0xbt

Trevor Bauer turned from pitcher to politician to prize fighter.

If the weather was going to finish him [url=http://www.jetsfootballauthentics.com/chris-herndon-jersey-authentic]Youth Chris Herndon Jersey[/url] , Bauer was going down swinging.

Bauer pitched seven scoreless innings before a rain delay ended his night, and Jason Kipnis homered to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 6-2 win over the sliding and sloppy Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Bauer (6-5) allowed just three hits, struck out eight and was in line to potentially pitch his first career shutout. However, after the game was halted in the seventh for 35 minutes, manager Terry Francona pulled the right-hander following the delay.

Not before Bauer pleaded his case.

”Carl Willis was lucky he didn’t come tell me,” Bauer said, referring to Cleveland’s pitching coach. ”I told him any one but Tito and I was throwing fists.”

Bauer was joking, of course, but Francona liked how his right-hander fought to remain in the game.

”Boy, I give him credit, man,” Francona said. ”Even during the rain delay he was politicking. It just doesn’t make sense. But I gotta tell you, if you’re going to get into a little bit of a push and shove, I like it that he wants to stay in. I respect the hell out of that. I just didn’t think it made sense. I don’t have any doubt he could have done it, too. ”

Roberto Perez drove in two runs off Dylan Covey (3-2) as Cleveland improved to 15-4 in its last 19 home games against Chicago.

The White Sox committed three errors – one by Covey – in the first three innings, lost their fifth straight and dropped a season-high 23 games under .500.

Matt Davidson homered in the ninth for Chicago.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria felt Covey deserved better.

”Believe it or not even though Dylan did have a few walks, he didn’t throw the ball as badly as the numbers might show,” he said. ”We didn’t defend for him. A lot of sloppy play out there to be honest. We just didn’t catch the ball and pick him up when we could have and he still ground out five innings.”

Chicago’s hitters couldn’t get anything going against Bauer, who struck out 12 in a tough loss against the White Sox and Covey last week. Bauer was bidding to tie a club record held by two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber with his fifth consecutive game of at least 10 strikeouts.

Bauer got to eight, but was denied any more because of a line of storms off Lake Erie and Francona’s decision not to push him further. Bauer has thrown at least 100 pitches in all 16 starts this season.

The enigmatic starter is crediting his success to some new pitches and a ”tunneling approach” in which he divides the plate into quadrants.

”The more I’m able to execute those spots, with given pitches [url=http://www.jetsfootballauthentics.com/nathan-shepherd-jersey-authentic]Youth Nathan Shepherd Jersey[/url] , the more confusion there is in the hitters because they see the same look over and over, and the ball goes different ways at different speeds and what not,” he said.

Perez’s two-run, ground-rule double highlighted Cleveland’s three-run second inning, which was set up by Chicago second baseman Yoan Moncada’s fielding error.

MARSHALL PLAN

Indians reliever Evan Marshall left in the eighth after complaining of elbow soreness. Francona said the team will likely have an update on him Wednesday.

MORE THAN A NAME

Looking for bullpen help, the Indians signed veteran reliever Marc Rzepczynski to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Columbus. The left-hander previously pitched for Cleveland from 2013-15, appearing in 145 games.

The club currently needs a lefty reliever with both Andrew Miller and Tyler Olson on the disabled list. Rzepczynski could be an option.

”It’s a guy we know,” Francona said. ”We’re down to one lefty right now, so it’s a guy that certainly could come here and help. He didn’t sign to stay in Triple-A.”

Francona joked that he still has trouble spelling the lefty’s last name.

”I’ve got it in my phone: Z-E-P,” he said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Renteria said OF Avisail Garcia (strained right hamstring) is progressing well on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. Garcia’s status will be reassessed after he plays Tuesday and Wednesday. He’s been on the disabled list since May 24.

Indians: OF Bradley Zimmer will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder. Zimmer felt discomfort while throwing after he initially strained the shoulder while doing drills after being sent to Columbus to work on his game. ”I don’t think he thought it was anything, and it just didn’t feel good. So, we’re going to go ahead and get him looked at,” Francona said.

UP NEXT

Indians RHP Mike Clevinger will face the White Sox for the second straight start. He set a career high with 11 strikeouts and held Chicago to one run over seven innings last Thursday. Carlos Rodon will start for the White Sox.

—

Vince McMahon is resuscitating the XFL.

OK, let’s get the bad jokes out of the way: Are some teams going to be wearing masks and representing parts unknown? Will the hook-and-ladder play involve smashing someone with a real ladder?

