LeBron James receives injection in back, likely done for the preseason
October 16, 2015
Dark Night in the Shoe: Ohio State releases hype trailer for primetime matchup against Penn State
October 16, 2015Yawn! Baseball is so boring. Baseball is so slow. Baseball has too many pauses. Baseball is so unlike football where the game does not pause. Oh except while teams huddle, line up, flap their arms, point to random players on the opposite side and yell out random words such as “Omaha!” before three to six seconds of actual gameplay1 Of course, if one were to actually think of Omaha, then it would most likely be about the College World Series. Aha, postseason baseball really is the best postseason in all of sports.
Every.Pitch.Matters. The drama builds and pressurizes the ballpark. At some point, a release is needed. A crucial error, some smart baserunning, a lucky bounce, an all-out implosion, or a satisfactory home run with coinciding bat flip transforms the game’s trajectory and becomes the narrative of a particular game. Or, sometimes, all of those things happen within a single, magical inning where Canadians also threw beer bottles onto the field.
Fans of the Cleveland Indians sadly do not get to experience postseason baseball through the prism of their own team. So, you might be struggling to find a ballclub to back the rest of the way. However, the 2015 MLB postseason has been too great to ignore. Hopefully, you find the below helpful. Regardless, enjoy the rest of the MLB postseason and dream of watching the Indians compete in it in 2016.
New York Mets
Reasons to Cheer
Part of the reason the New York Mets won Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers was Daniel Murphy took third base on a walk. In a common play (well, in Little League), the Dodgers had no one bother to cover third base with the shift on, so when Murphy went from first to second on a walk, he simply did not stop. Such smart baseball along with young pitching standouts in Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard make for an intriguing ballclub.
Reasons to Jeer
Well, despite not being the most popular team in town, the Mets are still located in New York City. Their payroll was a paltry 15th in MLB by big market standards ($120 million), but their recent woes have been more about their own incompetency than a failure to spend. They have been known to be terrible with pitcher health (running joke: you cannot spell Tommy John without NY Mets), which likely led to their Matt Harvey innings stand-off this season during their playoff push.
Bode Biased View
One of the best scenes of 2015 is still Wilmer Flores so upset about potentially leaving the NY Mets he openly wept on the field. Jerry Seinfeld is also a Mets fan and gives us gems such as “a Cespedes for the rest of us” from time to time. Additionally, the Mets winnning would upset Yankee fans, which is always a bonus.
Did I mention Bartolo Colon?
Chicago Cubs
Reasons to Cheer
The most obvious reason to cheer for the Chicago Cubs is 1908. As in, the year of the last World Series championship the Chicago Cubs ballclub won. Theo Epstein helped build the 2004 Boston Red Sox, which broke the Curse of the Bambino to end an 86-year title drought (with an assist from manager Terry Francona) and he might be the architect to build the team that breaks the Curse of the Billy Goat. It would be a phenomenal story indeed for the franchise to break out of the Loveable Losers tagline.
Six of the Cubs eight regular position players are age 25 or younger, which also lends itself to a fun and aggressive (though sometimes dumb) team. While Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have decent power, the team is actually better served with a smattering of moderate speed and power guys throughout the lineup. And, of course, Back to the Future predicted a 2015 Chicago Cubs World Series victory in five games.
Reasons to Jeer
The Chicago Cubs are the worst of the worst. They are a big market team with huge financial backing. Finally, their owners decided it was time to pay for the front office and personnel staff to create a monster team. Theo Epstein, Joe Maddon, and the rest of the assembled staff was a huge undertaking. Since the team is young, they are not as expensive as they likely will be in the near future. But, the Cubs still managed to spend $133 million on payroll, which was good for 11th most in MLB. Buying up one of the better free agent pitchers in Jon Lester (6 year, $155 million contract) will do those types of things to your payroll. However, there is no need for Cubs fans to worry about the players leaving for New York or Los Angeles. If the Ricketts want to pay them, then the Cubs can keep their players as long as they desire.
Bode Biased View
The reasons to jeer category could have just as easily been written about the Boston Red Sox before 2004. The mainstream media (MSM) would be insufferable if the Chicago Cubs won. Chicago fans might actually be worse2 than the MSM despite them not being nearly as whiny as the typical New Englander nor do they appear to have a blowhard personal spokesman being given free reign at ESPN.3 Still, it would be nauseating. No thanks.
Plus, another year of Cubs fans acting like petulant children is always fun.
Kansas City Royals
Reasons to Cheer
The Royals have built a potential dynasty on playing baseball the “right way.” The Royals have a league-best defense, good pitching, a dominant bullpen, and an aggressive style at the plate. Sure, they built such a team from years of being terrible, but they still built it. Plus, by always being in attack mode, the Royals are more prone to late comebacks, which have become a bit of a specialty (just ask Houston).
Reasons to Jeer
The Royals are AL Central division rivals and won the AL pennant in 2014. Do we really want to cheer them becoming a force in MLB?
Bode Biased View
Yordano Ventura might lose his mind at any moment and the whole team might brawl with their opponents on something as innocuous as a bat flip (yes, they are the only anti-bat-flip team remaining). Unlike other MLB teams, when the Royals go to the top step of the dugout, they are looking for a reason to enter the fray not retreat from it. But, due to their defense and pitching, if you want to see a high-scoring World Series, then you want to cheer elsewhere.
Yoink!
Toronto Blue Jays
Reasons to Cheer
Joe Carter gave many Indians fans their first taste of championship glory even if it was for Toronto.4 22 years since making the playoffs, the Blue Jays had the longest postseason drought in baseball. Plus, the team is on the extreme side of the pro-bat-flip (not only Jose Bautista but Edwin Encarnacion as well).
Reasons to Jeer
Toronto actually is the most recent World Series champion of the remaining teams. Additionally, they went all Miami Marlins style this season to obtain Josh Donaldson, Johnny Cueto, and Troy Tulowitzki by sacrificing their farm system and future for one (maybe two) runs. And, Drake is sure to make an appearance.
Bode Biased View
Despite my misgivings for how they built their team, the Toronto Blue Jays are an undeniably fun team to watch. They enjoy playing baseball as much as any team in recent memory. Toronto fans have also been fantastic and passionate even going so far to pay Cleveland fans a tribute by showering the field with bottles after they believed to have received a slight from the officials.
Oh, and Munenori Kawasaki.
Okay, more Kawasaki:
- Yes, we are getting a bit of needling in on Peyton Manning ahead of Sunday’s Cleveland Browns versus Denver Broncos contest. [↩]
- And, as Cleveland fans, yes we can hold The Shot against them despite it being a different sport. [↩]
- Hey, I enjoyed Bill Simmons work when it wasn’t about a Boston team. [↩]
- and pre-Jacob’s Field [↩]
52 Comments
I enjoy the machinations of the front office and it’s mostly public available information to follow. I disagree that it’s like how the actor got paid. It is more like the movie-junkie who knows and appreciates exactly how scenes were put together, how stunts were done, and how plot-lines intertwine with each other based on specific screenwriters.
Funny thing about the KC-TOR matchup is that both teams would trade their starting rotations, straight up, for the Tribe’s in a nanosecond. And it’s not even really that close. Both KC and TOR got where they are with HALF a season of Cueto and Price, respectively, and a whole lot of junk in spots 2-5. Amazing.
I know it’s the American League, but I’m really starting to question whether baseball is still 70 percent starting pitching.