The Cleveland Indians are one of, if not the best team in Major
League Baseball here in 2017 but you know what? If the New York Yankees and the
Indians meet in the playoffs here this season I am not at all worried and here
is why.
They call the playoffs baseball’s second season for a
reason, what you did in the regular season and $15 will get you a beer at
Yankee Stadium. It means little to nothing and I personally, as a fan, refuse
to be psyched out or taken off my game because the Indians won their division,
won 21 games in a row, etc. etc. etc. I’m not scared. The playoffs are usually
won by the hottest team at the time and aren’t always won by necessarily the
best team. That’s the great thing about baseball, any team can beat any pitcher
and any opposing team on any given night. You can’t predict baseball so you can’t
necessarily predict that the Indians will be the hottest team when the calendar
changes to October. Hell you can’t predict that the Indians will be the hottest
team tonight or this weekend, they could go on a slide much like the Los
Angeles Dodgers have of late. You just don’t know and I’m not that scared of
them to be honest. None of this is to disrespect the Indians, their team or
what they have done this season either. They are a great team and they are
playing extremely well, much respect to all, but respect and fear are two
entirely different things.
The New York Yankees are built for short series and the
postseason. The team is young, energetic and overall healthy at this point in
the season when most teams cannot say the same here in September. The pitching
has been fantastic, the bullpen has the potential to be absolutely and
completely dominant when on and used properly and the offense can hang a
crooked number on the scoreboard at any given inning. Again, not to say that
the Yankees are better than the Indians or that Cleveland cannot do the same
because they can. I am merely saying that I have confidence in this group of
Yankees players and the team. Again, I am not saying the Yankees will
necessarily reach the ALDS or ALCS (more than likely the ALDS though if New
York does not win their division) and meet Cleveland, I am just saying IF they
do I am not worried. I think New York can stand and throw punches with the best
of teams in baseball this season and at the end of the day, win lose or draw,
whoever they are facing will know that they were in a fight for their lives.
How did the 2002 Oakland Athletics fare in the postseason,
the last team to win 20 games in a row in a season, you ask? After winning 103
games and after having both the AL MVP (Miguel Tejada) and AL Cy Young Award
Winner (Barry Zito) the team lost in five games to the Minnesota Twins in the
American League Division Series.
I hate to be a doomsayer but the Tribe has the pitching staff to bring the Yankees offense to its knees. The Yanks have yet to show that they can touch the back end of the Indians bullpen which only gets stronger with the activation of Andrew Miller off the DL. Right now, the Yankees need to focus on catching Boston while staving off WC contenders. The Indians are the least of their concerns.
ReplyDeleteYou got it Scott....
DeleteYou can be the doomsayer, anything can happen in a five-game series. Especially with the Yankees offense and bullpen, I'm not going to be the one to count them out.
DeleteDon't get upset Daniel...LOL!
DeleteI for one hope the team can make a run that would go down in history! Can anyone believe the news it would make to beat some of the most productive teams in the playoffs and re-take the Gold Ring?
Being a native New Yorker born and raised you would know when I was upset. The F word flows fluently and is used in a variety of ways LOL.
DeleteI mean I did mention in the article that the Oakland A's, the last team to win 20 straight games, lost in the ALDS in five games so it's not like it would even be that unprecedented if it were to happen.
Dreams do come true, even in this day and age!
DeleteDown in "The Kitchen" we would call that "A nice friendly conversation".
*clears throat*
ReplyDeleteYou may not call me Wizard Dan. Or Premonition Dan. Or "to hell with the Indians Dan." Thank you in advance.
Ok, great Wizard, none of us will call you any of those childish names. In case you haven't heard Premonition Dan, the Astros are not a team to be calling names at.
ReplyDelete"To Hell with the Astros', will not work with that team Dan! Just remember, no one around here will call you any of those names!
Noted oh young one in the soul.
Delete