Outbreak of Tribe fever

"Indians fever ... It starts from the very first inning."

Remember that old jingle from the 1980s? If you grew up in Northeast Ohio like I did back then and watched the Indians on WUAB-TV 43, you probably do.

It's been a while since we can talk about "Indians fever" and talk about it positively. The last several years, "Indians fever" could have been likened to an epidemic like E-Coli or the West Nile Virus. Cases of "Indians fever" included referring to seasons as "a grind," getting off to a slow start one season and then limping down the stretch in a second, becoming a penny-pinching miser that liked to go bargain-hunting in the discount rack and sinking resources into a toboggan ramp during the winter months, among others.

Three names have turned "Indians fever" into something positive -- Terry Francona, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn.

Although, it starts with Francona, because without him (even if they made Sandy Alomar Jr. the manager), neither Swisher or Bourn come to Cleveland, even with the deals they offered them.

Francona became, arguably, the biggest name manager the Indians have ever hired. John McNamara was a successful manager with the Red Sox, but was aging when he was hired in the early 1990s. Frank Robinson garnered a lot of headlines because he was the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball history in 1975, but he had never managed before and was mostly known as a player.

Even Mike Hargrove, arguably the Tribe's most successful manager ever (although you could make a case for Al Lopez or Lou Boudreau), while coming in with a lot of hype because of his status as a former Indian ballplayer, had never been a MLB manager before he took over for John McNamara (and, briefly, John Hart) in 1991.

Francona came back to the Indians with two World Series rings from his successful stint as the Red Sox manager, which came to an inglorious end in 2011 when his team gave up a large lead in the AL East and wound up totally missing the playoffs.

By and large, since hiring McNamara, and even before that, the Indians have usually settled for hiring the unknown commodity. Following Hargrove, Charlie Manuel, Joel Skinner, Eric Wedge and Manny Acta were hired to mostly yawns from the fanbase. All four were fired (although Skinner got a job on Wedge's staff and will always been known as "Stop-Sign Skinner" as a result) after just two playoff berths and four winning seasons during that span.

The last two years under Acta, the Indians got off to great starts only to falter in the second half. Last year's five-win August essentially sealed Acta's fate.

When Acta got hired, he claimed that managerial jobs for franchises like the Indians "go to guys like me" and that "Tony LaRussa wouldn't be walking through that door." Who knew how wrong he would be!

Francona spent his early childhood in Cleveland while his father, Tito Francona, played for the Indians from 1959-64. Terry himself spent the second-to-last season of his 10-year MLB career playing for the Indians, batting .311 with one home run and 12 RBIs in 60 games in 1988.

In the three seasons before he became Boston's manager in 2004 and after he had managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000, Francona spent one year serving as a special assistant to Tribe general manager Mark Shapiro. Francona and Shapiro and Chris Antonetti, who wound up becoming the team's GM when Shapiro was inexplicably promoted following a disasterous 2009 season, all grew to be very close.

Both of those factors played into Francona's decision to leave a cushy gig analyzing baseball for ESPN to head back to the dugout with the Indians. In fact, Francona stated that the Indians' job was the only one he would have considered, which the Cleveland-hating ESPN felt was incredulous.

Many felt that if the Indians were going to resume their bargain-basement spending ways, they might as well have saved their money and kept Alomar in the manager's office. Alomar is one of the most popular players from the "Jacobs Field Era of Champions" and fans would have given him a considerable longer leash than they did did Wedge and Acta. Alomar could have been allowed to grow into the job like Hargrove did. However, the Indians had another trick up their sleeves.

Using Francona as their lead recruiter, the Indians hit the free agent market ready to shop. It didn't hurt that Larry and Paul Dolan had $250 million to spend after selling SportsTime Ohio to FOX Sports.

Along with Swisher and Bourn -- the latter signed a four-year, $44 million deal on the eve of spring training -- the Indians also signed slugger Mark Reynolds and pitcher Brett Myers and traded Shin-Shoo Choo's expiring contract to the Reds for speedy outfielder Drew Stubbs and top-notch pitching prospect Trevor Bauer, among others.

They also showed that old habits die hard and did their share of bargain hunting. Signed to minor league deals were aging slugger and former steroid cheat Jason Giambi, former standout pitchers Scott Kazmir and Daisuke Matsuzaka, oft-injured closer Matt Capps and outfielder Ryan Raburn. Kazmir and Raburn made the team. Giambi will open the season on the disabled list with a phony injury, while Matsuzaka and Capps agreed to start the season in Class AAA Columbus.