The XFL was a ”colossal failure” the first time McMahon tried it – his words – and there’s every reason to believe XFL2 will meet a similar fate.

But a spring football league, done the right way, could work.

And, no, we’re not kidding around.

The United States Football League came up with the most feasible concept back in the 1980s, only to crumble after just three seasons because of out-of-control spending and a suicidal push by owners such as Donald Trump to compete directly against the NFL .

But the USFL might still be around today if it had stuck to its original concept, which was to serve as more of a complement to the NFL than a direct competitor.

The timing is ripe for another attempt.

While the economy is booming and football remains the nation’s most popular sport, the NFL is contending with shrinking TV ratings [url=http://www.raidersfootballauthentics.com/arden-key-jersey-authentic]Youth Arden Key Jersey[/url] , empty seats and a lingering debate over players kneeling during the national anthem to protest social injustice. For the first time in decades, there are actually some cracks in the league’s armor.

Clearly, those issues figured into McMahon’s planned re-launch of the XFL in 2020 .

”As far as this league is concerned, it will have nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with social issues,” he said. ”That’s what the fans want. When they tune in to a game, they don’t want to deal with political issues. They want to watch good football.”

Good football will likely be the fatal flaw in McMahon’s new venture, just as it was for the original XFL. While the risque cheerleaders and close ties to wrestling brought plenty of much-deserved ridicule, it was the amateurish quality of play that ultimately caused its downfall. As Bob Costas memorably observed, it was ”mediocre high school football” combined ”with a tawdry strip club.”

Since McMahon’s new XFL will follow the same single-entity plan – he’ll be the sole owner of the eight-team league – there’s unlikely to be nearly enough money to lure any recognizable names, unless Tim Tebow (yes, he came up during the announcement Thursday) decides to make a football comeback.

But an updated version of the USFL concept would have a real chance at succeeding during the spring and summer, football’s traditional offseason.

Here’s a few ideas:

– Start with 10 or 12 teams, split between major NFL cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles; those that have lost teams (San Diego, St. Louis and soon-to-be Oakland); and untapped markets with big league stadiums (San Antonio comes to mind).

– Restrict ownership to those who not only have deep pockets, but are totally committed to the concept (i.e., not simply trying to turn their investment into a merger with the NFL). Point out the relative bargain of owning a team in the new league compared to, say, the Carolina Panthers, whose selling price will surely exceed $2 billion. Maybe Mark Cuban would be interested in a Dallas franchise. Reach out to Oprah Winfrey about a Chicago team.

– Don’t get into a bidding war with the NFL over players. Focus heavily on scouting and development [url=http://www.eaglesfootballauthentics.com/markus-wheaton-jersey-authentic]Youth Markus Wheaton Jersey[/url] , which means pursuing lower-level pros who might thrive in a bigger role and college stars projected to go in the later rounds of the NFL draft. Always be on the lookout for someone like 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, the subject of wildly varying draft projections, who might have a better chance at playing time in a new league. And let’s not forget: Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed.

– Line up a traditional TV deal to provide financial stability, perhaps some combination of a major network and a newer, sports-themed cable outlet such as NBCSN or Fox Sports 1. But also be on the cutting edge of subscription services, mobile streaming and other innovative conduits that appeal to a younger audience.

In essence, follow the model laid out by the late David Dixon, the New Orleans businessman whose longtime push for an out-of-season league finally came to fruition with the launch of the USFL in 1983.

Looking back, that first season was a rousing success in many ways. The Denver Gold averaged more than 41,000 fans. Overall attendance was roughly in line with the hoped-for 25,000 per game. TV ratings on ABC and then-fledgling ESPN actually exceeded projections. The quality of play was solid.

But the seeds of the USFL’s downfall were already in motion. When the New Jersey Generals skirted the salary cap to lure Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker away from Georgia, it only led more teams to dole out big bucks in pursuit of stars. That, in turn, led to huge financial losses. Dixon wisely walked away after that inaugural season.

In the end, the USFL’s most enduring legacy was the $3 judgment it ”won” in an antitrust suit against the NFL, a ruling that finished off the league in 1986 before it carried out a Trump-backed move from spring to fall.

No one since has made a serious attempt at a spring football league.

A revived XFL certainly doesn’t qualify.

But someone out there should heed McMahon’s words.

”Football is America’s favorite sport,” he said. ”We’ve got seven months of no football on the gridiron and 70 million fans. Why not now? Now is the perfect opportunity.”

—

Paul Newb