This year's ALCS was eye-opening. It taught us a lot about the Indians, and not much of it was good. Make no mistake, Boston was the better team and we should give them credit, but the series was there for the taking for the Indians, and they blew three opportunities to take it. A few thoughts:
CC Sabathia is not a big-game pitcher
Plain and simple. I know that it is a small sample size to draw on, but he was brutal in each of his three postseason starts, including a horrible performance in game five when the Indians had a 3-1 lead, home fans behind them, and all of the momentum. Josh Beckett brought his "A" game and CC simply could not match him. Hey, maybe this is good news. Maybe the Indians now will be able to re-sign Sabathia, since his market value undoubtedly took a hit with this October's performance.
Don't be fooled into thinking that Kenny Lofton being held up at third was an important play.
It wasn't. A) The Red Sox scored seven more runs after that play happened, and B) if Casey Blake doesn't bounce into an easy double play, then it wouldn't have mattered.
Fausto Carmona needs to master a second pitch
As nasty as 95 mph sinkers are, when that is what you throw 95% of the time, Major League hitters are eventually going to be able to hit them.
I really hope that Travis Hafner is hurt
I'm saying I hope he is hurt because if he is healthy and as bad as he was in the clutch in this series, it is a really ominous sign.
The Red Sox will beat the Rockies in five
Yes, the Rockies were hot, but that was ages ago. By the time they throw the first pitch on Wednesday, Colorado will have been off for nearly two calendar weeks! That, plus the fact that National League was so horrible this year (even worse than last year if you can believe that) will be the difference. The Rockies, as hot as they were, won series against a Phillies team that barely got into the playoffs on the last day of the season, and a Diamondbacks team that was just plain awful.
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