He's gonna try to get to school tomorrow, but may have to leave early if he doesn't improve.

A day off had me searching the channels for something to watch. In the vein of The Cube, I run across a game show called The Floor on Fox. Early on a contestant comes to the podium and announces herself as a hot dog derby champion. She then proceeds to say that she is a mascot for the Cleveland Guardians. Turns out this young woman named Sydney is one of the hot dogs! She doesn’t say exactly which one, but they do show a video clip with mustard. So assuming Mustard. Enjoy!

Well look here, the weather forecast has forced a Game 3 change from evening to daytime. How might we expect this to impact the Big Rig's performance? Here are some of his day/night splits from the 2026 regular season:

Nice! But OK, that's just one season - could it be a fluke? Let's look at his pre-2026 splits:

Hey, it's the playoffs and anything can happen - but if Gavin has a big game tomorrow and the Guards prevail, they may need to vote a playoff share for the meteorologists.

🕷️⚾

My brother and I are driving up to Cleveland for game 4! Our first ever playoff game! Can yall help me out with logistics like parking, good place to eat before the game, etc? Someone in a previous post said park across the bridge so you can walk across and see the guardians. I’m all ears! Go Guards!!!

It looks like tomorrow’s game is getting moved to 1pm.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One afternoon earlier this season, José Ramírez was discussing the potential for randomness on a baseball field when he delivered an edict worthy of a T-shirt or an engraving on a wall at Progressive Field.

“Sometimes, baseball is stupid,” he said. “Sometimes, baseball is good.”

Ramírez, in his 14 big-league seasons with the Cleveland Guardians, has experienced the gamut: the riveting highs that stand tall in a potential Hall of Fame career, and the maddening lows that reinforce that a sport defined by failure.

Sometimes, the line between the two is as thin as a blade of synthetic grass.

That was the case in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday, as Ramírez’s fourth-inning error, a split-second misjudgment on a chopper hit to third base, paved the way for the Tampa Bay Rays to tie the series with a 3-1 win.

“It was a little bit of an unexpected bounce,” Ramírez said, “and it made it difficult for me.”

Ramírez has flourished during the postseason. He ditched a frustrating, uncharacteristic regular season that included a five-week absence because of surgery on the hamate bone in his left wrist, and has spearheaded the Guardians’ run to the ALCS. He capped Cleveland’s comeback in the AL Division Series with a decisive home run in Game 5 on a curveball that could breathe on the dirt in front of home plate. As it spun toward his shoelaces, he yanked the pitch to right field with a swing more fitting for the short rough 20 yards from the pin than the batter’s box. The ball barely snuck over the right-field fence.

In that moment, for the Chicago White Sox, baseball was stupid. For the Guardians, baseball was great.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7686862/2026/10/14/jose-ramirez-guardians-mlb-playoffs-alcs-game-2/?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.xDAM.GEZ1ed7vqaTb&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

I saw the play Mr Rickey calls a meeting last week and it’s an awesome play and there’s an exhibit of negro baseball museum artifacts too. Highly recommend Cleveland baseball fans check it out as it’s the last weekend showing!

Karamu House is a real treasure to have here.

https://karamuhouse.org/2026-2027-season/mr-rickey/

The string of mid-season acquisitions has presented me with a quandary. I typically use uniform numbers to write more about players. But I feel rushed to get to some players, and the parallels are not always there. For instance Foster Griffin wears #22, and the player who wore 22 the longest for Cleveland is Jason Kipnis. Not a great parallel between the two. Nathaniel Lowe wears 46, which is a little easier, but still a lot of work investigating for a fast article.

Shawn Armstrong wears a number I already touched on a few years ago, providing me some space to write about a player who is becoming more vital to our club as the year goes on, and with some recent big innings I wanted to honor him before he likely leaves after the World Series.

