Cleveland Crops: Quality MLB Talent for Premium MLB Teams

I grew up in a Northeast Ohio where fans became accustomed to the Cleveland Indians finishing last in their division. I grew into my formative adult years in the 90's where the Cleveland Indians went through a resurgance with loads of gifted talent and people began to compare them to their 1954 elders.

Those were great times and, obviously, some very painful times. Those high hopes that we held for those great teams began to vanish with the new millennium. Soon we were to see that era completely dismantled by Mark Shapiro so that we can look at fresh, young(er) faces that were being developed to compete in the Major Leagues.

Again we held out hope. We went through a few sluggish years, then saw the fruits of those trying times pay off with a team in 2005 that won 93 games and just fell short of the postseason.

Then again, in 2007 we saw a very talented team, with pitching and hitting (for once) get to within one game of making it back to the World Series only to lose three straight to the Boston Red Sox, who would go on to win that World Series.

Now, here we are in 2009, witnesses to the worst season for the franchise since 1991 and one of the most difficult seasons to watch in the teams troubled history.

Back to square one.

It's quite easy to see what the problem is and was for these Clevelanders. This was obvious and easy to note as we all sat back and watched this postseason unfold. Cleveland Indians crops were everywhere to be seen in the postseason schedule. It was really something to see.

Let's run down a quick list of the various crops that fed other ball clubs this postseason. CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Rafael Betancourt, Ben Francisco, Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard, Mark Derosa, Victor Martinez, Paul Byrd and, of course, the ex- manager and hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, Charlie Manuel.

Where would the Yankees be without CC Sabathia? The Phillies without Manuel and Lee? The Dodgers without Manny and Casey Blake? The Red Sox without Vic? How about those tough late inning outings by Betancourt for the Rockies? It's all kind of reminiscent of Joe Carter...and yes...we were happy for him too when he jumped all across the bases after his walk-off World Series win in 1993.

So, as the World Series approaches, Cleveland fans will be so delighted to see their 2007 and 2008 Cy Young award winners facing each other in a pivotal game one. Thus, I have decided that since it is already an area of contention to have your team called "Indians" in the first place, it is now necessary for Cleveland ownership to begin thinking of a new name for their franchise.

It has been deeply noted over the years how disrespectful, racist, it is to name your sports franchise after a colonized people who have been pushed to the periphery of the land which they once roamed so freely.

It's 2009 so we really don't have to think about how ignorant it is or would be to name a team the Atlanta Negros or the Texas Whitey's. What makes it worse is that they have the "black face" caricature of Chief Wahoo on their jersey's, hats and memorabilia.

Now,  going through the history of the franchise and the various names they had taken on previoiusly, I thought that it would be really cool if they went back to being the Cleveland Spiders. Doesn't that sound cool? Spiders? Web (of the glove)? Get it? I think that would be especially nice.

They could have a glove with a spider web as the webbing as the team logo. It wouldn't be offensive to other human beings and it could be seen as a progressive (the field) action in this time of "change" that our President likes to talk about.

People could actually support that. I know I won't be supporting the team until they change their name. Another name could be the Cleveland Lakers? Maybe taking the name of a popular franchise could give us some luck.

However, since we are witness to all of these Cleveland crops playing in the postseason, bringing in dollars for other franchises and helping them compete at a higher level than other teams, I have another name I've been toying with. The Cleveland Farmers.

That's right, the Cleveland Farmers, the place where we do the sowing and growing, then package them up with other players and sell them to your franchises to make them stronger. High grade crop to feed your franchise and teams.

Now, of course I am aware that they call the Minor Leagues the farm system and that's why it is named as such. However, the Cleveland baseball franchise does that at the Major League level.

Hence, why not the Cleveland Farmers? A pitchfork for the logo? Or an old, rich, fat guy on a tractor? Carrying a baseball bat? This is obvious tongue in cheek rhetoric, but...change is necessary.

On a serious note...I grew up in Northeast Ohio and honestly, this is painful to watch. The city, region, and its people deserve much more than this. Don't you remember when we filled the stadium 455 games in a row? We loved and cherished those great teams, even though we knew we needed better pitching. This is our payback? Another dismantling?

Soon Grady Sizemore will become the franchise player for another franchise. Travis Hafner is getting older and won't become that type of player again, but, he'll be gone. Matt LaPorta and the rest as well. They get their Major League reps in while playing for Cleveland, then go on to greatness elsewhere.

The Cleveland Farmers—providing high grade crop to nourish your franchise.