Dante Lavelli

Browns great Dante Lavelli died on Tuesday at the age of 85. A big part of the Brown’s football dynasty of the 1950’s, he was before my time. He was a part of the reason that Cleveland, first and foremost, is a Brown’s town and the fans here are some of the most loyal in the country despite decades of futility. Somehow, in our collective subconscious, we still see ourselves as that great city with those great teams, even though that era ended over 40 years ago. I guess our grandfathers told our fathers who told us that the Browns are a great team, a great franchise that is just going through a rough patch. We will, because we did before, and deserve to again be a force in professional football.


There aren’t many players left from those long ago teams that ruled the AAFL and were a force after the AAFL and NFL merged in 1946. There have been some things written about Lavelli in Cleveland, but I don’t think there has been much said on a national stage. I guess it would be hard for the passing of one of football’s all time greats to muscle in on ESPN’s coverage of Brady’s knee, Romo’s leadership, McGwire’s steroids, and the possibility of Stephon Marbury playing in Greece.

So, I take it upon myself to inform the privileged few who read this ridiculous blog, of the Great Dante Lavelli, who along with Otto Graham, Mac Speedie, Marion Motley, Lou Groza, and (of course) Paul Brown changed the course of the NFL and the way it was played. I’m not a sports writer. Others have written about Lavelli much better than I can. What I can do, however, is provide a list of factoids, accomplishments, and other interesting things that you may not have known about this great man.

The best thing you could do would be to skip my post and read this and this.

Lavelli was born in Hudson Ohio in 1923. The reason he ended up on the Browns was that he played at Ohio State for Paul Brown in 1941. He only played in 3 games before being injured.

He fought with the US Army in the Battle of the Bulge

He returned to Ohio State after his service and was chosen Ohio State Campus King. His Queen was Jean Peters.

• Paul Brown said that Lavelli’s hands had a “liquid softness” and he had a reputation for catching every thing near him. His nickname was “gluefingers”. Basically, he was Bizarro Braylon, or the Anti-Edwards.
• He was the starting right end for the Brown’s from their first season in 1946 until he retired in 1956. The Browns won 7 championships in those 11 seasons. All 4 AAFL championships and 3 more NFL championships after the NFL absorbed 3 teams starting in 1950. If only they had called the damn thing the Super Bowl back then, maybe we wouldn’t have such an inferiority complex now.
• Lavelli figured prominently in the Brown’s winning 3 games in 1 week in 1948, still the only team to ever do so (of course I doubt many other teams have ever played 3 games in a week).
  
  

• When the Brown’s beat the Rams to win the Championship in their first year in the NFL, Lavelli caught 11 passes for 128 yards.
• Lavelli was induced into the Hall of Fame in 1975
• Lavelli was one of the players who helped unionize in 1956 and the union’s first meeting took place in his house in Rocky River, a Cleveland suburb. The union’s goals were meal money on trips, minimum pay, a pension plan, and of course vigorous defense of and the filing of many grievances on the behalf of Pacman Jones and TO.
• Lavelli shot his age in golf in his 70s. (Plaxico Burress shot his leg in a nightclub)
  
  

• Lavelli is second in club history (to Ozzie Newsome) in receptions and receiving yards. He’s second in TD catches to Gary Collins.
• Lavelli was NOT a fan of Art Modell.
  
  

If you’ve finished this, maybe you know a little bit more about a great player who is worth knowing a little more about.

You Stay Classy Cleveland

This has been a brutal year for the Browns. It started with such high hopes. Didn't take long to crash and burn. It's a familiar feeling.

Yesterday our QB, Derek Anderson, went down with an injury with about a minute to go in the game. At this point the season is already lost. The fan favorite QB, Brady Quinn, is done for the year. There isn't much to play for but pride. The Browns still had a small chance to pull out a win, but there isn't all that much riding on the rest of the season.

So what do we (Brown's fans) do? We boo Anderson. Nice.

Here's a guy who went to the pro-bowl last year and lead the team, improbably, to the brink of the playoffs. A few weeks ago he got benched. I was all for it. It didn't seem like Anderson was going to be the long term answer at QB and, with the season down the tubes, we HAD to try to find out what Quinn could do. All Anderson ever did, though, was play his butt off to the best of his ability.

