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Cleveland Indians happy with catchers despite rumored links to Brewers' Jonathan Lucroy

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The first-place Indians, following catcher Yan Gomes' separated shoulder and outfielder Michael Brantley's stalled comeback, are rumored to have an interest in Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Chris Antonetti says he's not looking for an upgrade at catcher even though starter Yan Gomes could be lost for the season after separating his right shoulder Sunday against the Twins.

Still, with the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaching, and left fielder Michael Brantley suffering yet another setback with his comeback from right shoulder surgery, it would seem logical that Antonetti, Indians president of baseball operations, would talk to Milwaukee about catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Right now Roberto Perez, just off the disabled list following Gomes' injury, and Chris Gimenez are handling the catching. Perez, who missed almost nine weeks while recovering from surgery on a broken right thumb, doesn't have a hit in the big leagues. Gimenez, who has found a niche as Trevor Bauer's personal catcher, is hitting .202 (18-for-89) with two homers and six RBI after being acquired from Texas following Perez's thumb injury on April 30.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported Wednesday that the Indians and Brewers are talking about a deal for Lucroy. The Indians had already been talking to the Brewers about relievers. Lefty Will Smith and right-handed set-up man Tyler Thornburg could be part of the conversation.

The Indians have gone through a variety of left-handed relievers this year, but manager Terry Francona has yet to find one to his liking. Kyle Crockett is the Tribe's current lefty.

Lucroy, 30, is in the last guaranteed year of a five-year $11 million contract. He's making $4 million this year with a club option worth $5.25 million next year.

Performance wise, Lucroy is having a good year. He's hitting .305 (95-for-311) with 12 homers, 48 RBI, a .854 OPS and a 2.4 WAR.

Brantley's setback won't change Tribe approach on trades

Under normal conditions a trade like this would make sense for the Tribe. The price is definitely right and the Indians could get at least one year of control by picking up Lucroy's option for 2017.

But even if Gomes doesn't return for this season, he's signed through 2019 with two club options. Would the Indians really pay Gomes and Lucroy past this season?

Smith is 1-2 with a 2.00 ERA in just 18 innings of work. He's struck out 16, walked six and allowed four earned runs. The opposition is hitting .167 against him.

Thornburg has appeared in 39 games, posting a 2.39 ERA. He's struck out 52 and walked 13 in 37 2/3 innings. The opposition is hitting .170 against him.

The Indians said Tuesday that Brantley's second rehab has been shut down because of soreness in his right shoulder. He received an MRI on Wednesday and the Indians should know more on his condition in the next couple of days.


Avon, Mason football: Meet two cleveland.com Ohio Super Top 25 contenders (poll)

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Avon and Mason are the next two teams to be featured as contenders in the cleveland.com Ohio Super 25.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland.com’s high school football coverage is expanding in 2016, and a highlight of that expansion will be a weekly statewide Top 25 ranking.

The preseason countdown to the Ohio Super 25 will begin Aug. 1, with a new team profiled each day through Aug. 25. To get you ready, we’re presenting 50 contenders for the Top 25 throughout July. Each day through July 29 we will provide a brief look at two of the 50 contenders. Today’s teams: Avon and Mason.


Avon




2015 record: 10-2 (Division II, Region 4 semifinalist)


About the Eagles: QB Jake Sopko and RB Gerett Choat are gone after stellar careers in Avon. Whoever starts at QB this year, whether is be senior Matt Kelly or any of the other young candidates, he will have a talented offensive line to protect him led by Northwestern commit Sam Gerak. Avon also brings back six defensive starters, including both of its safeties. The Eagles have been to the playoffs every year since 2010 and have won at least one playoff game each of the last five seasons.


Mason


2015 record: 8-3 (Division I, Region 2 qualifier)




About the Comets: Led by a stout defense, Mason finished tied for second in the Greater Miami Conference to Colerain in 2015. Kentucky commit Alex King returns at DE after a team-high 5.5 sacks last year. Although the Comets were run-heavy in 2015 with their Wing-T offense, QB Preston Henderson returns along with junior RB Matt Sora (542 yards, team-high 9 TDs). With Springboro and Moeller on the schedule early, the Comets will be tested quickly in 2016.


Cleveland.com Ohio Top 25 contenders for this week


Kings Mills Kings, Mayfield


St. Vincent-St. Mary, Columbus St. Francis DeSales


Cincinnati Colerain, Euclid


Fairfield, Steubenville


Week 2: Archbishop Hoban, Benedictine, Canton Central Catholic, Centerville, Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, Cincinnati La Salle, Columbus Bishop Hartley, Glenville, Hilliard Davidson, Hilliard Darby, Huber Heights Wayne, Hudson, Lewis Center Olentangy, Midview, Massillon Perry, New Albany, Perrysburg, Pickerington Central, Solon, St. Edward, Toledo Whitmer, Trotwood-Madison, Westerville Central and Worthington Kilbourne.


Week 1: Benedictine, Cincinnati La Salle, Glenville, Huber Heights Wayne, Hudson, Massillon Perry, Midview, Pickerington Central, Toledo Whitmer and Worthington Kilbourne.

Rank NFL coaches from first to worst entering 2016 season

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From Hue Jackson to Bill Belichick, rank the NFL's head coaches from best to worst entering the 2016 season.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Training camp is around the corner, and seven NFL coaches will lead new teams.

Hue Jackson is one of them with the Browns.

Where does Jackson rank as he embarks on his second head coaching job? You decide. Vote coaches up or down in the interactive graphic below. A few cheat sheets (or stories) are also provided as plenty have already tried to rank them.

USA Today had Jackson 18th in May and proclaimed former Browns coach Bill Belichick as the gold standard with the New England Patriots.

In March, Roto World also ranked Belichick No. 1.

ESPN took a different approach in June, ranking coaches based on their playing careers.

Back to those seven new coaches.

Sports Illustrated stacked them in order of the likelihood they lead their team to the Super Bowl. Jackson ranked sixth, ahead of Tennessee's Mike Mularkey.

Now you decide on all 32. Agree with the Belichick sentiment?

Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.

10 years in the making: How the Cleveland Indians' vaunted starting rotation came together

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Each of the five hurlers traveled a twisting trail to reach this point. Now, the club boasts one of the best quintets in baseball. Few could have foreseen it 10 years ago. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It all started in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, about 10 years ago.

The Phillies' three-headed monster of Matt Maloney, Josh Outman and Carlos Carrasco -- a pair of left-handed 20-somethings and a 19-year-old wunderkind -- stymied opposing hitters. The A-ball BlueClaws captured the South Atlantic League championship.

"It was not fun," said Indians catcher Chris Gimenez, who played for Class A Lake County that year. "Not at all. And I swear, you never missed those three guys. Like, come on, really?

"It was like, 'Oh my god. Those three guys coming up together could be ridiculous.' Carrasco was the best one of all three."

Pitchers rarely follow a linear path to major-league prosperity. Maloney never stuck in the majors. Outman morphed into a nomadic reliever. Carrasco might have dazzled as a hard-throwing teenager (2.26 ERA, 103 hits allowed in 159 1/3 innings), but it required nearly a decade before the Indians -- not the Phillies -- ultimately reaped the benefits.

The rest of the Tribe's robust rotation shares a similar story. Each of the five hurlers traveled a twisting trail to reach this point. Now, the club boasts one of the best quintets in baseball. Few could have foreseen it 10 years ago.

