‘Olde Towne’ team not your father’s Red Sox

So Cleveland Indians fans are thinking this is the year, huh? Yeah, right.

It was a nice run for you members of Chief Wahoo Nation, but come on, you haven’t suffered nearly enough yet.

Sure, your team hasn’t won a World Series since 1948, but that’s only a 59-year drought. Call us back when your drought reaches – oh, I don’t know – 86 years or so. Besides, the Indians did win the American League pennant in both 1995 and 1997. So where is the long-simmering angst from a measly 10-year run without a series championship? Think you’ve cornered the market on pain and suffering? The Boston Red Sox went 18 years before getting another whiff of a Series appearance after a 1986 campaign that rivaled any Greek tragedy.

Speaking of the Red Sox and 2004, in case you hadn’t noticed, the Olde Towne Team is starting to get the hang of this postseason stuff. What do you know? Pitching, speed and a little defense do help fill in many of the gaps that pure, prolific power does not.

The Boston Red Sox will eliminate Cleveland in five games – maybe six – and move on to the World Series.

Why the not-so-quiet confidence? Well, think about it. The last time the Sox won it all before the 86-year deep sleep was 1918. Excluding the first recognized World Series in 1903, which Boston won 5-3 over Pittsburgh, that 1918 world title was Boston’s fifth in a seven-year stretch. Now I’m not predicting a remotely similar run of dynastic dominance this time around, but the desire is inexhaustible, the pieces are in place, the will is present, the financial wherewithal is there and conditions are ripe for another Red October run or two in the next few years.

But let’s get back to this year. There are many reasons to believe the Red Sox will win and the Indians will not.

. First and foremost, as politically correct as our nation has become, is there really even a ghost of a chance that a team known as the “Indians,” nicknamed “The Tribe” and associated with a cartoon caricature of an Indian known as Chief Wahoo would ever be rewarded for its perceived affront to Native Americans? The only thing missing is the Tomahawk Chop. I mean, the self-appointed arbiters of good taste would spontaneously combust if such a team commanded headlines and generated the massive amounts of publicity inherent in a World Series title run. Nope, we can’t have that.

As far as Red Sox go, who’s going to be offended by red or socks? Red is hardly even associated with communism anymore. About the only thing not to like about Red Sox is the grammatically incorrect spelling, but I don’t think English teachers and professors are going to riot over it.

. Boston has history, and not just its own but our nation’s: The Old North Church, “Old Ironsides,” Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre to name just a few significant highlights.

When it comes to history, Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the distinction of having a river (Cuyahoga) catch fire in 1969 and the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. Wow.

. Boston has plenty of regular-season and postseason clutch experience. Cleveland has little. Boston’s David Ortiz alone has more game-winning hits and dramatic home runs than Cleveland’s entire roster over the last four seasons. Don’t want to face him? Manny Ramirez made the California-Anaheim-Los Angeles Angels pay for intentionally passing the man who hit an eye-popping .714 against them in the division series. Manny has had a down year, but his .375 average against the Angels and his propensity for making other teams pay for the same thing in the not-too-distant past make teams pick their poison. Then there’s Mike Lowell, who carried the Red Sox on his back more than once this season and is arguably Boston’s MVP.

Who is Cleveland’s Mr. Clutch? Travis Hafner has had an off year for him (.266, 24 homers, 100 RBIs). Maybe catcher Victor Martinez fits the bill with 25 homers, 114 RBIs and a .301 average, but even with five 20-homer hitters in the lineup, there’s no recognized Mr. October.

. Cleveland has too many confusing, garbled player names. My computer keeps trying to change Jhonny Peralta’s first name to the spelling it should be and Asdrubal Cabrera is hard to pronounce and spell. The most challenging name on Boston’s roster is Daisuke Matsuzaka but most just call him Dice-K, and you don’t get much more straightforward and vanilla than a lineup with names like Kevin, David, Mike, Jason, Dustin, J.D. and even a Coco. Oh, and just for the record, there may even be some Indians fans who don’t know C.C. Sabathia’s initials stand for Carsten Charles.

. Getting back to a serious angle, you can’t overvalue postseason experience and Boston has lots with several holdovers from the 2003 marathon against the Yankees and the 2004 improbable comeback against the pinstripers. This team takes on the steely reserve, quiet confidence and unflappable calm of Tom Brady after the two-minute warning.

. These aren’t your grandfather’s or even father’s Red Sox. These are the ones who expect to win rather than hope not to lose. Cleveland has too many of the old Sox guard in manager Eric Wedge and Kelly Shoppach. Sure they have Trot Nixon, a proven clutch hitter, but he’s not a regular starter.

Just wait ’til next year, Chief Wahoo Nation.