Next Time, Just Answer: “The Republicans”

From an April 2006 online forum to publicize his new book Painting the Map Red:

Cleveland, Ohio: Who has a better chance of winning in 2006, the Republicans or the Cleveland Indians?

Hugh Hewitt: I am not even sure why we are playing the 2006 season given the Tribe’s overwhelming talent. Perhaps it is just for the joy of embarrassing the Yankees and Red Sox.

Mr. Hewitt’s baseball braggadocio certainly has abated in the past two months, both on air and on the blog. While I have no love lost for the AL East powerhouses, perhaps it’s time to compare how the Indians are faring thus far with their division rivals, the Detroit Tigers. Tiger fans like myself have long awaited a season such as the way this one has unfolded so far, coming into tonight:

Record

DETROIT: 47-24 (.662), 1st place, – GB
CLEVELAND: 31-38 (.449), 4th place, 15.0 GB

Head-to-Head

DETROIT: 5 WINS
CLEVELAND: 2 WINS

Hitting Team Stats

DETROIT: .272 AVG, 97 HR, 360 RUNS, 1121 TOTAL BASES
CLEVELAND: .283 AVG, 88 HR, 385 RUNS, 1114 TOTAL BASES

Pitching Team Stats

DETROIT: 3.56 ERA, 9 SHUTOUTS, 27 SAVES, 438 K, 576 HITS ALLOWED
CLEVELAND: 4.98 ERA, 6 SHUTOUTS, 9 SAVES, 409 K, 657 HITS ALLOWED

Fielding Team Stats

DETROIT: .986 PCT., 71 DBL PLAYS, 16 SBs ALLOWED in 30 ATTEMPTS
CLEVELAND: .980 PCT., 59 DBL PLAYS, 59 SBs ALLOWED in 68 ATTEMPTS

Further proof of the value of good pitching and good defense. And clear evidence why Mr. Hewitt has conveniently steered away from discussing the Boys of Summer.

The Indians? Hey, at least they’ve got the Royals, Devil Rays, Pirates, and Cubs licked. (Except the Cubs beat them last night.)

Next time Mr. Hewitt is faced with the question as presented above, a much better and much safer answer would be: “The Republicans.”