'He's just a beast'

Mickey Callaway remembers the text he received nearly four years ago, sent to him by the Yankees' Double-A hitting coach.

"That guy is the best pitcher I've ever seen in the minor leagues," the message read. "He's just a beast."

Yankees Indians BaseballCleveland Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar delivers against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 9, 2016, in Cleveland. 

In his first full season following Tommy John surgery, Salazar -- who signed with the Indians in 2006 -- posted a 2.57 ERA between High-A Carolina and Double-A Akron. He defeated Trenton, New York's affiliate, in the final round of the postseason, with nine strikeouts in six frames.

"We knew there was something special in there," said Callaway, the Tribe's pitching coach, who also oversaw him at Lake County in 2010. "You could tell. It was so easy. He was going to be something special if he put the work ethic together."

When he returned from his surgery, he overhauled his delivery. His velocity increased. His changeup -- which Gimenez says can "only be described as ridiculous" -- started to plunge toward the dirt with more conviction.

"We saw him blossom into almost a new pitcher after that rehab process," said general manager Mike Chernoff. "In some ways, it was an opportunity to change some of the flaws he otherwise had before that."

A year after Salazar's playoff performance for Akron, the Indians tabbed him to pitch the 2013 Wild Card Game.

Salazar flashes glimpse of future in WC game

The right-hander had made his big league debut that July. He disobeyed his alarm clock that morning and he arrived at the ballpark about an hour before first pitch. He almost literally rolled out of bed and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

Salazar sputtered through a rocky 2014 campaign, though. He obsessed over his fear of being demoted to Triple-A. He bounced like a pinball between Columbus and Cleveland.

"I was putting too much pressure on myself," he said. "Every time I was going out there, I was telling myself, 'You have to pitch well. If you don't, they're going to send you down.' That was in my mind every single time. It was always there. Once they sent me down, I started realizing that's not the way I have to think."

His struggles persisted through spring training last year, which resulted in a season-opening stint in the minors. Salazar resurfaced in mid-April and didn't disappoint. His steady progress ever since culminated in his first trip to the All-Star Game earlier this month.

"Danny was more of a thrower at the start of his career," said second baseman Jason Kipnis. "He's turned into a great pitcher now. He was up at 100 [mph when he debuted]. Now, he's settled in right around 95-96 mph with more location and a better idea of what to do with the ball."

Salazar stands at 11-3 with an American League-leading 2.75 ERA.

"I thought I could have a really bright future if I was consistent and worked hard," Salazar said. "I'm doing everything that I need to do so I can make that happen."

'We nailed it'

The Indians' brain trust searched and searched, but they couldn't find Corey Kluber's name. They flipped through every page of Baseball America's handbook, but Kluber's moniker was absent.

"He wasn't in San Diego's, like, top 30 [prospects] when we traded for him," Chernoff said. "Our scouts did an incredible job finding a guy who had some undervalued attributes."

If nothing else, Kluber owned a gaudy strikeout rate. The Indians sent a pair of scouts to observe Kluber's outings with Double-A San Antonio in 2010 before the club agreed on a three-team trade that sent Jake Westbrook to St. Louis. Kluber called his parents and reported the news in typical, stoic fashion. Kluber's father, Jim, who grew up in Cleveland, was ecstatic.

Kluber's dad enjoying watching son pitch for hometown team

There was no guarantee, of course, that Kluber would ever reach the big leagues. In his first full season in the Indians' organization, Kluber went 7-11 with a 5.56 ERA at Triple-A.

"It wasn't like, just coming here, he was a Cy Young [contender]," Chernoff said. "Even when he came to the big leagues, he wasn't [that]. It took time to develop into that."

Kluber cemented his spot in the Tribe's rotation in 2013. A year later, he captured the AL Cy Young Award.

The Indians knew they had their anchor.

"Our scouts are that good," Chernoff joked. "We nailed it.

"[Kluber's] work, over time, paid off."

'Under the radar'

Josh Tomlin is the Indians' wily veteran, a member of the organization since the club made him a 19th-round draft choice in 2006. Tomlin debuted in 2010, when he squared off against former Indians hurler CC Sabathia at Progressive Field.

The day before, manager Manny Acta told Gimenez he would catch Tomlin's first start. The battery had previously worked together in the minors.

Added to the usual jitters a pitcher feels upon his debut, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was sitting on 599 career home runs. Tomlin feared becoming the answer to a trivia question.

"You could see it start to spin in his head," Gimenez said.

Gimenez hatched an idea to ease Tomlin's nerves. When Rodriguez stepped into the batter's box, Gimenez -- listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds -- popped up from his crouched position, stood next to New York's slugger, comically flexed his muscles and stared at his pitcher. Suddenly, Rodriguez didn't seem so scary.

"After that, he cruised," Gimenez said, laughing. "I think it helped him."

Tomlin out-dueled Sabathia, as the righty limited the first-place Yankees to one run on three hits over seven innings. Rodriguez went hitless in four at-bats.

"He flew under the radar the whole way up," Chernoff said. "When he got to the big leagues, we saw how good of a competitor he is."

Indians   Numbers to know  Indians  The Tribe has put up good stats, some you probably don't know about  from B1Cleveland Indians Josh Tomlin, pitching against the Detroit Tigers Cameron Maybin, first inning, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on July 6, 2016.  

Such a performance has become the norm the last calendar year. Before that, Tomlin endured several injury-plagued seasons, marred by elbow and shoulder surgeries. For him, they were just additional hurdles to clear.

Tomlin has never broken the sound barrier with his fastball. Throughout his career, his average heater has checked in at about 88-89 mph. His pinpoint command sets him apart; the last two years, he has totaled 17 wins and only 20 walks.

"He slots in so well in this rotation because it's a change of pace," Gimenez said. "Would you rather face Tomlin, who could dot a gnat's [behind], or face Kluber, Salazar, Carrasco or [Trevor] Bauer? Take your pick. Good luck. I know some guys would probably take Tomlin, but he's 10-2 with a 3.34 ERA. That's a pretty tough guy to 'rather face.'"

The Stallion

When the Indians acquired Gimenez in early May, manager Terry Francona paired him with Bauer. It didn't take long for the union to develop into a quasi-permanent connection.

Bauer had earned a reputation of being quirky, difficult and stubborn. The Diamondbacks dealt him to Cleveland after they had a falling out with the young pitcher. The Indians, who owned the No. 8 selection in the 2011 amateur draft, had scouted Bauer, who ended up going to Arizona at No. 3.

"It gave us more comfort [when acquiring him] in knowing what his identity was," Chernoff said. "We got to know him, got to understand some of his routines. I think we felt comfortable with who he was."

Still, Bauer butted heads on occasion with Callaway and Francona. He flashed glimpses of greatness and, when struggling, he voiced his lack of pleasure with playing the game.

Bauer: Baseball is one, big science project

Gimenez approached him with a message meant to offer comfort.

"Listen," he told Bauer, "if you do things differently, why am I going to try to change you? Let's just make it work with what you do."

"Why would you change a stallion from being a stallion?" Gimenez said. "You get the most success out of somebody when you can allow them to be who they really are."

Bauer started the season in the bullpen, despite a strong spring and an unrelenting arm that he says could uncork upwards of 200 pitches in an outing if necessary.

"In the back of our minds, we saw it work with Carrasco," Chernoff said. "We thought maybe there was some way it would work with Trevor. We're always looking at two things: How do we win? How do we help players develop? I would be lying if I said there wasn't some component of that in there."