And, we boo him. After an injury. After the game Anderson said a few things to the effect of "he knows we don't like him" and "I'm not trying to drop balls and lose games for us. I know you guys think that sometimes." I don't blame him one bit for being pissed off. He deserves better this. Anyone would.

I hope that the people who booed just happened to be a loud minority of jerks. It makes me embarrassed to be a Brown's fan. I love my team, and I love my city. I've talked a lot about how Cleveland "deserves" this and that. Maybe we don't deserve a damn thing.

Tribecards Cards: Part 2

Here it is, the much anticipated 2nd part to the critically acclaimed review of the free cards David and Indians Baseball Cards sent me.

8. Julio Franco – 1997 Topps

I just love this card. Look at that swing. Julio definitely did not get cheated on that one. In reality it’s probably a pop up. In my head, that sucker’s still flying.

9. Jim Thome – 1992 Topps

This card says Jim was signed by scout Tom Couston. I’ll bet Tom Couston got a big fat raise.

10. Steve Olin – 1993 Triple Play

It’s a damn shame what happened to Steve Olin and Tim Crews. For those who don’t know. They died during spring training when their fishing boat hit a dock in the dark. Bob Ojeda survived. I have the jersey from that year with a patch honoring Olin and Crews on the side. I love that jersey.

11. Phil Niekro – 1987 Donruss

Look at how old Phil Niekro is. He’s like Adam Sandler’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in Big Daddy. One thing I like about this card is that you really get a good look at Phil’s knuckleball grip. Most of the time I hear that knuckleballers grip it with 3 fingers, instead of the 2 you see here. I Like that Niekro grips it with 2 fingers. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s because that’s how I grip MY knuckleball. And, my knuckleball is absolutely hellacious. I’m not kidding. Tim Wakefield should give me a call.

12. Carlos Baerga – 1994 Donruss

Baerga was a big part of the Great Indians Revival of the mid 90s. Acquired in the Joe Carter for Sandy Alomar Jr trade, Baerga went on to hit the absolute holy hell out of the ball for 6-7 years. He was traded right before he hit the wall (for Jeff Kent who the Indians, of course, didn’t keep. No, we like Jose Viscaino.) Why did he hit the wall? Some say it was the coke. Others say it was the coke. We’ll probably never know who was right.

13. Cory Snyder – 1991 Topps

My love for Cory Snyder is no secret. Look at that dude. Look at that beautiful blond hair. It’s a shame he ever had to wear a hat. There is one thing on this card that may make me re-evaluate my entire perception of Cory as a blonde, California, surfer boy who happened to have a cannon for an arm and, on the rare occasions that he did hit the ball, could hit it to Mars. If you take a look at his teeth (I’m not sure how well it will show up. His front teeth are a little uneven. His very front left 2 teeth are a little higher than the others. This can be seen sometimes in pipe smokers where they are constantly biting on the end of the pipe. Could it really be? Cory Snyder, pipe smoking surfer? I’m not sure what I think about that possibility.

14. Fred Kendall – 1978 Topps

Fred Kendall came from the Padres to the Tribe in 1977 along with Johnny Grubb and Hector Torrez in exchange for George Hendrick. It’s hard to say, in hindsight, who the cornerstone of that blockbuster was. It probably wasn’t Fred. After 8 years with the Padres and a career avg in the neighborhood of .237, the Tribe decided that Fred Kendall was their man to don the tools of ignorance. And why not? As his card says, Fred caught 146 games for the Padres the year prior, more than any other backstop. Heck, he even launched two whole home runs. Sounds like the Indians of the late 70s type of player.

15. Jim Perry – 1975 Topps

I don’t have much to say about Jim Perry. I just wanted to make sure I got a 1975 Topps card in there. What a set.

So, I’ll just share this incredible idea I had the other day. I’m not sure where it came from, but there it was. And, here it is:

I want to open up a pizza joint and call it Pizza Champs. OK? Stay with me here. Now, the commercial would be a bunch of people holding hands, Hands Across America style. And then there’s this dude dressed up like a slice of pizza, and maybe another like a pepperoni roll or a stromboli or something. These guys are front and center. OK? Got it? Alright. Now everyone is just swaying and singing: “All we are saaaayyying. Is git Pizza Chaaaaamps. All we are saaaaayyyying. Is git Pizza Chaaaaamps.” Over and over like that John Lennon song. Man, it has the potential to really get in your head. I’d even bet it’s already scrolling through some of your heads. AND, YOU HAVEN’T EVEN HEARD IT YET! You’re just imagining it. It’s that vivid.

