The Cleveland WIndians: Path to the World Series

Starting on August 24th, the Cleveland Indians began a winning streak that Major League Baseball had not seen since 2002. Four games shy of MLB history, of a record set in 1916 the Indians lost to the Kansas City Royals 22 games after their last loss on way back on August 23rd. Terry Francona and his club out scored opponents 140-36 over 22 games; they trailed only 7 of the 181 innings. This team must be the favorite team to win the American League and is my favorite to win the World Series. The best thing that could have happened to the Indians was the streak ending; baseball is a game of waves. Having a little adversity with two weeks left in the season, it’s good to have some of that before entering October baseball.

The Streak

Out scoring opponents 140-36 over the 22-game winning streak brought the Indians total run differential to 220 only 6 teams have a differential greater than 100. To put it in perspective, the second closest team is 52 runs behind the Cleveland. The Indians win in dominant fashion only trailing for 7 of the 181 innings of the streak. They hit 41 homer runs during the streak, they only gave up 36 runs total in those 22 games. When asked about the streak manager Terry Francona said, “That day, for no particular reason, we decided to start winning a bunch of games in a row.” If that does not tell you the mentality of this team, how about the fact that although Corey Kluber is a potential Cy Young Winner, he was not the best pitcher during the streak, that title goes to third starter Mike Clevinger. Clevinger only allowed opposing batters to hit for a .159 batting average practically unhittable.

Historical Run

Although the Major League record was 26 games set in 1916 by the New York Giants, the Indians broke the American League record set by the 2002 Oakland Athletics. To show the dominance of the Indians, they were a full 7 runs above both the 1916 Giants and 2002 A’s. When the Indians won their 21st game, they tied the 1935 Chicago Cubs streak, which was the 2nd longest in baseball history. When they won 22, they moved into sole possession of the MLB second longest winning streak. The 22 games have come into question with the top streaks in sports ever. If you are going to say that, in my opinion the Indians would have had to win 26 or 27 straight games and own the record. The streak of 22 game is quite the impressive feat, it ranks up there with the 90 games the UCONN’s women had, the 17 games the Pittsburgh Penguins had or the 21 consecutive games the New England Patriots had. The reason being baseball is a game of waves, a pitcher can be on one game and 5 days later for their next start they just might not have it in the next game. The Indians’ starters and pitching staff managed to stump the teams they played over a 22 game stretch, impressive but not the most impressive streak in sports history.

Favorite to Win World Series

Half an inning and 1 run, that is all the separated the Cleveland Indians from a World Series Title. This year, the Indians look to have Home Field advantage throughout the Playoffs. They will have to at least go through either the Houston Astros or Boston Red Soxs. Once the Indians make it out of the American League they will have to get past the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pitching for Cleveland could manage to stifle the Dodgers. Adding in the offensive production, from players like back up catcher Roberto Perez, who batted .382 during the streak and late season addition Jay Bruce, who hit the game winning double in win number 22 of the streak. Plus, the consistency of the everyday starters Carlos Santana who batted .365 during the streak and Carlos Carrasco who in four starts during the streak, pitched 34 strikeouts and had a 0.62 ERA.

The Indians where so close just a year ago, and now seem to be poised to make another run for the title. They are coming off the most impressive winning streak in recent baseball history and this team just seems to be the overall favorite. On top of that, Terry Francona seems to have made it possible for this team to just go out and continue to have fun. That is what makes the Indians so enjoyable to watch and easy to root for; they appear to be big kids just out there playing the game they love and having a good time doing it. My prediction is that Cleveland wins the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 6 games and that the Indians’ pitching staff will be the reason that the title comes back to Chief Wahoo and the tribe!

Written by
Carlo Guadagnino

Edited by
Daniel Bishop

References
https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/09/08/cleveland-indians-winning-streak
https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/10-of-the-longest-winning-streaks-in-sports-history.html/?a=viewall
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-indians-win-streak-wasnt-mlbs-longest-but-it-might-be-the-most-impressive/
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/the-indians-amazing-22-game-winning-streak-by-the-numbers/