The Cleveland Indians headed into the playoffs as one of the juggernaut teams of the regular season, rattling off 22 straight wins in a streak that ended just a couple of weeks before the regular season did. Now, they are on the outside looking in after a soul-crushing defeat at home to the New York Yankees.
The Cleveland Indians set an American League record for consecutive victories. They had a two games to zero lead over the Yankees. They didn’t advance past the American League Division Series. Ah, that sounds too familiar.
Then there is this play which ended last night’s game and the series.
Seriously, why didn't Austin Jackson run? pic.twitter.com/DUflFvXJIu
— South Side Sox (@SouthSideSox) October 12, 2017
This one immediately brings back to memory the play in Boston back in 2003 when Eric Byrnes sprints home, misses the plate, and instead of going back and touching home in what could have been a franchise-altering decision, he pushes the catcher Jason Varitek and gets tagged out. Caution to A’s fans: viewing this replay may cause anxiety.
What took the Oakland Athletics many seasons to achieve, the Tribe rolled into one unforgettable but ultimately disappointing season. The Yankees became just the tenth team in MLB history to erase a 2-0 series deficit and win a five-game series. One can only assume that the other nine occurrences happened against Oakland.
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Of course, that’s not actually true (the Oakland part), but following the 2001 season in which the A’s won 102 games only to finish second in the AL West to the Seattle Mariners, they marched out to a 2-0 lead in the ALDS against the Yankees and ended up blowing that lead.
A year later, the A’s won 20 consecutive games and were bounced by the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS.
This isn’t meant to be a baseball version of “Simpsons did it,” but instead is meant as an olive branch to Indians fans that there is an entire fanbase out there that knows what you’re going through. Whether or not they want to talk to you after all those 3-1 Warriors jokes remains to be seen, but there are bound to be a few good apples in the bunch.
If there is solace to be found, it’s that the core of this Cleveland team has shown that they can make it to the World Series already, and they are accumulating postseason experience. They also look to have a crop of prospects that can play and should keep them competitive for many years to come.
The downside for the club is that they could lose Jay Bruce, Carlos Santana and setup man Bryan Shaw to free agency this season and Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and others the following winter. That’s a big part of their bullpen that could be elsewhere, or if they keep them, then that’s money that can’t be spent elsewhere, like locking up Francisco Lindor or Jose Ramirez.
Next: 2017 all rookie team--hitter edition
But those are worries for another day. Cleveland has one of the most advanced front offices in baseball, and they’ll find a way to keep on winning. For the time being, let’s all root against the Yankees, because the Evil Empire is back, folks, and definitely a team worth booing this October.