Whatever happens, I'll be watching with interest my all-time favorite team vs. my favorite AL team. The Indians were the first AL team I rooted for in the World Series in 1954 when I was 10 yrs. old. I liked the Dodgers and didn't like the Giants (except for Willie Mays). I was crushed when the Giants swept the series. Needless to say, I and millions of others hope for a Cubs championship, but if it's not meant to be, it won't break my heart to see the Indians take the trophy.
The Indians are embracing the underdog role: https://apnews.com/5fe596d70108492492787d3aa9d82c37 They've proven they are fighters by beating two outstanding teams in their recent matchups. They can win this series. The Cubs need to bring their A+++ game.
Klub was lights out. The Tribe looked impressive. The even had a Cinderella story with the catcher hitting 2 bombs. The Cubs have a whole lot of everything though, quite like a loaded American League squad. I still think the Cubs are the better team, but you can never count out Cinderella.
Agree, Corey...how many rabbits can we keep pulling out of the hat? Terry, I sat through a World Series game in Cleveland against the Marlins where it snowed. Got a picture somewhere. Nothing in the forecast that I am aware of this time so far.
Is there an Umpire out there that calls the strike zone according to the rules? 1996 - The Strike Zone is expanded on the lower end, moving from the top of the knees to the bottom of the knees. 1988 - "The Strike Zone is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the top of the knees. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball." With the technology available it would seem that at the very least "Over the Plate should be a no brainer" Vertical call is more complicated.
I thought the umpire last night was squeezing Lester, but Lester wasn't helping his own case by yelling at the umpire from the mound with every call he didn't get. If Lester would have pulled that **** in a July game, he'd get the thumb or a postage stamp strike zone. The ump should be commended for keeping his cool and eventually, finding a nice balance for both pitchers. Stu, I don't know, but you get 6 tries to pull 3 rabbits
Indians shut out the Cubs 1-0. This could be a very interesting series, even for those of us who are not great baseball fans.
Back to Cleveland for the coup de' grace....no way the Cubs can sweep in Cleveland. That pitching that Stu worried about has held up pretty well.
Well, the weird thing about the Cubs is that they'll get Schwarber back in the lineup now they are going to the AL park. Usually, the NL team has a good, but not great DH whereas the AL team has a bonafide DH. That isn't the case with the Cubs. It'll be interesting to see how Game 6 plays out.
Game 7! I thought for sure the Indians would close out the Cubs last night. Would be an epic comeback if the Cubs can win game 7 and the Series on the road being down 3-1.
Epic? Maybe so. Nobody thought the Tribe would go anywhere in the playoffs when Carrasco and Salazaar both went down before the playoffs even started. Then Bauer cuts his finger and missed 2 playoff starts and probably was less effective in his 2 WS games because of it. Tomlin pitched two great games but wasn't very sharp last night on short rest. All we got now is Kluber going on short rest. But the good thing about last night being a blowout loss instead of a close loss is that he didn't have to use his big 3 relievers and can go to them early if needed. Cubs are doing the job...gotta give them credit. Baez is amazing...but I wish I wouldn't have to keep hearing what a "magician" he is every time he makes a routine double play. :roll: