The best team in baseball? The naysayers can find it right here in Cleveland
questel hedshot for column
May 25, 2011
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053011 Indians column
The best team in baseball? The naysayers can find it right here in Cleveland
Whod a thunk it?
The Cleveland Indians – the best team in baseball – and by a lot?
Of course, writing for a paper a week before you may have picked it up to peruse means a lot can happen – especially in baseball. But as I write, the Indians continue to be the surprise team of MLB. Fresh off a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory May 23 against the Boston Red Sox, the Indians own a 30-15 record, a four-game winning streak and a 7-game lead over second-place Detroit in the American Leagues Central Division race.
They have followed one of baseballs old maxims – win at home and play .500 baseball on the road – perfectly. Indeed, they are almost perfect at home. After losing their first two games to Chicago in their opening series to inspire a tidal wave of anguish among Cleveland fans, the Indians put together a 14-game home-winning streak. That run has allowed the Indians to build a 19-4 record overall at home and 11-11 on the road.
They are also one of only two teams in baseball over .600 – the 29-18 Philadelphia Phillies are the other – and have set themselves up for a winning reason, barring a remarkable collapse. Should Cleveland merely play .504 baseball through the remainder of its season, a 59-58 record, it would close out 2011 at 89-73.
And whod a thunk that, especially in the dark, dreary days of January as Clevelanders contemplated 2010s 93-loss season (as well as 09s 97-loss debacle). An 89-win season seems like an early Christmas present, although it hardly ensures a step into the postseason. That said, in each of the past four years, a similar record has delivered a playoff berth for at least one team in Major League Baseball.
The Minnesota Twins won the AL Central with an 87-76 record in 2009, while the Twins and White Sox finished the 2008 campaign with identical 88-74 records, with the Sox taking the 1-game playoff. In the National League that season, the LA Dodgers won the NL West with an 84-78 ledger.
Last year, Philadelphia won the NL East with an 89-73 record and the Chicago Cubs took the NL Central (85-77), while in 2007 – the last time Cleveland won the division (96-66), the Phillies claimed their division (89-73) and the Cubs won theirs with an 85-77 mark.
Late September is a long way away. Heck, the All-Star break is a long way away and the Indians have seen a few chinks in their armor recently with a spate of injuries, most notably those to Grady Sizemore, a reborn Travis Hafner and rookie starting pitcher Alex White.
Lets be honest. Few would have anticipated the Indians would have had a winning record at this point of the season, let alone the best mark in baseball. The Indians horribly maligned ownership and front office have put together an exciting team, one that has been opportunistic with the long ball, excellent at little ball and found the arms to not just compete, but do so effectively.
Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is the teams Triple Crown leader with a .312 average, 10 homers and 34 RBI. And while Fausto Carmona was expected to lead the mound corps, Josh Tomblin (6) and Justin Masterson (5) have been the leaders of a pitching group that has been reborn under pitching coach Tim Belcher, as evidenced not only by 30 wins but by a team 3.38 ERA.
The gloom and doom predicted for the Lakefront this summer hasnt been reflected in the play in the Progressive Stadium. While it is far too early to predict any kind of title, the reality is the Indians have fashioned a team that is worth seeing.
