Can The Cleveland Indians Do it?

How do you lift the spell of a curse that's held sway for nearly 60 years? An inch at a time, of course.

That inch was crucial in the fifth inning of last night's game between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox. Cleveland led 1-0, with men on the corners and one out, when Asdrubal Cabrera hit the ball on a line back at Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

"If such a ball had streaked at him in May or August, the 41-year-old vet might have remembered in a blink where his infielders were positioned and simply allowed the ball to pass him untouched," writes Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post. "If he had, the drive would've skipped straight to Dustin Pedroia, standing near second base, for the easiest of double plays: step on the bag, flip to first. On such infinitesimal moments, whole seasons sometimes can turn. It may not be fair, but it's certainly the nature of playoff baseball, in which every break resounds like a rifle shot in both dugouts."

The ball trickled off Mr. Wakefield's glove for an infield hit and a 2-0 Indians lead. Next came Victor Martinez, whose single made it 3-0 and sent Mr. Wakefield to the showers. Facing Manny Delcarmen, Jhonny Peralta crushed a three-run homer. Cleveland wound up hitting for 35 minutes and finished the inning up 7-0, enough to withstand back-to-back-to-back home runs by Boston's Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (who admired his drive as if it had won the game, instead of being merely cosmetic). Cleveland now leads the series 3-1, and can advance to the World Series against the Colorado Rockies tomorrow night.

Posted by Ron at October 17, 2007 02:55 PM