I’m going to share a secret with you all. It’s a secret that you probably all already know, but bear with me; I don’t feel like I’m much of a writer. I think I know baseball pretty well, and I enjoy watching it and sharing my thoughts, which is why I write in this space as often as I can. But as far as writing itself, that’s just not my forte. This column doesn’t flow from my fingertips the way it always seemed to when Pauly C. was in the driver’s seat. It’s an effort, and some weeks are easier than others. This week falls into the “others” category. I spent an inordinate amount of time staring at a blank Microsoft Word screen this week. I just wasn’t ready for this season to be over. The “playoffs” were so fleeting that it was more of a tease than anything. We should be talking about who’s starting game 3 against Boston right now, not writing an autopsy on the season. I feel like I just read a book that was missing the last two or three chapters. I know I said earlier this season that all I wanted out of 2013 was meaningful baseball down the stretch. I sat in Goodyear, AZ and told loyal reader Tim Futo that back in March. But once I got a taste of the playoff run, I got greedy. I wanted more. I thought that once the Indians made it to October, anything could happen. I was ready to watch the Indians play deep into the fall, and came away crushed with the abbreviated taste of the postseason.

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Despite the fact that the season ended in disappointment, as the Indians “won” the wild card, but fell in the one-game playoff that determined who would face the Boston Red Sox, it was a wildly successful season in downtown Cleveland. The Indians improved by 24 games, going from 68-94 to 92-70, and created a buzz about the team again. For the first time since 2007, the Indians will enter the next season with optimism, hope, and expectations.

Unfortunately, in 2007, the front office chose to sit on their hands and not improve the ballclub entering the 2008 season. The result was a very disheartening 81-81 record and it led to the rebuild that fans suffered through from 2008-12. The Indians finished 2007 with a Pythagorean Win-Loss record of 91-71, even though they won 96 games. Pythagorean W-L is based on run differential and is one of the ways to show “luck” over the course of 162 games. While 91-71 is still a good year, the Indians overachieved. Anchored by two 19-game winners, the rotation was clearly frontloaded, as the back end of the rotation was occupied by journeyman Paul Byrd, reliable, but unspectacular Jake Westbrook, and a combination of head case Cliff Lee, and generic soft-tossing lefties Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey. Even with CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona posting ERAs below 3.25, the Indians starting rotation posted a 4.19 ERA.

Instead of being proactive, the Indians front office opted to enter 2008 with essentially the same roster. The Indians were remarkably healthy in 2007 and had four starters make 25 or more starts. In 2008, Victor Martinez played in just 73 games, after playing in 147 the season before. Travis Hafner posted a .628 OPS just a year removed from an .837 OPS in what was actually a down year for Pronk to that point. Cliff Lee became the team’s ace and won the Cy Young Award, but CC Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee, Fausto Carmona went 8-7 with a 5.44 ERA, Jake Westbrook had Tommy John surgery, Jensen Lewis became the team’s closer as Rafael Betancourt went from a 1.47 ERA in 2007 to a 5.07 ERA in 2008, and the Indians were unable to overcome injuries and the front office’s decision to stand pat.

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You know they’re going to. They can’t help themselves.

Next April, just before the Indians take the field for their home opener against the Minnesota Twins on what’s sure to be an overcast, cold Friday afternoon, there will be a little presentation.

Somebody’ll make a speech, a stirring little vignette will be blasted up on the scoreboard, and a couple of marketing interns will pull a rope that lifts a garbage bag off a new metal placard hanging from the upper deck in right field beside the 10 that are already there.

It’ll probably be blue with nice big white letters. And those letters will spell out something that will make us all wince:

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I know that people will congratulate this team for their great season. I'm going to do that eventually in a proper way. I've lived and died with this team all year and I know that it was a great season. 

But boy is this hard to swallow. The Indians knew the rules they were playing by. They had one chance. They've been playing this type of game (perhaps without the immense pressure) the past ten that they've won. And perhaps it is the one chance that makes it tough. To be one and done. These are the rules, and yeah in year's past the Indians would have been in a position where they'd get at least two more games.

But this is the system that they have to play by now. I think it is great for baseball and the right way to do things.

But boy, is it hard to take. Because you just have one shot, one opportunity to make something happen. And the Indians didn't make it happen like most of us had wanted to believe they would. 

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