The Indians are next victims

The only thing left of the New York Yankee season is how it ends.

Yes, they lost to the Cleveland Indians to end yet another "not exactly" comeback and season. Instead of the intertwined N and Y on their caps (which has been accepted by the American Medical Association as an alternative symbol for choking), they should have a photo of Maxwell Smart. You know: "Missed it by that much!" By the way, if they want, they can change the type face on the N and Y to a more Gothic one and welcome the Metropolitans to the Chokers Hall of Fame.

But the end of the season is not yet here, although most seers have already declared the era of Joe Torre to be at an end. The rantings of owner George Steinbrenner seem to bear this out. But that is of the future.

Mike from Amherst seems to be the winner of the Bring Me The Head of Joe Torre contest. His prize is his own satisfaction, although if he really wants a Len's Lens T-shirt, he should contact me and we'll talk. But not until Joe is officially fired. You never know about rich guys -- they sometimes change their minds. Too bad the rich guy who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. won't change his about a lot of things, but that's another story.

Now a look at the future. The Cleveland Indians. The folks in Cleveland are for real, both the team and the fans. Let me tell you a little story.

While in Myrtle Beach, S.C., this past summer, one of the fellow guests at our hotel was a woman from the Cleveland area, an Indians fan. How do I know? I was wearing my Red Sox hat and she started a conversation about the weather and asked if I were from Boston and the like.

But it didn't take her long to start ranting about how the dastardly Red Sox took away Manny Ramirez. Manny has played for the Red Sox since signing in December, 2000, but the wound is fresh for this fan. I asked her if many people in Ohio felt the same way, and she said they did. These guys hold a grudge for a long time.

I'm willing to be there are a lot of showings of the surprise 1989 comedy hit "Major League" and "Major League II" (1994) in the Great Lakes area. The films, which are on HBO a lot, have to do with a hard-luck Cleveland Indians team that gets itself together under a pitcher, Rick (Wild Thing) Vaughn and a washed-up catcher played by Tom Berenger.

It's great to imagine all kinds of things, but when the real Wild Bunch come out to play, Cleveland had better stay away. This should be a great series.

It's just to bad it has to start Friday night. Lots of observant Jews, many of whom are wiz-bang baseball fans, had to miss many games last week. Ah, well.

Yes, yes I know there were many things happening in New Haven this past week and weekend, with the sorry cops pleading and the mayoral debate and all kinds of political stuff.

But let's keep our priorities straight, shall we. This is Playoff Season.

Go Red Sox -- Go Pats. Let's have another New England championship season this fall.

Until next time...