 5/7/18, Naquin is batting .319 and playing pretty good defense. Right field seems to be a good spot for him. His on base is solid as well though his slugging percentage could improve.

If Naquin is just a line drive singles hitter who plays solid defense, I can live with that.  The thing that concerns me though is his batting average on balls in play. He is hitting over 400 on balls in play. That is not sustainable. Naquin is due to come down to earth. I think we will see him settle in to being a .270 hitter. That though is pretty good coming from him. I think Naquin understands himself now. Naquin can be a solid piece for the Indians the remainder of the year and for the next few seasons to come. Another example of the Indians developing talent.

Fix the Pen

On By Chris ElliottIn baseballLeave a comment

It’s become pretty clear the Indians bullpen is in shambles right now. Between the injuries and the home runs, the Tribe pen needs some work. However, I don’t think it is far off. Some guys are just in the wrong role.

Cody Allen will be fine. I’m not worried there. Andrew Miller will come back from injury. The top two guys will still be shutdown pitchers this year. After that, is where it gets interesting.

They need a third guy. Nick Goody can be a good 4th. Dan Otero needs to be your 5th guy. Tyler Olson should only face left handed batters. I think McAllister’s time in Cleveland will be ending soon. Tomlin will stay in the rotation. I do not see that changing. The remaining guys of Ogando, Marshall, and newcomer Oliver Drake will have to battle it out. The real help though I believe does come from outside the organization. A guy I think they could target is Raisel Iglesias. He is 28, under contract for two years after this season and is only 28. I think the struggling Reds would be willing to trade him. The Indians farm system is not loaded with Talent but I think the Indians could make something work without mortgaging the house. Hopefully they figure something out soon. 

2018 Tribe Roster

On By Chris ElliottIn baseballLeave a comment

It’s almost time for pitchers and catchers to report. So why not get a jump start on predicting the Cleveland Indians 25 man roster. Most of the roster is pretty much set, but there are a few key battles that will play out. While I think a trade could still happen, you never know if someone will get hurt or a free agent will be signed, I’ll assume none of those things will happen, except for one prior injury you’ll see below.

1. Two starting rotation spots

2. One to two bullpen spots

3. 1-2 backup infield spots

4. 1-2 outfield spots

Let’s review the players that will make the roster without question.

Rotation: Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber.

Relievers: Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson, Dan Otero.

Catchers: Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez

Infielders: Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Jason Kipnis, Yonder Alonso, Edwin Encarnacion

Outfielders: Michael Brantley, Bradley Zimmer, Lonnie Chisenhall

That is 19 for sure spots locked up. Let’s start with the two rotation spots. Mike Clevinger, Danny Salazar, Josh Tomlin and Ryan Merritt all have shots. However, I think it ends up being a fairly easy choice. Danny Salazar and Josh Tomlin get it and Clevinger goes to the bullpen and takes that spot. I would love to see Clevinger in the rotation and Salazar become a reliever but I don’t think it happens. This brings the total to 22. Three spots remain. At least one will be an outfielder, one will be an infielder and one open spot that could go a variety of ways.

For the infield I think it’s really between three players. Erik Gonzalez, Giovanny Urshella, and Yandy Diaz. I want Diaz to hit his way into the spot but he I think ends up in AAA. Urshella and Gonzalez are both major league level backups but are out of options. One of them will be on another team this year. Tito I think will go with Urshella. 23 spots gone.

Next, the outfield. Melvin Upton Jr., Tyler Naquin, Abraham Almonte, and Brandon Guyer are all options here. I think Guyer is not healthy to start the year. I’m going to cancel him out for now. The 4th outfielder could go so many ways here. I lean toward Almonte or Naquin winning out. Likely Almonte will snag it.

One spot left. Gonzalez, Naquin, Upton, or Merritt. With this spot I think Tito keeps an extra outfielder and leaves Naquin on the roster. Upton gets released and Merrit and Gonazalez are traded since they are out of option.

There you go. The 25 man Cleveland Indians roster. Let’s play baseball.

Filled to the BRIM

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

East side vs west side. Each part of Cleveland has a very distinct feel and culture. Sometimes, it is hard to believe they are the same metropolitan area. While I am a West sider, I do venture on over to the East side often where my girlfriend lives.

Saturday night, we went out with friends to BRIM Kitchen & Brewery in Willoughby. While I had quickly stopped in once before for a drink while killing a few minutes, this was my first time really sitting down to enjoy the place.

BRIM is located just passed the main portion of Downtown Willoughby. The inside is very modern and has that clean, slick feel to it. The brewery process is visible behind the bar as well.

I tried a couple of the beers BRIM had on tap that night as we grabbed dinner. They had a real interesting Christmas Fruit beer called Mr. Kringle and a pretty decent light blonde ale called the Brim Less. Both were solid, though nothing blew me away from a beer standpoint.

For dinner, I had the Sunday Gravy and a side of mac and cheese. The Sunday Gravy red sauce was definitely the best part of my meal. I cleaned the plate for your reference.

