The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rookie Mayfield shows Cowherd who’s in charge
Any Browns fan would feel better about Mayfield after hearing the way Mayfield won the day.
Colin Cowherd, a host who enjoys needling his guests while trying to irritate them, had Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield on his Fox Sports 1 television show last week.
Any Browns fan would feel better about Mayfield and about the Browns after hearing the way Mayfield won the day like he someday might throw touchdown passes to Josh Gordon over an overmatched cornerback.
Cowherd basically told Mayfield that Mayfield looked good as a college quarterback at Oklahoma because Oklahoma always gets the best players in the Big 12.
“Now you go to Cleveland, and they don’t have the best players in the league,” Cowherd said. “You’re going to be asked to carry —”
“Let me stop you right there,” Mayfield shot back. “Have you seen our roster? We have a quarterback in Tyrod Taylor that took the Bills to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. We have guys that are very talented — Jarvis Landry, Duke Johnson, Carlos Hyde. We have guys.”
Cowherd tried to say Mayfield at a shade under 6-foot-1 isn’t tall enough to be a Hall of Fame quarterback in the NFL. Mayfield called a successful audible on that one, too.
“Today’s game is different,” Mayfield said. “It’s faster. It’s not nearly as physical. You see more teams reverting to some of the screen game. You watch the Eagles, Chiefs and Rams play. You have options on your run plays to throw the ball. You’re trying to make a defense wrong by numbers. It’s not your typical call a play, smash-mouth football.
“It’s just different. You don’t need a guy that’s 6-foot-5 to sit behind the pocket and sit there every down and throw. You need somebody that’s going to manage the game, make those guys around him better — it doesn’t matter the size when it comes to that; all that’s out the window — and just be able to get a W.”
Cowherd described the Browns as “dysfunctional.” It certainly is a fair assessment of the past. But again, Mayfield sounded like a mother bear protecting her cubs.
“I have no concern about it being dysfunctional because it’s not,” Mayfield said. “I’ve watched the way (Assistant General Manager) Eliot Wolf and (General Manager) John Dorsey react with everyone — our coaches and the Haslam family. It’s not dysfunctional at all. Until you step foot in that building, you can have whatever opinion you want. We know what we have in there. That’s all that matters. We’re going to stay true to that and go to work.”
Former NFL receiver Nate Burleson, now on NFL Network, commenting on the way Mayfield handled himself in the Cowherd interview said: “I’d want to be in a huddle with that guy. Browns fans, you have a leader, a fire-starter, a new hope.”
Bieber to the rescue
The Indians’ starting rotation looked so deep in January that manager Terry Francona was challenged to find innings for everyone. But before spring training began, a shoulder injury put Danny Salazar on the shelf and a knee injury stalled Ryan Merritt.
The season began and Josh Tomlin was so ineffective he was relegated to mop-up duty in the bullpen. Now Carlos Carrasco is down with an elbow injury, although he is working his way back.
The Indians still have Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger taking the ball every fifth day, but with Carrasco ailing, Shane Bieber and Adam Plutko have filled in well.
“The great thing about both of those guys is that they’ve earned their opportunity in which they’ve pitched,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said. “Adam rebounded from a tough year last year where he had some injuries and got off to a really good start this year, and maybe got back to some of the things that allowed him to be successful throughout his college career and his minor-league career.
“Now that he’s back to doing those things, he’s seeing it can translate to the major-league level and be successful.”
Plutko, 3-1 with a 5.04 ERA, is scheduled to start against the Tigers against Detroit lefty Matthew Boyd (4-5, 3.63) in a 1:10 p.m. game on June 24 at Progressive Field.
Bieber got his first win in the major leagues on June 17 when he held the Twins to one run over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-1 Tribe victory.
Bieber was masterful again on June 22. Rain delayed the start of the game by an hour and 41 minutes, but when the game began he was ready. He pitched seven scoreless innings, struck out nine, walked one batter and allowed four hits in the Indians’ 10-0 romp over the second-place Tigers.
“Shane has continued his development as a pitcher and really has thrived in every single challenge that has been put in front of him, and met that head on and proved that he’s capable of succeeding,” Antonetti said in the interview that occurred before Bieber beat the Tigers. “The next thing for him is continuing his development and maturation at the majorleague level.
“Both of those guys have provided a great lift to us in the opportunities that they’ve gotten so far in the rotation, and we’re confident giving them the ball going forward.”
Bieber, 23, doesn’t overpower hitters. He has success getting them to swing and miss at his breaking ball.
“I said before the game I was excited to see him pitch,” Francona said after Bieber tamed the Tigers. “He pounded the zone with three different pitches. He changed speeds. We made an error and two pitches later he got a double play.
“He finished the seventh the same as the first inning. I looked up and he had 21 strikeouts and three walks (for the season). For a young kind coming to the big leagues for the first time, you never see that. Usually it takes them a while to figure out they can throw strikes and get through it.”
Bieber pitches like a young Josh Tomlin.
• Relief pitchers Neil Ramirez (four earned runs in 13 innings through 15 games) and Oliver Perez (one earned run in seven innings through eight games) have stopped the bleeding in the bullpen.
“Those guys have at least given (pitching coach Carl Willis) and Tito some options to go too late in the game,” Antonetti said. “They’ve pitched in some high-leverage situations and have had success doing it. So, hopefully, that can provide some stability for us moving forward.”
Ticket inflation
Nobody loves LeBron James more than those who make their living scalping tickets legally, a.k.a. the secondary ticket market.
According to a study of its own prices done by TickPick, a secondary no-fee marketplace, the average price on the secondary market for a ticket to a Cavaliers game was $60.03 in 2013-14, LeBron’s last year with the Miami Heat. That same season the average cost for a Heat home game was $114.12.
James rejoined the Cavaliers for the 2014-15 season. Tickets on the secondary market for games at The Q jumped more than 80 percent to an average of $107.90.
Predictably, they dipped in Miami, though not by the same margin ($92.89) because Dwyane Wade was still with the Heat and still a drawing card.
Ticket prices dipped James’ second year back with the Cavs to an average of $92.69 while they remained about level in Miami.
The biggest surge was in 2016-17 — the season after the Cavaliers won the NBA championship. The average price for a Cavs game at The Q was $120.88.
That was also the first year the Heat was without Wade. Those ticket prices dropped 3 percent from $90.96 to $60.66.
With all the turmoil the Cavs went through in 2017-18, and the fact they failed to defend their title, the average ticket price for a game at The Q dropped to $94.54.
Predictably, they will tumble dramatically in 2018-19 if James announces next month he is taking his talents elsewhere.
You can bet Stubhub, Vivid Seats, Seat Geek and the rest of the secondary ticket sellers are praying James decides “There’s no place like home” and stays with the Cavaliers.
I didn’t know that
... Until I read my Snapple bottle cap
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