October Baseball

The Indians and Yankees will get underway Thursday evening at 6:37 PM in what for me is the near equivalent of the Bills suiting up to play the Patriots in January. The team that I seemlingly helplessly root for going up against a team that just seems to have their number. The Pats and their streak of 12 of 13 and the Yanks, a team that went 6-0 this season vs. the Tribe. This Yankee team is also red hot and has been since the all star break. It isn't the same team that threw 3 nobodies on the mound in April to gain a home sweep vs the Indians. The Yankees are a ridiculous 51-25 since the all star break and went from a struggling .500 team to a team that finished within 3 games of the best record in baseball. They have the veteran leadership in Jeter and Clemens. They have the playoff and world series experience throughout their roster and management, all of which have done nothing to help them win a world series in this milennium. Maybe the Indians have what the Yankees should try and regain, youthful exuberance and a sense that they have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on New York. If they don't perform well, their manager may be fired. Wedge just signed an extension for his team being in contention. A Rod can hit over 50 homers and 150 rbi and single handedly carry his team to the playoffs but if he struggles this October he again will be hated. Players like Martinez and Sizemore and Hafner have no pressure like that.

Everyone keeps mentioning the number one and two starters and how big of an advantage Cleveland has. That can't be argued. CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are among the best pitchers in baseball. Since the all star break, Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia have ERAs of 2.26 and 2.76 respectively. In Fact, Jake Westbrook, Cleveland's game 3 starter has an era of 3.44 since the break. These 3 are better than any starting pitcher on the Yankee roster during this time. Sabathia had a 2 month stretch in which he allowed 2 runs or less in every start. That is just ridiculous. Even Paul Byrd's ERA of 4.59 this season is better than his possible game 4 counterpart in Mike Mussina. Maybe Phil Hughes and his 4.46 ERA would be a better option for New York.

What about the bull pen? The Yankee's bullpen is solidified with Jaba Chamberlain and Luis Vizcaino and of course Mo. The Yanks obviously have an advantage at Closer with Rivera as Joe Borowski never ceases to give me a heart attack every time he steps on the mound. I can see the Indians being a good closer away from winning a championship this year. After watching Trevor Hoffman last night and realizing how much he reminds me of Borowski, I got sick to my stomach. To get to the closer though, it can be argued that the tribe have the best combo in baseball. Rafael Betancourt has been nearly perfect. Not only does he have a 1.47 era, but his strikeout to walk ratio is a gaudy 80-9. The left Rafael Perez has been nearly as good with a 1.72 era and a whip of .923. There is no doubt that Jaba has been nearly unhittable and that Vizcaino has been much improved since the break, but can you give them the edge over Betancourt and Perez? It would be tough to do so.

The Yankees offense is obviously better than anyones in baseball. When you have a payroll of over 200 million dollars your offense better be better than anyones. In fact, the Yankee payroll exceeds the Indians' payroll by 134 million dollars. Only one team, the Red Sox, has a pay roll that is greater than the difference between the Indians and Yankees payroll. That is a crazy statistic and something just seems wrong with that. How can two teams in the same league be separated by that significant of an amount financially. Even more confusing is how the team with the lower payroll has a better record over a 162 game season than the Evil Empire.

Yes I hate the Yankees and everything they stand for and almost as much as I hate New England. It is so close I can barely make the call. I am going to pick the Indians in this series, but only because I am biased and hope the Yankee organization folds, but their offense is so good and they always get so lucky that it will be a tough task to get it done.

Indians in 4