The Indians are in sole possession of first place! So, as promised, the strike out counter will be converted to a home run counter. Originally, the purpose of the strike out counter was because it looked like the Indians had a chance at breaking the all-time Major League (or at least the American League) record for strike outs. The Houston Astros have completely made all those discussions pointless as they are on pace to completely shatter both records themselves. Through 44 games, the Astros have struck out 432 times and are on pace to break the Major League record in just 155 games. The Indians are far behind this and, in fact, rank just seventh in the majors in k's. They are still on pace to break the team record of 1,269, but that was only set two years ago and they aren't set to break it until at least 155 games into the year.

Instead of focusing on the negative of tallying strike outs, Burning River Baseball will now put the emphasis on the long ball, something the Indians have been doing a lot this year. They have went back and forth with a few other teams for the AL lead, but are currently tied with the Rangers for first in the AL with 57. This puts them on pace to hit two less home runs than the team record of 221 set in 2000. Of course, with Jason Kipnis, Drew Stubbs and the weather heating up, chances are the home runs will keep coming at an even faster pace. Keep an eye on the right side of the burningriverbaseball.com home page to see how the Indians are faring throughout the rest of the season.

There is a time for serious baseball analysis and there is a time for silliness. Now is that time.

For anyone who wants a poorly made Indians wallpaper for their computer, check out my Flickr account for the original.

The Cast:

Michael Bourn as the Flash - Signed for his tremendous speed, Bourn has already shown glimpses of it on the base paths and in the outfield. It is also rumored that his stint on the DL was actually because he was holding a race against LeBron James to find out who really is faster. 

Michael Brantley as the Amazing Spider Man - Wall climbing is just one of Brantley's Amazing abilities that also include diving catches in the outfield and fighting the Green Goblin.

Jason Kipnis as Iron Man - The most durable Indian, Kipnis is on the field every day no matter what. He uses his hand rockets to get that extra height when turning difficult double plays.

Nick Swisher as Nickelangelo - The original dude-bro, Nicky is way too cool to care about anything on or off the field. He actually lives in the sewers beneath Progressive Field and hangs out with a giant rat (brought with him from New York City).

Cody Allen as the Bullpen Boy Wonder - The youngest member of the Bullpen Mafia is quite a versatile little helper for Chris Perez and co. He is available for long relief or the one inning hold and is always there to save the day (or at least one time in Detroit).

Mark Reynolds as the God of Thunder - Reynolds swings a mean hammer as the most powerful member of the current Indians super team. Not only does Mjolnir put some thunder behind every swing, but his super cool, extra large helmet has really helped him add up those hit-by-pitches.

Ubaldo Jimenez as the Riddle - Who is the Riddle? No one really knows.

The Rage as the Hulk - You won't like him when he's angry and he's pretty much always angry. Sometimes he will blow away opposing hitters with an impressive fastball and slider combination while other times he will take the more simple route and just rip them in half.

Terry Francona as Professor F - The bald, parapalegic leader of the Super Tribe uses his psychic abilities to know exactly when the starting pitcher is out of gas and to create great team chemistry. Without him holding the reigns, there would be nothing to keep this group of Super-heroes together.

Since we now have the technology, I've put together a short suplemental episode of Burning River Baseball to help people understand the Player of the Game statistic that is used to decide the Player of the Game for every game as well as to evaluate players for things like our Player Power Rankings. To listen, click the play button below:

This audio player will also be available on the Player of the Game tab at the top of the page for future reference. That page also contains the all time standings for the award.

Moving outside the norm for this site, we'll put the Indians aside for a moment to talk about an alternative to fantasy baseball. Many baseball fans (and blog readers) spend considerable time evaluating, drafting and playing fantasy baseball throughout the entire season just to be completely out of the running by the All-Star break. Rather than dropping all of your players in an effort to cause as much chaos as possible, there is another option.

