Plenty of Tribe, plenty of Browns and plenty of sociological discussion this week in The Weekend Wrap.

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I do sometimes wonder if my commentary is fair, being off the reservation, so to speak.  It’s been over a decade since I put Northeast Ohio in the rear view mirror, and I’d admit there are certain things about being a Cleveland sports fan that I don’t have to deal with from my desert abode.  Perhaps, it’s a wash, the upside of not being able to attend the home games on anything close to a regular basis, which actually isn’t anything close to what I would consider a silver lining.  Not having to deal with the atmosphere, in exchange for not getting to be a part of the atmosphere is the same type of “glass half-full” viewpoint as someone raving about the cleanliness of the silverware at a restaurant where they were given food poisoning.  While it’s true that I don’t miss the wintry mixes, the potholes, or the summer afternoons of sucking exhaust fumes on the Inner Belt, one thing I sure do miss is Cleveland, Ohio on Friday night.

Left with only the options of missing out altogether or watching on television, living vicariously through the 13,000 that show up, on average, to the ballpark, I choose the latter.  Given just two home games, the tenants at the Field that they call Progressive, though most of us still call it Jacobs, have given their Friday night faithful with something to go home happy about on both occasions.  This most recent Friday night, Tres De Mayo, was a much more pleasant affair than the freeze-fest a few Fridays ago with the White Sox and Tribe trading zeroes for 2 hours and 18 minutes.  This one, the one where they rescued victory from the jaws of a series-opening defeat at the hands of the inept Minnesota Twins, came in the midst of outstanding weather conditions and hey, 13 runs is a more fun than 1.

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A byproduct of the baseball season lasting six months is that we often forget how old and how experienced certain players are. Jason Kipnis is this season’s example. Kipnis is clearly struggling at the plate this season, but he’s only entering the prime of his career at age 26 and has just 906 plate appearances under his belt. He’s still growing and learning as a baseball player.

Kipnis had success at every level in the minors, even while converting from an outfielder to a second baseman, which is no small task. He hit .297/.378/.486/.863 over 254 minor league games. Because he was a four-year college player with a couple years at Kentucky and a couple years at Arizona State, he was on the fast track, rising from Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2009 to Double-A Akron by June of 2010. He played just three-and-a-half months in Columbus before being called up to Major Leagues to make his debut on July 22, 2011 .

Things started out great for Kipnis, minus an oblique injury that ate up almost a month of his first big league season. He showed surprising power and good speed over his first 150 plate appearances, posting an .851 OPS with five steals and 17 extra base hits. The true eye opener was Kipnis’s first half of the 2012 season. Picking up right where he left off, Kipnis posted a .765 first half OPS with 11 home runs in 370 plate appearances. He also showed more confidence on the basepaths, racking up 20 steals by the All-Star Break. By WAR, wins above replacement player, Kipnis was the team’s best player in the first half of 2012.

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Today was the day I have been dreading for awhile. Perhaps, years... I didn't think it would ever come.

Today I'm getting my wisdom teeth out. Depending on when you are reading this, I may be currently in surgery or passed out in my bed hoping to wake up without any sort of agonizing pain. Or you are reading it so quickly after it posted that I'm actually just awake roaming around nervously before my surgery. 

Either way, I'm not looking forward to this experience as everyone has a story, and none of those stories involve anything other than some sort of pain or discomfort. 

Of course you didn't come here for me to tell you about my teeth, but I did feel I should share that tidbit, as it means I will be out of action here for a few days. It shouldn't prevent you from voting for Bro of the Month though, because you only have a few days for that.

So, the last rundown for, like maybe a day, two at the most I guess. I won't let a few teeth keep me down too long.

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