Overall, the place is solid. It was busy throughout and has a good ambiance. Nothing blew me away but no complaints either. Solid experience sums it up perfectly.

New Dog in The Flats

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Thirsty Dog is by no means a new brewery. They have been around awhile, brewing many different styles and making some of the best Christmas ale beer around. Recently they just opened up a new spot in The Flats Eastbank in Cleveland.

This location takes over for one of the vacant crop locations that was down there. This is a fairly large space with tables and an indoor and out door bar area. Now, the beer here is true to Thirsty Dog form. With about thirty different taps, there is really something for everyone. Plenty of barrel aged varieties and the traditional Thirsty Dog beers as well. The new taproom has great service, we quickly got seated and our waiter was great throughout the night. I will say the food could still use some work but it was overall pretty good. I had the Mac and cheese and we started with the beer cheese chips. Little more cheese on the chips please. The barrel aged Christmas ale is great one. Stick to one though, it will put you on your ass.

Thirsty dog is a welcomed addition to Cleveland as most people here are already familiar with the beer and their new location should do well in the well talked about revitalized east bank. Cleveland can’t seem to get enough beer.

It’s Hoppin’

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

I know it’s a terrible pun for a title playing off the brewery’s name. Just ignore it.

Last week, my buddy and I visited Hoppin’ Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio. This place has been brewing for a decade and has had their taproom open for a few years now. I just had not made my way down yet.

The amount of different beers this place makes is impressive, especially for a place this size. My friend and I tried a variety of their different fall type beers on tap and their famous B.O.R.I.S. Pretty pleased with everything we tried. Quite the variety at this place. I think that is by far the most impressive quality of the place. Just how many different beers they brew and brew well, along with the different barrel aged varieties. The place is a little hard to see from the side of the road but make the trip down, or up, to Akron and check it out. They have something for everyone.

On the Tracks

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, BreweryLeave a comment

There are kind of two strategies when it comes to picking the location of your brewery, restaurant or other entertainment spot. You can either try to tap an area with few challengers or you can go to where the foot traffic is. In Cleveland, we saw Portside close at least partly due to their location. Railroad Brewing Company decided to open up in the ever growing suburb of Avon, Ohio. Avon is by no means a brewery hotbed like Ohio City but with a couple of wineries, another brewery and plenty of suburb dwellers that may be looking for a spot not too far from home, it could be a great location for them. It can provide the traffic needed without being lost in the shuffle.

Railroad is a taproom only but you’re welcome to bring your own food in. It is a big open space with a bar and picnic tables that opens up to the outside. They have a large outdoor space surrounding their building which I think could lead to some exciting events in the future. Plus they are dog friendly.

The beer was pretty interesting and provided very unique flavors. The B.O.B., a blood orange Blonde Ale, was very flavorful but not overpowering. It was easy to drink and would be great on a summer day. I also tried the collaboration beer for Cleveland Beer Week and enjoyed that one as well. This tap room is a nice addition to the West Side and to the ever growing Cleveland beer scene. A growing beer scene that never seems to stop.

Beer and Academics

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, College, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Beer and college go hand in hand. Usually it’s cheap beer and large quantities. I have to admit I didn’t have much of a care for anything that wasn’t sold in a 30 pack in college.

At Case Western Reserve University, there is actually a brewery on campus. While I didn’t know this when I was picking grad schools, I’m glad the one I decided on is Case Western. The Jolly Scholar has been a campus bar there for awhile but they added brewing to their arsenal and sell craft drafts for 3.99. An unbelievable price point and I tried multiple there and was not disappointed, especially considering that price.

This little pub is literally smack in the middle of the campus inside one of the buildings. I know I’ll be making plenty of stops here over the next three years. Definitely a place worth stopping at in University Circle for a good beer no matter if you’re a student or just hoping being amongst a bunch of college kids will make you feel 21 again. Three years of grad school should give me plenty of time to work through their beer list.

The Beast Within

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, RestaurantsLeave a comment

Cleveland keeps producing more and more breweries. While Portside did close a few weeks ago, the breweries that produce quality beer I believe will stick around. Saturday night we went out to another.

Noble Beast Brewery is a relatively new brewery having opened up in the late spring of this year. The brewery has that industrial feel as it sits on Cleveland’s Lakeside Avenue not far from the heart of downtown. The location does not get a ton of night foot traffic but is close enough to other areas that it should do fairly well.

They have a good selection of their own beers on tap as well as several guest beers. I’m always a fan of a brewery willing to put guest beers on tap. My favorite beer of theirs that I tried was the Widowmaker. That beer could kill you if you have a few of them or unleash your inner beast. I truly appreciate the name Widowmaker there. I also tried Kolsch and IPA which were both tasty beers as well but the Widowmaker was my favorite by far.

The food was perfect for the place. Simple but with flavor. We had the pretzel and the zesty fries. The kick on those fries was perfect. I was a little worried they may be spicy, or too hot, but they were just right. Well done on those Noble Beast. Overall, everything was really solid. It’s a well run brewery with a very friendly staff that remembered my name quickly. That personal touch is what will enable them to succeed.