Cleveland Players Who Wore 43: 24

Player Who Wore 23 the Longest: Scott Bailes & Aaron Civale

The following is recycled from my previous article on #43 focusing on Jhonkensy Noel

Usually when I count out who wore a number the longest I at least recognize the name, if not much about the career. This is the first time I was truly stumped: who the heck is Scott Bailes? Well, answer: a swing man for the lowly 1986-89 Cleveland Indians. Drafted first by the Rangers, and then by the Pirates, Scott wound up in Cleveland as part of the famous Johnnie LeMaster deal (I’ll forgive you for not knowing the name). 

Bailes arrived in Cleveland to little fanfare. The news of his acquisition barely made the Plain Dealer. Paul Hoynes only briefly mentioned the acquisition on July 4th, 1985 as part of a roundup. The Indians believed in him and after a solid spring he made the club in ‘86 and was…fine. Serviceable. In Cleveland’s defense, it’s not like they had many other players to throw out for that team. The 1985 Indians were one of the worst teams in the league, finishing 7th in the AL East. 

Bailes promptly blew a save in the second game of the season. In the home opener, Bailes was little better, giving up 2 runs while only recording an out. He made his first start on April 13th and showed some promise. He went 5 ⅓ innings against the Tigers and settled in. He struck out Kirk Gibson and Darrell Evans and, as Paul Hoynes wrote: “stopped overthrowing and started getting people out.” It was not a masterpiece by any stretch, but 1 run in 5 ⅓ is a solid start for a rookie.

Sadly, Bailes never found much of a groove. He never found a consistent role as either a starter or a reliever, but Cleveland loved Bailes and used him frequently. Bill Linvingston, to say the least, was skeptical: 

“He has not been that bad in his last six outings, getting three victories and a save. But for a reliever to be tied for third in the league in victories, as is Bailes, is not exactly a neon sign of encouragement. It indicates that too many inherited runs are scoring.”

Scott Bailes did record a shutout victory for the Indians in 1988 during the home opener. It was shocking at the time, and also the last time a Cleveland pitcher tossed a complete game in a home opener. “Mostly I went with fastballs” said Bailes, “Last year I would never have done that. This year all the pitchers have confidence in our defense and we can go out and challenge hitters.” Bailes did pitch better in 1989, but still remained solidly average.

The Indians tried a lot of things, including sending him to a psychologist to help him focus on the mound before the 1989 season (which didn’t work). They traded him to California in 1989. In retirement Bailes found joy in his family, and turned down chances to return to the game. He raised two daughters, found success in business, and enjoyed a nice 9 year career in the Majors.

“I feel that aside from winning the lottery, I am the luckiest guy I know,” he said to the Plain Dealer in 2002, after he retired.

Shawn Armstrong

I was not excited when the Shawn Armstrong signing was announced on December 20th. I held no animosity towards Armstrong, as I said at the time he was a fine arm, and I trust this franchise to develop pitching. But Armstrong felt like a re-tread arm on a team that desperately needed offense.

I underestimated Armstrong. 

The Indians drafted Shawn Armstrong in 2011, and developed him, he made his debut for Cleveland in 2015. Few noticed him, he failed to make the 2016 or 2017 postseason rosters (granted: those were excellent bullpens), although Shawn was solid in 39 games posting a 3.53 ERA. Cleveland flipped him to Seattle for International Bonus money starting Shawn’s itinerant career. This is an increasingly common life for solid relievers: find a home somewhere, get shuffled to another team (often at a trade deadline deal), before it happens again.

Armstrong spent time in Seattle, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Texas, Miami and Chicago before finally returning to Cleveland before his career. He was often good (like last year: 2.31 ERA in 71 appearances), often mediocre (4.86 ERA for 3 teams, and 57 appearances in 2024), and made an impact at every organization. Shawn was good enough to make postseason rosters, pitching for Tampa in 2022 against Cleveland, and again the next year.

This kind of player is now absurdly common across baseball, and Cleveland signs or develops one every year. Last year it was Matt Festa who we bought off the Rangers. In 2024 it was Pedro Avila. In 2021 it was Blake Parker (or Bryan Shaw). Oliver Perez filled this role multiple times. In 2016 Dan Otero found his way on the team and pitched meaningful innings for us. With starters throwing fewer and fewer innings there are simply a lot more veteran relievers floating around, pitching meaningful innings that used to go to starting pitchers.

