June 18 -- ROLLIN' INTO CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND -- Back in the day, before Jacobs Field was a hole in the ground, before the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame existed, almost before LeBron James was born, Cleveland was known for this: Jake Taylor, the wily veteran catcher, walking to the mound and telling bespectacled rookie Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn that he was about to get the out he'd been waiting his whole life for.

It was 1989, and it was pure fiction. But, even now, "Major League" is one of my favorite all-time movies. Charlie Sheen's Vaughn was, and always will be, the power pitcher everyone on my high school baseball team wished they were. "Forget about the curveball, Ricky. Give 'em the heater!" we'd yell from the bench. And, of course, Willie Mays Hayes stole bases when stealing bases was still cool -- and hung his batting gloves on his wall.

Much of the film was shot in Milwaukee, and Brewers radio guy Bob Uecker stole the show. But it was about the Cleveland Indians, lovable losers for most of their 106-year existence. Since 1995, the Indians have been to the playoffs six times, even reaching the World Series (and losing) in 1995 and 1997. But before that, they'd qualified for the postseason only three times since 1901, winning the Series in 1920 and 1948 and the AL pennant in 1954. Other than that, it was pretty bleak.

Sound familiar?

As you may know, the 124-year-old Phillies franchise, which opens a three-game series against the Indians here tonight, are closing in on 10,000 losses, most by a pro sports team ... ever. They're 11 away, and you're going to be reading plenty, here, in the 50-cent edition and elsewhere, about it. Thus far, Phillies folks haven't shown much of a sense of humor about it, unlike the Indians, who tolerated Hollywood's attempt to poke fun at them and even recently gave out "Wild Thing" glasses to fans at Jacobs Field.

Of course, the Indians have only lost 8,058 games in their history.

* It's a second-guess, but Charlie Manuel probably should've let Adam Eaton face Gary Sheffield in yesterday's 7-4 loss. ... Carlos Ruiz's English is getting better. ... Looks like the Phillies' old spring-training stadium is about to meet the wrecking ball.