P.M. Cleveland Indians links: Bring on April Fool's Day; a game memorable for all the wrong reasons; and what now?

The Indians lose to end the season. Everybody who's surprised, raise your hands.

The Indians lost the last game of the season, 6-5, to the Chicago White Sox. They also lost the next-to-last game of the season to the White Sox, that one by a score of 6-2. Everybody's gotta be good at something, and what the Indians are good at -- REALLY good at -- is losing. Ninety-three games, to be precise.

But it could've been worse: Kansas City, Baltimore, Seattle, Arizona and Pittsburgh lost more. Hey, this is Cleveland. Any time you beat Pittsburgh, it's a bonus. Even if you beat 'em without having to play 'em.

Next regular season contest for the Tribe? Against these same White Sox, in Progressive Field. Appropriately enough on April Fool's Day. Gentlemen, start your whoopee cushions.

Whose nutty idea was THAT?
Not to put 10-cent beer night on a par with Pearl Harbor, but apparently, the Indians' 1974 promotion is another of those dates that will live in infamy. It's cropped up on yet another list of bad promotional ideas.

Sadly, three of James Lebeau's craveonline.com list of "Top Ten Worst Sports Promotions" involve the Indians: 10 cent beer night, Weather Education Day and the Tribe's centennial celebration day, where the giveaway was a fleece blanket featuring the different variations of controversial Chief Wahoo.

The good news, if there is any, is that the Indians don't get the top spot in Lebeau's list. That goes to the Chicago Blackhawks, whose promotions department last year decided that giving away hard hats was a good idea.

Even though we dislike the idea of being remembered/known for something as nefarious as Ten Cent Beer Night, having it on the list does have one saving grace: It gives Starting Blocks a reason to share this youtube.com video from Yetanotherstringband.



From The Plain Dealer
Beat writer Paul Hoynes has endured the highs and lows of covering the Indians for a couple of decades now, which gives him a pretty unique point of view. His piece in today's paper gives a little of the detail of the (meaningless) 6-5 loss, and a lot of perspective about 2011.

Hoynsie, who will guest on cleveland.com's SBTV on Tuesday to set the scene for this year's playoffs, which shockingly do not include the Indians, used his Indians Insider column to  let us know that first-year skipper Manny Acta will be in town at some point during the winter to ride the tube when the Tribe turns Progressive Field into "a winter wonderland," starting on the day after Thanksgiving.