The 2006 Cleveland Indians: Recapping And Looking Ahead
| 6
|
by user Frisky
The Cleveland Indians did not give fans a lot to talk about this season. After starting 6-1, they began a tailspin and never really recovered. It was shades of 2002 all over again when the club started 10-1 and then finished 74-88. Funny enough, that was following a season where they won 90+ games...just like this season.
Of course, there was a good excuse to lose 88 games in 2002. The team had started the season trying to contend while rebuilding. When it became clear that wasn’t going to work, they dismantled pretty much everything and started over. That’s why they lost 94 games the following year. It was part of the process. The year after that, they made a nice run but still finished well out of the playoff race while sporting a more respectable 80-82 record. They continued to build on that in 2005 with a wonderful 93-win season that fell just short of postseason play.
Then something funny happened in the 05/06 offseason. After fans had been told time and time again that owner Larry Dolan would spend money when the time was right, the team allowed 2/5 of their starting rotation to walk and replaced it with lesser players in both cases. They allowed to walk or traded relievers Bob Howry, David Riske, and Arthur Rhodes, key pieces of what was a dominating bullpen in 2005, replacing them with also-rans such as Steve Karsay and Danny Graves. And they traded their number two hitter and solid defensive outfielder Coco Crisp and replaced him with a lesser player in every respect.
Everyone knows this story by now. The Indians got worse last offseason. We all knew the White Sox got better and that it was going to be a struggle to top them, but who knew it would end up being the Tigers and Twins who would represent the American League Central Division in the playoffs? If you had told me earlier this year that the American League would have three teams in the playoffs in 2006 that weren’t there in 2005 and two of those would be from the Central Division, I would have jumped for joy.
But is it really so weird that the Tigers are where they are now? Watching them celebrate with their fans Saturday evening was one of the coolest things I have ever seen and it made me both jealous and angry. The Indians always talk about doing things the right way, but you know what? It was the Tigers that did it the right way.
I remember the last few years just laughing when they signed guys like Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Kenny Rogers, or Magglio Ordonez. What was the point? Why even bother spending all that money when you’re such a terrible team? The Tigers lost 119 games in 2003. That offseason they signed Pudge. Unbelievable at the time but it makes a lot of sense now. Management had a long-term vision. There was no thinking like, “Well, we lost a crap-load of games so we better wait to acquire some good players until we get better.” That’s how the Indians seem to operate, but think about that sentence and how little sense it makes. Waiting to get good players until you get good…the Tigers got good by signing good players to compliment the young kids they had. They just needed a few years to gel and now look at them. They may very well be headed for the World Series. Look at the paths the Indians and Tigers have taken over the past five seasons:
Indians
Year: wins
2002: 74
2003: 68
2004: 80
2005: 93
2006: 78
Tigers
Year: wins
2002: 55
2003: 43
2004: 72
2005: 71
2006: 95
Notice how the Indians entered a valley in 2003 but started to come steadily out of it, only to fall right back in this year. On the other hand, the Tigers experienced that same valley—even worse, in fact—but they came out of it and had immediate success. To be fair, the real comparison here will come next year to see if the Tigers follow suit and fall back into the valley, but even if they do, at least they got to experience the playoffs this year. The Indians failed to do even that at their peak.
I’m really happy for Tigers fans and I envy what they have. While they have certainly experienced a lot of hardships over the past many years having just 336 wins since 2002 to the Indians’ 393, they are the ones with an appearance in the ALCS and they can be assured that their owner will continue to do what it takes to keep them near the top of the AL Central for years to come.
Indians fans, on the other hand, have seen great rosters dismantled over the years. They have watched high expectations become dashed in just a month. They have watched their hated rivals win a World Series one year and another rival make it to the ALCS the following year (and we can certainly revise this paragraph pending the outcome of the next few weeks), not to mention watching a nation of Red Sox fans have their curse lifted.
And, yet, idiots like myself continue to go to handfuls of games every year. I figure I gave the Indians around $300 just this season. And what did they give me? This year, two of the most boring games I have seen in my lifetime, one average one, and one exciting one. If I had it to do over again, I think I would save my money.
So you know what? In 2007, I will apply the lessons Larry Dolan has taught me and save my money. He is very wise in not spending the money until the fan support is there, so I will be just as wise and not spend my money until the wins are there. No, I will never stop supporting this team. I just can’t do that. But if given the choice between watching them on TV for free or spending hundreds of dollars for tickets, food, parking, and gas to drive up and watch them waste a season of promise in person, I think I will stay home.