By the end of April, he had rejoined the rotation. He hasn't looked back. Bauer has compiled a 3.20 ERA in 15 outings, with a vastly improved hit rate, walk rate and home-run rate.

"I told him, 'I'm never going to take any of your pitches away from you,'" Gimenez said. "'You're going to throw what you're going to throw. I need you to be as confident as you can in what you're going to throw because ultimately that's going to make us both successful.'"

Last man standing

Chernoff rattled off the four names. Lou Marson served as a backup catcher for Cleveland for parts of five seasons. Jason Donald manned the infield for the Tribe for parts of three seasons. Jason Knapp, a hard-throwing teenager at the time the Indians traded Cliff Lee to Philadelphia, only made 13 starts for Cleveland's organization before his shoulder tapped out.

Carrasco was the fourth piece of the Indians' package, the last hope to squeeze anything out of the trade of a Cy Young winner. Tomlin recalled watching Carrasco pitch when the two were rookies in 2010. He said Carrasco reminded him of Felix Hernandez.

Indians   Numbers to know  Indians  The Tribe has put up good stats, some you probably don't know about  from B1Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco, pitching against the Seattle Mariners in the 1st inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on April 19, 2016. 

"He had unbelievable stuff," Tomlin said. "The process for him was just figuring out who he was as a pitcher."

Carrasco missed the 2012 season because of Tommy John surgery. He struggled to find his footing in the rotation in 2013 and '14, so he relocated to the bullpen. Now, Carrasco sports a 2.31 ERA in 14 starts this year.

"Especially with any trade or draft pick that you have," Chernoff said, "you get impatient quickly and one of the keys to development is really putting the time in and letting it be on the player's time, not on your time."

None of the Indians' five starters took a direct path, but each lane converged at the same intersection. The group leads all AL rotations in ERA, WAR, FIP, walk rate, wins, strikeouts, complete games and shutouts.

"From day one, you knew what we had," said catcher Yan Gomes. "You didn't know it was going to be this good. Now, it's like everyone is where they're supposed to be and it's exciting."

Each of the five hurlers is either signed to a long-term deal or is under team control for the foreseeable future.

"Everybody has either figured it out or is on that upward trend," Gimenez said. "It could be scary for a while. You have five stoppers. You have five guys who can shut it down."

It took time to materialize. No one could have envisioned such a stout unit 10 years ago, when Carrasco was a BlueClaw, Tomlin was a 19th-round draft pick and Salazar was a 16-year-old unknown.

"Every day, we feel confident we're going to win because it's a different name that we trust that's on the mound," Kipnis said. "There's no lineup where it's like, 'Oh.'

"I feel like we're the favorite every single game. It's a nice feeling."

Cleveland's rotation: Best bargain in baseball

PGA Tour 2016: RBC Canadian Open leaderboard, TV, schedule, updates for Round 1

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Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, the top-ranked golfers in the world are at the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Ontario this weekend.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jason Day returns as the No. 1 player in the world to defend his title at the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario. No. 2 ranked Dustin Johnson is also playing this weekend.

The tournament begins Thursday at 7:10 a.m. and Golf Channel will televise live from 4-7 p.m. You can follow along on our live leaderboard (below). Click here for tee times.

Day is playing with Brandt Snedeker and Ernie Els with an 8:10 tee time. Johnson is playing with Billy Hurly III and Jim Furyk, teeing at 1:25 p.m.

Day beat Bubba Watson by a shot to win the title a year ago. It was his second win of the season and helped propel him to the No. 1 ranking. Day finished in a tie for 22nd place at last week's British Open, while Johnson, winner of the U.S. Open last month, tied for eighth.

David Hearn, the leader after three rounds of last year's Canadian Open, is one of 12 Canadian golfers in the field. Another is former Masters champion Mike Weir. Hearn finished third last year.

Next week is the PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

THURSDAY'S LIVE LEADERBOARD

LINKS

PGA TOUR
RBC CANADIAN OPEN
Site: Oakville, Ontario
Course: Glen Abbey Golf Club. Yardage: 7,253. Par: 72.
Purse: $5.9 million (First prize: $1,044,000)
Television: CBS Sports (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.), Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1-2 p.m.)
Defending champion: Jason Day.
Last week: Henrik Stenson won the British Open and Aaron Baddeley won the Barbasol Championship.
Notes: Jason Day gives the Canadian Open the No. 1 player in the world for the first time since Luke Donald played in 2011. ... The field includes 33 players who were at the British Open last week, including Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Matt Kuchar. ... Justin Leonard, who worked in the Golf Channel booth as the analyst at the Barracuda Championship, is making his ninth start of the year. ... Camilo Villegas and Brendon de Jonge are in the field. Both turned down spots in the Olympics because they are outside the top 125 and want every opportunity to keep their full PGA Tour card. ... The PGA Championship will hold one spot in the field for the Canadian Open winner if not already eligible. ... Jack Nicklaus was a seven-time runner-up in the Canadian Open without ever winning. ... The Canadian Open is the third-oldest continuous national championship.
Next week: PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

In the national pastime, as Cleveland Indians win, time passes slowly: Bill Livingston (photos)

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The Cleveland Indians might be playing in October, and that's good. But the games used to be a bit more exciting, didn't they?

CLEVELAND, Ohio - When I was a kid, which is when Harry Truman was giving 'em hell in the White House, the three biggest sports in this country were baseball, boxing and horse racing, in that order.

You could scratch horse racing in my native Texas because the conservative religious sects there thought pari-mutuel betting led to stud poker (its very name was faintly salacious), games of craps in alleyways and three-card monte.

Boxing has been marginalized for years because, well, we all saw the shell that was Muhammad Ali for the last 20 years or so of his life.

Baseball is still around, not exactly triumphant anymore, but certainly not irrelevant.

The bogus binge of blasters

It has always stunned me that baseball purists like it dull.  

Eventually, fans came to grips with the fact that baseball sluggers don't improve with age without the intervention of chemistry. Until then, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds could all lumber to the batter's box, chanting, "Fee-fi-fo-fum," while fans naively applauded the great home run fraud.

But even in the 1990s, in the high noon of inflated statistics, I knew fans and baseball writers who were bummed out by the wall-banging and ball-mashing.

This occurred, not because of the steroids, which were only suspected then, but because, they sniffed, each base should be important, pitchers were people too (bigger ones all the time, as they juiced up too),  and let's all sing a dirge for the lost art of bunting.

If we could only wave goodbye to pitchers hitting

The great Roger Angell's baseball writings amount to journalism lifted into the realm of literature.

Still, he once got all repentant because he had originally enjoyed the "pure foolishness" of the 1980s ballpark fad, the "Wave," but later he felt it was "using up" baseball's time for contemplative thought.

I'm not going to defend the "Wave," may it hopefully rest in peace, but National League fans have presumably been highly entertained by watching managers think for years. There, they can savor the joys of prospective double switches and await the moment -- If you swing it, it will come? -- when a pitcher actually hits.

Maybe someday they will make the rules the same for both leagues. If so, for the love of Hank Aguirre, keep the DH.

Every other sport is played  the same way by all its teams. (It would be nice to give the Browns a 90-yard field, though. The poor dears score touchdowns so seldom).

Baseball's different

I get spoiled knowing LeBron James or Kyrie Irving will probably touch the basketball within 24 seconds or so.

