Cleveland Sports Forum

Lots of Wahoo fans....me included.

Same here......

TORONTO — A Canadian Judge has denied Douglas Cardinal's request, meaning that Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo are free to play tonight in full regalia.

A Toronto court heard arguments on an attempt to bar the Cleveland Indians from using their team name and logo in Ontario.

The legal challenge by indigenous activist Douglas Cardinal comes on the same day the baseball team takes on the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto.

Cardinal's lawyers will ask the court Monday to bar the usage of the name and logo by the team, Major League Baseball and Toronto team owner Rogers Communications, which is broadcasting the game in Canada.

The logo, called Chief Wahoo, is a cartoon man with red skin and a feather in his headband.

Cardinal says they shouldn't be allowed to wear their regular jerseys, the logo shouldn't be broadcast and the team should be referred to as "the Cleveland team."

MLB released the following statement on Monday:

"Major League Baseball appreciates the concerns of those that find the name and logo of the Cleveland Indians to be offensive. We would welcome a thoughtful and inclusive dialogue to address these concerns outside the context of litigation. Given the demands for completing the League Championship Series in a timely manner, MLB will defend Cleveland's right to use their name that has been in existence for more than 100 years."

https://twitter.com/JosephBrean

What a shock. The wanna be tyrantical commie who brought the suit is in China right now with another large group who wants to decide what you can or can't see. He should just stay there and see how he likes it after a while.

Cleveland Indians astounding season has them winning in amazing ways -- Terry Pluto
Upated October 18, 2016 at 12:51 AM


TORONTO -- Part of me keeps thinking, "Can they really pull this off?"

This being a trip to the World Series.

The Cleveland Indians aren't supposed to be this close to the World Series.

Not with this pitching staff. Think about it. They have been attacked by everything from sore arms...

To line drives...

To an unruly drone leading to a very bloody finger...

And they had to play Game 3 of the of the 2016 American League Championship Series in Toronto's Rogers Centre -- one of the most difficult places for visiting teams.

But after the Tribe's 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays, the Indians are only one win away from being American League champions.

They lead the best-of-seven series, 3-0, and they'll hand the ball to ace Corey Kluber for Tuesday's Game 4.

They still have to win one more game, so nothing is absolutely, positively certain. Cleveland fans know how so much can go so wrong with their teams.

But just think about Monday night.

The Tribe's Trevor Bauer had more stitches in his little right finger (10) than he threw strikes (9) in his start against the Blue Jays. That's never a good sign.

Bauer had to leave in the first inning after 2/3 of an inning because his "drone related" finger injury began bleeding.

"When I walked out to the mound, there was blood on the rubber," said Indians manager Terry Francona.

That led to a major bullpen game for the Tribe. It also should have meant huge trouble for those in Wahoo red, white and blue.

"It's not the way we drew it up," said Francona, winning the understatement of the night award for that comment.

PARADE OF PITCHERS

The last time something like this happened was September 17. That was the night Carlos Carrasco was hit in the hand with a line drive. It was in the first inning and he suffered a fracture.

The Tribe used eight pitchers that day, beating the Tigers, 1-0. That game lasted 10 innings.

Could they do it again? In the playoffs?

Francona was about to find out.

During the postseason, the Tribe manager has been has saying, "You win the game in front of you."

You take care of today, and leave tomorrow for tomorrow in the postseason.

He has used relievers in unlikely ways. He has asked them to step out of their regular roles, to throw more pitches than usual.

The pitchers also are throwing more breaking balls and off-speed stuff than normal.

When Bauer left, here came the parade of pitchers: Dan Otero, Jeff Manship, Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen and Andrew Miller.

Seven pitchers, two runs allowed.

"That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," said Francona. "If any one of those guys (relievers) has a hiccup, we lose."

Francona paused, then added: "It's a unique way to win a playoff game."

No kidding.

NAPOLI COMES ALIVE

Mike Napoli entered Game 3 batting .135 since September 1. In the playoffs, he was 2-of-18.

Francona is not worried about his cleanup hitter.

"He always has that three-run home run sitting there," said the Tribe manager. "He's always dangerous. He's got that one swing that can change a game or a series, and he knows that."

