Over the last couple of days, we
have seen endless predictions, analysis and the never-ending “expert” advice on
who will win the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland
Indians.
Both teams are looking to end long championship droughts. The Cubs last
won in 1908 (108 years) and are in their first Fall Classic in 71 years. The
Indians last tasted victory champagne in 1948 and have been to three World
Series since then. They were swept by the Willie Mays-led New York Giants in
1954, were out-pitched by the Atlanta Braves in 1995 and then lost a
heart-breaking Game 7 in 1997 to the Florida Marlins in a ninth-inning rally
that was aided by a fielding error.
And it seems that all the money is on the Cubs. All the odds-makers are
picking Chicago to win, most of the sports-writers are taking them as well, and
it seems all fans that live outside of north-eastern Ohio and Western
Pennsylvania are rooting for the Cubbies too, what with the sympathy factor of
not winning in 108 years and all.
And of course, the media (FOX) wants a Chicago victory. After all, they
didn’t want a small market city in the World Series anyway, and I’m sure there
were a lot of network executives hitting the roof when both the Boston Red Sox
and Texas Rangers were swept in the ALDS. Hence the ALCS featuring the Indians
and Toronto Blue Jays got the short end of the stick and had to start the 4
P.M. games when both LCS series were played on the same day, all to accommodate
the bigger markets of Chicago and Los Angeles.
I’m not going to get into specifics, as about a couple thousand writers
and bloggers have already done, but the Cubs have a solid pitching staff top to
bottom with four above average starters and a dynamite closer. Their offense is
strong, top to bottom, and can hit for power, average and get clutch hits when
necessary.
The Indians, on the other hand, shouldn’t even be here. Their pitching
staff is in shambles with two (possibly three) starters not able to pitch. They
don’t have a lot of power hitters in the line-up and rely on speed, situational
hitting and solid defense to win games. They were supposed to get swept by the
big bats of the Boston Red Sox but instead it was the Tribe that did the
sweeping. They weren’t supposed to last more than five games against the Blue
Jays but it was the Tribe again that won the ALCS in five games. So why should
the World Series be any different?
Granted, the Cubs pitching staff is better than Boston’s and their batters
don’t watch called strikes because they’re looking for the home run like the
Blue Jays, but don’t count the Indians out before the show even starts.
Corey Kluber will likely start three games and any game that he
pitches, Cleveland has a chance to win. If they can muster at least one win out
of their remaining starters, they have an opportunity to pull off the upset.
And don’t forget the back end of the bull pen, with Andrew Miller and Cody
Allen ready to shut out opponents in the late innings.
And with 11 homers in eight post season games, the Indians have enough
power to compete with the Cubs. In fact, any of Coco Crisp, Francisco Lindor,
Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis or Mike Napoli can match up evenly with Chris
Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and Javier Baez.
So while everyone is fawning over the Cubs, don’t expect the Indians to
be an afterthought in a Series where Chicago is going to easily end their
108-year drought. Expect a tough series, that will see some solid pitching,
great defense and a lot of one or two-run games. And it will be the Indians who
will win in seven.
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