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Indians doing their part

For all intents and purposes the Indians’ 2006 campaign came to an end in the middle of June, and one could argue it ended long before that (I say late May). We all know this. There was a lull between late June and the trading deadline when the Indians were essentially just a bunch of guys who did stuff–not exactly a professional baseball team, although they played one on TV–and then Spring Training 2007 officially started in early August. But the 2006 season has been over for a long time, no matter how interesting/exciting/captivating/boring/et al, the experience of watching all the new guys compete–really compete–for a shot for a chance to maybe next season make the team.

Which is why I don’t really care that the Indians lost to the Twins last night, 9-4. In anything, I’m glad the Indians lost.

Don’t get me wrong: I want the team to play well and for players (Marte, Choo in particular) to have standout games and all that other nice stuff. But what does winning one more game really mean for this team? What’s its utility? Nothing. Zip. Nada. But what does won win mean for the Twins? The world.

In case you haven’t noticed, the Twins are now only one game back of the Tigers in the AL central. Around the time when the Indians’ season was coming to a close the Tigers had not only the best record in baseball but also a seemingly insurmountable lead in the division. Minnesota was an afterthought, buried behind the White Sox in the Central and the Yankees and Blue Jays in the East and the Angles and Rangers in the West.

The AL playoff picture now looks like this: Oakland from the West. New York from the East. And two of three teams from the Central–Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota. Who do I want to see in the playoffs? Minnesota and Detroit. Of those four teams, who do I want to see represent the AL in the World Series? Probably Minnesota.

Now, I’m not a fan of the Twins (full disclosure: I was born in Minneapolis, if that’s relevant). If anything I’m either indifferent or fully against them if they are in the way of the Indians. Since the Indians have no shot I should probably be indifferent.

But then there are the White Sox.

I hate the White Sox. I don’t really know if I need to say anything else. If you are an Indians fan does hating the White Sox need to be justified? Probably not. I dislike the White Sox for more or less the same reasons I dislike the Steelers.

So if there is one team I’m actively rooting against it’s the White Sox. And since it takes too much of a commitment to be negative to actively root against multiple teams (I’m just not that guy) I’ve focused all my negative attention on the Sox. In turn, I cheer for the Twins for the same reasons I cheer for the #16 seed to upset the #1 seed during March Madness even if I don’t care about the #16 seed and even if I have the #1 seed winning it all in my pool. In other words, I’m rooting for the story, for the Platonic ideal of an underdog beating the favorite. Overcoming such a huge deficit would be pretty incredible. And if the Twins can do that while simultaneously ensuring that the White Sox won’t win the division that’s even better. And if the Indians can make a positive contribution towards this end, even better. If that means beating the White Sox–great, outstanding, sign me up. If that means losing to the Twins–eh, the season is already over.

I want the Indians to do well insofar as doing well will help the team next season. I don’t think winning games necessarily falls under this rubric. This is an important distinction I think more Indians fans would be wise to make. If anything, the pain of losing will be lessened. And in Cleveland, that means a lot.