Why would anybody be interested in photos of Cleveland Indians player Grady Sizemore?”
While the Tiger Woods affair and subsequent car accident may have sports fans feeling distraught these days, at least Grady Sizemore is around to lighten the mood. The Cleveland Indians centerfielder, known as one of baseball’s preeminent five-tool players, comes close to showing off his sixth tool in a series of recently-released photos. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer believes the Indians are looking for a right-handed first baseman that would allow Matt LaPorta to play the outfield against left-handers. The first baseman would ride the bench a majority of the time, so the pickings will be slim. Hoynes notes the possibilities, including Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and former National Dmitri Young, who played for new manager Manny Acta in Washington. The club also has Triple-A Interleague batting champion Jordan Brown in Cleveland, although Brown is left-handed.
Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore has proven that when healthy, he’s an All-Star caliber player, a distinction he’s earned three times. He plays all-out all of the time and it’s near-impossible, it seems, that he’d ever cause dissension on a team. The intangibles drive his value to his team beyond what mere statistics might show. A couple years ago, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called Sizemore, “the best player in our league” and “Superman.” It became fashionable to echo Guillen’s words. A Cleveland.com entry in May, 2007, told readers about Sizemore being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, with a reference to what Guillen had to say. You never know, though, when Guillen is sincere and when he’s not. One suspects he was about Sizemore, but it was a lot to say then about a 24-year-old player who, though remarkably gifted, was still in the process of having to prove himself over the long term. And, as Guillen’s contentio