In the top of the first inning, Napoli belted a ball to deep right field. Jose Bautista was running back. He jumped, got a glove on it -- but the ball fell out as he slammed into the wall.

Double for Napoli, his first RBI of the postseason.

In the fourth inning, he crushed a homer to center.

Napoli belted that homer and double off Toronto starter Marcus Stroman. Before Monday, Napoli was 0-for-9 vs. Stroman with three strikeouts.

But Francona has always believed you never know when a Party At Napoli's is likely to break out. Only this time, instead of the crowd screaming and stomping and dancing as Napoli rounded the bases, there was silence.

That was the sweetest sound to everyone in the Tribe dugout -- and those watching Wahoo TV at home.

THE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!

Toronto tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The crowd was trying to blow the roof off the dome as the top of the sixth opened.

BOOM!

Instead, it was Jason Kipnis who led off the inning with a screamer over the right field wall.

Tribe back in front, 3-2.

"It's awesome how great and how loud they are here," said Kipnis. "To be able to answer like that, it was big."

And how about this?

In the same sixth inning, Napoli walked. He hustled and took second on a short wild pitch -- then scored on a Jose Ramirez single.

"That was a huge base-running play," said Kipnis.

WAHOO BASEBALL

The game ended with Kipnis making an excellent play on a ground ball hit up the middle.

Another big play was Coco Crisp sliding to catch a sinking line drive in left field in the sixth inning.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor turned in two superb plays at short.

This is another reason the Tribe is 6-0 in the playoffs.

They have yet to make error.

Nor have they allowed more than one run in any playoff inning -- that's a grand total of 54 innings.

Now, they are one win away from the World Series.

"We're not thinking about it too much," said Kipnis. "After we beat Boston in the first (playoff) game, it's like everything slowed down. We have a lot of confidence. We've learned how to win games."

And they keep doing it, night after night.

If I'm not mistaken, the Indians have worn their Wahoo hats every game in the postseason. So I guess they aren't too concerned about the critics.

I think they are superstitious, so am I.

Also, dark blue tops in all but one game.

Cleveland Indians finally lose, and I'm trying not to be nervous -- Terry Pluto

on October 18, 2016 at 8:15 PM, updated October 18, 2016 at 9:15 PM


TORONTO -- OK, Tribe fans, time to take one big deep breath.

Go ahead, take another.

I'm going to do the same ... a real ... slow... deep ... breath.

We all knew at some point, the Indians were going to lose -- and they were going to not play a pretty game.

It happened Tuesday as the Tribe lost, 5-1, to the Blue Jays in Toronto's Rogers Centre. That ended the Tribe's nine-game winning streak that began with the final three games of the regular season.

The Indians have been in such control of the playoffs, this was the first time they trailed since the third inning of Game 1 of the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox. This was the first time they've made an error in the entire playoffs. It was a wild throw to first base by pitcher Bryan Shaw.

The Tribe still has a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.

TRYING TO NOT BE NERVOUS

But I confess, I'm nervous. The lack of depth in the starting rotation has finally caught the Tribe. In Game 5, in what supposedly is the world's loudest dome, the Tribe will hand the ball to Ryan Merritt.

Hardcore fans know about the lefty prospect. But to most of us, Merritt is a guy who has pitched in only 11 big-league innings.

What does John Gibbons know about Merritt?

"He's left-handed," said the Toronto manager. "That's about all I know right now."

Merritt is a control pitcher who changes speeds. He was 11-8 with a 3.70 ERA at Class AAA Columbus.

I'm nervous because this is an enormous task assigned to Merritt, with Toronto's slumbering bats showing life.

I'm nervous because the Indians have not been hitting, scoring only nine runs in the four games.

I'm nervous because Toronto is sending Marco Estrada to the mound in Game 5. Estrada is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in nine postseason starts. He pitched eight innings in the opener, losing 2-0 to the Tribe.

I'm not nervous because I believe the Indians will lose four in a row to Toronto. But like most of you, I'm from Northeast Ohio. Many of us have been around long enough to be haunted by the past playoff ghosts.

IT ALMOST WORKED

Terry Francona is trying to end this series quickly. He knows the longer it goes, the more strain is put on his thin starting rotation. So 30-year-old Corey Kluber made the first start on three days' rest in his 10-year pro career. He always had at least four days between starts.

