Who Do You Love?

With 16 games and less than 3 weeks to go in the 2007 season, the Indians find themselves on the verge of going to the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Although they haven’t won anything yet, your mind can’t help but imagine a first round playoff opponent. Out of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels, who would the Indians match up with best?
Let’s look at some important categories and see how the probable American League playoff teams stack up against each other:

Team Batting Average, advantage Yankees

NYY .289, LAA .286, BOS .280, & CLE .269.

Runs Scored, advantage Yankees

NYY 857, BOS 787, LAA 761, & CLE 735.

Hits, advantage Yankees

NYY 1471, LAA 1429, BOS 1419, & CLE 1364.

Extra Base Hits, advantage Red Sox

BOS 499, NYY 495, CLE 460, & LAA 440.

RBIs, advantage Yankees

NYY 821, BOS 753, LAA 718, & CLE 710.

BBs, advantage Red Sox

BOS 627, NYY 556, CLE 525, & LAA 455.

Strike Outs (batting), advantage Angels

LAA 783, NYY 860, BOS 925, & CLE 1097.

Stolen Bases, advantage Angels

LAA 131, NYY 114, BOS 81, & CLE 69.

On-Base %, advantage Yankees

NYY .364, BOS .362, LAA .346, & CLE .343.

Slugging %, advantage Yankees

NYY .465, BOS .442, CLE .426, & LAA .423.

ERA, advantage Red Sox

BOS 3.84, CLE 4.13, LAA 4.19, & NYY 4.45.

Hits Allowed, advantage Red Sox

BOS 1234,LAA 1320 , NYY 1340, & CLE 1371.

Runs Allowed, advantage Red Sox

BOS 593, CLE 648, LAA 654, & NYY 688

Home Runs Allowed, advantage Red Sox

BOS 131, CLE 134, NYY 135, & LAA 137.

BBs Allowed, advantage Indians

CLE 378, BOS 435, LAA 435, & NYY 512.

Strike Outs (pitching), advantage Red Sox

BOS 1030, LAA 1014, CLE 915, & NYY 885.

This is a real eye-opener. At first glance, our Cleveland Indians appear to be in trouble. However, our fortunes will hinge on who is our first playoff opponent. Obviously the Yankees and Red Sox match up very well with each other. The Yankees have won 7 out of 15 regular season games vs. the Red Sox. Any advantage that the Yankees may hold over the Sox in offense are more than equalized in pitching. Head to head, I would take the Red Sox over the Yankees in the first round.

I would like to play the Angels. They get on base and score fast, being the executors of small ball. Cleveland lives off of the extra base hit with runners on base. Cleveland holds an advantage over the Angels in pitching. We have split 10 games in the regular season with the Angels. If Cleveland hits like they can and their excellent pitching continues, I would take the Indians over the Angels in the first round.

Who would I love to play? Bring on the Yankees!

We failed to beat them in the regular season losing all 6 games to the bombers. I don't think this Indians team is in awe of anyone anymore. I believe that they have the confidence to match up offensively vs. the Yankees and definitely out-pitch them. If we met them in the first round, I gotta believe we beat them based on their inconsistency.

It's the Red Sox that concern me. We have only won 2 of the 7 games played in the regular season. Looking at their stats, they are the most balanced team, hitting and pitching. I would rather face them in round two with the confidence of having won round one vs. either the Angels or the Yankees.

At any rate, we are talking about the playoffs in mid-September!

Wahoo!