Out o
Indians, Padres would make
unpredictable World Series
The only thing that could taint such
an incredible 1998 Major League
Baseball season would be to see an
other Braves vs. Yankees match-up in
the World Series. Unfortunately, the
chances of these two teams not meet
ing in the season finale are pretty slim.
Both teams come off convincing di
vision series’ sweeps and hold home
field advantage against the recently
slumping Cleveland Indians and San
Diego Padres.
But make no mistake about it. The
Indians would show no
regret or remorse in end-
ing the Yankees’ record
setting season a couple
weeks short. And the
Padres aren’t going to
lay down and have their
bid for their second
World Series appear-
ance stopped on account
of the Braves
In a season that has al
ready witnessed enough
excitement to make it
through 70 years of the
PGA, the American League will have
its two most dominant teams of the
1990 s battle it out for the opportunity
to compete in another World Series.
With a series win, the Yankees would
advance to their second World Series
in three years. Their last appearance
resulted in a six game series win over
the Atlanta Braves. The Indians go
for their third appearance in four years,
giving them another chance to win
their first championship in 50 years,
their last win coming in 1948 against
the Boston Braves.
Weighing heavily on the minds of
New York is how only one year ago,
the Indians danced into the Bronx and
upset the Yankees in the decisive fifth
game of the first round. The Indians
would then go on to win the AL Cham
pionship Series over ftritUnpre and
lose in the final at bat to the Florida
Marlins in the World Series. Weigh
ing heavily on the hearts of the Yan
kees is the condition of teammate
Darryl Strawberry, who this past Sat
urday underwent surgery to remove a
cancerous tumor from his colon. A
win would be the most rewarding gift
the Yankees could give their hospital
ized outfielder.
As if the emotions of the Yankees
aren’t enough to propel them to the
World Series, their recent success over
the Indians might. New York’s 114
wins in the regular season broke the
AL record previously held by Cleve
land since 1954. The Yankees won
seven of the eleven regular season
meetings between the teams includ
ing a 3-3 record when visiting
Cleveland’s Jacobs Field. New York
also holds more wins in “The Jake”
than any other team, with an 18-8
record in the stadium’s relatively short
existence.
The Yankees entered the series com
ing off a very convincing three game
if q
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pen 11-7 Monday - Saturday and 12-5 Sunday
Bounds
sweep of the Texas Rangers. The
Rangers, who led the league in bat
ting, were held to only 13 hits, and a
.141 batting average which resulted in
only one run in the three game series.
The Indians came into this year’s
ALCS knowing they would have to
raise their level of play. Playing in a
relatively weak division, Cleveland
has been able to get away with subpar
performances. However, in past years,
the Indians have been able to raise
their level of play when the time was
£r\
right. Well that time is now. Coming
off of a four game series win against
Boston in which the Indians only hit
.206 with a 5.00 ERA, “The Tribe”
will need to play playoff level base
ball for the first time this year if they
have any chance of repeating as AL
champs.
But if recent history continues to re
peat itself, American League su
premacy will once again change in
correspondence with the change in the
colors of leaves. Every October usu
ally boasts anew AL Champion. The
Toronto Blue Jays are the only AL
team in the ‘9os to repeat as champi
ons and they went on to win both of
those World Series appearances. To
find the last time the Yankees lost to
the same team in two consecutive
playoff meetings, you’d have to date,
back to 1921 and 1922 when the New
York Giants beat the Yanks twice in
the World Series.
If Game one of this series was any
indication of how the series would go,
the Yankees can look at the Indians as
merely a stepping stone to bigger and
better places. Although sloppy in ap
pearance, Yankee pitcher David Wells
surrendered only two runs in the ninth
off of a homer by Cleveland’s Manny
Ramirez. But the game was really
decided in the first inning when the
Indians’ pitcher, Jaret Wright, was re
sponsible for five Yankee runs. New
York took the series lead with a 7-2
trouncing.
However, the Indians were able to
battle back in game two with a 4-1
win. Cleveland took the Yanks to the
12th inning to pull out a victory and
tie the series heading to Cleveland for
three games.
The NL Championship Series once
again has those tomahawk-choppin’
Atlanta Braves hosting a different op
ponent. This NLCS appearance will
JASON SNYDER
be the Braves’ seventh in as many
years. The San Diego Padres could
probably be considered this year’s vic
tim of Atlanta’s road to the “team of
the 90s title.” If you look at the num
bers, this argument would probably go
unopposed. But if you look deeper,
there could be some whispers in the
world of baseball that the Padres have
some weapons to shock the Braves.
But shhhh... The Braves don’t know
you look at the names of the
pitchers in Atlanta’s rotation,
you could probably make an
argument that they have one
of the strongest rotations in
MLB history. The Braves
have five pitchers with more
than 15 wins this season, and
the highest ERA for those
pitchers is 4.08. John
Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom
Glavine, Danny Neagle, and
Kevin Millwood make up
this staff.
The Padres, however, hold
the advantage in the bullpen.
Closer Trevor Hoffman has converted
on 53 of his 54 closing attempts for
the Padres, and you’d have to believe
that if San Diego can keep the game
close, they could come out with a win.
The overall success of the Padres,
however, rests on the shoulders of
starters Andy Ashby and Kevin
Brown. During their meetings with
the Braves earlier in the season, these
two combined for a 1.27 ERA and a
3-0 record. With Brown willing to
pitch on two days rest, the Padres
could come close to matching the fire
power of the Braves.
When you look down the roster of
the San Diego Padres, you see two
names that have given the Braves fits
in the past two years. To refresh your
memory, it was Jim Leyritz that
smacked a three.run. .homer forthe
Yankees, to turn the 1996 World Se
ries around. And it was that durable
Kevin Brown that won two games
against Atlanta in last year’s NLCS to
lead the Marlins to the World Series.
There are many factors that go into
this year’s NL Championship series.
Good pitching vs. good hitting could
be the story line. But it is the factors
that go unnoticed that could determine
the outcome.
It’s pretty obvious that the Braves
and Yankees are heavy favorites for
the World Series. And maybe that is
why so many sports fan would like to
see that match-up. However, the rea
son this 1998 season has been so re
markable is because of the unexpected
success of so many teams and indi
viduals. Wouldn’t it be fitting to end
the season in the same fashion? A
Cleveland Indians vs. San Diego Pa
dres match-up where anything can
happen and the unlikely probably will.
Snyder is the sports editor for the
Beacon. His column appears weekly.
Sports
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Thursday, October 8, 1998 - The Behrend College Beacon ■ page 11
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