Hafner and Horse Poop

[Enjoy Terror]

Because you can't throw a pitch at the Indians FO.

*imagines Brad Bergesen meeting Mark Shapiro for dinner at an Italian restaraunt. Brad excuses himself to the bathroom, where he finds a baseball taped under the tank of the toilet*

The hit is on.

[Tony-OH]

Hafner hit a grand slam in a 6-1 win and a two-run homer in a 3-1 win. Yes, I would say Hafner was a big part of the Aeros beating the Baysox. It was an incredibly bush league thing for the Indians organization to do and although it's obvious thatn no one particular player beats another whole team, the sentiment is till the same.

He should not have been playing in those games and the Aeros did not earn those win. They rode the back of a major league superstar pure and simple.

As for hitting Hafner or not, well, let's just say it would not make me upset to see him drilled in the ribs just to let the Indians organziation know what they did was crap. No offense to the guy because he was told to go play there, but even he can't feel too good about the situation.

It was like me second year in High school when I was already playing on the Varsity, but still could play in my 13-15 pony league team. I dominated that pony league and it just never felt right because I knew I was too good to play with rec ball kids.

Either way, it's over and in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter too much. The key is that Tillman, Bergesen, Hernandez, and Berken all had good years on the mound and Reimold stayed healthy and was productive.

[Tony-OH]

Well, well, well.

Somebody's taking this awfully personally even though I never mentioned his name.

Three negative feedbacks in 15 days Tony? Really? No one else has ever given me more than one (though SG, bless his heart, tried to and positive repped me by mistake)

I dropped the whole RShack ban issue, but you sure seem to be holding a grudge.

Honestly, I didn't even remember you were the one in the RShack thing. I call them as I see them and when I'm taking an opinion and you obviously go out of your way to say the same opinion is a whiny sore loser, you get the neg rep.

Plenty of people have disagreed with my statement without being disrespectful and that's fine. You on the other hand don't seem to get that part.

[Fred Manfraud]

*imagines Brad Bergesen meeting Mark Shapiro for dinner at an Italian restaraunt. Brad excuses himself to the bathroom, where he finds a baseball taped under the tank of the toilet*

The hit is on.

Don't Stop Believin' is playing in the background. Bergesen is wearing a Member's Only jacket. And Shapiro has just ordered some onion rings for the table.

[Tony-OH]

Don't Stop Believin' is playing in the background. Bergesen is wearing a Member's Only jacket. And Shapiro has just ordered some onion rings for the table.

Then the screen goes blank and we get no closure....

Ughh, don't get me started on that again.

[SJA]

Bowie got beat, it had nothing to do with Hafner.

So Hafner never played?!

Hafner comes up with two out in Game 3 and the bases loaded, hits a grand slam and the final difference in the game is 4 runs. Had that batter been a guy that hits .275 in AA all year, it may have been a fly out...much different result. Hafner hits the grand slam, entire team dejected because Hafner has now made his presence fault....but you're right, it had nothing to do with Hafner.

To do this they needed to make certain that Hafner was 100% ready and healthy to be in the Majors. Batting practice and simulated games weren't going to cut it and the only real option was to send him to AA for some actual game time.

I could almost say that I would agree that BP and Simulated games aren't enough ...but he just finished 7 games of rehab in AAA where he went 7 for 22...three of those hits were doubles.

[BowieMike]

I could almost say that I would agree that BP and Simulated games aren't enough ...but he just finished 7 games of rehab in AAA where he went 7 for 22...three of those hits were doubles.

Brad Komminsk seems to agree...

From this article:

Feeling the sting of Pronk's impact on the playoff series, Bowie manager Brad Komminsk -- formerly a manager of the Aeros -- was none too pleased with the Indians sending Hafner to Akron after Triple-A Buffalo's season ended, rather than bringing him back to the Majors.

"This time of year, [short-season] Mahoning Valley is still playing," Komminsk said. "I know [indians farm director] Ross [Atkins] said they want to put him at the highest level, but for me, the highest level is the big leagues. And for a team that's 10 games out and has no chance of winning, he could have done it just as easily there."

[Maverick2143]

So Hafner never played?!

Hafner comes up with two out in Game 3 and the bases loaded, hits a grand slam and the final difference in the game is 4 runs. Had that batter been a guy that hits .275 in AA all year, it may have been a fly out...much different result. Hafner hits the grand slam, entire team dejected because Hafner has now made his presence fault....but you're right, it had nothing to do with Hafner.

I could almost say that I would agree that BP and Simulated games aren't enough ...but he just finished 7 games of rehab in AAA where he went 7 for 22...three of those hits were doubles.