Kluber did a good job, holding the Blue Jays to two runs in five innings. He struck out seven. He was solid.

But the Indians weren't hitting. That was the biggest problem. If they had scored a few runs, then Francona would have brought in Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

Instead, they rested.

"We took a different route (with the bullpen)," said Francona, adding that if he had used Allen and Miller, it would have been four times in five days. So he should have them available and reasonably fresh for Game 5.

If Merritt can give them a decent performance for five innings, the Indians are in good shape.

As for Toronto, "Well, we're still alive," said Gibbons.

And for both sides, hearts are beating a little faster as playoff tension tightens.

We posted about a minute apart JR. The article sums up my feelings to a "T"

Báez and Lindor are a real bargain for their teams

Both boricuas players produce at a high rate for Chicago and Cleveland, but their wages are low

Javier Baez is a bargain for the Chicago Cubs, like Francisco Lindor for the Cleveland Indians.

Starting their careers in the majors, both 'infielders' Puerto Ricans are not eligible to go to free agency and apply for lucrative contracts.

And when we compare the production of both in the field with the wages earned in this campaign it comes with the thought: "This is a bargain."

Baez is in his third season with the Cubs but his first complete, earns a salary of $ 521,000, according to the Spotrac portal.

Baez, meanwhile, has been the sensation of the postseason with his defensive and offensive work, and his instincts to play baseball. Every night, Báez surprises with some fantastic plats. In Thursday's win, for example, he drove in three runs with a triple in the eighth inning in the 8-4 Cubs victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers to move within a win of advancing to the World Series. He is batting .371 with one homer, seven RBIs and seven runs scored in nine games this postseason.He also has a .395 OBP and .571 slugging. Simply phenomenal. Against the Dodgers he is batting .368 in five games.

Báez is not the only young player with an economic wage in Chicago. Third baseman Kris Bryant, strong candidate for the prize MVP, accrues $ 652.000, while shortstop Addison Russell wins $ 527.000. Báez will be eligible for arbitration in 2019 and free agency in 2022. Báez appears is in the number 23 position among the highest paid players on the team. Pitcher Jon Lester has the highest salary with $ 25 million, followed by outfielder Jayson Heyward with $ 21.6 million, who seems to be lost in the batters box. Heyward is batting just .071 in nine games of the playoffs.

Báez, incidentally, was claimed ninth in the opening round of the 2011 amateur draft and signed for a bonus of $ 2.6 million.

Lindor, meanwhile, contributed significantly to the classification of the Indians in the Fall Classic. After taking the road to Boston and Toronto in the postseason. The Indian shortstop likewise was brilliant on defense and at the plate.

Lindor's salary this season is $ 540.300, occupying the 16th position among the best paid for the Indians. Carlos Santana is the best paid $ 8.4 million. For Cleveland, no player earns more than $ 10 million.

In eight playoff games, Lindor is hitting .323 with two homers, four RBIs and three runs scored a .344 on-base percentage and a .581 slugging percentage. In the ALCS against Toronto, Lindor was the leading hitter with .368.

In his first full season in the majors, Lindor is executing at a high leve. During the regular season, he had a .301 average, 15 home runs, 99 runs scored and 78 RBIs in 158 games.

Like Baez, Lindor will go to arbitration in 2019 and will be a free agent in 2022.

Lindor also was selected in the draft of 2011, a turn before Báez, eighth. He signed for a bonus of $ 2.9 million.

Lindor dreamed of playing in the World Series

Two years after the dream, he will play in the "Fall Classic".

Who said dreams do not come true?

Francisco Lindor, will realize on Tuesday what he dreamed of two years ago.

The Indians shortstop published in 2014 a tweet of playing and winning the World Series with the Cleveland team.

"Last night, I dreamed of playing shortstop for the Indians in the World Series" tweeted Lindor last June 15, 2014.

Francisco Lindor ✔ @Lindor12BC
Last night I dreamed that I was playing shortstop 4 the @Indians in the World Series and we won #cantwait #WinningisEverything #Lindor12BC
9:07 AM - 15 Jun 2014
4,598 4,598 Retweets 4,748 4,748 likes

By that time, he was playing in the minor leagues before being promoted to the big leagues later that year. His impact was immediate after being nominated for the Rookie of the Year Award in the American League. The award went to his compatriot Carlos Correa.

