World Series

I love baseball, have my whole life. But I hate cable TV so I haven't watched much baseball over the years. Last year I started watching the MLB free game of the day, a great way to get a random look around the league. I was doing the free style this year when I got an offer to get the rest of the season for a paltry sum, which I jumped on hard. The downside of that was I didn't get the wide look at the league that I did the previous year; the upside was I watched a ton of my beloved Cleveland Indians. I gotta say: I love this team. This is a fun team to watch, they battle, they're clever players, Terry Francona is the man (he won me over two years ago, when he led a really green bunch of bananas into the post-season), and these guys all love each other (a quality palpable in baseball more than any of the other sports). I thought this team was good but flawed, hard working but not necessarily the more talented team night in/night out.

The Cubs, on the other hand, caught my eye last year while pummeling the Cards in the playoffs. They faltered against the Mets but that's okay, they're a young team that was already ahead of schedule. You could tell that 2016 was gonna be their year. They avoided the pitfalls, sidestepped all the tragedies (curses and whatnot), and dominated the NL like they should've. Winning the division was a big step, getting through the playoffs and winning the pennant was another step. Are they ready to win the World Series? They are still a young team ahead of schedule.

The Indians play hard every night and make the most of their opportunities. The starting pitching was dominant all season long but now injuries have thinned that depth; fortunately, the bullpen that gave me heartburn all year long has been re-designed and has been the MVP of the team so far in the post-season. The Indians are lovely mix of youth and veterans, they could use more pop in the lineup but they steal bases at a high rate, the defense is above average and Francona is a masterful button-pusher. And, again, these guys really love each other, a chaotic force that makes a good team great.

The Cubs are young and talented at every position, they're the better team on the field every night. The starting pitching was solid, the bullpen too. Not a lot of veteran presence on this squad, they're really young all over. They kinda love each other but mostly they're young and goofy and don't know anything but success, so they trust each other. These guys are a Richard Linklater cast of characters out there having fun and winning because they don't know how to lose. And their coach, Joe Madden, is also a master motivator and tactician (and went head-to-head with Francona for years in the AL East).

Who's gonna make the mistakes? That's what this series is all about. Indians mistakes: giving up home runs, running into outs, hitting into double plays, missing the scoring opportunities. Cubs mistakes: errors, hesitating on the base paths, pitchers getting dribbed and drabbed into giving up big innings. Could go either way.

The Indians are hard working consistent team, they have bad nights but they bounce back quickly (because they love each other). The Cubs are just damn good, they have bad nights but they're damn good and they expect to be damn good more often than not. Indians pitching at its best is, I think, better than the Cubs; if the Indian pitchers are dealing, the Cubs might evaporate. The Cubs have more talent, the Indians have more savvy. I really think these teams match up well and this will be a good series. Obviously as an Indians fan I'd prefer the Cubs lose but as a general baseball fan, I'd love to see the Cubs win (curious to see what that looks like honestly). I'm really looking forward to this, I can't lose!

I think it goes 7 games. First thought: the Cubs are cool customers, they'll be fine in  game 7 while the veteran Indians will get over anxious and bunge up. Second thought: reverse that. The Cubs youngsters will feel the pressure of the coming expectations weigh on them while the Indians vets will feel the joy of house money and play loose and zen like. Yeah, I'm biased, I'm going with the latter. I'll take the Indians in 7.