Yesterday I mentioned to my friend Brett that this team reminded me of the Indians teams of the 90's in that they seem to have a certain swagger about them, like they can win any game at any given time. Then O.G. RCR reader Mike mentioned the same exact thing in the comment section of the last entry.
Strangely enough, just two days ago someone at work asked me if I could name at least 15 members of the '95 Indians, which was easiest enough for me. Naming the '97 team was actually a little bit harder for some reason.
So are these guys really similar to the team from '95? I'm sure it's early to say such things, but it's undenialable that they have that...feel to them.
Sure, Nixon/Blake aren't exactly Manny Ramirez, but then again Pronk isn't exactly Eddie Murray. Obviously Jhonny Peralta's no Omar Vizquel, but who here is going to take Carlos Baerga over Josh Barfield? And let's face facts, Garko could be the next Thome someday (yes, I know Thome was at third in '95 and at first in '97, but work with me). And while Victor might not throw people out like Sandy Alomar, he's got him in hitting.
But you know the big difference between this team and those teams? We have pitching.
Buster Olney wrote in his ESPN.com blog on Thursday that the Indians probably have the deepest rotations in baseball from 1 to 7, considering how good Fausto 4.0 and Miller are. But have you looked at Jason Stanford's numbers in Buffalo lately? He's just as good as Miller!
Sure, it was nice to have (at various points) Tavarez, Plunk, Ausenmacher, and Jackson, but Betancourt, Mastny, Fultz, and Cabrera are growing on me. And Browoski has yet to scar me the way Mesa did.
And yet...
We've only played 25 games. But we're not even playing all that well. And we keep winning.
Maybe it's the whiskey talking, but I have hope. And I will cry like a baby if/when we win the World Series.
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