WELP, that sure was disappointing for the Cleveland Indians. And here I was, totally convinced, that we were gonna get an Indians Cubs repeat in the World Series. That would’ve made a repeat championship series for the THIRD time this year (NCAAFB: Alabama vs Clemson, NBA: Cleveland Cavs vs Golden State Warriors). I was pretty sure that the Indians would put the Yankees away early in this series, but this game really gave me flashbacks to the “Moneyball” era Oakland Athletics. They would ALWAYS have a great regular season, start strong in the ALDS, and then absolutely collapse in the final few games. I heard a stat the other day that in this century the A’s are 1-12 in playoff series clinching games, including 0-5 in game 5 at home. How does that even happen? The 2002 A’s broke the single season record for 20 straight wins in the regular season, finished the year with 103 wins, and were unceremoniously bounced by the Twins in the first round in 5 games. This Indians team broke that record by winning 22 straight, ended the season with 102 wins, and collapsed in 5 games to the Yankees. The second straight year they’ve lost an elimination game at home in the playoffs. Ouch. This is also Cleveland's 7th consecutive loss in a series clinching game. That leaves them tied for the worst stretch in playoff clinching games in baseball history. They're now tied for that mark of futility with, yup, you guessed it. The Oakland Athletics. It just goes to show, no matter how good you are in the regular season, playoff baseball is often times a fickle, fickle bitch. In honor of that, I’m posting Hat Club’s 2013 replica of the “Moneyball” era A’s cap. US made poly, of course.
