Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Best by the Number - Cleveland Edition

Below is a list of Cleveland sports players according to their jersey number. By some players I will be writing some stuff like other players who had a chance of being in that spot, or some information about the player. Please also note that since some players had multiple numbers in their tenure in Cleveland, there may be players next to numbers that don't seem to fit, but they do!
  1. Terrell Brandon
  2. Jhonny Peralta
  3. Craig Ehlo - Also considered were Bob Sura, Matt Stover & Derek Anderson
  4. Phil Dawson - The current Brown who has been on the team the longest
  5. Steve Kerr - Many people are unaware that Kerr even played for the Cavaliers
  6. Larry Nance - Also wore # 22
  7. Kenny Lofton
  8. Albert Belle
  9. Dan Marjele - Also considered was Carlos Baerga
  10. Brady Quinn - Never considered was Eric Zeier
  11. Zydrunas Illguaskus - "Big Z" 'nuff said
  12. Roberto Alomar
  13. Omar Vizquel
  14. Larry Doby - Most people here might put Browns QB Otto Graham, but Doby deserves to be on this list more than anyone else. Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League, and while it's true he started playing after Jackie Robinson he was the first African American to play in American League ball-parks
  15. Sandy Alomar Jr.
  16. Josh Cribbs - probably the most exciting player the Browns have had since Eric Metcalf
  17. Brian Sipe - Even with "Red Right 88" he makes this list ahead of Braylon Edwards
  18. John "Hot Rod" Williams
  19. Bernie Kosar
  20. Eric Snow
  21. Eric Metcalf
  22. Chris Dudley - No list would be complete without the worst free-throw shooter of all-time
  23. LeBron James
  24. Manny Ramirez - ManRam is still my favorite all-time Indian
  25. Jim Thome - Others considered include Mark Price
  26. Sean Jones
  27. Jaret Wright
  28. Leigh Bodden
  29. Hanford Dixon
  30. Andy Marte
  31. Frank Minnifield - "Created" the Dawg Pound with Hanford Dixon
  32. Jim Brown
  33. Luke Jackson
  34. Austin Carr
  35. Danny Ferry - Former Cavalier is current GM
  36. Paul Byrd
  37. Jake Westbrook
  38. Franklin Gutierez
  39. Daven Holly
  40. Bartolo Colon - Was traded to Montreal for Lee Stevens, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips & Cliff Lee
  41. Charles Nagy
  42. Paul Warfield
  43. Brad Daugherty - My favorite Cavalier. I wore # 43 when I was on the Ashar Basketball team in honor of Daugherty.
  44. Leroy Kelley
  45. Jeremy Sowers
  46. Lou "The Toe" Groza - Also wore # 76
  47. Joe Borowski
  48. Travis Hafner - "Pronk"
  49. Edward Mujica
  50. Tom Cousineu
  51. Michael Doleac
  52. C.C. Sabathia
  53. Bill Cowher - Cowher was also an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer
  54. Andra Davis
  55. Orel Herschieser - "Bulldog"
  56. Antwan Peek
  57. Clay Matthews - Played in 232 games for the Browns between 1978-1993
  58. D'Qwell Jackson
  59. Mike Johnson
  60. Shaun O'hara
  61. Steve Everitt
  62. Lennie Friedman
  63. Rafael Bentacourt
  64. Joe Delamielleure - Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003
  65. Chuck Noll
  66. Hank Fraley
  67. John Jurkovic - Played for the Browns when they came back in '99
  68. Gene Hickerson
  69. J'vonne Parker
  70. Alvin Mckinley
  71. Walter Johnson - Not "The Big Train"
  72. Jerry Sherk
  73. Joe Thomas - Played well as a rookie
  74. Andrew Hoffman
  75. Simon Fraser
  76. Marion Motley
  77. Dick Shafrath
  78. Dan Footman
  79. Bob Golic
  80. Kellen Winslow Jr.
  81. Jack Gregory
  82. Ozzie Newsome - One of the greatest TE
  83. Mark Bavaro
  84. Webster Slaughter
  85. Kevin Johnson
  86. Brian Brennan
  87. Keenan McCardell
  88. JaJaun Dawson
  89. Gerald McNeil
  90. Drew Gooden
  91. Sam Clancy
  92. Ted Washington
  93. Jerry Ball
  94. Gerard Warren
  95. Kameron Wimbley - Lead the team in sacks during the '07 season
  96. Don Shula
  97. Ryan Kuehl
  98. Anthony Pleasant
  99. Orpheus Roye