Lindor shone again in the 2016 season for the Indians winning the Central Division. In the postseason, they have lost just one game in eight tries.

The Puerto Rican has a .323 average with 10 hits, two doubles, two homers and four RBIs in the playoffs.

Now to complete the dream completely, they are missing only four wins.

Legend of missing '48 pennant 2:15
Indians curator Jeremy Feador discusses how the club's 1948 World Series pennant went missing after a "burial" ceremony in 1949

Whereabouts of Tribe's '48 title pennant remains a mystery

Physical symbol of Cleveland's last World Series win has not been seen for 67 years

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | @castrovince | 5:30 PM ET + 1 COMMENT

CLEVELAND --

It once flapped in the breeze above old Municipal Stadium, a physical representation of a triumphant World Series title that, for the past 68 years, the Indians have fought futilely to reclaim. Our best guess is that it was upwards of 15 feet wide, a broad banner broadcasting Cleveland's clout to any and all. And because the importance of that 1948 outcome has only grown in measure with each successive season that has led to this 2016 return to the Fall Classic stage, you could say the importance of this pennant has only grown in importance, too.

Now, if only we knew where the heck it is.

Win a World Series in the year 2016, as the American League champs hope to do sometime in the next week and a half, and you get the stunning sterling-silver trophy, designed by Tiffany & Co., that features flags representing each of Major League Baseball's 30 clubs.

But back in 1948, the year the Tribe last won it all, no such trophy existed. And so, it was a physical flag -- a proper pennant -- that stood as the symbol of unmatched success. It featured a backward image of Chief Wahoo, with his eyes looking up at the crown on his head, and the phrase, "1948 WORLD CHAMPION CLEVELAND INDIANS." It wasn't fancy, but it was seemingly finite.

Alas, it's been 68 years since the Indians claimed that pennant and 67 years since the thing was last seen in public.

"It's kind of gotten built up [among] the people who are deeply invested in the history," team curator Jeremy Feador said. "If you're a casual fan, you're probably like, 'Oh, cool, a pennant, whatever.' But if you're a real baseball nerd, yeah, it's one of those unique stories."

The 1948 Indians were, like many champions before or since, a pretty good story.

It was shortstop/manager Lou Boudreau's career year (he struck out just nine times in 676 plate appearances). It was Gene Bearden's unfortunately unsustainable rookie year (20 wins and a league-best 2.43 ERA, marks he'd never again come close to matching). It was a year in which Bob Feller battled back issues but turned in some strong and necessary September success.
And it was also a year in which the Indians prevailed in a classic late-season race with the Red Sox and Yankees. The Tribe was four games behind Boston with 23 to play, but rallied in time to force an unprecedented tiebreaker on Oct. 4 at Fenway Park, with Bearden, pitching on one day's rest, turning in nine strong innings to lead the way.

"In those days," Bearden said in 1998, "we didn't need four or five days' rest like they do today. We didn't count pitches; we counted outs."
Gene Bearden is carried off the field by teammates after beating the Boston Red Sox in a tiebreaker to claim the 1948 American League pennant. (AP)

The outs -- and the wins -- kept coming in the World Series against the Boston Braves. The Indians lost Game 1, in part because of a controversial call on Feller's pickoff attempt on Phil Masi at second base ("About 50 million people [watching the first coast-to-coast broadcast of a World Series game] called him out," Feller would say in 2008, "but one guy called him safe, and he was 10 feet away"). They would, however, win Games 2, 3 and 4. Though the chance to clinch in front of a then-record 86,288 fans at Municipal Stadium was foiled, the Indians went back to Boston to win Game 6 and set off a raucous celebration on their train ride home.

When railroad officials complained about the state of the train upon its arrival in Cleveland, owner Bill Veeck told them, "Don't worry, we'll buy you a new one."

That was Veeck, flamboyant as could be.

And that leads us back to the mystery of the '48 pennant.

On Sept. 24, 1949, with the Indians having been disappointingly eliminated from contention in the AL chase, a notice was published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"Unusual ceremonies will precede the Indians' game with the Detroit Tigers tonight at the stadium and fans are urged to be in their seats by 8 and ready to take part in the fun."

