That Sound You Hear? It was the Indians Window of Opportunity Shutting

We knew what had passed us by when the Indians failed to reach the World Series last year. We knew that this year no matter how much of a sure bet the Indians seemed to return and make a run in the postseason that things are never a sure bet in sports.

With the Indians agreeing to send C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers, they rose the white flag and conceded another season. There will be no baseball championship in Cleveland in 2008. And thus we can ask the question, will we ever live to see one?

It’s another end of an era for a franchise that has had seemingly a million of them. C.C. Sabathia’s time in Cleveland came and passed and is gone forever. He was a member of some very talented teams. Still, none of those teams had what it took to get over the hump and even get to the World Series.

It’s been over a decade since those Indians were two outs away from the promise being fulfilled. We as fans have been told that it’s pitching and defense that wins championships, and we’ve seen teams with and abundance of both of those elements show up and fail. You must wonder if it’s in the baseball God’s crystal ball for the Indians to ever win one.

The Indians won’t have as far of a journey back as some other teams do. They don’t have to scrap things completely. They’re not without uncertainty, but they’ve got some nice pieces. The fact that Cliff Lee is having a great year on the mound makes the Sabathia departure hurt a bit less, and they’ll still have hopeful future ace Fausto Carmona after the All-Star break, but make no mistake about it; the Indians are not going to be a force like they were last season for a while.

Baseball is a sport full of so many factors and variables. A championship cannot possibly be won without catching breaks and having lady luck shine so bright on you in a given year time and time again. The Indians almost reached the top of the mountain, but now we all know what a far climb they’ve got to get back there. It’s frustrating and it leaves us all to wonder what I asked a close friend who is an Indians fan after game 7 of the ALCS last season: will we ever see them get back to that point again?