XM MLB Chat

Friday, January 04, 2008

Rick Hurd, Contra Costa Times on XM--forgets likely cause of Indians frazzle in ALCS

On Baseball Beat, Rick and Chuck happen upon what makes winners and losers in the post season. Rick made a point of saying even if a team (specifically a lower payroll team) gets to the post season they still might not go very far just because they're not there often enough to get a winning mentality.
  • He cites 2007 ALCS Indians v Boston, and earnestly says he thinks the Indians looked around when ahead 3 games to 1 and said in effect, Who? Us? Holy smokes, this is heavy, can this really be happening to us, after all we're just the Indians not used to the post season much in recent years. Hurd believes that's the probable reason the Indians fell apart late in the series.
No mention in the conversation of the single event that literally caused the Indian team to fall into chaos on the night of the deciding Game 7. ESPN employees had published Paul Byrd's drug use in the San Francisco Chronicle--often word of these major events leaks out a little earlier. The Indians team was forced to handle a swarm of media, which might have altered their mental outlook a bit--if Rick Hurd wants to explore the mental aspects of winning, that would've been worth mentioning.

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2 Comments:

  • http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports/119901930781010.xml&coll=2&thispage=2

    Q: Hey, Hoynsie: Just read last week's on-line version of Hey, Hoynsie. Do you really feel that fans prefer the Indians making a playoff run once every five years as opposed to a Yankees team that makes the postseason every year? You also didn't answer why the media hasn't held owner Larry Dolan accountable to his Tribe pledges. Wouldn't that be responsible journalism? - Kate Tremain, Cleveland.

    A: Hey, Kate: I'm sure fans would like to see the Indians make the postseason every year, but if they did it like the Yankees, who have the highest payroll in baseball history and have been beaten in the first round three straight years, what's the point? As for holding ownership responsible, I get that question a lot. What is it you want? A flogging at Public Square? When Larry Dolan bought the Indians in 2000, they were making the postseason almost every year. He said he didn't want to win just one World Series, he wanted to win several. Did you expect the new owner of a winning team to say he didn't want to win the World Series? After rebuilding had been declared delcared in 2002, Dolan said he'd spend when the Indians became a contender again. Before the start of last season, General Manager Mark Shapiro left payroll dollars in the bank because he couldn't find the right kind of deal. The Indians started the season with the smallest payroll in the AL Central and won the division with 96 victories. Along the way, he signed Jake Westbrook and Travis Hafner to big deals. Shapiro could do the same thing this year regarding payroll. Where's the problem in that? Or would you rather see him pay Barry Zito $126 million just to prove he can?

    Mr.Hoynes takes a shot at Yankees payroll.

    By Blogger Jerry, at 5:27 PM  

  • In that case, Hoynes is looking good for induction into the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Awards and other goodies come your way if you Yankee-payroll bash.

    By Blogger susan, at 6:56 PM  

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