I get spoiled knowing Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers will get his chance on the change of possession in football.

In baseball, you never know when Francisco Lindor might do something amazing and remind you of Omar Vizquel. Odds are, you will be able to catch it on the highlight shows if he does, though, rather than sticking with a three-hour or four-hour game from the West Coast.

Tito's treks

The rise of the flame-throwing relief pitchers has compressed the game from nine innings to six or seven, and seldom more than eight, as far as starters go.

It has not compressed time of games, however.

I admire Terry Francona's record as Indians manager. He has revived the franchise. But in his fourth season here, he has probably walked from the dugout to the mound to change pitchers often enough that Chairman Mao's Long March could be dwarfed by Francona's Ripken-like consistency.

Every time he said, "Give me Rzepczynski," it took a while.

A lot of Caseys were striking out

Mudville, the home of the overcast day, the somber men and the quiet children in the wake of the mighty Casey's K, used to be many places.  

Because of analytics, defensive shifts, power pitching, intensive scouting, and what seems to be a bigger strike zone, I thought 50 homer seasons were as dead as .400 batting averages and 56-game hitting streaks.

But no! Look at the projected season numbers  in 2016's power surge! All I'll say is, fool me once and all that. I have my suspicions.

Really, Red?

Maybe the Benjamin Button life of aging younger is happening to us Baby Boomers, as far as maintaining our attention span goes.

Many of us also were never much good at delayed gratification.

Red Smith, whose name goes on the most prestigious award in American sportswriting, once said there were no dull baseball games, only dull minds.

Baseball games lasted about 2 1/2 hours for much of Red's career.

Today, Red would be bending the truth the way Bert Blyleven bent his curveball.

'They make [us] look really good': What makes each Cleveland Indians starting pitcher so effective?

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All five have taken their lumps in the past. Now, they have formed the most potent rotation in the AL. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mickey Callaway attempts to have at least one difficult conversation each day.

Even when the Indians' starting rotation is rolling, Callaway tries to pinpoint areas of improvement. That often results in an uncomfortable chat to knock a thriving pitcher down a few pegs.

"It's hard for me to feel content," Callaway said, "because I know there's always work to do. Right when you're on top of your game and you're doing your best is when you need to push the limits and make things even better."

Does that make Callaway the grim reaper of the Indians' clubhouse?

"They probably feel like that sometimes," Callaway said, laughing. "I think that's the way it has to be. Holding them accountable is probably the main part of my job, no matter how uncomfortable it is."

Callaway has had to dig deep to unearth suggestions for improvement for the five Tribe starters. After all, Corey Kluber's 3.42 ERA, which ranks 13th among qualified American League hurlers, is the highest of the Indians' hurlers.

"They make Chris [Gimenez] and I look really good, that's for sure," said catcher Yan Gomes.

All five have taken their lumps in the past. Now, they have formed the most potent rotation in the AL.

"You have to always keep perspective of what they can be," Callaway said. "That's your goal, is to strive to get there. You can't just give up on a guy. What makes it easier for us is we know we have to do that.

"If we were a different organization, it might be easy to trade this guy and get somebody in who's done it. For us, we know that we have to get Danny Salazar, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco to have success for us to be good. It makes our jobs fun. It's actually a job. You don't just go, 'Give me the next guy.' It's pretty neat."

What makes each starter so effective? Let's examine.

How the Indians' rotation came together

Corey Kluber: 9-8, 3.42 ERA, 9.1 K/9

The routine

Kluber looks emotionless and often makes it look effortless.

Callaway: "The main thing I'm worried about is not how you perform in the game, it's what you do in between starts. I'm going to hold you accountable for your routines. The consistency and quality of your routines. Those are the things I get on them about the most. Kluber is pretty good at that."

Kluber has twirled three complete games, including a pair of shutouts, this season. He leads the Indians in innings pitched and strikeouts.

Chernoff: "This is a guy who has incredible routines and regimens that he goes through. He takes care of his body incredibly well. I think that work over time paid off."

Carlos Carrasco: 7-3, 2.31 ERA, 8.5 K/9

The aggressiveness

Gimenez joined the Indians in August 2014, right as Carrasco transitioned back to the rotation. The right-hander posted a 1.30 ERA in 10 starts to close out the campaign.

When Gimenez returned to the Rangers the ensuing offseason, they had considered an attempt at acquiring either Carrasco or Danny Salazar in exchange for an offensive piece. They asked Gimenez which pitcher he would recommend they pursue. He answered Carrasco, who he had come up with in the minors.

Gimenez: "We played together all the way through to the big leagues. I faced him coming up in the minor leagues until he was finally on our team and could stop striking me out."

For several years, Carrasco had struggled to lock down a spot in the Indians' rotation.

Chernoff: "When you're watching a guy really struggle and not having success, it's easy to say that's going to continue and he's not going to figure it out. Our coaches and coordinators deserve a huge amount of credit for seeing those positives."

Josh Tomlin: "He had unbelievable stuff. You could tell he had good stuff. The process for him was just figuring out who he was as a pitcher and what his pitches were doing and how he was attacking hitters. When he was in the league, he started recognizing that and learning from it. Once he learned from it, it took off."

The three-month stay in the bullpen flipped a switch. Carrasco learned to be aggressive every inning, rather than ease into his starts. When he returned to the rotation, he maintained the reliever mindset.

Chernoff: "He took the aggressive approach from pitch one. When he transitioned back to the rotation after that, it was amazing to see how much better his stuff played. A lot of it is just a player needs to have the opportunities to figure out his own developmental path."

Danny Salazar: 11-3, 2.75 ERA, 10.1 K/9

The changeup

When watching video of Salazar's changeup, it's normal to think your laptop momentarily froze or sprouted a glitch. The pitch nosedives toward the dirt with no warning.

Gimenez: "The only thing you can describe it as is ridiculous. Even he doesn't know how it's going to move, what it's going to do. We joke around about it all the time. He throws balls right down the middle and nobody can hit it.

"It's here and then it's there. Gomes and I joke around about trying to catch it. You can't ever be like, 'OK, he might bury this one.' It might cut and run up."

Gimenez has only caught a knuckleballer once, and it that was a position player in the minors. He surmised that trying to corral Salazar's changeup is a similar task.

Gimenez: "I would say that's about as close to catching a knuckleball as you can get. I'm freaking out and panicking, because we have guys on third base with one out or two outs. If I don't block or catch this thing, that's an easy run. It puts a lot of pressure on us as catchers. You always like to know in the back of your head, 'He's got a tendency to bury it.' Trevor has a curveball and 90 percent of the time, it's in the dirt. So you're anticipating it. With Salazar, it's like, 'Please god, knock it down.'"

Trevor Bauer: 7-3, 3.36 ERA, 8.2 K/9

The rubber arm

Bauer has said he could throw as many as 150 or 200 pitches in an outing and his arm won't complain. He tossed five scoreless innings of relief on short rest on July 1 to propel the Indians' to their franchise-record 14th straight win.

Chernoff: "Trevor is an ultra competitor who cares about winning and cares about doing things that he can as a starting pitcher to help us win. It's very clear that he is hyper-competitive."

Bauer has developed a rapport with Gimenez since the former rejoined the rotation at the end of April and the latter rejoined the organization in early May.

Gimenez: "I told him, 'I'm never going to take any of your pitches away from you. You're going to throw what you're going to throw. I need you to be as confident as you can in what you're going to throw because ultimately that's going to make us both successful.'"