Well thats a horse of a different color... I think my orginal point is still valid, but it doesn't hold near as much water. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Lucky Jim]

Well thats a horse of a different color... I think my orginal point is still valid, but it doesn't hold near as much water. Thanks for pointing that out.

But, to mitigate the mitigation, Buffalo's season was over and sending him to a nearby team (Akron) was probably considered preferable.

[Maverick2143]

But, to mitigate the mitigation, Buffalo's season was over and sending him to a nearby team (Akron) was probably considered preferable.

True, and Akron was their only option if they felt like Hafner needed more rehab. I know that Komminsk brought up Mahoning Valley, but short season A isn't a realistic option. Given the talent level, sending Hafner from AAA to short season A to MLB would probably have done more harm than good from the Indians viewpoint.

This is just one of those situations in sports that we can understand why it happened, but understanding doesn't make it stink any less.

[Birds08]

Hafner hit a grand slam in a 6-1 win and a two-run homer in a 3-1 win. Yes, I would say Hafner was a big part of the Aeros beating the Baysox. It was an incredibly bush league thing for the Indians organization to do and although it's obvious thatn no one particular player beats another whole team, the sentiment is till the same.

He should not have been playing in those games and the Aeros did not earn those win. They rode the back of a major league superstar pure and simple.

As for hitting Hafner or not, well, let's just say it would not make me upset to see him drilled in the ribs just to let the Indians organziation know what they did was crap. No offense to the guy because he was told to go play there, but even he can't feel too good about the situation.

It was like me second year in High school when I was already playing on the Varsity, but still could play in my 13-15 pony league team. I dominated that pony league and it just never felt right because I knew I was too good to play with rec ball kids.

Either way, it's over and in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter too much. The key is that Tillman, Bergesen, Hernandez, and Berken all had good years on the mound and Reimold stayed healthy and was productive.

Tony, have you heard from any sources how MacPhail or anyone else in the O's front office feels about it? I guess we will find out when Hafner comes up to hit this week.

[tywright]

Brad Komminsk seems to agree...

From this article:

Roch also got some good quots from Komminsk

http://masnsports.com/2008/09/komminsks-opinion-on-travis-ha.html

"They had him in (Triple-A) Buffalo for three weeks," Komminsk said. "In my opinion, why bring him to Akron when he could have been on the big league roster? I talked to the farm director and they thought about sending him to A ball, but they wanted him to play at the highest level. I told him the big leagues are the highest level.

"(The Indians) aren't going to the playoffs. They have no chance of winning. Why he couldn't go there and do what he's been doing makes no sense to me. I think they brought (Jeremy) Sowers down last year, too. I think you should go with the guys you had. We could have had Melvin Mora down here or Chris Ray, but what's the point? Ray would have been a logical choice, since he rehabbed for us already. Hafner rehabbed in Buffalo for about three weeks. He had 20 or 30 at-bats at Triple-A. It would have been easy to slide him back into the (Indians') lineup. And I don't think those eight at-bats (with Akron) made a difference for him.

"It didn't sit well with me. I talked to people in different organizations and they all said the same thing. For that time of the year, it's not the right thing to do. But this isn't sour grapes. They're a good team. They played us well all year. Our numbers were almost identical if you look them up - runs, doubles, triples home runs, RBIs, all that stuff. It's uncanny how close it was. But you get (Hafner), and it just changes the whole complexion of the game. A big leaguer hits a grand slam and you have to make up four runs. It's a tie game if you take him out of there. And the next day, when he hit that two-run jack, you could see it take the wind out of their sails."

[Who's On 1st]

As far as Hafner as a player goes........I don't have anything against him!

I have issues with the org. he plays for. He just went where he was sent!

Also the Baysox team had a great season, but didnot do the job in the play-offs.

Let's just drop this and move on. And look at 2009...........

[Qwst25]

Could someone explain to me why the Indians waited 4 days before sending Haffner to play for Akron? Buffalo's season ended on September 1st; Haffner didn't join Akron until September 5th. It was only after Bowie won 11-3 that Haffner started playing again.

I sure hope Haffner is in Baltimore this week.

[Tony-OH]

Could someone explain to me why the Indians waited 4 days before sending Haffner to play for Akron? Buffalo's season ended on September 1st; Haffner didn't join Akron until September 5th. It was only after Bowie won 11-3 that Haffner started playing again.

I sure hope Haffner is in Baltimore this week.

Because Cleveland is a jacked up, bush league, petty organization? Just a guess..