As it turned out, Veeck put the "fun" in funeral.

If you're going to go down, he figured, you might as well go down laughing.

With the ceremonies underway, Veeck, dressed as a mortician, sat atop a horse-drawn hearse of a late-1800s vintage while carrying a copy of the Sporting News (because baseball people referred to it as their "Bible"). Boudreau, his coaches and other team personnel served as pallbearers. A band played a funeral dirge, with the procession moving toward the center-field flagpole, where the pennant was lowered and placed in a pine coffin. The pallbearers put the pennant in a hearse, and the hearse made a circle around the playing field, with the Indians' players joining in the procession when it reached the home dugout. Finally, the coffin was lowered into a grave just beyond the outfield wall, marked by a tombstone with the inscription, "1948 CHAMPS."
The colorful Bill Veeck was the owner of the Indians when they won the 1948 World Series. (AP)

And that, unfortunately, is the extent of what we know of the whereabouts of the '48 pennant.

"It's bizarre," Feador said. "After that, you [didn't] hear anything about it. Did someone dig it up after the game? Did it stay there? No one really knows. The legend is just quiet after that."

Perhaps, the pennant was never exhumed. Maybe it sat in that grave for going on five decades, was unintentionally excavated during the Municipal Stadium demolition in 1996 and was somehow not spotted as it was dumped into the Lake Erie waters along with the pieces of the building that became a fish habitat.

But this theory seems rather -- ahem -- fishy. One figures a coffin -- especially one not likely to have been buried all that deep in the dirt -- would have been easy to spot during such a process, if in fact it even survived the myriad remodeling projects that took place in and around the baseball and football fields over the building's long history.

So maybe the pennant was unearthed. Maybe some team employee laid claim to it and took it home, stuck it in storage and forgot all about it, then sold the home to somebody who sold it again.

Maybe you, reading this, right this very second on your smartphone in the suburbs, are sitting on a couch in a living room in a house with a crawlspace that contains the only physical embodiment of the Tribe's last title.

And hey, maybe there's a T206 Honus Wagner card down there, too!

Go ahead and keep an eye out for the pennant, but there are absolutely no clues as to its whereabouts.

It's possible, though unproven, that the pennant was again accounted for at Municipal sometime after '49.

In 1951, the Indians became the first team to open a museum at their home park. The shrine featured such artifacts as a Nap Lajoie bat, the ball from Bill Wambsganss' historic unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series and the bat Elmer Smith used to hit the first World Series grand slam, also in '20. It remained operational -- and free of charge -- in the stadium's lower concourse near Section 11 until '72, when attendance nose-dived. But while the National Baseball Hall of Fame has records of the Indians sending some items from their Hall to the actual Hall, many of the treasures that were known to be on display have simply vanished.

"A lot of these things just went missing after the museum closed," Feador said. "I'm not sure if there is any correlation between that and the pennant."

People will contact Feador, attempting to get the Indians to buy various artifacts, almost invariably (and a little too conveniently) from the club's only championship seasons in 1920 and '48, when MLB did not have the authentication process it has today. One guy did call about a large pennant that, he claimed, was flown over the '48 World Series. But he sent Feador a photo, and it was not a match of the pennant in question. There are rings from that '48 Series in circulation, and the Hall of Fame has bases from it. But the pennant remains the Lost Ark of the Tribe's last title.
Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden and Jim Hegan celebrate the Indians' victory over the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series. (AP)

"It wasn't like this big flag got thrown in the dumpster and now it's gone," Feador said. "No, there was this elaborate event, and clearly there was symbolism attached to it. So to be able to find that, I think, would be neat, because it's one of those cool, tangible reminders of the past."

Unless somebody really did stop reading this, crept into a crawl space and pulled out the pennant, odds are it'll never be uncovered. It's in that undiscoverable, indescribable void in which the treasures of Lima or Montezuma or Blackbeard's ill-gotten gains all reside, never to be reclaimed.

So while we can cite the season, we can talk about Boudreau and Bearden, we can look up old photos of Feller, we simply can't see and can't touch the material reminder of the last time the Indians won it all.

All the more reason for them to do it again this year.

