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After the most futile month in team history, the calendar finally read "September." The Indians opened it with a solid victory on Saturday, but Sunday looked more like August again. Seven extra-base hits paced the Rangers, and the Tribe was again unable to keep up.

With Tony visiting the nation's capital, getting President Barack Obama's thoughts on the Indians' organzation, Jim Pete is dutifully taking the reigns of Tribe Happenings for the week with a beautifully cheery view of the Indians' system in 2012 and beyond. Okay, while sarcasm is clearly at play, hey, at least it's sunny somewhere, right?

One flip of the calendar, and the Indians have already picked up their first victory in the month of September, defeating the Rangers on Saturday night 4-3. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak and was the first time since August 11 that Cleveland won a ballgame where Justin Masterson was not the starting pitcher.

With the dawn of a new month, the Cleveland Indians can put to bed a historically bad August that put the 2012 Cleveland Indians in the same conversations as some of the worst teams in the history of the franchise. For those that know THAT history, knows just how BAD that is. Take a stroll over the the Corner of Carnegie, and let's all say goodbye to August together....after the jump...

The Tribe's woes continue as the team dropped its sixth straight Friday. Even worse, the loss tied the franchise mark for the worst month in team history. On the positive side of things, a new month is upon us, but just in case any of us forgot about just how bad August was, IPI's Jim Berdysz goes over Friday's conclusion to the month, a 5-3 loss to Texas.

There's a lot of similarities between the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. Both are in-state rivals, and both teams use a similar economic model. Yet, despite the similarities, both teams have had very difficult results this season as the Indians have experienced an immense downward spiral while the Reds sit atop the standings as one of baseball's elite. In his latest, Jeff Ellis provides an in-depth look at both teams, using previous Baseball America rankings, to show just how much better the Reds really are.

Can it get any worse than this? On a day when the Indians finally seemed to discover their offensive stroke, Justin Masterson struggled mightily and the team dropped its 14th game in 15 tries. For the month of August, the Tribe has now gone 5-23. It certainly looks bleak, and Jason Ruggiero provides more detail on this as he shares his thoughts on yesterday's game.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner, 1968 AL MVP, and last 30-game winner in Major League Baseball Denny McLain has been many things in his life, but one thing he is unapologetic about is being outspoken. In a short seven minute conversation with him Sunday at Canal Park, Jim Piascik got the full experience of his brazen, honest look at the Stephen Strasburg shutdown, the Cleveland Indians' situation, and what he's loved about minor league parks across the nation.

Ugh oh. The Tribe is on another losing streak as they lost their fourth game in a row to the Athletics last night 8-4. That is now 13 of 14 games they have lost and an astounding 26 of 31 games. These are the kind of late season meltdowns that get people fired. Nonetheless, Adam McGavin watched the game last night and shares his thoughts on what transpired and more.

The Indians announced several roster moves on Wednesday afternoon with the waiver claim of lefty Scott Maine, the recall of righty Jeanmar Gomez to Cleveland, and the designation of outfielder Shelley Duncan.

The Indians lost their third straight last night as they were blanked again 7-0 by the Athletics. It is their 12th loss in their last 13 games, their 25th loss in their last 30 games, and they are now 11-33 since the All Star break. They have also scored three runs or less in nine straight games. The trends and numbers of late are not pretty, and William Biggar shares his thoughts on last night's game.

The Indians lost their second in a row last night to the Athletics by a score of 3-0. They are now 5-24 in their last 29 games and are 11-32 since the All Star break. It goes without saying that things have not been going the Indians' way of late and that the team is in a freefall and without a parachute. Adam McGavin shares his thoughts on another lackluster Tribe performance.

Warning! If you are in a good mood and don't want anything to bring you down, don't read this article. It's one thing to breakdown every player used by a good team, but to go through every cog in a broken-down machine like the 2012 Cleveland Indians is not very pleasant. But it is Jim Piascik's sworn and solemn duty to rank every player used by the Indians this year as we hit the home stretch, so read on if you want to see who is the best (and who is the worst). Just don't expect to feel good after...

The Indians ended their nine game losing streak with a win on Saturday, but their winning ways came to a quick end on Sunday with a 4-2 loss to the Yankees. It was another series loss for the Indians who are rapidly fading in the American League standings, and now a playoff contending Oakland team comes into town for four games. Kevin Dean provides his second thoughts on yesterday's game.

With two weeks full of thoughts after "the man" tried to hold our friendly neighborhood co-editor down, Jim Pete breaks out part two of this week's Corner of Carnegie and Ontario, as he takes a look at a potential new beginning for the Indians in 2012. Might the dam break this winter, with a series of trades and releases that change the face of the franchise forever? Are we ready for the Kipnis and Chisenhall era?

The Indians have seen their season take a serious nosedive from quasi-contender in late-July to league doormat in late-August. The fall has been swift and hard, one that has not been seen in Cleveland in a long time, if ever. Tony chimes in with his thoughts on CEO Paul Dolan's comments this week and also discusses Matt LaPorta's final chance with the Indians, the future of Grady Sizemore and Josh Tomlin, and more.