ALCS
Indians fans should be very familiar with the newly crowned American League Champions as the Kansas City Royals have largely kept the same squad together for the past few seasons. Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and the rest of the Blue Crew have finally succeeded where no other Central Division team was able to and look to be the first World Series Champion from the central since the White Sox in 2005. While some Indians fans may not be content with this, it should at least give them strength in the knowledge that the Indians were actually better than the Royals head-to-head this year (10-9) and that they were in the running for the play-offs until late in the season, despite being in what now looks to be the deepest division in the American League.
As far as former Indians in this quick four game series (the Royals must like short series as they have won each of their first eight games, a post-season record), there were few. While T.J. McFarlane and Ubaldo Jimenez were part of the Baltimore Orioles team that got them to the post-season, they were not on the roster for the ALCS series against Kansas City.
Similarly, the Royals did not make use of former Indians utility man Jayson Nix, although Jeremy Guthrie did get one start. The former Tribe first round pick started for Kansas City in game three and when he gave up a J.J. Hardy RBI double in the second inning, it was the first (and last) time the Orioles had a lead in the series. Guthrie wouldn’t give up another, however, as he went five full innings with one run allowed for a 1.80 ERA with two strike outs and two walks in the game and the series.
NLCS
It turns out the J-I-N-T-S, Giants really could win the pennant and they have yet again. For the third time in the past five seasons, San Francisco will be returning to the World Series in what was another quickly decided series. While not quite as dominant as the unbeaten Royals, the Giants lost just a single game to the defending NL champion Cardinals. Since the Giants house no former Indians, Jeremy Guthrie will likely be the only former Tribesman to be on either team’s roster for the Fall Classic and with the long wait until the final series starts (four days off due to the quick finishes), there is a chance that Guthrie may not even pitch.
For this series, the Indians alumni association did have a primary member playing for St. Louis and is was not Justin Masterson, who was yet again left off the post-season roster. Jhonny Peralta played in all four games for the Cardinals, getting 13 at bats, but unlike when he was the top offensive performer for the Indians in the 2007 play-offs, he had just two hits, both singles. Peralta did knock in a run and walk three times, but his .183 average did nothing to help St. Louis stave off elimination.
With all the massive pay-roll teams out of the way, it will be up to these two home grown franchises to decide who will be baseball’s World Champion in 2014.
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