Sorry Tribe fans, the reign is over and the torch has been passed. The lowly White Sox have just left Cleveland with the Indians cowering in the corner, licking their wounds.
That's a pretty regular occurrence these days, since Cleveland is only a .500 team at home. Most of the better teams now seem to enjoy their visits. New York virtually treats Jacob's Field as Yankee Stadium West, and Pedro absolutely owns them. Cleveland can still muster up wins against some of the weak sisters, but when was the last time they looked the least bit impressive against an important rival? But fasten your seatbelts, the ride's only going to get rougher.
So they are still great defensively. In baseball, defense doesn't win championships--pitching does. Sure they look beautiful diving around making all those spectacular plays, and 20 years ago that would have been important. These days, as Chicago has just proven, a gift run or two is easily compensated for, but it remains nearly impossible to turn a home run into an out--no matter how good you are with the leather.
It's the pitching that's the problem, and it's also the hardest to correct. Yes, there is Bartolo Colon, but one stud doesn't make a pitching staff--just ask the Twinkies. That leaves a still capable Burba, an unpredictable Wright, and a five-years-too-late Finley. The bullpen consists of children, stiffs, and arms so delicate they're nearly worthless. Certainly not anyone that can be trusted with a lead.
Please don't start counting on all the young guns supposedly being groomed in the minors, either. Most teams are at least as well stocked as the Indians in that department. Besides, we've all heard it before. No matter what kind of press these "phenoms" are getting right now, they all still have to be considered long shots. For every Colon there are many Swindells and thousands of complete busts.
Then there are the everyday players. However you slice it, Manny's gone at the end of the season--and you don't often replace a Manny Ramirez. That leaves a handful of quality players in the waning years of their careers. Justice, Lofton, Fryman and Sandy Alomar, are all approaching the end. The once mighty line-up is just about tapped out. Already with the mix of past-their-prime stars and a few youngsters, the team resembles a small market franchise. They're not quite there yet, but they can see it from here.
This fade is not necessarily Hart's or Dolan's or even Manuel's fault, and don't start blaming it all on the injuries. It just seems like the race has been run. Perhaps the lesson here is to take you're best shot when the opportunity presents itself. All that rhetoric about not selling out the farm system for another key player when the Indians were only strikes away from a championship--rings a little hollow now. At least in Cleveland, chances like that are few and far between.
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