Hats Off to Boston, but Not Happy

Great comeback by Boston. You have to tip your hats to the Red Sox. They played hard and their line-up showed up from top to bottom the last three games. They showed what Cleveland seemed to lose all of the sudden after game 3: Heart! May you please roll over Colorado in the series and bring the World Series back to the AL.

As far as having the same attitude that Philly, Chicago or Arizona fans had when they lost, there is no chance. I am not satisfied that the Indians made it this far. I will not say that they gave it their all. I will not say they weren't supposed to make it this far anyway. I'm ticked off, sickened to my stomach and not one bit happy with a season that ends this way.

There is no excuse for being up 3-1 in a series and losing. There is no excuse for being up 3-1 in a series and getting crushed three games in a row. There is no excuse for having the look of quitters, while getting laughed at by an entire city that just knew they had it won heading in game 6, still down 3-2 in a series.

There was no fight in this team. They completely rolled over and let the Red Sox Nation plow over them. And it all starts with the Tribe's two Cy Young hopefuls. I don't know if Sabathia & Carmona were simply afraid to pitch to Boston's line-up or if they just think they are that good and that guys will swing at their pitches off the plate. It may have worked during the regular season, but come playoff time, you have to throw strikes and these two completely dropped the ball for their team.

I'm not going to rah-rah this team and say it was a good year, because it wasn't. There were good moments during the season and during the playoffs, but the way this team folded does not leave me looking forward to next year. This team has a lot of holes that need filled, especially the huge, gaping one that seems to be right about the sweet spot of their number three hitter's bat; Pronk. They need a closer. A real closer and if moving a middle man to closer is the solution, then they need more help in middle relief. They need a shortstop that can move more than 2 or 3 feet to his left or right to make a play. They need more power from the 3B position. After a collapse like this, you can go on all day with the problems that this team has.

Am I being too hard on the Indians. I don't think so, as the Red Sox will be even better next year with the young talent they have. The Blue Jays will be better, the White Sox will insist on turning it around and most importantly, the Tigers will be back with the best rotation in baseball again and have every Indians game circled on their schedule.

Cleveland should be headed to the Jacob's Field to be playing games 1 & 2 before a weekend in Denver right now. Instead, the Indians and Indians' fans are left with a full off-season of questions and continual frustration. And I don't blame the Curse of Rocky Colavito!