Prediction leans toward Cleveland, San Diego

By John Garces/sports editor

Every October, the major league baseball playoffs present many surprises as the World Series rolls around.
The big surprise this year could be the team that plays in Drew Carey’s favorite town.

Despite a field packed with recent World Series champions, I pick the Cleveland Indians, with their consistent play and young, dominant starting rotation. They will come out of the American League, besting a field that includes the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Cleveland rocks, as the theme song of The Drew Carey Show suggests.

But the answer as to whom they’ll be playing is harder to determine.

The National League, which last year produced the World Series champions, has quite a crowded field.
The early-season favorite, the New York Mets, will pose a threat to anybody come playoff time, with a potent offense and a rotation bolstered by the return of the playoff-tested Pedro Martinez.

The sentimental favorite is the perennial “lovable losers,” the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubbies, 99 years removed from their last title, are nearing a century of frustration but appear to have the right mix to make another run at the Fall Classic.

Their last such attempt, one might recall, was futile as they blew a 3-to-2 games lead in the 2003 National League Championship Series. The infamous actions of Steve Bartman, whose attempt to snag a foul ball cost the Cubs an out, led to a total collapse by the team.

The other team with the right stuff to advance out of an evenly-matched NL is the San Diego Padres.

The Padres have leaned on their pitching staff all year but will likely need a little offense to survive in the playoffs, particularly if they run up against the stacked Mets line-up.

Parity in both leagues makes it a toss-up to pick a winner this year, but I’m going with the Tribe.

Fifty years removed from their last crown, as well as the last title for the city of Cleveland, they will outlast whoever comes out of the National League.

The Indians’ 1-2 pitching combo of likely AL Cy Young award-winner C.C. Sabathia and the equally tough Fausto Carmona give them the advantage in any best-of-seven situation.

If the Tribe brings their bats to the post season, they’ll go right along the aforementioned Carey and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as things to love about the town once known as “the mistake by the lake.”