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Tribe looks to follow in footsteps of KC, Cubs
- Updated: January 7, 2017
They were so close. The Indians moved within a pitch, a hit or a something last season of exorcising all of their ghosts from the distant and recent past, but they lost the World Series.
Still, there is hope for those in Tribe Nation that their guys will finish the job this time around. And, yes, they acquired Edwin Encarnacion, among the game’s most dynamic sluggers, but here’s the other thing: Three years ago, after the Royals fell just short of winning it all, they didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They ended the next season with a World Series championship.
The Cubs did something similar. Remember?
I’m sure the Indians do.
In 2015, with talks of billy goat curses, Steve Bartman and more than 100 years of disappointment pounding their ears, the Cubs couldn’t move past the National League Championship Series. Then came last year’s World Series for the ages. During extra innings in Game 7, the Cubs became baseball’s best team for a season for the first time in 108 years, and they did so against …
The Indians.
See where I’m going? I’m not saying the Indians will grab their first World Series championship since 1948 and only their third in history. I’m also not saying they won’t. I’m just saying they have Encarnacion to combine with all of that other stuff to give them a splendid chance of doing so.
Suddenly, baseball has an epidemic of young teams tasting the big time. We saw it with Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and others for the Royals, and the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell did much of the same for the Cubs.
The Indians have youthful players with impressive skills, ranging from Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis to Tyler Naquin and Jose Ramirez. They’ll only improve now that they’re hitting in a batting order that includes Encarnacion, who has averaged 39 home runs and 110 RBIs …
