There are just about 40 games to go in the 2011 season, and a playoff picture is starting to take shape. Currently, there are only three tightly contested divisions in baseball - the NL West, The AL East, and the AL Central. In all liklihood, 2nd place in the AL East is taking the Wild Card. All other division leaders hold at least 6 game lead at this point, although nothing is a given just ask my Mets. Given the state of the pennant races, we focus on pitching staffs in this breakdown, and we couldn't agree on everything. These are my picks, and I'll tell you the places my colleagues and I agreed upon. Starting with the American League.
5. Cleveland Indians
Standouts - Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin
Inconsistent - Ubaldo Jimenez, Fausto Carmona, Carlos Carrasco
The Tribe are in the thick of a pennant race in the Central, and NOBODY would have picked that at the start of the season. They've benefited from solid play from hitters and better than average pitching. They also have benefited from a relatively weak division (they'd be 5th in AL East and 3rd in AL West). We were in agreement that the Indians staff is weakest among playoff contenders. They made a great trade to grab Jimenez. The fire-balling righty can look like the greatest pitcher of his generation on some days, and look terrible on others. The Indians staff is largley untested in a stretch run situation, let alone playoffs. Inexperience could be a detriment to their run.
The Cleveland Indians are one of the most storied franchises in the AL Central. In fact, they have won more AL Central titles (7) than any other team in that division. Not surprisingly, their all-time team is solid; it includes six Hall of Famers (plus two more that could be enshrined- Thome and Lofton). Remarkably, five Indians Hall of Famers did not make our list which is a testament to how deep this team is. The most difficult choices for us to make were at 2B (Alomar or Lajoie), 3B (Keltner or Rosen) and OF (Doby or Lofton). The Bob's form a formidable pitching duo that matches up with some of the better ones out there. Addie Joss and Early Wynn would make the cut on most teams but they're both relegated to honorable mention on our list. So check out our All-Time Cleveland Indians team and tell us what you think.
C - Sandy Alomar, Jr.
1B - Jim Thome
2B - Nap Lajoie
3B - Al Rosen
SS - Lou Boudreau
OF - Tris Speaker
OF - Earl Averill
OF - Kenny Lofton
DH - Albert Belle
SP - Bob Feller
SP - Bob Lemon
CL - Jose Mesa
The votes are in... there will be two players enshrined in Cooperstown in 2011. Blyleven and Alomar, who came within 5 and 8 votes, respectively, of making the cut in 2010 will both be honored in July for their historic contributions to the game of baseball.
Blyleven, who ranks 5th all-time in career strikeouts and 9th all-time in career shutouts, waited 14 years for his call. The numbers show how consistent Blyleven was over the course of 22 major league seasons - despite never winning a Cy Young award and only making two all-star rosters, his cumulative 3.31 ERA and 1.198 WHIP tell you how dominant Bert really was. He played for some bad teams over those 22 seasons but the few times he did make the postseason, he proved to be very effective on the big stage- a 5-1 postseason record to go along with a 2.47 ERA in 8 career postseason games (6 starts). If Bert had played on a better team, there's no doubt that he would have retired with a better reputation. Blyleven was a horse and one hell of a pitcher.
Alomar finished top 10 in MVP voting five times. He was named an all-star team more than any other second baseman in history (12). He was named to the all-time Gold Glove team in 2007 at second base during the 50th anniversary of the Gold Glove award, an award which he won 10 times. Aside from the defensive prowess, the switch hitting Alomar also swung a decent bat; winning 4 Silver Slugger awards, maintaining a career .300 batting average and amassing 474 stolen bases. If not for an infamous spitting incident, he would have surely been a first ballot Hall of Famer as he was one of the best to ever play his position.
Congratulations to Blyleven and Alomar!
The recent passing of "Rapid Robert" (Bob) Feller is truly a sad day for baseball. At 92, he was a fixture in baseball for 75 years, pitching his first game at age 17. Armed with "The Heater from Van Meter," Feller compiled 266 wins, 2,581 strikeouts, and a career ERA of 3.25. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1936-1956. The Cy Young Award did not come into existence until 1956 or he certainly would have won multiple times. Perhaps more amazing than his on-field dominance, however, is the patriotism and sacrifice that Feller showed for our great nation. As we recently honored the 59th anniversay of the "day that will live in infamy," the sacrifices of Bob Feller, and indeed Ted Williams, should be better understood by baseball enthusiasts. Most casual baseball fans know the names of Feller and Williams, and more in-tune fans may also know some of their statistics and place in history. Many don't realize what they gave up, from a histrocial perspective, to serve thier country.
