Old Age May Have Caught Up To Indians During A.L. Playoffs

I’ll admit it, I’m worried about the Indians.

Not just because they lost, 4-3, in Atlanta Sunday night - and not just because they are down 2-0 in the World Series.

I expect to be back in Atlanta next weekend for a sixth game, and maybe more. But I don’t know how they can win this thing, and not simply because the Braves have a superior team.

I’m worried because Orel Hershiser took himself out of Game 1 in the seventh inning.

Don’t anyone dare question this man’s courage. As pitching coach Mark Wiley said, “It takes guts for a pitcher of Orel’s stature to admit that he’s had enough in a game like this, because you know how bad he wanted to stay in there.”

But he couldn’t. He said he had “no rhythm.” He said he just couldn’t get the ball over the plate. After six innings and 100 pitches, his arm stopped listening to him. His arm said, “Orel, I’m tired.”

All during the Tribe’s playoff run, the Tribe’s Mr. October talked about “the changing caliber” in his gun. Sometimes, he was throwing harder … his ball was sinking sharper … his arsenal was more powerful than even in July.

But in the seventh inning of Game 1, all he had left was blanks.

Then there was Dennis Martinez Sunday night.

For five innings, he was fine. OK, he threw a few pitches he wanted back, but he climbed the hill in the bottom of the sixth inning with the score, 2-2.

Martinez didn’t know it, but he was finished. A two-run homer to dead center by Javy Lopez. Manager Mike Hargrove tried to nurse Martinez through the inning, but Dennis had nothing left.

As he walked off the mound, the Braves were in front to stay at 4-2.

Could it be that Martinez and Hershiser are starting to feel like a couple of guys staring at 40?

Remember, this World Series is different from any we’ve had before because of the extra tier of playoffs. Suddenly, teams had to win two rounds to reach this point, and that meant double the pressure and double the strain on a team’s best arms.

Martinez and Hershiser have pitched eight of the Tribe’s 11 postseason games. By now, the World Series should be over.

Instead, both guys will have to pitch at least once more - maybe twice in the case of Hershiser.

That’s a lot to ask.

It’s easy to laugh when Martinez starts up about his aching elbow, sore shoulder, creaky knee and old bones. But he is 40, he will have knee surgery when this thing is over - and his arm probably is tired.

Hershiser is 37 and a medical miracle. No one has ever come back this far from this type of reconstructive shoulder surgery.

But he could be arm weary, too.

“I don’t know if the extra playoffs are a factor or not,” Wiley said. “We only played 144 regular-season games, so they may not be feeling (the extra duty). But it is true that the playoffs push pitchers harder, make them try to get something more on the ball.

“Because it’s the first time, we just don’t know.”

This much is certain, the story of these playoffs has been pitching.

“The deeper you go in the postseason, the more the pitchers have to do because it is harder to score runs,” Tribe general manager John Hart said. “During the regular season, our hitters feasted off the 3-4-5 pitchers in the rotation. We have a lot of experienced hitters, and when they see lesser pitchers or when the pitchers make mistakes - they make them pay.”

But right now, the cash register is empty.

In the World Series, they have seen the two best pitchers from the premier pitching staff in all of baseball. These guys just don’t heave fat fastballs or hang curves.

“They just don’t give us much to hit,” Hart said. “That is why we have to take advantage of every opportunity.”

Which brings us to Manny Ramirez.

Has anyone told Manny that he’s in the World Series? Or that these games are on TV, even back in New York City and he sure looked kinda dumb when he was picked off in the seventh inning?

During the regular season, the Indians could pull these stunts. Their bats were like huge erasers, wiping out the blunders, easing the pain of the mental mistakes.

Now, the bats are balsa, the defense is shaky - and the strain is on the Tribe’s tired arms to steady their World Series dreams.