C to shining C! Cleveland awaits Cubs

Dueling Droughts: Cubs, Indians Set to Meet in World Series

By BEN WALKER, AP BASEBALL WRITER Oct 23, 2016, 9:47 AM ET

At long, long last, it's true: Either the Chicago Cubs or Cleveland Indians will win the World Series.

The matchup between teams that forever waited till next year — next century, really — is finally here.

A classic Fall Classic, for sure.

Do-it-all Javier Baez, flashy Francisco Lindor, MVP caliber Kris Bryant and a bevy of young stars. Lights-out relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, and wily skippers Joe Maddon and Terry Francona.

Plus, intrigue if injured All-Star starter Danny Salazar and slugger Kyle Schwarber can play.

Oh, and did someone mention something about a drought?

Game 1 is at Progressive Field on Tuesday night, with the Cubs opening as a heavy favorite to win their first crown since 1908.

In the Cubs' last visit to Cleveland, back in August 2015, they posted a 17-0 rout for the most-lopsided shutout ever in interleague play. It got so out of hand that two Indians outfielders wound up pitching.

But that's ancient history.

For the Cubbies, this is their first World Series trip since 1945. They clinched their spot Saturday night at rollicking Wrigley Field as big league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks outpitched Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw for a 5-0 win in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.

Favorites since opening day, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and past October aces Jon Lester and John Lackey helped the Cubs cruise to a major league-leading 103 victories.

Now, they're ready to sweep aside the Curse of the Billy Goat and the specter of Steve Bartman. And make up for the near-misses by Cubs greats such as Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams.

"Obviously we know that it's something that's going to be talked about with the history of the organization," pitcher Jake Arrieta said. "But it's really not something we focus on at all. So we just kind of disregard it and go out and play."

The Indians also have a past full of failure and frustration. Their title drought dates to Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby and 1948, trailing only the Cubs for the longest wait in the majors.

In 1997, Cleveland was three outs from winning the championship when closer Jose Mesa blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 at Florida. An error by sure-handed second baseman Tony Fernandez doomed them in the 11th.

Earlier this year, LeBron James and the Cavaliers turned Cleveland into Believeland by rallying to win the NBA title. James has been loudly cheering for the Indians to bring another championship to the city.

Steady Jason Kipnis, jolly Mike Napoli and likely Game 1 starter Corey Kluber starred as the surprising Indians won the AL Central, then breezed by Boston and Toronto in the playoffs.

The Indians did it despite a thinning rotation. Salazar hasn't pitched since early September because of a forearm problem, Carlos Carrasco's hand was broken by a line drive and Trevor Bauer cut his pinkie playing with a drone.

Like the Cubs with Bartman, the spectator who infamously deflected a foul ball at Wrigley during the 2003 NL playoffs, the Indians also have a prominent fan. It's John Adams, the man who has been beating a drum at most every home game for more than four decades.

Even though the clubs hold spring training about 30 miles apart in Arizona, they don't overlap a lot.

They've never played in the postseason and are just 9-9 against each other in interleague action.

Miller and Chapman, however, were teammates this season in the New York Yankees' bullpen before they both got traded in late July.

Francona and current Cubs architect Theo Epstein spent even more time together. In 2004, they teamed up as the Red Sox ended a World Series championship drought dating to 1918 — when Boston beat the Cubs, by the way.

Soon, another city will be celebrating. Maybe next week, maybe next month, with Game 7 scheduled for Nov. 2.

A pair of big cities, one on Lake Michigan, the other on Lake Erie, waiting ... and hoping to end the wait.

On deck: Great Lakes, great stakes.

MLB Playoffs 2016: Cubs vs. Indians World Series projections, odds, probabilities

Who does SportsLine project to win the World Series?

Matt Snyder

Now that the Cubs have dispatched of the Dodgers and won their first National League pennant since 1945, we have our World Series and it's a beauty. The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will take the two longest World Series championship droughts into the World Series and go head-to-head for the crown.

In the next two days, we'll have plenty of preview items leading up to the Fall Classic. For now, let's check out the SportsLine projections on the World Series.

In computer simulations, here's who won:
The Vegas odds:
So the Cubs are expected to win, but also don't get great value due to being the overwhelming favorite.
The World Series starts Tuesday in Cleveland's Progressive Field.