10 Reasons why the Cleveland Indians winning the 2011 World Series would be good for baseball

It is time to continue my series of Why Each Team's Potential World Championship Would Be Good For The Game. Before it is too late, I better do one for the Cleveland Indians.



It is very late August and the Indians, once the best story in baseball have fallen below .500. The Indians have had a very unlikely fun summer, but they are one modest losing streak and one modest Detroit winning streak from calling it a year.



The Tigers sweep of the Tribe was bad. The Indians losing 3 of 4 to the lowly Mariners was worse.



But by the same token, if the Tigers stumble and the Indians go on a winning streak, they could close in. Cleveland play the Royals 6 times and the A's 6 times before taking on Detroit again. They can pile up some wins.



Who knows? This season has been unexpected thus far. So let's get in this entry before they slip away!

10 Reasons why the

Cleveland Indians

winning the 2011 World Series

would be good for baseball

1. A World Series title is the final piece in Jim Thome's career



Jim Thome returned to Cleveland yesterday. All I thought was "Why couldn't have hit his 600th homer as an INDIAN?"



He's back where his wonderful career began. And this might very well be his last hurrah. He has smacked 600 homers scandal free and been as likable a player in baseball. Plus he was a veteran of the 1995 and 1997 World Series heartbreak.



What better way to put a bow on his potential Hall of Fame career than being the most recognizable name on the World Champion Cleveland Indians.

2. A World Series ring for Sandy Alomar, Jr.



Decades of futility started to turn in 1990 when Sandy Alomar Jr won the AL Rookie of the Year. He came over from San Diego with Carlos Baerga and the foundation of the Indians first pennant since 1954 was being put into place.



In many ways Alomar symbolized the changing times in Cleveland. And if the Tribe got those last outs in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, Alomar would have been the Series MVP.



He would get that ring if the Indians win it this year as Alomar is currently Cleveland's first base coach. Better late than never!







3. A championship would bring some credit to an underrated front office



The Indians fell apart after the 2001 season but by 2005 they were contenders again and Division Champs in 2007. They fell apart again but by 2011 they have contended.



Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti aren't mentioned as great brain trusts in baseball, but they don't let Indians fans wait long between good seasons. Carlos Santana, Matt LaPorta, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez, Carlos Carrasco, Joe Smith, Michael Brantley, Jason Donald and Lou Marson were all brought into the organization as minor leaguers from trades. They could be creating a nice nucleus for the future while avoiding signing crippling long term contracts.





4. Baseball fans claim they want a low revenue, star free World Series winner NOT from the Northeast. Here you go!



People complain that the Red Sox and Yankees win the World Series every year (even though they don't.) And small budget teams can't compete. (Even though they do.) And simply signing superstars will buy a title. (Even though it doesn't.)



Well imagine the 5th lowest paid team, playing in the midwest with a payroll less than what Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez will make and whose biggest star is Asdrubal Cabrera winning it all.



What would people say? Well they probably would say "The Yankees win it every year."





5. A well deserved title for long time Indians Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner



Both Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner are on the Disabled List now and their seasons are probably over. But for the past 8 seasons they have been teammates on some terrific Indians teams and some lousy ones.



Both came up big in the 2007 Division Series victory over the Yankees. Hafner got the walk off hit in Game 2 (the Midges game) and Sizemore batted .375 with a 1.211 OPS for the series.



Both were stolen from other minor league systems and are "Real Indians" by any definition. Enough real Indians have ended their career ringless. Let's not have Sizemore and Hafner on that list too.









6. We DON'T need another Major League movie.



Seriously, when has a sequel decades after the original worked? ONCE! The Color of Money... and that had Paul Newman, Tom Cruise and Martin Scorsese directing it.



They couldn't even make The Godfather, Star Wars or Indiana Jones work! Now Major League is funny... but it is also available on BlueRay and Netflix. And the charm of the original was that it played off of Cleveland's futility. If a REAL Cleveland team patched together from other teams beats the odds and wins it all, why make a fake movie about it?