Josh Tomlin: 10-2, 3.34 ERA, 1.0 BB/9

The command

Tomlin has 10 wins this season and only 12 walks.

Gimenez: "He never threw hard, but put up the same numbers at every level. He has to [have great command]. I've seen him do it at every level coming up. Four-fifths of our rotation throw 94-95. He slots in so well in this rotation because it's a change of pace.

Gomes: "Tomlin is the guy you always knew was a bulldog and is going to come out and give you a good six or seven innings."

Chernoff: "Every time he's gone out there, he's always thrown a ton of strikes, works quickly. He's been able to use his strengths as a pitcher to elevate his status beyond maybe what his stuff otherwise would tell you it is."

The Indians signed Tomlin to a two-year extension over the winter that includes an option for a third year.

Chernoff: "What made it easy to want to extend him is how great he is to have around. He was coming off of injuries in the past and some uncertainty, so there's the analytical side of you that's making sure that the role is going to be the right one for him to stay here. It's the gut side that tells you this is the guy to go after and to extend."

Can Michigan beat Ohio State football? A 50 percent chance the Buckeyes could lose

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Can Michigan get a win in Jim Harbaugh's first trip to Ohio Stadium as a head coach?

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Here's our schedule breakdown of Ohio State's season, as we assign a percentage chance for each opponent to beat the Buckeyes. We'll continue multiplying those chances until we reach our final number, the chance we think Ohio State has to go 12-0 during the 2016 regular season.

Michigan Wolverines

vs. Ohio State: Saturday, Nov. 26 at Ohio Stadium. A kickoff time and TV network have not been announced yet.

2015 record: 10-3 (6-2), finished third in the Big Ten East Division.

Bowl: Beat Florida, 41-7, in the Citrus Bowl.

Returning starters: 14 (eight offense, six defense).

Phil Steele preseason rank: No. 12 in Steele's preseason ranking; No. 13 in Steele's Power Poll.

Week before the OSU game: Michigan will be coming off a game against Indiana in Ann Arbor, Mich. Ohio State is in a bit of a tougher situation, hosting Michigan coming off a road game at Michigan State.

Chances to beat Ohio State: 50 percent. Urban Meyer's first two wins over Michigan, in 2012 and 2013, were decided by a combined six points. The last two years the Buckeyes have won by an average of three touchdowns. Meyer has never lost to the Wolverines during his time in Columbus, and the margin of victory has gotten larger each of the past two seasons.

So why 50 percent? Jim Harbaugh has a roster that has many pegging Michigan as Big Ten favorites. This should be a top-10 team when the season starts. It has a favorable schedule that should have it in the playoff conversation before the calendar turns to late October and there are still games at Michigan State, at Iowa and at Ohio State left.

Those games will give a real understanding of what Harbaugh has. Michigan has lost 10 of the last 11 in the rivalry, hasn't won in Columbus since 2000 but also could have a team that makes this meeting in Ohio Stadium a toss-up in the last week of the season.

How they could compete with Ohio State: Michigan, despite having eight starters back on offense, doesn't quite feel like it's equipped to get into a shootout with Ohio State. The Buckeyes just seem more explosive on that side of the ball despite their inexperience.

So if Michigan wants to win this game, the defense will have to be worlds better than the unit that allowed 369 rushing yards to the Buckeyes last year. J.T. Barrett barely had to throw the ball and Ohio State cruised to a win.

The secondary will be good again, with All-American Jourdan Lewis back at corner along with two other starters. Defensive line, ranked No. 10 by Steele, should be solid as well with defensive end Chris Wormley and tackle Ryan Glasgow back. Remember Rashan Gary? He'll play too.

Jabrill Peppers moves to linebacker to help bolster what is the weakest part of the defense. He'll be on the outside of new defensive coordinator Don Brown's defense and could be a real difference maker there. Think Darron Lee.

Peppers might also be Michigan's most electric offensive weapon. Four offensive linemen are back on that side, but they'll break in a new center. Running back De'Veon Smith should get the bulk of the carries. Steele has the receiver group, led by senior Jehu Chesson, ranked No. 14 in the country. Jake Butt might be the best tight end in the country.

But what about quarterback? John O'Korn, a transfer from Houston who threw 28 touchdowns in 2013, should win the spot. Harbaugh found a way to make Jake Rudock surprisingly productive last season, and should be able to do the same with O'Korn -- who will have a more experienced offense at his disposal.

Michigan saw a better than 10-point jump in scoring average from 2014 to 2015, but was still No. 69 in the country in total offense last year. Things are certainly better on that side of the ball now, but good enough to go shot for shot with Ohio State? This feels more like a burden for Michigan's defense to take on.

2016 Ohio State football schedule

Projection: What kind of Ohio State team will be hosting Michigan in late November? A young team with a loss or two, but still aware of what it is and with something to play for? Or a young team with a couple losses (think Oklahoma, Wisconsin/Penn State, and Michigan State) with nothing left to play for because playoff hopes are shot?

The Wolverines seem more likely to be sitting at nine or 10 wins by the time this game rolls around. This game could mean more for them than it does for the Buckeyes. Or we could be talking Big Ten Championship berth and playoff hopes possibly on the line for both teams.

It depends on the strides Meyer's young team can make, and Harbaugh building off his successful 10-win debut and matching expectations.

It's been a while since the stakes have been that high in this game. If they are, then that means both teams are operating at a high level at Michigan has as good of a shot as Ohio State does of winning.

Ohio State football 2016 schedule breakdown

Sept. 3: Can Bowling Green beat Ohio State?

Sept. 10: Can Tulsa beat Ohio State?

Sept. 17: Can Oklahoma beat Ohio State?

Oct. 1: Can Rutgers beat Ohio State?

Oct. 8: Can Indiana beat Ohio State?

Oct. 15: Can Wisconsin beat Ohio State?

Oct. 22: Can Penn State beat Ohio State?

Oct. 29: Can Northwestern beat Ohio State?

Nov. 5: Can Nebraska beat Ohio State?

Nov. 12: Can Maryland beat Ohio State?

Nov. 19: Can Michigan State beat Ohio State?


Swing and a miss: The out pitches that make the Cleveland Indians' starting pitchers successful

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Each Tribe hurler possesses an arsenal of out pitches.

NBA moving All-Star Game out of Charlotte, cites LGBT law

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The NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

The NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

The league had expressed its opposition to the law known as HB2 since it was enacted in March, and its decision Thursday came shortly after stage legislators revisited the law and chose to leave it largely unchanged.

"While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," the league said in a statement.

The league added that it hoped to announce a new location for next February's events shortly. It hopes to reschedule the 2019 game for Charlotte if there is a resolution to the matter.

"We understand the NBA's decision and the challenges around holding the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte this season. There was an exhaustive effort from all parties to keep the event in Charlotte, and we are disappointed we were unable to do so," Hornets chairman and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan said. "With that said, we are pleased that the NBA opened the door for Charlotte to host All-Star weekend again as soon as an opportunity was available in 2019."

NBA to move 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte: Players, coaches, media and fans react

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Charlotte will no longer host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. The league made the move on Thursday because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Charlotte will no longer host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. The league made the move on Thursday because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

There is no official new location, but The Vertical reports New Orleans is the frontrunner.

The league is hoping to reschedule Charlotte's All-Star Game for 2019.

Following the announcement, which was made by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, players, coaches, media members, team officials and fans shared their thoughts on the decision.