AthleteXchange.com is a fantasy stock market based website where, rather than draft a team of players for each position, you are given a set amount of money to begin, then are allowed to buy shares of whatever baseball players you want. If you would like to buy every single Indian, go for it (you can also short all the Yankees). Players are given prices based on their preseason expectations and are IPOd prior to the regular season. As the players are bought and sold (or shorted and covered) their price will change based on market pressures. As the season goes on, players earn money based on their performances during the year (like $1.00 per RBI). The equation is actually very similar to Burning River Baseball's Player of the Game stat. When the season ends, these two numbers (their price based on market movements and their earnings) are reconciled and the difference is paid out to the traders who own the players.

What this scoring system means is that not everyone would want to have Albert Pujols on his team (portfolio). Instead, it is much better to have an underrated player who excels. This is great for Indians fans as there are rarely any overrated players on the team so it is easy for the players to make their price.

There are two major reasons why people would want to switch from fantasy baseball to AX. First, there is no limit on how many people can buy each individual player (or team stocks, which are also available). This means that everyone can buy Jason Kipnis, even if there are 3,000 people who want to buy him. If your fantasy leagues have been anything like mine, there is always at least one person who picks a homer early in the draft, offsetting everything. Because anyone can buy any player, at any time you can sell any player and buy a new one if someone isn't performing up to expectations. You will never be stuck with any player you don't want or kept away from one you do.

The other major reason to get into AthleteXchange is that the season doesn't end in October. First, you can continue to buy and sell players during the playoffs as they will continue to earn based on their stats until they are done playing. After that, the money you made during baseball season can be used to buy football, NCAA football, basketball, NCAA basketball and hockey stocks. Each season ends with with a delistment day as all the stocks for that sport are removed from the market and traders are able to switch over to other sports.

There are no winners on AX, although there is a spirited competition to be the best trader on the site (there are also competitions during the season where there are individual winners). If you need a reason to play outside of love of the game (and it is a great game), there are prizes. Since the site started in 2009 AthleteXchange has given out over $80,000 worth of prizes, mostly consisting of gift cards and tvs. Every week there are auctions for gift cards while a TV can be purchased any time you hit a set dollar amount. 

In addition to the actual game itself, there is also a very active forum where you can keep track of daily earnings and the stock advice of long term veterans. There is also a lot of random sports talk as well and sometimes contests made up by other players of the game. There is no better game on the internet than AthleteXchange and I highly recommend it for everyone to try. Play it for a week or so until you get a hang of things and you'll never want to play fantasy baseball again.

You can now own Brandon Phillips, even though the Indians can't.

We here at BurningRiverBaseball are working on our predictions for this year and we'd like to hear what you think. In addition to our three staff writers, we want to know who the average reader thinks will be the team MVP, best pitcher and so on. To do this, we will hold polls (located on the right side of the main page) from now until the end of Spring Training. Each poll will last for a few days so keep checking back to see when the next one pops up. The categories are for Most Improved Player (2012 winner Shin-Soo Choo), Rookie of the Year (Zach McAllister), Best Reliever (Vinnie Pestano), Most Outstanding Defender (Michael Brantley), Most Outstanding Hitter (Choo), Best Overall Pitcher (Pestano) and Best Overall Player (Jason Kipnis). The winners from 2012 are listed to give you an idea of how things worked out last season. You can vote once each day and check back at the end of Spring Training to see everyone's predictions.

Have you ever though to yourself, "I really want a new 1904 replica block "C" Indians hat, but can't bring myself to pay for it?" If so, then you are in luck. The Cleveland Indians are holding a ton of giveaways for fans (in addition to all the money they are giving away to Michael Bourne and Nick Swisher) and Burning River Baseball will highlight the best of them for you.

