While We’re Waiting…Shaq Interview, Delonte, Browns’ Media Member Ashamed
October 28, 2009Braylon Unlikely To Be Suspended
October 28, 2009That’s right friends of the feather; your worst nightmare has officially arrived. Tonight is Game One of the 2009 World Series. The Fall Classic features two big market, big payroll teams from the East Coast with stars galore. Their are storylines galore, but perhaps the biggest and best one heading into tonight’s opener is the fact that former Indian teammates and the last two AL Cy Young award winners, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, will face off head to head in the Bronx.
Most Indians fans I know refuse to watch one second of it. I for one, will be glued to the TV. Will it make me sick? Absolutely. Seeing two former Indian aces face off against one another, knowing that just one year ago, they were in the same rotation in our city, is nausiating. But the thing of it is, we all knew CC would leave for the big bucks after his contract was up last winter. The 2008 team was given every chance to contend, but they started poorly with some of the kids (Franklyn Gutierrez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Garko, Fausto Carmona) failed to take the next step forward in their development. Throw in a mess of a bullpen and a horrific start, and the Indians had no choice but to deal Sabathia to the Brewers before the trading deadline.
Meanwhile, Cliff Lee had turned himself into a bonafide #1 starter. Trading CC when the team had no chance to win the division netted the Indians Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta; two players expected to play every day next season, so you cannot view the CC move as anything but the right thing to do. The shame of it was that with Sabathia and Lee at the top of the rotation, the Indians could not manage to stay in contention in the worst division in baseball in 2008.
As we headed into the 2009 campaign, the national and local media bought into the hype of this team which finished strong to get to .500 the season before. Lee, the reigning Cy Young award winner, would lead a rotation full of question marks. The bullpen was supposed to be the strength of the team, and once again, the Indians were looking for bounce-back years from Fausto Carmona, Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta. But you all know what happened. The pen imploded. The rotation, outside of Lee, was a complete disaster, and the Indians couldn’t hit for the first two months of the season. The next thing you knew, they were out of it by June 1st.
Lee received no run support seemingly every start and became grumpier than usual with the media. He tried to work out an extension in Spring Training, but that wasn’t going to happen in these times of economic uncertainty in Cleveland. The fans stopped showing up to watch the last place Indians and revenue projections were way down. Though they still barely admit it, the real reason the Tribe HAD to move Lee was strictly for financial purposes, even though his $8 million option for 2010 is very reasonable; especially for an ace.
The team was hemorrhaging financially. Lee was sent to Philadelphia along with Ben Francisco for four prospects. I guess Cliff gets the last laugh. He is now pitching in the World Series and is in line for a big payday one way or another after the 2010 season.
Imagine being the newly recently pitching coach Carl Willis. He is the guy who helped nuture these two aces and now sees his finished products pitching in Game One of the World Series for other teams. Meanwhile, he is out of a job. In a great piece (only available on ESPN Insider), Buster Olney spoke with Willis about his star pupils:
“Many of the lessons that Cliff has learned over the last two or three years, CC learned before him,” Willis says. “They helped each other in a lot of ways. … They went through a lot of the same struggles and learned the nuances of the game together.”
They both are left-handed and, as Willis says, “incredibly competitive.” Earlier in Sabathia’s career, he tended to let that internal pressure get to him, overwhelm what he was trying to do on the mound, and there was concern in 2005 that he was tipping his pitches. Lee was his muse, Willis thought, someone with whom Sabathia could share and compare.
“Cliff stepped back and saw how CC handled himself,” Willis says. “You learn from experience, and mostly you learn from your own experience. But sometimes you learn from other people’s experience.”
“I’ve watched these games, and I’m so proud of the fact that these two guys — and this is not meant to be a knock on the Pettittes and Burnetts and Hamels and Riveras — have dominated for their teams,” Willis says. “They controlled the pace of the games, the type of games they were going to be.”I’m going to be anxious to watch Game 1; I’ll probably be nervous. I’d be happy if it was 0-0 after nine innings, with each getting a hit off each other and each striking out the other. Then they could go to the bullpens; that would be enough for me.”
