Fire from the Hip: Thoughts on Sports & Real Life

1. It was with resignation that I sat down to watch Game 7. After following this team for six and a half grueling months, I couldn’t believe how ready I was for the end. Normally I can envision them winning. No matter how hard I tried throughout the day Sunday, I couldn’t imagine a scenario, enabling them to defeat Boston Sunday night. It was as if the collapse had already been completed. That said it was awesome to watch the team battle for six and a half innings against a superior opponent.

2. I don’t know what to make of the series: whether it was a collapse on Cleveland’s part or a stirring comeback for the Red Sox? Looking back at 2004, I would deem the Red Sox series with the Yankees a comeback. The Yankees had several games in their grasp, particularly Game 4 and Game 5, in which Boston rallied to stave off elimination. The Indians never had the Red Sox on the rope after Game 4. So I guess I would call it a collapse. Although, one major difference between New York of 2004 and Cleveland of 2007 is that the Indians weren’t supposed to win this year’s ALCS.

3. As I bemoaned the fate of the Tribe Sunday night and Monday afternoon, I kept coming back to the same agonizing conclusion. Every year, the Indians are playing against a stacked deck. I am not blaming the Red Sox or Yankees for spending a ton of money on players. Teams that generate as much revenue as each of those teams should use the money to field the best team possible. However, it’s hard to be optimistic as a mid-market team.

The Indians won the 2007 AL Central crown because a couple of guys came out of nowhere to become key contributors. Without surprises Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis, Asdrubal Cabrera, Franklin Gutierrez, and most importantly Fausto Carmona, the Indians don’t make the playoffs. So many things went right for the Indians, which enabled them to get to a seventh game in the ALCS. A Boston fan told me yesterday: “Sorry man, there is always next year.” Unfortunately, the reality is that next year’s Tribe will need just as many things to go right for them to get back to the playoffs. The Indians closer this season, the infamous Joe Borowski failed an MRI for the Phillies and only after that, did he sign with Cleveland. He won the closer’s job by default when his only other competition, Keith Foulke retired because of problems with his arm. They will be only slight favorites ahead of the Tigers and Twins next season in the AL Central.

Each spring, the Red Sox and Yankees head to Florida, knowing and expecting to make the playoffs. Could you imagine being a Blue Jay fan or an Oriole fan? To be honest, if I was a die-hard fan of one of those teams, I would quickly become disinterested due to my team’s complete irrelevancy year in and year out. The Indians are very fortunate to play in the American League Central where no one team arrives in Spring Training, appearing impregnable. Let alone two! Though much of this particular thought was driven by the painful defeat of the Indians ALCS, I can’t help but feel like every season, the Indians and teams like them will face a stacked deck in their quest for a World Series. That is my major gripe with Major League Baseball.

4. What team and when was the last time a team besides the Yankees or Red Sox made the playoffs from the American League East? Answer below.

5. There isn’t much to say about the game other than two key plays didn’t go the Indians way. The first play happened at second base after Kenny Lofton hit one of the left-field wall. Lofton slid into second base just ahead of Dustin Pedroia’s tag of his right arm. The umpire ruled him out on what was a very close play. The Indians scored a run that inning after consecutive singles and a sacrifice fly, but the game would have been tied had Lofton been ruled safe. The second play happened in the top of the seventh. With Lofton on second, Franklin Gutierrez lined a base hit down the left-field line. The ball ricocheted back towards shallow left-field and the speedy Lofton was held by third-base coach, Joel Skinner. After watching the play repeatedly, it is safe to say that Lofton would have scored. Casey Blake, the next batter, promptly hit into an inning-ending double play. That was all she wrote for the Indians as the Red Sox went to work on Cleveland ‘pen in the seventh and eighth innings, turning the game into a laugher.

6. Two Other Quick Thoughts: Rafael Betancourt had one of the most amazing postseasons ever for a reliever who wasn’t a closer. He was so dominant throughout the ALCS that if he had shut the door on the Red Sox in Game 7 and the Indians had come back to win, he would have been in the conversation for series MVP. The only other arguments you could make for MVP would have been Jhonny Peralta or Jake Westbrook. When a middle reliever deserves consideration for MVP of a series, he deserves mentioning in a low-level and little-read blog post. Speaking of Jake Westbrook, his performance in Game 7 was jaw-dropping to Cleveland fans across the country. I never gave him a chance and he proved to be the best Indians starter in the series.

7. It’s hard to sum up my thoughts in just a few words on the ALCS and the Indians season in general. It’s a weird feeling to be proud of people that you don’t even know. But I found myself appreciating this team, even in the top of the ninth as the season came to an end. The bottom of the order ripped three balls in a row that the Boston outfield made terrific plays on, helping making the final moments a little more palatable.

8. The Red Sox are an unbelievably good team. Many are writing about the Indians bright future in the wake of their defeat. But the Red Sox are going to be a World Series contender for years to come. With Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon and Jacoby Ellsbury, it’s hard to envision this team not winning several World Series over the next decade.

9. Answer to 4: The Baltimore Orioles in 1997 though the Yankees won the Wild Card that season. The last time neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees made the playoffs was 1993.

Labels: ALCS, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Game 7, MLB