2008 Cleveland Indians season
| 2008 Cleveland Indians | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Larry Dolan |
| General manager(s) | Mark Shapiro |
| Manager(s) | Eric Wedge |
| Local television |
SportsTime Ohio (Matt Underwood, Rick Manning, Al Pawlowski) WKYC (Jim Donovan, Rick Manning) |
| Local radio |
WTAM · WMMS Cleveland Indians Radio Network (Tom Hamilton, Jim Rosenhaus, Mike Hegan) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 2008 Cleveland Indians season marked the 108th season for the franchise, as the Indians attempted to defend their American League Central division title. The team played all of its home games at Progressive Field (formerly known as Jacobs Field).
2008 was the final year that the Indians held Spring training in Winter Haven, Florida, at Chain of Lakes Park. In 2009 the Indians would return to train in Goodyear, Arizona for the first time in 15 years at the new Goodyear Ballpark.
The Indians approached the winter of 2007–2008 with the idea that tinkering at the edges was what was primarily needed to build on the previous year. Acquired in the offseason were utility infielder Jamey Carroll,Japanese League reliever Masahide Kobayashi and reliever Jorge Julio.
The Indians ended spring training in March with only one surprise, cutting veteran reliever Aaron Fultz in favor of pick up Craig Breslow (who was cut by the Boston Red Sox). Notable contributors from 2007 to start the year in Buffalo instead of Cleveland were Aaron Laffey, Ben Francisco, Josh Barfield, and Tom Mastny. The Indians opened the regular season with a 10–8 win over the Chicago White Sox.
The victory in the home opener came with a price: an injury to catcher Victor Martinez. While the offense played well enough to win the opening series, Martinez's missing bat did not help the Indians on their west coast road trip, where they lost series with both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Martinez returned to play for the Angels series. The Indians offense continued to struggle as the team failed to win their next four series. Near the end of the month, the Indians swept the Kansas City Royals split a four-game series against the New York Yankees and appeared to be coming out of their slump. Starting pitcher Cliff Lee was named American League Pitcher of the Month for April, as he finished the month 5–0 with a 0.96 ERA.
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