Welcome to the moment network execs have been dreading. The Cleveland Indians need to win one of the next three games to face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.
A nation yawns. Or it would, if it could summon the enthusiasm.
Thursday’s contest at Jacobs Field (first pitch, 5 p.m. PT) features a rematch of Game 1 starters and leading Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. For Boston, the equation is simple: win or go home for the winter.
For the Indians, it’s more like win or go to Boston’s home for two more games. I’m thinking they’d prefer Door …read more

Congrats to the Cleveland Indians for beating the Yankees in their house Monday night to take their ALDS, three games to one. In three of four series so far, the team with the much smaller payroll has won (salaries in millions; source, Cot’s Baseball Contracts):
Red Sox: $143.0
Angels: $109.3
Indians: $61.7
Yankees: $189.6
Diamondbacks: $52.1
Cubs: $99.7
Rockies: $54.4
Phillies: $89.4
If you’d seeded the playoff teams by money spent on salary, here’s what it would have looked like:

Yankees
Red Sox
Angels
Cubs
Phillies
Indians
Rockies
Diamondbacks

Three of the four teams from the bottom half have advanced the LCS. One of the two smallest salaried teams in the dance is guaranteed to reach the World …read more

Wednesday. The middle of the week. Humpday. Halfway between there and here. Eh, you get the point. Some good games on tap today…
American League

Indians at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals. Paul Byrd vs Justin Verlander looks like a mismatch, and I suppose it is. Byrd, though, is a crafty veteran with freakish control (18 walks in 143 IP). Verlander’s ERA is 4.89 in seven starts since the All-Star break. Detroit’s offense is crazy good — Magglio Ordonez is a legit MVP candidate, Gary Sheffield is having a monster year (including 20 SB …read more

Somehow I got out of the habit of doing these. With the pennant races heating up, I reckon it’s time to bust out the previews again:
American League

Mariners at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT — How are the Mariners doing it? Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, and Jose Guillen all are having decent (not great) seasons on offense. The starting pitching has been okay. The relief pitching has been pretty darned good. They score about as many runs as they give up, and yet, they’re a game out of the AL wild card. Felix Hernandez starts tonight, which is always a good reason …read more

I’m trying to think of an angle that hasn’t been worked to death, and I doubt that any exist. After all, this is Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees. It’s hard to imagine a more overexposed story in all of baseball.
But I’ll give it a shot anyway.
In Clemens’ big-league debut, on May 15, 1984, he faced the Cleveland Indians and got a no-decision. Clemens didn’t pitch particularly well, but he played alongside or against a Hall of Famer (Wade Boggs), the father of a current big leaguer (Tony Armas), a front-office staffer (Reid Nichols), a field manager …read more

The Cleveland Indians have signed right-hander Jake Westbrook to a 3-year extension worth a reported $33 million. The 29-year-old Westbrook is basically a Jon Garland clone — durable, reliable, unspectacular.
It’s interesting in light of the Padres’ recent signing of Chris Young to note the tradeoffs a team will make between consistency and excellence. Here’s a quick look at how Young and Westbrook have fared since the former first reached the big leagues in August 2004:

Jake Westbrook vs Chris Young, August 2004 – October 2006

 
DOB
Yr
$M
GS
IP
ERA
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
SO/9

Westbrook
9/29/77
3
33
74
477
4.13
9.75
0.70
2.32
4.87

Young
5/25/79
4
14.5
69
380.1
3.93
7.86
1.28
2.93
7.76

Stats courtesy of Baseball Musings Day by Day Database.

 
Young is 20 months younger and a more dominant …read more