Now 35: Armstrong is still plugging away, and for the regular season he’s mostly been mediocre. He posted a 4.58 ERA in 41 games in Cleveland and hit the Injured List on July 25th, later transferred to the 60-Day IL. I suspect most fans forgot the Guardians signed him in the first place, and frankly: I was one of them. But Armstrong quietly came back at the end of September, made 3 scoreless appearances and found his way onto the postseason roster: and he has made a difference!

Shawn Armstrong has pitched 4 times this postseason, giving up no runs. He recorded 4 outs in Game 2 of the ALDS with the Guardians only down a runIn Game 3 he entered the game to relieve Foster Griffin with a runner on second and only one out. That runner did not score. He entered again in Game 4, cleaning up another mess and got another 5 crucial outs. When the page turned to the ALCS he came on in Game 2 and threw 2 innings, letting Stephen Vogt rest his overworked arms.

This is a perfect middle relief arm. Reliable, he can get the strikeout, and is not rattled by the big moment. It’s an underappreciated skillset, and one often missed by fans. But Shawn Armstrong was not a heralded signing in the beginning of the year, struggled with health for much of the season, and now after coming back is putting himself on the line for the club. He is yet another veteran brought in by the Guardians alongside Jo Adell, Foster Griffin and Nathaniel Lowe who is quietly making a difference alongside a crop of youngsters who form the core of this team.

That’s not sexy, but it’s vital. At 35: Shawn Armstrong has found a way to remain relevant and contribute for a team trying to return to the World Series for the first time since 2016. Coincidentally: that was around when Armstrong was last on a Cleveland club. A nice full circle for a journeyman pitcher who continues to find ways to push his career.

Maybe someday he will look back at this like Scott Bailes and consider himself lucky.

Had to step away during the seventh inning last night, had Hammy on radio but did not see it. Could Kwan have tried to score from first on DeLauter’s double to right? With two outs presumably Kwan was running and with decent speed should he have been sent home instead of held at third? If he had anything close to a 50-50 chance of making it, wasn’t that better than relying on Adell to drive him in? Sure Adell has had a few big hits but as he often does, he wound up striking out to end the inning and our last good chance to score. Curious what those who saw the play think. (Is Joel Skinner still coaching third? lol)

I know everything is digital and in the app, but is there anyway to get a physical copy of our ALCS/ WS tickets?

He has one trait that neither Myles Garrett nor LeBron nor Jim Thome has: loyalty.

I mean, think of it, the man could've been paid over $200 million to play elsewhere. Yet he still took a massive pay cut because he calls Cleveland home.

And if he ends up winning a World Series, either this year or in the years to come, he will, at least in my opinion, be the absolute greatest athlete in the history of Cleveland. Even greater than LeBron and Jim Brown.

I don't just want there to be a statue or for the Guards to retire his #11.

I want every Cleveland sports team to retire #11, no one who ever sets foot in this city, whether it be a Brown, Cavalier, or Guardian should ever be allowed to wear that jersey number ever again.

#11 is José's and only José's. And he's earned it.

The post-game interview with Pedro Martinez and Jose Ramirez was pretty great. Jose rarely sits for those, as it seems clear he is uncomfortable listening and speaking through his translator on a big stage. Jose was sitting there, with a bit of an uncomfortable smile, speaking through his translator.

Pedro Martinez eventually was overwhelmed with empathy and respect for Jose, almost like he thought “this man is a hero, he shouldn’t feel humiliated right now.” Pedro broke script and just started speaking to Jose in Spanish. Jose visibly exhaled and the two just talked. The audience, or most of it, couldn’t understand the language, but somehow the sentiment came through. It was actually a beautiful moment.

Me its not watching the game, stretching out me legs in a reclining position, and not checking the score until at least and hour and 45 into it. For the up coming rain and wind we must create something that makes the weather affect the Rays more that the Guards so think of a method to do so.