Ugh. Is this really happening? OK, maybe I’ve changed my mind. Maybe I can’t watch tonight.
You think about what could have been, but the reality is, what could have been, was. It was 2008. And the Indians blew their shot. But that is small market baseball. You better capitalize when your players are still young and under your control. If you don’t, the stars will walk and you better hope you have another young crop to replace them.
Is the system completely unfair in baseball? Absolutely. For those of you (nobody in this market i’m sure) who don’t think so, think about this. The Yankees took on the Twins in the ALDS – their difference in payroll was $140 million. The DIFFERENCE was $140 million. That’s insane. It doesn’t always translate to success, but essentially the Yankees pretty much are assured to be in the playoffs every single year, while teams like the Indians of ’07 and Tampa Bay of ’08 find it next to impossible to contend for more than a one year window.
Serenity Now.
15 Comments
Put me in the camp that won’t be watching a second of this. It’ll be Cavs-Raptors for me.
Baseball is still going on? $140 million difference – what a joke!
The Tribe blew it in 2008 when they brought back basically the entire 2007 team. If the Dolan’s would’ve opened their wallets for some bullpen reinforcements and maybe another bat, they could’ve contended in a very weak division.
Well, yea of course being glued to the TV will make you sick, TD. Glue is not good for you.
I hate the unfairness of baseball’s system. Wonder if they’ll EVER instate a salary cap (like, a real one.) on MLB. Of course, “they” were probably already bought out BY the Yankees.
I will be watching. The Phils are my #2 team. I’ll just pretend the Indians are only a farming system for “real” teams, and never had a chance anyway. Oh, wait….
Man, why did the Cavs have to lose their opener? At least I’d have THAT.
I live in the NY area, and nobody understands why I don’t care about baseball. Of course it’s a level playing field. The Yankees haven’t made the WS in five years!
Tonight is my bowling league night and thankfully at that because as much as I love baseball I don’t think I can sit and watch this game.. ESPECIALLY if it’s something like 0-0 or 1-0 in the 7th or 8th inning.. just be rubbing it in more. =/
I am going to gouge out my eyes.
Between the Jackets and the Cavs playing tonight, I’m glad my DVR has only two tuners. It means I can’t possibly watch this because both tuners will be on to those two games in PIP.
Watch that game and be slowly digested by some big … thing.
I had every intention of watching this match up last week, was actually somewhat intrigued. But now as it gets closer to game time I’ve become more sad, or is it angry, or both…about what has transpired here over the last couple of years.
I love baseball, and I love the World Series no matter who is playing…. but I’m not sure I can stomach watching our 2 guys pitching as their respective teams ace’s. I cringe even typing that.
I hope they both do well. They did (or will do in Cliff’s case) what every single person in this room would do…It is what it is.
If you don’t like, I would advise not watching the MLB anymore because this is not going to change, only the names.
Charlie Manual is also getting a last laugh! Go Phils!
For the Indians (and many similar teams) to succeed, they need a team-wide, simultaneous blossoming of up-and-coming talent — something that is extremely rare. That’s their goal now and, unless the league rules are changed, that will forever be their goal. But even if they do succeed in this way, they can be sure that all their talent will be sucked away by the Yankees and a few other teams with TV riches within a year or two of the miracle’s occurence.
I, for one, would support a total MLB boycott in Cleveland and other markets. The players are not going to lobby for a change, because a few of them get rich of this pyramid scheme, and the players association won’t allow that opportunity to close, arguing (as it always does) that it would be unfair to all players.
Remaining a paying Indians fan in any way means remaining a fan of this system. It means being a Yankees fan despite yourself. And that’s why it’s time not only to stay away from the park but also to vocally denounce the current state of affairs.
correction: a few of them get rich off this pyramid scheme
[…] Tribe Fans Hide Your Eyes: D-Day is Here — (Waiting For Next Year) Most Indians fans I know refuse to watch one second of it. I for one, will be glued to the TV. Will it make me sick? Absolutely. Seeing two former Indian aces face off against one another, knowing that just one year ago, they were in the same rotation in our city, is nausiating. […]