Calculating Ohio State's chance at an undefeated 2016 regular season: 3.2 percent

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Going game-by-game, assigning a percentage chance to lose each game, here's where we landed on the Buckeyes chances of an unbeaten regular season.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer has won 96 percent of the regular season games he's coached at Ohio State. Let that sink in for a minute.

Here's a refresher:

* 2012: 12-0

* 2013: 12-0

* 2014: 11-1

* 2015: 11-1

The Buckeyes are a flukey loss to Virginia Tech and a letdown against Michigan State away from four straight perfect regular seasons. Which probably makes our percent chance of Ohio State going undefeated in 2016 sound crazy.

We continued our annual project of assigning Ohio State a percentage chance to win each of its 12 regular season games. This schedule is substantially more difficult than anything the Buckeyes have faced in Meyer's first four seasons, and the team is taking it on with a young roster.

Breaking down the schedule game-by-game, we arrived at a final number for what we think Ohio State's chance is to make it unbeaten through the regular season for the third time under Meyer.

The number we arrived at for 2016 is 3.2 percent, far lower than any number we've had before in this project. Last year we said the Buckeyes had a 51.7 percent chance of a 12-0 regular season.

Here's a quick refresher on our math, and how the game-by-game breakdown works:

Start with a 100 percent chance at going 0-0. A 99 percent chance to beat Bowling Green puts you at a 99 percent chance to be 1-0. Then a 98 percent chance to beat Tulsa (multiplying .99 by .98) gives you a 97 percent chance to be 2-0. Here's where the drop comes. A 30 percent chance to win at Oklahoma (multiplying .97 by .30) gives you a 29 percent chance to be 3-0. And we keep multiplying that way through the remaining nine games.

How do we arrive at these numbers? Mostly we make them up. There's not a lot of science involved, more a gut feeling based on what we know about the opponents and about the Buckeyes at this point of the offseason.

Last year that 51.7 percent chance of going undefeated was probably low in most people's eyes considering Ohio State was coming off a national championship and had most if its team back. Though a coin flip's chance of going unbeaten is pretty good.

When you look at this schedule and factor in a 30 percent chance of winning at Oklahoma, a 50-50 game against Michigan, a 60 percent chance of winning at Michigan State and other tough road games at Wisconsin and Penn State -- you get it, that overall chance of going unbeaten is going to be much lower.

We asked before starting this project what you thought Ohio State's chances of going undefeated were. Nearly 3,000 votes were cast and 53 percent said the Buckeyes had a 50 percent chance or better of going undefeated.

So clearly you think we're nuts.

But 24 percent of voters said the Buckeyes had an 80 percent chance of going unbeaten.

So we could say the same about some of you.

The 12 games ranked by the most difficult for Ohio State to the easiest

Oklahoma: 30 percent chance to win

Michigan: 50 percent chance to win

Michigan State: 60 percent chance to win

Wisconsin: 69 percent chance to win

Penn State: 71 percent chance to win

Nebraska: 90 percent chance to win

Maryland: 93 percent chance to win

Northwestern: 95 percent chance to win

Indiana: 97 percent chance to win

Rutgers: 98 percent chance to win

Tulsa: 98 percent chance to win

Bowling Green: 99 percent chance to win

Albert Belle will miss induction into Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame due to family vacation

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Albert Belle, whose relationship with the Indians have always spun between hot and cold, will not attend his induction into the team's Hall of Fame because of a scheduling conflict.

BALTIMORE - Albert Belle thinks the Indians have a chance to do great things in the second half of the season. He was happy for Cleveland fans that LeBron James led the Cavs to the city's first major professional sports championship since 1964 and he thinks Hue Jackson is the right coach for the Browns.

But when the Indians induct him into their Hall of Fame on July 30 with Frank Robinson, Jim Thome and Charlie Jamieson, one of the most intimidating hitters in franchise history will be absent.

Belle, whose relationship with the organization has spun between hot and cold going back to his playing days, says his family is vacationing this month and that he can't make the ceremonies.

"I talked to Bobby DiBiasio (Indians senior vice president of public affairs) this whole offseason," said Belle. "I told him I could do it in May or June when my kids get out of school. Or I could do it in August. I said don't do it in July . . .that's like our family vacation time."

While Belle was selected for the honor after last season, negotiations between him and the team have been going on for the last four years to find an agreeable time, preferably with him in attendance, for his induction. While local media members vote for candidates for the team's Hall of Fame, the Indians have the final say. Yet in all that time, a suitable date could not be agreed upon.

Now the mercurial Belle will be inducted without being present.

"It's unfortunate Albert will not be attending the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies," said DiBiasio. "We looked forward to making it a very special time for he and his family."

Belle, 49, said uncertainty over how he'd be received by the fans had nothing to do with him not attending.

If you come, they will cheer, Albert

"I'm not worried about the fan reaction up there," said Belle, who lives in Arizona. "If they cheered for LeBron when he came back, I just assume they'd cheer for me if I came back."

Belle led the Indians to their first World Series in 41 years in 1995. He hit 50 homers and 52 doubles that year, but during his career in Cleveland he was known as much for his temper as his power at the plate. He battled with reporters, photographers, opposing players, fans, teammates, team officials and league officials. He was suspended for using a corked bat, hitting a fan with a baseball, hitting a photographer with a baseball and running over Milwaukee's Fernando Vina on his way to second base.

Indians' fans still loved him because of what he could do on the field, but when he left through free agency after the 1996 season and signed with the rival White Sox, they turned on him.

When Belle returned to Cleveland a couple of years ago, and was shown on the scoreboard at Progressive Field, he received a warm round of applause from the fans.

Thome, the franchise leader in homers, will be the only inductee to take part in the ceremonies on July 30. Jamieson, who played for the Indians from 1919 to 1932, is deceased. Robinson, who became the first black manager in the big leagues when he took over the Indians in 1975, is 80

Belle said in his conversations with the Indians that he felt that Robinson, Thome and himself deserved to have their own induction weekends this season. He cited the way Torii Hunter was honored by the Twins last weekend when he was inducted into their hall of fame.

"That way we each get our own celebration and it won't take away from each other," said Belle.

The Indians felt the induction should be done at the same time.

"I was willing to move it to another weekend, but they were set on July 30th,'" said Belle. "So I said I can't make it on the 30th. I told them July is the only month I couldn't do in the whole season.

"They just said that was the weekend they were going to pick, whether I like it or not, whether I was going to be there or not . . . I said that's fine, they made their decision and I'm going to make mine."

Belle said his relationship with the Indians is good.

"It's a good relationship," he said. "I talk to Mike Hargrove. I golf with Rick Manning during the offseason in Arizona. I talk to DiBiasio, Carlos Baerga and Kenny Lofton. I still talk to the guys who work in the clubhouse.

"I think we have a 25th anniversary coming up for the 1995 team. That would be the 25th anniversary of my 50-50 season. That's 2020. We could do a big celebration then. We can get our schedules straight by then."

Belle, in parts of eight seasons with the Indians, hit .295 (1,014-for-3,441) with 242 homers and 751 RBI. His homers rank second to Thome's 337 in franchise history. He ranks second in slugging percentage at .580, fifth in OPS at .949 and 10th in RBI.

He was the focal point of one of the most dangerous offensive clubs in not only Tribe history, but baseball history.

Belle, since he won't be at his induction, was asked what he'd like to tell the fans.

