Why MLB Made Me Choose the Cavs Over the Indians

So that really wasn’t the Fausto Carmona I was hoping to get (SIX walks?), but I guess I can’t complain seeing as he held the White Sox to one hit in the Indians 5-3 win last night. Laffey Taffy continues to pitch well, and he, Joe Smith and Chris Perez shut down the White Sox to preserve the win.

Can’t really comment too much on it, as I was only able to see the first couple innings, but let’s hope this is a positive first step for Carmona and not the end result of his work.

Anyways, as I have the night free tonight and nothing to do, I began an interesting debate over what I was going to watch tonight.

The Cavs and the Indians are both in Chicago tonight, both games are at 8 p.m. (or 8:10 in the Tribe’s case), and both appear to be basically meaningless for each Cleveland team (the Cavs having wrapped up the best record in the NBA and having little to play for and the Indians, well …)

You know what though? Seeing as the pitching matchup is less than enticing, Justin Masterson for the Tribe vs. Gavin Floyd for the Sox, I’m most likely going to spend my time watching the Cavs.

Now, at first glance, this seems like a simple case of “which team will entertain me more?” But after reading Paul Cousineau of The DiaTribe’s latest piece, I realized it goes deeper than this.

First, for those too lazy to read, Paul’s piece talks about (among other things), the financial disparity in Major League Baseball which any Indians fan should be familiar with.

I’m a baseball guy. I love the sport more than any other, and this is the time of year I should be jacked up, ready to watch every game. But I’m not, and that’s Major League Baseball’s fault for ruining that for me. MLB has no one to thank but themselves for driving me from an April AL Central Showdown to a next-to-meaningless NBA game where the only thing that’s on the line for the Cavs is their own health.

The gap between the haves and the have nots is widening in baseball, and it really makes me wonder why the Yankees president telling the Brewers owner to “stop whining” isn’t being more widely discussed in the media. Cousineau is right, it’s going to take a national guy to blow the whistle on this, and nobody seems willing to risk riling up the New York or Boston guys.

But as for my decision, MLB can only put the blame on itself, for failing to see the flaws in their own system and being too focused on the money to have the foresight to see the problems their lack of action has and will cause. Like I said, I’m a baseball guy. I’ll come back to the sport no matter how bad my team is doing. Unfortunately for MLB, and especially for teams like the Indians, many people won’t come back, and this could eventually come back to kill baseball. Call me a drama queen Yankees fans, but if people don’t believe their team can win (and must rely on windows of opportunities, such as the Indians), then they are not going to watch, and baseball will become as bad as hockey.

As Cousineau points out thought, there is hope if teams that do things the right way like the Brewers are sounding the battle cry, then maybe a much needed fight is coming to make sure the game is truly on a level playing field. Either way, it seems we are still a ways off, so the Indians will have to continue to scratch, claw, and outsmart in order to win.