Besides, we have been enabling Charlie Sheen WAY too much.









7. Think of all the people a Cleveland championship would let off the hook!



Jim Poole letting up David Justice's homer. Jose Mesa blowing the save in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. Charles Nagy letting Edgar Renteria smack a 2 out hit to win the World Series. Joel Skinner not sending Kenny Lofton home with the tying run in Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS.



And that's not even counting Craig Ehlo, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble... They would all be relieved of their goat horns.



I've seen it happen. The goats of Red Sox past are absolved. Bill Buckner (who should NEVER have been a goat) received a standing ovation. Johnny Pesky (also an unjustified goat) got his number retired.



It will happen in Cleveland. YES, even for Jose Lima.







8. It could be the beginning of forgiveness and acceptance of LeBron James in Cleveland





I know a lot of Cleveland people will think I am crazy for even suggesting this, but hear me out.



If LeBron had won a title in Cleveland, the whole "Decision" would have been less of a fiasco. It was based upon the idea that LeBron was supposed to deliver that elusive title. The anger came in a not exactly subtle way from that hole in your collective lives. That "We have never seen a title of any kind" agony.



Remove that. Have the euphoria of seeing a championship in Cleveland. And before long you will be able to let go of the anger about LeBron. And eventually you will be able to say "Remember when we had the best player in the NBA? Remember how exciting it was? Remember how much fun we had WHILE he was in Cleveland?"



I know I sound crazy now. Call me 10 years after a Cleveland championship.







9. An Indians championship would mean the Cubs would stand alone



The Cubs used to have lots of company in the whole "Waiting forever for a championship" misery. Forever it was the Cubs, Red Sox and White Sox fans sharing misery.



But when both Sox won, it meant that the Indians and Giants were the only original franchises to NOT win a World Series title since the expansion era. Take the Giants off the board and only the Cubs and Indians remain. The Cubs since 1908. The Indians since 1948.



Remove the Indians and the Cubs' closest partners in misery would be the Rangers and Astros (since 1961 and 1962.)



For fans of Schadenfreude, leaving the Cubs alone in misery would be enough to root for the Indians.







10. It would be the single greatest sports championship parade in American history.



Cubs fans have waited for more than a century, but they have had the Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks win.



Red Sox fans waited forever, but the Celtics won over several generations.



Giants fans agonized about their team but could be consoled by the 49ers.



Imagine the frustration compounded over the decades without ANY kind of release. Especially in a cold weather city where industry has dwindled away and sports means so much. San Diego has waited longer for a title, but when they lose they can go to the beach.



There are people in their 50s with no clear memories of a Cleveland title and anyone born after 1964 can honestly say "It hasn't happened in MY lifetime."



We may never see an outpouring of pure joy quite like a Cleveland title. And I am rooting for it to happen just so I can see it.



And just think of the incredible HBO Sports special they can make!





I really hope it happens for the Indians but it looks remote at best. I've enjoyed writing about Cleveland and making a video about their fans, but eventually the story must end. Maybe it won't be this year, but they are putting together a nice core. Maybe it will be soon. (Where have I heard THAT before?)







If you liked this then go ahead and read the entries for the other teams.



CHICAGO WHITE SOX

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM

NEW YORK YANKEES

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

A Historic Fluke? My latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I take a look at a historic oddity regarding Jim Leyland, Mike Scioscia and Ozzie Guillen.

Each of them managed a World Series winner without a clear Hall of Famer on their playoff roster. And the only other teams to have won the World Series without a future Hall of Famer (the '81 and '88 Dodgers and the '84 Tigers) had Hall of Fame managers.

So is this a fluke? Or are Leyland, Scioscia and Guillen putting together Cooperstown resumes?

You can read the article here.

Some Green from the Teal - Giving the Florida Marlins some credit

It is easy to trash the fish for their cheap ways. But right now they are looking to make the NL East very very interesting in 2012.

The Marlins are indeed the strangest franchise in all of American sports. On the surface they look like a classic Quadruple A team like the Royals and Pirates. They trade veterans for prospects, turn those prospects into big league players and when they ask for too much money, ship them off for more prospects.

