Ladies and gentlemen, your 2013 Cleveland Indians will be playing baseball in October. Post-season baseball. Playoffs.
Just let that sink in for a bit. Savour it.
For the first time since 2007, Cleveland will host an MLB Playoff game. At the beginning of the season, all Tribe fans wanted was meaningful baseball games in September. For me personally, I just wanted us to be relevant, somewhere within the region of "relevant" and "respectable" by the end of the season. The dream was post-season baseball for me, and I didn't really think they'd actually achieve it, not after 2012, not after all the new acquisitions would naturally need time to gel. Well the Indians only went and did it, surpassing all expectations. They did indeed play meaningful baseball in September. And now they will play in October too. Pinch me.
So that's it folks, the regular season is done and dusted. The Indians finished with a 92-70 record, quite astounding considering how bleak things looked at times this year. 10 straight wins to end the year. 21-6 in the month of September. I don't care what they say about the "soft schedule," you play the team in front of you. We did and we won. That's all there is to it.
In the end it all came down to the final day, game 162. Win and they're in. The Indians obliged. Thanks to an absolutely dominant outing from Ubaldo Jimenez and some important hitting from key players like Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana, the Tribe wrapped up the top spot in the AL Wild Card with relative ease, beating the Twins 5-1 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of Minnesota. It was Cleveland's seventh four-game sweep of the year, the most in major league history since the 1943 Cardinals. That's just amazing.
Something else amazing: Ubaldo's 13 strikeouts, which matched his career high. It has been a magnificent few months for the Dominican right-hander and he pitched a real gem in the Sunday sunshine. After getting into a bit of trouble in the 7th inning, Jimenez was relieved by Marc Rzepczynski and then Justin Masterson to finish out the game. It was somewhat fitting to see Masterson pitch the final couple of innings after such a brilliant season by the All Star. The final out was a thing of beauty as well: Masterson induced a sharp groundball that looked as if it had eyes for right field, but fellow All Star Jason Kipnis made a gorgeous web-gem-worthy dive to his left to snag the ball. Kipnis got to his feet in light-speed to throw the ball to Masterson covering first base for the final out. Cue delirious celebrations on the field, in the homes of Cleveland fans, and little old me here in UK, going mental sat on the floor in front of my laptop.
Let's take a look at some talking points from this series then:
Perez Problems Solved? Sort Of
With just days left of the regular season, Chris Perez was finally relieved of his closing duties on Friday 27th September. And I'm surprised it took so long to be honest. After nearly costing the Indians another game in Thursday night's narrow 6-5 win, Perez apparently went to Francona and said he didn't want to cost the team any valuable wins this late in the year. The skipper agreed and demoted Perez from the closer role, finishing out the season with a closer-by-committee, including guys like Cody Allen, Joe Smith, and new member of the bullpen Justin Masterson.
It's safe to say Perez has had a terrible 2013. In 54 games he finished with a 5-3 record, a bloated 4.33 ERA with 25 saves, and 5 blown saves. In 54 innings he gave up 56 hits, 11 home runs, and 21 walks. Simply put, it was not good enough for a closer on a team trying to compete for a place in the post-season. There was a moment a couple of months ago where it felt like Perez was back on track to be being the closer he once was. It looked as if he was improving. Then he imploded once more. It wasn't to be.
The question now is, what role will the big right-hander play in the post-season? Will he feature at all? I have to admit, I think it would be wise just to shut him down entirely now. His confidence is completely shot and his future with the Tribe is in serious doubt.
How many fans would shed a tear if Perez were traded in the off-season? I certainly wouldn't and I'm sure the majority of Indians fans feel the same way. Our patience with Perez has always been relatively thin but it has never been thinner than now. The manner of his 9th inning displays are always nail-biting, and never in a good way. Painful to watch is the correct term I believe. Personally, I think it's time both sides agree to call time and move in different directions. A fresh start could be exactly what Perez needs to get his mojo back. I for one think his days closing in Cleveland are over.
King Kazmir
Take a bow Mr Scott Edward Kazmir. The veteran left-hander put in a superb performance during Saturday afternoon's 5-1 win to edge the Indians another step closer in their bid to secure their Wild Card spot. Kazmir pitched 6 solid innings before departing, giving up 6 hits, 1 run, walking 2, and striking out an incredible 11 batters. He was making the Twins miss consistently, keeping them off balance all afternoon. I was particularly impressed with his breaking ball, a beauty of a pitch when he got it right. Kazmir finished the 2013 season with 162 strikeouts in 158 innings. That's more than Matt Cain, David Price, Zack Greinke, Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Moore. For the small price the Tribe paid for Kazmir, I think they more than got their money's worth. Especially for a dude who had been out of the majors since 2011.
In fact, after a difficult August in which he was plagued by arm fatigue, Kazmir rebounded in style during September. Over 5 starts he posted a 2.57 ERA this past month with 43 strikeouts in 28 innings, an incredible amount. Talk about a strong finish to the season. I've heard Kazmir is willing to discuss returning to Cleveland for 2014 and I have absolutely no problems with that. I think if he can remain healthy then he has the potential to build off this season and come back even stronger next year. I feel he deserves another year with the Tribe at the very least.
Sir Swisher
It's been easy to see the effect Nick Swisher has had on the Indians this year. The guy is such a character, so full of enthusiasm, you'd have to be blind not to see how beneficial his positive attitude has been to this club. From the moment he signed in December 2012 to the final out of Sunday's game, the smile on his face has rarely dropped, even as he struggled at times on the field.
It hasn't exactly been a career year for Nick in his debut season in Cleveland. I wouldn't have blamed him if his enthusiasm faltered a bit as his performance suffered. But give credit where it is due, the man did not give up.
Swisher had a fantastic month of September and was arguably the cornerstone of the Tribe's amazing playoff push these past four weeks. Let's look at some numbers: In the 26 games he played in September, Swisher batted .263, had a .353 OBP, and a .515 slugging percentage. He recorded 26 hits, 4 of them doubles, and hit 7 home runs for 17 RBI, to go along with 15 walks. Hell, he even threw in a stolen base for good measure, his only one this year.
He finished the year with 22 homers (he hasn't hit less than that since his rookie season in 2005) so considering that 7 of them came within these past 26 games, that's a pretty good hot streak right there. Swisher's 2-run bomb in the 1st inning of Sunday's game settled any early nerves for the Tribe and put them on track for the Wild Card-clinching win. It was only right that Swisher, the face of this franchise, should be the one to put a smile on the fans' faces, one big enough to match his own. Thanks Nick.
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So where does this all leave us? Tampa Bay and Texas both won their final games to finish with matching records of 91-71. That means they face off tonight in a 163rd game to decide who will play the Indians in Wednesday's Wild Card game at Progressive Field. I will of course be staying up late for Wednesday night's game and I cannot wait for it. It'll be my first Playoff game as an Indians fan since I started supporting the team late in 2007. I pretty much missed out on all the excitement six years ago. I was still a new fan and still learning the game, and thus didn't fully appreciate how special it was. Now I know, now I appreciate it, and I really hope the Indians can keep us happy for many more days to come in October.
Now if any of you kind souls feel like sending one of those sweet Indians Playoffs t-shirts to me in England, I would really appreciate it!
Thanks for reading.
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