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Best by the Number

In an issue of The Sporting News from May 14th 2007 there are 2 numbers lists with the best players based on uniform numbers. One list is of current (as of then) players, while the second list is of former/hall of fame players. Rewritten here is the list of the former players.
  1. Jacques Plante
  2. Secretariat
  3. Babe Ruth
  4. Lou Gehrig
  5. Joe Dimaggio
  6. Bill Russell
  7. John Elway
  8. Cal Ripken
  9. Hockey's Trinity: Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe & Bobby Hull
  10. Pele
  11. Isiah Thomas
  12. Joe Namath
  13. Wilt Chamberlain
  14. Otto Graham
  15. Bart Starr
  16. Joe Montana
  17. John Havlicek
  18. Peyton Manning
  19. Johnny Unitas
  20. Barry Sanders
  21. Roberto Clemente
  22. Emmitt Smith
  23. Michael Jordan
  24. Willie Mays
  25. Barry Bonds
  26. Billy Williams
  27. Juan Marichal
  28. Marshall Faulk
  29. Ken Dryden
  30. Nolan Ryan
  31. Greg Maddux
  32. Jim Brown
  33. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  34. Walter Payton
  35. Phil Niekro
  36. Meadowlark Lemon
  37. Casey Stengel
  38. Curt Schilling
  39. Roy Campanella
  40. Gale Sayers
  41. Tom Seaver
  42. Jackie Robinson
  43. Richard Petty
  44. Hank Aaron
  45. Bob Gibson
  46. Lee Smith
  47. Mel Blount
  48. Jimmie Johnson
  49. Ron Guidry
  50. David Robinson
  51. Dick Butkus
  52. Ray Lewis
  53. Don Drysdale
  54. Goose Gossage
  55. Orel Hershiser
  56. Lawrence Taylor
  57. Dwight Stephenson
  58. Jack Lambert
  59. Jack Ham
  60. Chuck Bednarik
  61. Bill George
  62. Charley Trippi
  63. Willie Lanier
  64. Jerry Kramer
  65. Elvin Bethea
  66. Mario Lemieux
  67. Bob Kuechenberg
  68. Jaromir Jagr
  69. Larry Costello
  70. Jim Marshall
  71. Alex Karras
  72. Carlton Fisk
  73. John Hannah
  74. Bob Lilly
  75. Joe Greene
  76. Lou Groza
  77. Red Grange
  78. Anthony Munoz
  79. Roosevelt Brown
  80. Jerry Rice
  81. Tim Brown
  82. Raymond Berry
  83. Ted Hendricks
  84. Sterling & Shannon Sharpe
  85. Nick Buoniconti
  86. Buck Buchanan
  87. Willie Davis
  88. Alan Page
  89. Mike Ditka
  90. Bob Kurland
  91. Sergei Fedorov
  92. Reggie White
  93. Doug Gilmour
  94. Charles Haley
  95. Richard Dent
  96. Bill Voiselle
  97. Cornelius Bennett
  98. Tom Harmon
  99. Wayne Gretzky

So here is the list of the greatest of All-Time. Hopefully in the next little bit I will post more lists like this including a list of All-Time Cleveland Sports personalities.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Cleveland Indians 2008 Season Recap

The 2008 season was supposed to start where last years left off, back in the playoffs and on their way to winning a World Series. Unfortunately many things did not go as planned. They ended their season in 3rd place in the AL Central with an 81-81 record. In this extremely tough and disappointing season in which long time ace C.C. Sabathia got traded; Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez, and Travis Hafner spent a considerable amount of time on the DL and a bullpen which could not close out games with a large lead; there were a few bright spots.
  1. Cliff Lee - Lee came back from a horrid 2007 campaign to win 22 games with an ERA of 2.54.

  2. Grady Sizemore - Sizemore hit 33 home runs and stole 38 bases, and if he had protection from the likes of Hafner and Martinez those numbers could have been much higher.

  3. Jhonny Peralta - Peralta batted .276 with 23 home runs and 89 RBIs.

But what can the Indians do to be contenders next season?

  1. Let Jensen Lewis close games. He was 13 for 13 in save opportunities last season so just give him a chance.
  2. Get rid of Ryan Garko. I love the guy but he isn't so good. Then move Victor Martinez to First base full-time and let Kelly Shoppach be the everyday Catcher. Martinez is only valuable if he plays and if he's catching he's more susceptible to injuries, plus Shoppach played well last year in Martinez's absence.
  3. Get a lead-off hitter. Grady has done a great job, but just imagine how much more runs the Indians would score if Grady batted 3rd in the lineup.
  4. Give Anthony Reyes a chance to start. Last year he played well in the six starts that he had.

Of course we'll have to see if the Indians will go after any free-agents, but they are not known for spending money, so we'll see what happens.