Along with playing in a football stadium that isn't designed for baseball and having it be either too hot or too rainy, the inability for Marlins fans to get emotionally attached to any player is as big a reason to why they have had trouble drawing over the years.

And yet there is something so different about the Marlins as compared to Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

First of all they can have winning seasons. The Marlins played their first game in 1993. The Royals and Pirates have combined for two winning seasons in that stretch, both by Kansas City. The Marlins have had 6 winnings seasons in the same stretch.

And of course they remain the only MLB franchise to have never lost a post season series. They are 6-0 in October, winning it all in 1997 and 2003.

This little franchise that could has as many World Series titles as the Mets, the Cubs, the Indians and the Phillies. They are one World Series title behind the Orioles, who have a history of putting consistent winners on the field during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

One thing they do better than Pittsburgh and Kansas City is they actually get VALUE back when they make trades. When I wrote the Home Grown vs. Acquired post for the Marlins, their home grown talent was minimal. But the players they picked up from other clubs were the backbone for their winning teams.

And I'm not just talking about the Pudge Rodriguezes and Moises Alous and Kevin Browns of the world who came in, won a ring and split.

Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Derek Lee, Brad Penny, Anibal Sanchez, Carl Pavano, Dontrelle Willis and Ricky Nolasco were all picked up and blossomed in Miami.

But their spending habits have been laughable. In 2006 their opening day payroll was $16 million... or $4 million less than what the Yankees paid Jason Giambi. The fact that Joe Girardi almost led that team to a winning record was all he needed to win Manager of the Year that year.

In 2008 they spent $22 million on players and had a winning season.
Imagine if their payroll went from "Laughable pathetic" to merely "Small." They probably could have won the Wild Card.

With the Players Association trashing their payroll and forcing the Marlins to spend a little bit, a refreshing picture is starting to emerge in South Florida that has nothing to do with LeBron James.

The Marlins are moving into their new tax payer sinkhole in 2012. And for the first time in their history, the Marlins will have a ballpark to call their own instead of feel like they are crashing on the Dolphins couch.

Miami fans will be able to know they will have decent seats, they won't be rained on and it won't be stifling with humidity.

In other words there will be an incentive to actually GO to the game.

And unless the Marlins trade off a lot of salary between now and 2012, guess who will be under contract and wearing teal?

Hanley Ramirez.
Josh Johnson.
Ricky Nolasco.
Anibal Sanchez.
Mike Stanton.
Gaby Sanchez.
Logan Morrison.
Chris Coghlan.
Chris Volstad.

That's a decent core with an MVP candidate, a Cy Young candidate and some good young pitchers and hitters.

And with Ricky Nolasco signing an extension this year to go along with Hanley Ramirez's extension and Josh Johnson's pact, the Marlins will have three solid players entering their 7th year with the team when they go into the new ballpark.

That's enough time to attach some emotion to a player.

Add to that the new revenue and the fact that Miami, with its many transplanted Northeasterners to go along with the Latin population, should be a baseball haven. And with some money, big free agents should want to live in the low taxed, glamorous Miami lifestyle playing in a low pressure environment.

By 2012 the Phillies juggernaut may be slowing down.
Jimmy Rollins will be a free agent and the Cliff Lees and Roy Halladays and Ryan Howards would all be deeper into their 30s.

2012 could also be the time that Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are ready to shine in Washington. And the Braves are continuing to build on their strong core.

By then a young Marlins team with a burst of energy in the new ballpark and some more money to spend might just be ready to make their move.

And with their post season good fortune, they might indeed win another World Series title. (How would THAT sit with the Cubs and Indians fans of the world?)

So I give you credit, Marlins. You are operating in the Cleveland Indians mold from the mid 1990s. Put together a talented core and by the time you have a new ballpark and new fans filing in, give them a good product.

And before long, who knows? Maybe the Marlins will be one of those teams that people say "It isn't fair. They always out bid other teams on free agents!"