Cleveland vs. Seattle Preview

Everybody assumes that Seattle because of their 116 wins will waltz into and win the World Series. Does anybody remember the 1954 Indians who one 111 games yet got swept by the New York Giants 4-0? The Indians have the bats to stay with anybody, but for them the problem is that half of this game is pitching, and they have very little of that. You hear so much about Seattleıs pitching you forget that they have a solid lineup. It all starts for them at the top of the batting order with Ichiro Suzuki who continued his run of batting titles winning his eighth in a row. He won seven over in Japan and in his first season in the States hit .350 to become only the second rookie to ever win a batting title. The Indians counter with a lineup that puts fear into opposing teams. Juan Gonzalez enjoyed his first campaign with Cleveland hitting .325 with 35 homers and 140 RBIıs. These teams finished 1-2 in team batting average, with Seattle also finishing first in team pitching.

You look at the lineups and you would assume that the Indians are much better, but with a closer look thatıs not true. Seattle had the most runs scored. The only category the Indians finished ahead of them in was homers by 44. Bret Boone had one of those seasons that youıll never forget. He hit 37 homers and led the AL in RBIıs with 141 all this while batting .331. Ichiro became the first player since the 30ıs to have more than 240 hits. He also led the AL in steals with 56. After these two you get Edgar Martinez (.306, 23 HRıs and 116 RBIıs), John Olerud (.302, 21 HRıs and 95 RBIıs) and Mike Cameron (.267, 25 HRıs, 110 RBIıs and 34 steals). The Indians counter with Robbie Alomar, the best second baseman in the game. He finished third in the batting race with a .336 average. He also contributed 20 homers, and 100 RBIıs. Jim Thome who started off so slow there was rumors early on that he might be benched or traded. Then all of a sudden in early May he found his stroke and went on a tear, hitting homers all over the place and finishing with 49 to go along with 124 RBIıs. The Indians saw the resurgence of Marty Cordova who hit .301 with 20 homers. Thereıs not enough that can be said about Ellis Burks and his leadership abilities. He made his impact both on the field and off.

Advantage in hitting: Seattle as they know how to play for one run better than any team in baseball.

The starting pitching of the Mariners front three is very impressive and could be too much for the Indians to overcome. Freddie Garcia is a true ace something the Indians donıt have. All Garcia did was go 18-6 and win the ERA title at 3.05. Jamie Moyer who became the oldest lefthander to win 20 games for the first time follows him. Moyer finished 20-6 with a 3.43 ERA after being knocked out of the playoffs last year with a broken kneecap. The third member of the staff was the ace last year Aaron Sele who went 15-5 with a solid 3.56 ERA. The Indians will counter with Bartolo Colon the most talented pitcher who canıt seem to shake his inconsistencies. He can be unhittable one day and the very next start go out and get shelled. Colon is barley above .500 with his 14-12 record and 4.09 ERA. Chuck Finley has been hurt most of the year, but when he did pitch he was horrible. The only reason he had a winning record (8-7) was because of the offense they gave him. His ERA is the worst of his career at 5.54. The true surprise was 20-year old lefthander C.C. Sabathia who won a team high 17 games with a respectable 4.39 ERA. The Indians as a staff managed only three complete games, but the Mariners werenıt much better as they only completed eight themselves.

Advantage in Starting Pitching: Seattle won the team ERA title and had all three of their starters from above finish with under a 3.60 ERA. No starter for the Indians has an ERA under 4.00.

The bullpen is the strength of the Mariners. Manager Pinella goes to Arthur Rhodes (1.72 ERA) then to Jeff Nelson (2.76 ERA) before getting to closer Kazu Sasaki (45 saves). The Indians have no answer for this, as John Rocker (5.45 ERA) has been a complete bust as both a closer and set-up man. Bob Wickman has been a dynamite closer with his 32 saves and 2.39 ERA. But with Paul Shuey still hurt that weakens an already decimated pitching staff. Dany Baez has been a pleasant surprise and will take up the slack for Shuey. But still this isnıt enough to overcome the superior bullpen of the Mariners.

I love my Indians, but even I can recognize when a team is better. The Mariners will win in four games.