• There are 18 different give-a-way days on the scedule (not including weather and photo days), 16 fireworks shows and 15 dollar dog nights.
• Almost every single Friday home game features both dollar dogs and fireworks, perfect for those who enjoy the patriotic American experience. What could be more American than baseball (featuring a team named after Native Americans), hot dogs and things exploding.
• There are only two bobbleheads this year, but they are good ones. One of the best giveaways of the year will be the Albert Belle 1995 ALDS bobblehead, pointing at his bicep. This will be given away on June 1st. The second bobbler is also a throwback as Omar Vizquel will be given out on July 8th.
• If free is your favorite kind of shirt, 2013 is the year for you. There are two shirt and five jersey giveaways. There will be  replica jerseys of newcomer Nick Swisher on August 24th, Michael Brantley on July 28th and (my favorite) Jason Kipnis on June 15th. The other jerseys and shirts are throwbacks.
• The coolest new giveaway of the year is the Rocky Colavito Hall of Fame Commemorative Plaque. This is a unique item, reminiscent of the Bob Feller statue they gave away a few years ago (my favorite giveaway of all time). If this game is a big seller, maybe the Indians will continue this line into 2014 and do a few more all time favorites.
• Remember that all giveaways are limited to the first 10,000 fans, so get there early if you want one of the special giveaways. While early season ticket sales were slightly dismal, things have picked up incredibly since the Michael Bourne signing, showing that if the team shows that they are going to try to win games, the fans will show up.

If you like free things, you probably like to save money all around as well. Check out the Progressive Field guide at our friends Ballpark E-Guides.com for some great tips on how to get cheap tickets, how to get to the game, park and eat for the bare minimum.

If you are in the United Kingdom and want to play bingo, then Cheekybingo is your place to be. It is the top free bingo site in the UK because it's so great. They have multiple games available for free and few for pay as well. If you do decide to put some money on the line, Cheeky Bingo will double your initial deposit, anywhere from £5 to £100. This is a 200% increase for you to use to enter whatever games you want to. This means that if you take full advantage you can get up to £200 free with a £100 deposit. After that Cheeky Bingo will give you a 50% bonus on every deposit, so if you put in £50, you will receive an extra £25 from Cheeky Bingo. 

If you join Cheeky Bingo right now you can enter into any one of six free rooms, including the Big Freebie room where anyone has a chance to win the guaranteed £50 Jack Pot! Cheeky Bingo also has many scheduled events (both free and pay) that are constantly being updated so make sure you keep checking back. For the complete schedule, check out Cheeky's Diary (don't be afraid of being nosy).

If you get tired of all the bingo, Cheeky Bingo also offer some other games including progressive jackpot slot machines including games called Fluffy Favourites, Shamen's Dream and White Wizard. 

Overall there are £25,000 in guaranteed jackpots every single week including prizes ranging from £25 to £250. There are also daily, weekly and monthly guaranteed jackpots ranging from £250 to £2,500 for a single win.

In addition to cash winnings, there are also Cheeky Points, which can be used to buy bingo cards as well. You can win these points by referring friends, buying bingo cards and winning chat games. Cheeky Bingo is big on social networks as well, on twitter @BingoCheeky and on facebook as well at RealCheekyBingo. They use those networks for more than promotion as well, giving out prizes every month that can be used with the site.

So, all you English fans of bingo and other online gambling, check out Cheeky Bingo. You have nothing to lose and can win free cash. Have fun and play responsibly.

Spring Training tickets are now on sale so Indians fans can start planning their vacations to sunny Goodyear, Arizona to see their beloved Tribe play. Of course, deciding where to sit can be a challange, so Burning River Baseball is here to help with a visual aid. Here are views from all the major sections in the Ballpark along with the pricing for those sections:

1. & 2. The outfield berm is the cheapest "seat" in the house, basically the equivalent of a standing room only ticket. The view is pretty good from left especially and there is plenty of room to stretch out. One added bonus of this section is it over looks both bullpens, so if you get a spot near the bottom you can watch the pitchers warm-up up close. It's also a great way to get into the park if you just want to walk around and check things out.

3. The Right Field Pavilion has a similar view to the right field berm, but comes with All-You-Can-Eat food and soft drinks, hence the increased price tag. Food includes your normal hot dogs and chips along with pulled pork and chicken if the menu is the same as previous seasons. 

4. The Outfield Reserve holds the cheapest physical seats you can buy during Spring Training. Unless you are against sitting on grass, the views from the berm aren't much further away and have a better angle to the game. There isn't a bad seat or obstructed view in the Ballpark, but these are about the worst available.

