RickJay, excuse a dumb question, but what does the “3-0” you quoted after each team’s regular season record refer to in your analysis? If it is supposed to be postseason record to date, then Cleveland’s should be 3-1 and not 3-0, of course.
Well, referring back to early season predictions I did have both N.Y. and Boston making the playoffs, but never thought Cleveland would come up with enough pitching to be where they are now. If the Red Sox can survive that 1-2 punch (Sabathia and Carmona) they have an excellent chance to face the Rockies in the World Series. Anyway, that’s my probably fatally flawed prediction: Boston (in 7 over the Indians) vs. Colorado.
In other news: Yankees lose.
Yankees defeated, 3-1.
Yankees drop series to Cleveland.
Sorry, I just enjoy seeing those words. My brother, an even more enthusiastic anti-Yankees fan, just sent me his annual “___Years And Counting” e-mail to commemorate the expanding length of time since the Yanks last won a championship.
Ain’t it grand.
Good luck, Joe.
I’m really hoping for a Cleveland-Colorado World Series.
I’ve been in the US for 7 World Series, and a different team has won each of the seven years. That’s the second-longest streak without a repeat winner in Major League history. If the Indians or the Rockies win the WS, the streak goes to 8.
Also, the other day i realized that, over the last six years, the WS has been won by a team from each of the 6 divisions:
2001 NL West
2002 AL West
2003 NL East
2004 AL East
2005 AL Central
2006 NL Central
That’s pretty cool.
I was happy to see Cleveland win, and not just because they were playing the Yankees. The only thing that sours it a bit is the knowledge that many of those Indians fans in Cleveland are probably also Browns fans (spit). 
But of course. My mistake.
Oh sweet Jebus, yes. Being a Cleveland sports fan … well, let’s just say that Diomedes ought to change his name to Sisyphus. It’s a difficult life. Maybe being a Cubs fan is worse, but not by much.
With a payroll of $143,026,214 (according to USA Today ), they are second only to the Yankees, and roughly twice the average MLB payroll. I call that “buy the pennant.” Really the Red Sox are indistinguishable from the Yankees nowadays. They blindly fling money around with no real semblance of a plan.
Forget the payroll, for a second. He said, “sluggers.” Name a slugger on the Red Sox that they’ve bought other than the ones I’ve mentioned.
Well they don’t really have any other “sluggers” on their team besides Manny & Ortiz (neither of whom were homegrown), but they dropped $70 mil on JD Drew & $36 mil on Julio Lugo. Really tho, you are arguing semantics. Replace “sluggers” with “players” if it helps you sleep better.
Um, the original post said “sluggers.” That’s what I was referring to.
Julio Lugo is not a slugger. Drew is a disappointment, a mistake.
Varitek and Ortiz became stars on the Red Sox and were RE-signed with bigger contracts – Ortiz was CUT by the Twins. What did you expect them to do, not sign them?
It was poorly worded. I should have said “players,” as obviously they have bought much of the pitching staff and lineup.
Re-signed players, whatever their origins, are nevertheless paid according to market values. The Red Sox and Yankees, to a great extent, buy their success; there’s no point denying it.
Well, yeah, but it’s not like they’re alone; the Florida Marlins pretty much literally bought themselves two pennants (1997 & 2003) and then promptly disbanded the teams immediately thereafter.
Don’t get me wrong; Cleveland gets big ups from me for being able to grow and raise their talent. But eventually, perhaps sooner than later, those guys who started out in Cleveland will want more money, and they’re going to go where the money is. Which is definitely not Tampa Bay (until I win the lottery and buy the franchise and institute Naked Fridays).
rockle, can I have the sunscreen concession when you do?
You’re kidding, right?
In 2003, the Marlins had the 6th-lowest total payroll in the Major Leagues. Do you really think that their success in 2003 was comparable, in terms of “buying a pennant,” to the spending of the Red Sox and the Yankees.
The Marlins only really expensive acquisition for the 2003 season was catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who made about 20% of the team’s total payroll that year. Their other very successful acquisitions were Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, both of whom were Major League rookies in 2003.
While it’s true, in a technical sense, that the Marlins bought those guys and then those guys helped them win a championship, bringing in two untested rookies who then have good seasons is NOT the same as spending millions on proven talent. The latter might be an example of buying a pennant; the former is not.
Here’s the good news: Girls Club
Remember one year Fox hyped the hell out of this show during the post season? This show was quickly canceled.
At least, I don’t believe Frank sang the national anthem or Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
I wasn’t kidding; I was mistaken. Sorry about that – I somehow conflated what happened in 1997 and 2003 and extracted that it was a little bit of history repeating. I didn’t realize how low the payroll was in 2003. So, I guess I retract at least that part of my statement.
Sure, why not? Get in on the ground floor.
I’ll sell you the sunscreen concession rights to Tampa Bay’s home stadium for a dollar.
I warn you: it’s not, perhaps, the best of business plans.
Oh, did I forget to mention that I plan to knock down Tropicana Stadium and build something less … er, asymmetrically breastlike? And also undomed.
Don’t worry: in addition to Naked Fridays, I have other exciting business ideas. Like signing a couple of little people á la Eddie Gaedel to be my DH’s. Or, if none are available, adorable moppets from a local orphanage or something. I am generally not a fan of the DH, but I do love to screw with the strike zone. Or pitchers. Either/or.
The Marlins were seventh in total payroll in 1997. The Yankees were first.
http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=1997
I never said they were first, but they were closer to the top then than they are now. It looks to me like they were trying to acquire the best players they could so they could win a World Series – especially since they spent 1½ times as much on their payroll in 1997 than they did this season (!!).
You said, “… the Florida Marlins pretty much literally bought themselves two pennants (1997 & 2003) …” That’s false.