"I'm happy not only for the baseball fans, but the fans of Cleveland with LeBron helping the Cavs win a championship," said Belle. "I've seen ESPN's 30-30 shows on Cleveland sports. It almost happened (winning a title) when we were there. But I'm really happy for the fans. Now they can toot their horns because they won a championship.

"I'm surprised they're not selling out Progressive Field. That's a really good team they've put out on the field. The team is playing well. They just need those 40,000 fans to come back down and support them.

"If their starting pitching stays healthy, they're good enough to win it all."

There are statues of Bob Feller, Larry Doby and Thome outside Progressive Field. Asked if he should have one, Belle said he'd leave that in the hands of the fans.

Indians erect statue of Larry Doby

"It's great to be recognized now that my career is over for the the individual stats you put up," said Belle. "You have to realize that I had some great players around me that pushed me to become better. We all pushed each other to play better and we were all successful.

"It's kind of fun to enjoy the individual accomplishments, but it's truly a team spot. I'm just happy I had a chance to play with some great guys."

Homers from Lucas, Frazier guide Akron RubberDucks past Altoona

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Rob Kaminsky gets the win for the RubberDucks.

jeremy lucas.jpegJeremy Lucas 

ALTOONA, Pennsylvania -- Jeremy Lucas had a two-run homer among his three hits, and Clint Frazier had a solo shot, helping lead the RubberDucks to an easy 7-1 win Thursday night over the Curve.

The RubberDucks quickly built a 5-0 lead off Curve starter Clay Holmes (8-6, 4.54 ERA). Bradley Zimmer, batting leadoff, scored in the first inning on a groundout by Mike Papi, and Joe Sever made it 2-0 with an RBI single.

The RubberDucks added three more runs in the second with an RBI single from Zimmer and Lucas' two-run homer.

Altoona scored in the third on an RBI single from Harold Ramirez, but would not score again. RubberDucks left-hander Rob Kaminsky (5-6, 3.70 ERA) held the Curve to six hits over six innings, striking out six.

Reliever Grant Sides gave up one hit in two scoreless innings, and Casey Weathers pitched a scoreless ninth.

Lucas finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Zimmer, Sever and Todd Hankins each had two hits.

The win was the third straight for the RubberDucks, who remain tied for first in the Class AA Eastern League Western Division with the Harrisburg Senators. Altoona trails by one game.

Go here to see a box score from the game

Trevon Grimes, Tyjon Lindsey, Darnay Holmes and more: Who is coming to Ohio State's Friday Night Lights camp?

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This year's prospects list could be the best since Meyer started the event at Ohio State, which is big given the Buckeyes are on track to sign perhaps the best recruiting class in program history in 2017.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer specifically designs Ohio State's Friday Night Lights camp as the program's final recruiting blowout of the summer.

It's in Ohio Stadium at night in front of thousands of fans who want to take a closer look at some of the nation's best prospects, and, at the same time, it typically leaves quite the impression on the recruits who attend. 

This year's prospects list could be the best since Meyer started the event at Ohio State, which is big given the Buckeyes are on track to sign perhaps the best recruiting class in program history in 2017. There will be no shortage of five-star prospects. 

Let's take a closer look at the prospects who are expected to attend: 

* Five-star WR Trevon Grimes of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas: Rated the No. 4 wide receiver in the 2017 class in the 247Sports composite rankings, Grimes has been Ohio State's top target for more than a year. He's announcing Aug. 24 and the Buckeyes are the favorite, so this unofficial visit is big. 

* Five-star WR Tyjon Lindsey of Corona (Calif.) Centennial: The No. 5 receiver in the 2017 class, Lindsey unofficially visited Ohio State in the spring. The Buckeyes are getting him back on campus after unofficials to Auburn and Alabama last week. 

* Five-star CB Darnay Holmes of Calabasas, Calif.: Though Holmes is from California and is considering a ton of elite programs, he's consistently included Ohio State as one of his leaders. Getting him in Ohio Stadium could help the Buckeyes become a real player in his recruitment. 

* Four-star DE Chase Young of Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic: Young, the No. 3 weakside defensive end in the country, has been a top Ohio State target for quite some time. Some think he could be on commitment watch this weekend. He's also closely considering Maryland and Alabama. 

* Four-star CB Amir Riep of Cincinnati (Ohio) Colerain: Riep is an important target because he's an elite prospect in Ohio who some think could leave the state. He's coming to Friday Night Lights before announcing his decision in a ceremony in his high school gym on Saturday

* Four-star WR Jaylen Harris of Cleveland Heights, Ohio: Though Ohio State is high on Grimes and Lindsey, the Buckeyes have also been hot on the trail of this 6-foot-5, 210-pound in-state target. Harris has an Ohio State offer, but if he waits too long he could miss out on a coveted spot in the Buckeyes class. 

Jaylen Harris' ticking clock

* Four-star CB Lamont Wade of Clairton, Pa.: The No. 8 cornerback in the country, Wade was once really high on the Buckeyes at one point, but Ohio State has faded a little because of numbers issues for early-enrollees. This could be a huge visit for Meyer to work things out with Wade and get the Buckeyes back on track. 

* Four-star S Jaylen Kelly-Powell of Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech: Kelly-Powell is currently trending toward Michigan, but Ohio State has had some success with Cass Tech prospects since Meyer's arrival. Ohio State is also recruiting five-star Cass Tech wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. 

* Four-star ATH Markquese Bell of Bridgeton, N.J.: Though there's a chance he wants to play wide receiver in college, Bell has an offer from the Buckeyes as an athlete. He participated in Ohio State's New Jersey satellite camp in June, but there's some question as to whether the Buckeyes actually have room for him in the 2017 class. 

* Four-star QB Emory Jones of Franklin (Ga.) Heard County (2018): Rated the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the 2018 class, Jones was on commitment watch when he camped at Ohio State in June. The Buckeyes are loaded at quarterback through 2017 and could be close to locking up their signal caller in 2018. 

* Four-star RB Jaelen Gill of Westerville (Ohio) South (2018): A national recruit in Columbus, Gill is perhaps the Buckeyes top priority in the 2018 class. He's been to Ohio State more times than he can count, and when he visits, he's usually the center of Meyer's attention. 

Why did Jaelen Gill go to USC, UCLA?

* Four-star WR Jermaine Eskridge of Tampa (Fla.) Jefferson (2018): The 6-foot-3, 185-pound receiver already has roughly 50 scholarship offers and is closely considering Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Miami (Fla.). He's on the verge of becoming a major national prospect, so it's big for Ohio State to get him up to Columbus.

* Four-star WR L'Christian "Blue" Smith of Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne (2018): Has Wayne turned into a Michigan State school? That's up for debate, but Smith is a top target in the 2018 class with an Ohio State offer. He's also closely considering the Spartans. 

* Four-star tight end Jeremy Ruckert of Lindenhurst (N.Y.) Senior (2018): Rated the No. 7 tight end in the 2018, Ruckert is one of the best prospects in the country. He has an Ohio State offer and spent some time with Meyer at Ohio State's New Jersey satellite camp in June. Ruckert's stop at Friday Night Lights comes in the middle of a visiting spree that also includes Mississippi State, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee and Michigan. 

* QB Sam Johnson of Southfield, Mich. (2019): Ohio State has been recruiting Johnson since he was a middle-schooler and he was at Friday Night Lights last year. He doesn't have a Buckeyes offer, but he'll likely get one before he becomes a national recruiting star. 


Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles series preview, pitching matchups

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The Indians make their only visit to Camden Yards in the regular season as they open a three-game series against the O's on Friday night.

BALTIMORE -- Here is the series preview and pitching matchups for the three-game series between the Indians and Orioles in Baltimore.

Where: Camden Yards, Friday through Sunday.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio, WTAM 1100 and WMMS/FM 100.7 will carry the series.

Pitching probables: RHP Trevor Bauer (7-3, 3.36) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (2-2, 3.70) Friday at 7:05 p.m.; RHP Josh Tomlin (10-2, 3.34) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (1-7, 4.05) Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and RHP Corey Kluber (9-8, 3.61) vs. RHP Vance Worley (2-1, 3.16), Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

Series: The Orioles lead the Indians, 2-1, this year. The Indians lead, 434-402, overall.

Friday: Bauer, 4-1 in his last eight appearances, is 0-2 with a 5.71 ERA in three career starts against the Orioles. Manny Machado is hitting .625 (5-for-8) with two homers and three RBI against Bauer.

Bundy, making just his second start of the season, went 3 1/3 innings in his last start against the Rays. He's 1-0 in his career against the Tribe. Jose Ramirez is 1-for-1 against him.

Saturday: Tomlin is 3-2 with a 5.12 ERA in six games against the Orioles. Adam Jones  is hitting .533 (8-for-15) against Tomlin.

Gausman is 1-4 in his last six starts. He's 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in two starts against the Tribe. Jason Kipnis is 2-for-4 against him.

Sunday: Kluber has allowed one earned run and struck out 16 in his last two starts. He's 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four starts against the Orioles. J.J. Hardy is hitting .500 (4-for-8) with one homer and three RBI against Kluber.

Worley is making his fourth start and 22nd appearance overall of the season. He's faced the Indians once in his career and Juan Uribe is hitting .400 (2-for-5) against him.

Team updates: The Indians are 4-2 on this nine-game, 10-day trip. They won the first two series against the Twins and Royals, 2-1. The Orioles, neck-and-neck with Boston for the AL East lead, ended a four-game losing streak with a win over the Yankees on Thursday.

Players to watch: Tyler Naquin is coming off a two-homer, six RBI game for the Tribe against the Royals on Wednesday. He's hit all 12 of his homers since June 1. Baltimore closer Zach Britton has converted 30 straight saves since opening day. It's the second longest streak by a lefty starting on opening day since Detroit's Willie Hernandez converted 32 straight saves in 1984.

Injuries: Indians - C Yan Gomes (right shoulder), RHP Tommy Hunter (back), RHP Zack McAllister (right hip) and LF Michael Brantley (right shoulder) are on the disabled list. Orioles - LHP T.J. McFarland (left knee), RHP Darren O'Day (right hamstring), LF Hyun-Soo Kim (right hamstring), LHP Brian Duensing (left elbow) are on the disabled list. CF Adam Jones (back) and C Matt Wieters (right foot) are day to day.

Next: Washington visits Progressive Field for a two-game series starting Tuesday.

J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers needs just a little more ink: Crowquill

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J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers needs just a little more ink in the form of a new contract with Cavaliers

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- So far, the Cleveland Cavaliers and their star shooting guard, J.R. Smith, have not come to an agreement on a new contract. Most of the experts seem to agree that a contract will get done, but that it may take some time because neither side is in much of a hurry.

The Cavs are waiting to see what kinds of offers Smith attracts, hoping that Smith's market value skews a little lower than the $15 million per year Smith wants. Meanwhile, Smith holds out to see if his stock goes up.

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, J.R. will be inking a new Cavaliers' contract in addition to all of his tattoos.

Crowquill, by Plain Dealer artist Ted Crow, appears three times a week on cleveland.com.

Stow, Cincinnati St. Xavier football: Meet two cleveland.com Ohio Super 25 contenders (poll)

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Check out the latest contenders for the cleveland.com Ohio Super 25.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland.com’s high school football coverage is expanding in 2016, and a highlight of that expansion will be a weekly statewide Ohio Super 25 ranking.

The preseason Ohio Super 25 countdown will begin Aug. 1, with a new team profiled each day through Aug. 25. To get you ready, we’re presenting 50 contenders for the Super 25 throughout July.


RELATED: Check out all the Ohio Super 25 candidates so far.


Each day through July 29 we will provide a brief look at two of the 50 contenders. Today’s teams: Stow, Cincinnati St. Xavier.


Stow


2015 record: 13-1 (Division I state semifinalist).




About the Bulldogs: The 2015 season was the Bulldogs’ best ever, and they return 18 starters from it. QB Kyle Vantrease (1,900 yards passing, 12 TDs) and OT Michael Miranda (6-foot-4, 300-pound Penn State commit) highlight the offense. The Bulldogs will have to replace graduated 2,000-yard rusher Jayson Gobble, but his replacement will run behind four returning starters on the offensive linemen. Despite all the returning talent on offense, the defense might be even better with its 10 returning starters.


Cincinnati St. Xavier


2015 record: 8-5 (Division I, Region II second round).




About the Bombers: The Bombers go for an eighth consecutive playoff appearance led by QB Sean Clifford, a Penn State commit and the No. 6 prospect in Ohio, according to 247Sports.com. Clifford threw for 1,700 yards and 12 TDs last season. The offense returns its second- and third-leading RBs and WRs from last season. The concern is on defense, where the top returning tackler - DB Eugene Stallworth – had just 34 tackles last season.


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Contact sports reporter Scott Patsko on Twitter (@ScottPatsko) by email (spatsko@cleveland.com) or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.


Florida delegate says LeBron James is still "The King"

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Michael Barnett, chairman of the Republican Party in Palm Beach County, Fla,, said Cleveland deserved to win the NBA championship. Watch video

When LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami in 2010, Cavaliers fans were beside themselves with grief and anger, but Florida delegate to the RNC Michael Barnett harbors no such long-term feelings for James now that "The King" is back in Cleveland and has lead his team to a coveted championship.

I caught up with Barnett, who is chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach, earlier this week at Nano Brew in Ohio City where the delegations from Florida and Arizona were holding an after-party. 

"It was a sore spot," he said of the Cavs' victory. "We always liked to think that it was Miami who gave LeBron his two championships, but he proved that he can win a championship anywhere he goes."

Hear everything Barnett had to say in the video above.

Cavs officially sign Chris 'Birdman' Andersen

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The Cleveland Cavaliers officially announced the signing of Chris "Birdman" Andersen on Friday morning.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers officially announced the signing of Chris "Birdman" Andersen on Friday morning. 

Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not released, but multiple media outlets have reported the 38-year-old center has inked a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum.

Andersen, a two-time NBA champion and former teammate of LeBron James, averaged 18.3 minutes, 4.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 20 games (14 starts) while finishing the year with the Memphis Grizzlies last season. 

During his career, he's averaged 5.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 17.8 minutes over 683 games (45 starts).

Cleveland will be Andersen's fifth team during an at-times tumultuous 14-year NBA journey, which stalled for two seasons while banned for violations of the league's substance-abuse policy. 

With Timofey Mozgov signing a large deal in Los Angeles this summer, the Cavs needed more depth up front. Andersen is expected to bring energy and toughness to Cleveland's retooled second unit. 

Andersen, who has appeared in 73 postseason games, will wear jersey number 00 for the Cavaliers.

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