Sometimes I’m so smart I scare myself. That would be a goldmine.

16. Danny Peoples – 1997 Bowman

Man, what the hell happened to this guy? I remember when they drafted him, he was almost some kind of can’t miss. I forgot all about him. Looks like he spent 6 seasons in the Tribe’s minor league system, made it as far as AAA, and that was that.

Think about how hard it is to make the majors. I’ll bet Danny Peoples is the best ballplayer in the history of his high school. There are people who are absolutely astounded that he didn’t make it. Danny Peoples probably played baseball better than I’ve ever done ANYTHING in my entire life. And, he couldn’t make it. And there are thousands just like Danny Peoples. That’s how hard it is to just make it to the majors for a cup of coffee. Think about that the next time to tell someone that a player “sucks”.

17. Kenny Lofton – 2008 Topps

Look how red it is. Great looking card. Why Kenny Lofton didn’t play ball this year I’ll never know. I just can’t believe there wasn’t a team that could use him. There will always be a special place in my heart for Lofton.

I hope I can eventually separate Lofton’s memory from Joel Skinner holding him up at 3rd base last year during the ALCS. Nobody will ever convince me that we wouldn’t have won if Skinner had just sent him. WHY DIDN’T YOU SEND HIM?!

18. Grady Sizemore – 2008 Upper Deck Starquest

Another really shiny and fun to look at card, regardless of the fact that he probably just fouled out to the third baseman. Let’s see what the back says.

“…the outfielder was just one of six players in the American League to accumulate 20 dingers and 20 stolen bases” You know who else accumulated 20 dingers? Jeffrey Dahmer. In his fridge. At least I think he probably did. I doubt he ever made it to 20 stolen bases though, so Grady’s still got that on him.

19. Shawon Dunston – 1998 Topps

I don’t have any idea what just happened to Shawon, but he sure looks happy about it. I’m not familiar with 98 Topps so I don’t know if they all have this gold border or if this is some kind of gold parallel. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to find out, but I’ll do that later. If this is a gold parallel, it will immediately go into a penny sleeve and a fireproof box as part of Grady’s college fund. I’m sure it’s worth $10-$15. I’ll have to check with Beckett. (For those who aren’t sure, I’m definitely kidding)

20. Ryan Morris- 2008 Bowman Chrome

I don’t know much about this Kid. He’s been with the Tribe since 2006 but has yet to make it past A ball. This last year and a half has been with the Lake County Captains, who coincidentally play about 5 minutes from where I grew up. Of course they didn’t exist when I was there, but hey…no big deal. So far he’s put up descent but not outstanding numbers. The scouting report on the back of the card states that he “shows excellent competitive nature on the mound.” I’m not sure exactly what that means. I think it might mean he’ll put it in your ear if you piss him off. At least I hope that’s what it means. I’ll be rooting for Ryan.

21. Cliff Lee – 2007 Topps

How awesome was Cliff Lee this year? What a great season. This card talks about how Cliff and Johan Santana are the only 2 pitchers with 32 starts and 14 wins each season since 2004. Mark Shapiro assures us that Cliff is so durable because he takes care of his body. Not long after this card was released, Cliff pulled a quad, started off terrible, was sent to the minors, relegated to the bullpen, and left off the postseason roster. I’m not sure if this card had anything to do with it.

I like this card because of the high leg kick. It’s just a great action shot. And, because his full name is, apparently, Clipson Phiter Lee. That’s a hell of a name.

I'll be back for another installment of this hilarious series soon (infant son willing). I'm hoping to also get up a post for Gellman's project, but I don't know if I can make the deadline. I think I have enough for one more before the weekend.

A great day for Tribe baseball

I'd like to congratulate the Indians for not losing a game today. Fantastic.


And the Sabathia trade watch continues.

And to a lesser extent, the Byrd trade watch.