The early spring weather has really put me in the mood for baseball, so I'm looking forward to the Indians starting three weeks from today. Say what you will about the talent (or lack thereof), I love me some baseball and I love me some Indians.

Get ready for the season by re-reading @jitribeinsider's series on the 10 most important Indians for a successful 2012 season (accompanied by slideshows put together by yours truly).

Ubaldo Jimenez


Justin Masterson
>

Carlos Santana


Asdrubal Cabrera


Shin-Soo Choo


Josh Tomlin


Grady Sizemore


Jason Kipnis


Casey Kotchman


Vinnie Pestano



-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I have been a fan of the Cleveland Indians since I knew what baseball was. I love the team and know that it won't always have a winning season.

Too bad the Cleveland Twitterverse doesn't feel the same way. During every game, my Twitter stream has been full of hatred toward the Tribe.

How mean is the Cleveland Twitterverse? Mean enough that Matt LaPorta deleted his Twitter account after fan harassment. That's cyber bullying.

If you don't like the Indians and how they're playing, don't watch. Why even waste the energy typing about it?

The whole situation reminds me of a blog post from Railbird J Slim, which said social media is making us mean and rude (in slightly more PG language). There are plenty of more productive things you could be doing with your time than complaining about something over which you have no control. (And yes, I know I could spend my time doing something more productive than complaining about complainers, but I'm almost finished here.)

It was a rough season, but I'm not a fair-weather fan (which is something else that garners complaints in the Cleveland Twitterverse). I'm going to like the Indians whether they're in first place or last, and I'm not going to harass players or fans who think otherwise.




-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

When news that slugger Jim Thome would be returning to Cleveland hit the Internet, social media users were buzzing with excitement.

Here's a quick Storify I put together with comments from Indians fans and information about Thome.





Danielle Capriato | DCapriato@News-Herald.com | @DCapriato

On Tuesday morning, Alex White posted a message on Twitter that elicited some varied and sometimes colorful responses from Cleveland Indians fans. Check out the Storify below to see what he said and just how passionate Cleveland fans can be.



My thoughts on the tweet: It was an immature comment, not well thought out. Sure, maybe Denver is a more beautiful city than Cleveland, and maybe it has more to offer. But the "With the exception of a few people" comment at the end of his tweet implies that there is something wrong with the people of Cleveland, the Indians organization and its fanbase. White should think before he tweets in the future - a lesson he probably learned well this week.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

As anyone on Twitter in the Cleveland area knows, the Cleveland Indians are leading the way in embracing fans through social media.

Injured outfielder Trevor Crowe has taken that a step further.

Crowe spends a good amount of time on Twitter (after all, he is on the 60-day DL). @tcrowe4 spends a lot of time tweeting about the Indians and other random thoughts he has, as well as responding to his followers and occasionally retweeting them. Recently, he's moved his fan embrace to Facebook, creating an account and tweeting that people should friend him.

So of course, I did.

I have to admit, getting this Facebook notification was pretty awesome.

He and I have four mutual friends.

My favorite part about Crowe's profile is that his employer is listed as Cleveland Indians. Duh, that's his employer, but it's kind of funny to see it listed like that.

I also love that several of his friends have posted photos of him. It's kind of neat to see such a big collection of fan photos - and probably even neater for him to see what everyone else sees when he plays. He has responded to some comments and items posted on his wall, too.

Social media has made celebrities and athletes more accessible to fans, and I love that Trevor Crowe has taken that to the next step.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Last week The Onion poked fun at the Indians' unlikely good luck with their story Cleveland Enters Second Month Of Complete Silence So As Not To Jinx Indians.

Perhaps the publication of this story has jinxed the team, since the series against the Rangers hasn't been going in Cleveland's favor.


- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I mentioned Thursday that I was invited that night to the Tribe Social Deck, which is 10 seats next to the Home Run Porch with wireless Internet and a TV. The deck seats people active in social media so they can communicate with each other and their social media followers throughout the game. Rob Campbell (who works with Indians PR) invited me via Twitter, and I brought my good friend Molly O'Hare to take part in the social media experience.

I felt pretty VIP on the Social Deck, which is an actual deck. Although I would have preferred a better view of the entire field (right field was mostly obscured by the Social Deck banner), I liked that we had our own space, and the HD TV tuned in to STO caught me up each time I missed a play because I was tweeting or chatting (the cable feed is 10 seconds behind). I also got to meet someone I had been following on Twitter, who also had been following me. It's sort of a surreal, bizarre experience to meet someone in real life after you've been learning about them through 140-character bits and pieces.

The strangest thing about the Social Deck might not have even been related to the Social Deck at all. In the ninth inning, the Indians were down 4-2. I tweeted that the game had looked promising earlier on (because I was predicting [correctly] that they weren't getting this one). A minute or two after I sent the message, a male voice from rows up and behind us loudly said, "It's still a pretty close game." I immediately felt a little self-conscious that he might have been responding to my negative tweet but didn't want to identify himself by replying directly to me on Twitter. 

Other than that somewhat awkward moment, I really enjoyed being on the Social Deck and am looking forward to going to more games on it next year. I would love to see more teams doing stuff like this to get fans involved in conversation. What an easy way to get immediate feedback about your team, your stadium, your service and more.

Oh and about the Indians ... They lost, 4-2, so it wasn't an awful game. And my often used phrase of the night: Trevor Crowe, the new Grady Sizemore. I hope we keep that guy around. (But Assistant Sports Editor Kevin Kleps is telling me that he wouldn't be a starter on another team and just happens to be because the Indians haven't been that great.)


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

I have been invited to join the #TribeSocialDeck tonight and will be tweeting throughout the game. Follow me @nhcheryl.


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Jason Lea, a staff writer and frequent book blogger for The News-Herald, has been crafting videos encouraging people to pick up a book and read. But he's getting a little personal in his latest creation.

Warning: This video is not for the bitter or weak Cleveland sports fan.



This makes my heart hurt.


--Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

When I was younger, I used to pretend to be a figure skater with my roller blades in the cul-de-sac. I loved watching the Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Kristi Yamaguchi during the Winter Olympics, and I've always been a hockey fan (my dad is still playing at 56).

But I was not one of the 32.6 million people watching the opening ceremony; I was at the movies. I don't really care that I missed it, and I don't know when any events are airing. I'll probably catch some of it while channel surfing, but the Winter Olympics just aren't as exciting as the Summer Olympics. Maybe it's because there aren't as many sports, or because there aren't as many well-known athletes competing. As I'm typing this, my co-worker tells me the U.S. already has four medals. I didn't even know they had started competing.

I like watching sports (and participating in college football pick'ems), but right now my attention just isn't focused on Vancouver. I'm more excited about the Cavs' near-franchise-record win streak, and the fact that pitchers and catchers report to spring training Feb. 21.

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com