Looking over some stats on mlb.com and finding……….

• Without considering a minimum number of starts or innings, C.C. is 7th in MLB in ERA at 1.71. Jared Weaver is #3 at 1.35.
• The Tribe staff is tied for 9th in MLB with 163 walks issued. We were 7th before issuing 14 over the past 2 games.
• We’re tied with Arizona for second with 6 shutouts, behind Detroit’s 9.
• We’re 21st in strikeouts. Would love to see that go up.
• Not that I live for all the obscure stats sabermatricians spit out with regularity, but I do like the OPS stat as a better barometer of how you are hitting than batting average. We are second in OPS to Toronto. Breaking it down, we are fourth in on-base percentage behind the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, and third in slugging percentage behind Toronto and the Evil People. You’re doing well if OBP is above .350 and slugging is above .450 (and thus, OPS over .800). We have 2 guys – Pronk and Blake – over that mark, as well as the 1B combo.
• Speaking of the two-headed 1B monster, check out their stats: .338 average, .398 OBP, .606 slugging percentage, 1.005 OPS, 14 homers, 48 RBI, 16 doubles, 39 runs scored.

Over at espn.com they have a fabulous article on how many Big Jacks Mr. Bonds would have without being on the juice. They freely admit that their research and findings are just educated guesses. True enough. But since I’m not nearly that educated, their findings seem quite believable. If he had never juiced, they estimate he would be sitting on 616 homers.

So yes, he’s one of the top 5 home run hitters who ever walked the planet. Yes, he has dominated his game like no one else, with the possible exception of Michael Jordan. Yes, he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But no, he does not deserve to be considered an equal with Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Tribe programming.

There is one stat about baseball that is really quirky, and leads to talking heads saying what I believe is the biggest misconception about pitching.

We have been hearing for days how our bullpen has not given up a run since we got back home. Technically, they haven’t, since when a pitcher allows baserunners and leaves the game, he gets charged with those runs if they score off the incoming reliever. That’s the quirky stat. I feel compelled to remind everyone that Cabrera DID give up TWO runs on Thursday, even though they were charged to Lee.

You could probably start a raging debate if you suggested to change that rule. I know the stat geeks have an "inherited runners-scored" category and ratio to track how relievers do in those situations, but I can’t help but feel that the current rule of charging runs to the departed pitcher might need adjusting. In Thursday’s example, you can make a compelling case to charge the runs to Lee, and you could make an equally compelling case to charge them to Cabrera. I wonder if Bill James or some other sabermetric junkie can find a new way to solve this puzzle.

The bigger problem, in my mind anyway, is that Cabrera is on his way to becoming the new Danny Graves. I have yet to be impressed with an outing of his this year. I think he needs to be sent on a 2-hour drive to the northeast of Cleveland. I think Jeremy Sowers has earned some time in the bigs. How ’bout swapping them for a couple weeks and see how it goes?

Fascinating. Right after I post that it was interesting that the Royals seemed to never waste scoring opportunities when they play us, yesterday happens. From Bob Dutton of the KC Star, on yesterday’s game: "(The Royals) stranded 13 runners, including six in the final three innings after they pulled to within one run — four of whom were in scoring position with fewer than two outs."

Thanks, we’ll take that. Now it’s on to the dregs of the National League, the Pirates……

It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting here watching the Tribe make a feeble, below-average pitcher look like Christy Matthewson and another offense of non-descripts look like the ’27 Yankees. Again.

But here’s a comforting thought. The Tribe is 10-8 through 18 games. We had hoped for better, especially after that 6-1 start. But 18 games is exactly 1/9 of the season. So take the record and multiply it by 9. What do you get? 90-72. I still think that’s good enough to get the wild card spot. That’s OK, considering it looks like the Evil People are going to go 156-5. Good God, are they EVER going to lose again?