With another season of Indians baseball set to begin tonight at Toronto, optimism is at its highest in many, many years. You'd probably have to back to 2002 for similar optimism, and that's only because the Indians had just made the playoffs six times in the previous seven seasons. Optimism wasn't high in 2008 following their spirited postseason run in 2007 because the Indians did nothing during the offseason to build off of what they did, unless you consider giving designated hitter Travis Hafner $57 million to spend more time in the training room than he did in the batters box.

Joe Cleveland hasn't been shy about his criticism of the Indians in recent years, especially when it comes to the Dolans, Shapiro, Antonetti and Wedge or Acta. And, while I applaud their recent spending spree, I'm not ready to anoint them a playoff team just yet.

Various preseason prognasticators have the Indians finishing as high as second or even as low as fifth in the AL Central. Some have them winning one of the Wild Card spots, while others think they'll flirt with 90 losses again.

And, the main reason for that, and the main reason why Joe Cleveland is skeptical about this Indians team, is their sketchy pitching staff.

While the Indians spent a lot of money to beef up their lineup with a nice mixture of power (Reynolds, Swisher, Stubbs) and speed (Bourn, Stubbs), they really neglected to address their questionable starting pitching.

The Indians' top two starters, Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez, went 11-15 and 9-17, respectively, with ERAs of 4.93 and 5.40, respectively. Not exactly the second-coming of Bob Feller and Bob Lemon.

The fourth starter, Zach McAllister, went 6-8 with a 4.24 ERA last season. He was the Indians' third-best starting pitcher last season.

Myers, the free agent signed by the Indians in the offseason, split the 2012 season between Houston (0-4, 19 saves) and the Chicago White Sox (3-4). All told, he went 3-8 with a 3.31, making 70 appearances WITHOUT A SINGLE START!

Kazmir, the bargain-basement signing who beat out Bauer and Carlos Carrasco for the fifth spot in the rotation, was out of the majors last year, spending 2012 with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League and going 3-6 with a 5.34 ERA. He was 9-15 with 5.94 ERA with the Los Angeles Angels in his last full big-league season, which was 2010. He hasn't appeared in a major league game since making one start with the Angels in 2011.

This is the rotation the Indians will trot out for the start of the 2013 season, a season that has many folks dreaming of October baseball.

Sure, the defense should be better, with three center fielders in Bourn, Stubbs and holdover Michael Brantley patrolling the outfield. While neither Nick Swisher or Mark Reynolds are fantastic defensemen, they should be better than Casey Kotchman or Matt LaPorta at first base, and you should expect better defensive years from second baseman Jason Kipnis, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall.

However, the infielders aren't exactly Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance, and three center fielders could be an experiment that blows up due to Stubbs playing an unfamiliar position.

Sure, Bauer could be up in the big leagues before the season comes to a close, but Bauer only went 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in four starts with the DiamondBacks last season. He's far from a finished product.

And, the closer is still Mt. Saint Chris Perez, a volcanic force that can be light's out one minute and be flirting with disaster the next. And, let's not forget his penchant for being a lightning rod of controversy with his mouth. The Indians dangled Perez and Cabrera in the offseason, along with Masterson, but didn't find any offers to their liking.

I expect the Indians to be much better than they were last season. However, I don't think this team will win 90 games. In fact, anything above-.500 this season would surprise me. They need Masterson and Ubaldo to pitch like the aces the team expects if they want any chance at a playoff berth. If not, it will be back to the drawing board for next season.

I think the Indians will engage in a lot of 7-6 games as a result of their sketchy pitching and shaky infield defense and slugging offense (that may set a single-season record for most strikeouts as a team). I think the Indians will finish third in the AL Central behind Detroit (who are legitimate candidates for another World Series, and even a title) and the up-and-coming Kansas City Royals, who may be a year ahead of the Indians in their rebuilding efforts.

The Indians will go 81-81; not horrible, but enough to raise the optimism for next season.

Hopefully, the Tribe exceeds my expectations, but after watching the Indians for most of my life, I can't help but have tempered expectations.

While Terry Francona can proclaim that this is "a Tribe Town" and "a baseball town," at this moment, it certainly is not. However, if Francona can get this team back to the winning ways we saw from 1995-2001 (and the Browns continue to be stuck in mediocrity), that proclamation could very well come true.

Until next time, Go Tribe, and remember that Cleveland Rocks!