Indians need pitching to win it all

by Michael Canan
THE POST

This column is an experiment to see if one person can single-handedly shut down Ohio University's e-mail system by receiving a flood of mail.

Now that I've explained that, let me get to the point - the Cleveland Indians suck.

Sure I am just a bitter, jealous Reds fan, who wishes everyone supported Ken Griffey Jr. and the gang, but that's not the only reason I hate the Tribe.

First of all, despite their powerful lineup and fancy stadium, the Indians still haven't won a World Series. They haven't won it all since 1948. All these crazed fans think Chief Wahoo is God's gift to sports, but Cleveland's dynasty hasn't claimed a championship ring.

The team didn't even have the opportunity to lose the World Series last year because it lost in the first round of the playoffs after leading the series 2-0. Despite that performance, I find it disgraceful that the team fired manager Mike Hargrove after a 97-65 season. Hargrove is a talented manager. It's not his fault he had no pitching.

One thing Hargrove did have was character, something several Tribe players don't have. They finally got rid of Albert Belle, but later picked up Roberto Alomar. They replaced one jerk with another.

The Indians' signing of Alomar is what's wrong with baseball in another aspect. Teams like the Indians go out and spend tons of money to pluck the best players from small-market franchises. They leave teams like the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins unable to compete.

Cleveland also represents the horrendous trend of choosing offense instead of pitching. They have a team ERA of 4.57. A wise man once said, "You can't win a championship without pitching." The Indians are living proof.

The Indians are so starved for pitching that when the club acquired pitcher Chuck Finley in the off-season he was proclaimed the missing piece of the puzzle. The missing piece? This guy had a 4.43 ERA in 1999. Not exactly dominating.

Tribe fans have disgustingly blind loyalty. I watched the Cleveland news on a recent trip north. The news broadcast spent the first five minutes discussing the Indians and then spent five more minutes talking to fans about the Tribe - all before the regular sports report. The segment in which the commentator interviewed Tribe fans about injuries decimating the Indians' already weak pitching staff was interesting. All of the fans said the Indians would overcome the injuries to Charles Nagy, Jaret Wright and Ricardo Rincon.

Some of the responses included: "Yeah, they'll be OK; they've got a great starting lineup," and "Well, I'm sure some of those guys in the minors can step up and do a good job for them."

Give me a break! Their talented lineup isn't going to help much with no pitching. They'll just lose 10-9 instead of 3-2.

Some minor-leaguers can get the job done in the majors, but the majority of pitchers in the minors are there for a reason. Of course, it won't take much to out-pitch Charles Nagy, who is the proud owner of a 7.19 ERA.

I didn't always hate the Indians. Back in the days of Julio Franco and Doug Jones I used to cheer on Cuyahoga's finest. I didn't care that the Indians were struggling to a 57-105 record in an outdated Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

I still loved the Tribe when it started to win. I enjoyed the success of new stars such as Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle and Kenny Lofton.

But then I came to Athens, and I was enraged. Watching all these Tribe-crazed fans worship the Indians is the biggest reason I hate the team. Where were all these super Tribe fans in 1991 when the Indians were awful? All these fans care about is home runs and offense. They don't appreciate pitching because their team doesn't have any.

All right, I admit there is one thing I like about the Indians. General Manager John Hart traded first baseman Sean Casey to the Reds. Thanks John.

••-Canan is a sophomore journalism major. Tribe fans, if you haven't burned the paper yet, help him with his experiment. Direct all hate mail and death threats to his e-mail account at mc298898.••