10. The Outfield Box seats are a great deal as they offer a much closer look to the game without the price tag of the infield boxes. Goodyear Ballpark has an intimate feel to it anyway, so these seats should be close enough for the average fan.

5., 6. & 7. These are the premium seats at Goodyear Ballpark, from the end of one dugout to the end of the other. At just $23 a piece, these seats are among the cheapest in the entire Cactus League for their quality. Of course if you want to sit in this large section, make sure to get your tickets early so you can get as close to the action as possible. For reference, picture 5 was taken from the last row in that section and picture 7 is from the very first row.

8. Another front row view, this one is from the Premium Field Box seats down the third base line. One benefit of this section is that there is no risk of paying a premium price and getting seats 20 rows from the field. All the seats are padded and as close as you can get to the field.

9. The club seating is differentiated for one reason only, it is the only intentionally shaded section in the ballpark. Even though the games take place in late February and March, the Arizona heat is still a little too much for some snow birds so this section offers these cold loving people some respite from the desert sun. This section (as well as the Field Boxes) has waiter service so fans don't need to leave their seats to order food.

Terrace/Suites. The only elevated seats in the ballpark are located behind home plate. Going up one level are the suites. These need to be rented by a group and can come with food, but don't necessarily. The top level is called the Terrace. The terrace can also be rented by large groups and can be catered, but if it isn't being used as such, tickets are sold for $15 each. This is a pretty great price for seats with a birds-eye-view directly behind home plate. These seats don't go on sale until the day of the game, so it has to be a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Tips:

• Get your tickets in advance. There are only two ticket offices (one by home plate, one by center) and they acquire very long lines right before game time. Don't expect to show up ten minutes before game time and get to see first pitch.
• Avoid will call. You may feel that using will call is a way to avoid these lines, but that is a misconception. There is just a single will call window (by home plate entrance) and the lines get backed up very quickly. Print your tickets from home or get them mailed to you if at all possible. If not, come to the game early (box office opens at 9 am game days) to make sure you get the seats you want.
• There is no Daylight Savings Time in Arizona! They also don't use eastern time. Figure out what local time is when you get to the airport and set your watch/phone. 
• Kids tickets in the Outfield Box, Outfield Reserve and Berm are half price, so make sure to take advantage of these discounts if you're bringing kids.
• Days when the Indians play the Reds in Goodyear, berm seats are buy one full price, get one for a dollar. This is an especially great deal for Indians fans who want to see Shin-Soo Choo play for his new team. By sitting in the right field berm you will have the closest seat in the house to Cincinnati's new center fielder.

Every year I make a computer background for the Indians single season leaders. This year 24 stats were split among seven players (four hitters, one starter and two relievers). The overall winner was Shin-Soo Choo with six.

First off, big thanks go to Erin and Mike of the Cleveland Indians for getting us into the Suite and the Cleveland Indians organization itself for running with such a cool idea. Burning River Baseball spent the the final game of the Indians - Angels series in the Social Suite and had a great time. Like all suites there was the option of sitting outside in the heat (92° is scary for those who live in Ohio), or inside in the air conditioning, but we watched the whole game outside rather than watch on tv in the cold.

There were two other groups in the suite as well including a couple that had just won the tickets a day before. A fan in the suite next to us even caught a Travis Hafner foul ball on the fly. The seats were very comfortable and there was a nice ledge for the laptop so I could live tweet the game and write the post game article.

The game was a good one. We saw the return of Pronk (we took pictures of every pitch in the long at bat hoping he would do something, but he just walked). He did have a good day overall as he walked a couple of times, scored a couple runs and had a hit in his first game back.

Derek Lowe pitched well, despite my misgivings in the sixth inning and there were a couple of three run homers to back him. Beating the Angels isn't like beating the Yankees, but destroying a highly rated team like that is always fun.

I did get to see the Cuyahoga river for the first time in awhile and it turns out it's not on fire. We may have to change the name of the site to Heavily Polluted River Baseball

It's official. Burning River Baseball was here.