Ga-Ga for Grady

Another season is underway here in Cleveland. Girls line up for autographs, more Mrs. Sizemore shirts are sold, more number twenty-four Tribe jerseys fly off the hangers, and this humble Adonis posts great numbers. My daughter even informed me, this morning, how cute Grady Sizemore is. This is only his third season with the big league club, but this young man is no ordinary ballplayer. His second season posted even bigger numbers and reeled in more highlights than his first. This season looks to be an even brighter one for the young man roaming centerfield, in his first three games of the season he has already hit three home runs.

People in Cleveland were petrified after Grady's rookie season, since he reminded so many of the Tribe's loyal fans of Joe Charbonneau. Joe Charbonneau was the rookie of the year in 1982, hitting .289, with 23 home runs, 87 runs batted in, and 2 stolen bases. After only three seasons Joe was out of baseball. Thankfully, the fans in Cleveland have been treated to a summer delight with Grady Sizemore. Grady hails from Everett, Washington, where he was a high school football, basketball, and baseball star. He even holds the Cascade High School record for all time rushing yards with 3,081 and interceptions with 16. Following a stellar high school career, Grady signed a letter of intent to play baseball and football for the University of Washington. The Montreal Expos assured the university that Grady would not be attending by drafting him in the third round of the 2000 draft. He tore through the Montreal minors with relative ease, attracting the attention of the Tribe brass. In a bold move, the Tribe shipped off Tim Drew and Bartolo Colon for Lee Stevens, Cliff Lee, Brandon Philips, and Grady.

Of course, Grady found himself in the perfect place at the right time. Cleveland had been busy trimming the high profile players and salaries from their squad. It was a time that had the Cleveland faithful bristling with every move new general manager, Mark Shapiro, made. The fans were left scratching their heads while filled with heavy hearts. They knew the rebuilding stage would be rough, but few had confidence with the vision. Mark Shapiro was emulating the moves of his predecessor, John Hart, signing the young stars to long term contracts and bringing in veteran players to try and add some leadership to the youth movement of the Tribe. Few of the veteran signings actually worked, but hope was on the way. In came Juan Gonzalez, a big bopper with the Texas organization that had a history of mysterious nagging injuries, and history repeats itself. Juan, once again, is injured for most of the season. Grady's career is hurried as he is promoted to the big leagues in 2005. He solidified his spot on the squad by posting monster rookie numbers. He hit .289, with 22 home runs, 81 runs batted in, and 22 stolen bases.

In 2006, Grady responded, "Joe who?" He posted better numbers than the previous season, hitting .290, scored an incredible 134 runs, with 190 hits, 52 were doubles, 11 were triples, 28 sailed over the fence, had 22 swipes, and had 78 runs batted in. He accomplished this feat by playing in all 162 games. This did not go unrecognized by the league; they selected him to represent the Tribe in the All Star game as a reserve outfielder.

During the offseason Grady resides in Mill Creek, Washington and Westlake, Ohio during the baseball season. Tribe fans have to wait a little while longer to see their star center fielder in action, since the first three home games were cancelled due to the snow. Ironically, Grady was supposed to have been facing his home team from Seattle in the home opener. Of course, the 25 year old is still single, ladies. There is even a cute Grady Sizemore fan site called The Grady's Ladies Sisterhood, which is actually a pretty cute website. For more news and information about Grady Sizemore and the Cleveland Indians, you can visit the Official site of the Cleveland Indians.