Notes: Lessons learned by Lee
03/07/2006LAKELAND, Fla. -- Time was, you could label Cliff Lee a misfit, a rebel or, as he puts it, a "young, dumb kid."
Trouble seemed to find Lee when he was a student at Benton High School in Arkansas. More accurately, he seemed to find it.
No, Lee didn't rob any liquor stores or push over any little old ladies. His troublesome nature often came in the form of an acid tongue.
"I was a little smart aleck," he said. "I did some stupid things. I would say things in class all the time."
And, yes, the 27-year-old Lee even admits he's been in jail a couple times, though he didn't elaborate on the offenses.
But Lee said he finally wised up around the time of his senior year of high school. If baseball was going to be his career, he reasoned, he couldn't have a bad track record.
So he cleaned up his act, stopped opening his yap and focused on becoming the stellar left-handed pitcher he is today. That's why last fall, rather than appearing on any "Wanted" posters, Lee was putting the finishing touches on an 18-win season and hearing his name mentioned in Cy Young Award talk.
"People back home probably laugh that I'm in the big leagues," he said. "I'm very lucky to be where I am now, because I wasn't a good kid."
Working on it: Lee got the win in Tuesday's 7-4 victory over the Tigers at Joke Marchant Stadium, but not before giving up a pair of home runs to Josh Phelps and Brent Clevlen over the course of his three innings of work.
Both of those home runs came when Lee tried to sneak outside sinkers past the two right-handed batters.
"I'm trying a different grip on my sinker," Lee said. "My two-seamer wasn't very good last year, so I'm trying to improve it. I threw it a lot [Tuesday], but two of those went out of here, so whatever."
Hafner humor: Travis Hafner was jokingly asked before Tuesday's game against the Tigers if he's in midseason form yet.
"Depends on what form you mean," he said with a wry smile.
If baseball form is the subject at hand, Pronk seemed to be there when he took Roman Colon deep to right in the third inning.
That home run brought a little excitement to what can be a dullish grind of a Spring Training schedule. Most players, including Hafner, can't even keep their days straight down here.
"The only reason I know it's Tuesday," Hafner said, "is because wrestling [WWE'S "Monday Night RAW"] was on last night."
Gonna get tricky: Though right-hander Jason Johnson told reporters he was assured that he wouldn't be skipped in the rotation at all this season, the schedule might not allow it.
The Indians have three off-days in the season's first nine days, so getting Johnson, the likely fifth starter, an early nod will be difficult.
"I didn't talk to him when he signed," pitching coach Carl Willis said of Johnson. "But it's going to take some finagling and creativity."
Willis was asked about the possibility of one of his starter's working out of the bullpen in long relief in those early days of the '06 schedule.
"It's possible," he said, "but I don't think it's likely. We want to use all five of our starters."
Steady pace: C.C. Sabathia was watching the Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic game in the World Baseball Classic after his start against the Tigers on Tuesday, and it dawned on him that not pitching in the tournament was probably a good decision.
"I was just watching [Venezuela's Carlos] Zambrano," Sabathia said. "He was getting a couple close calls that didn't go his way, and he was getting out of whack. I'm the same way. I'm a competitor. He ended up hanging a slider and giving up a home run."
Given the choice at this time of year, Sabathia would rather take the leisurely pace of a Grapefruit League game, where he can focus on making his pitches, rather than the results on the scoreboard.
"I can pace myself," he said. "I don't have to worry about my performance. I can make sure I'm ready."
Sabathia wasn't completely ready for this start. He forgot to pack his No. 52 jersey for the trip to Lakeland and nearly had to take the mound with bullpen catcher Dan Williams' No. 43. But a No. 52 was found in time for the game.
Tribe tidbits: SportsTime Ohio, the Indians' newly created regional network, will debut this Sunday, as it will televise the 1:05 p.m. ET game at Chain of Lakes Park against the Yankees. A total of eight Spring Training games will be shown on the network this month. ... The Indians committed three errors in Tuesday's game, bringing their Grapefruit League total to 12 in seven games.
On deck: The Indians will split up once again, as games are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon against the Mets in Winter Haven and against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Right-hander Paul Byrd will get the 1:05 p.m. start at home, opposite Mets right-hander Yusaku Iriki. Left-hander Jeremy Sowers will be facing his twin brother Josh's organization in a 1:05 p.m. start against the Jays and right-hander A.J. Burnett.
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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