Former Indians Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, above, will face of in Game 1.
Cleveland Indians can only ask themselves, "What if?"
It's a question that haunts us all, but is really pertinent to Tribe followers during this World Series.
Consider what they have to watch in Game 1.
CC Sabathia, who was the Indians' ace just more than 16 months ago, will throw out the series' first pitch. And not the ceremonial type either.
The Big Boy will be the Yankees' Game 1 starter.
To answer, the Phillies will throw Cliff Lee to the hill. He's the man who won the Cy Young while pitching for the Indians last season.
So, the Indians could have been much better off with those two making 40 percent of their starts.
Three good friends of the Southpaw - York Daily Record/Sunday News sports copy editor Matt Goul, St. Louis Post Dispatch photographer Emily Rasinski and Frederick News Post sports writer Greg Swatek. - are Indians fans and were willing to offer their perspective.
Here's what they had to say.
"There is nothing like seeing your team bring up a player from being a rookie to an all-star and then watch them trade them away to a team with more money," Rasinski said.
"I remember watching CC get his first win with the Indians and the announcers joking that they cant even take him out to get a celebratory drink because he was only 20 years old."
Goul also has fond memories of Sabathia, who was the ace of a team that was a game away from taking Cleveland to its third World Series in 13 seasons.
"Seeing CC pitch for the Yankees bothers me more because he was there when the Indians almost made it two years ago," Goul said. "Lee was out with injury, and expectations were still high with Sabathia the year he left."
Rasinski remembers Sabathia for what he gave Indians fans through is work on the field - hope - as much as what he gave them off it - respect.
"I also remember watching CC pitch in the 07 playoffs and putting so much hope in him," she said. "Then when the Indians traded him I remember hearing that he bought a full page ad in the Plain Dealer thanking Cleveland fans for their support throughout the years. It seemed like he was truly a classy act. ... and now he is wearing the pin stripes, it's painful."
Swatek, however, doesn't think as highly of Sabathia.
"I like Lee better because Sabathia never came through when it counted for the Indians," he said.
But, Swatek understands there was a need to build up the minor league system.
And Sabathia and Lee were good pieces to deal.
"Sabathia, however, was always a postseason bust until now," Swatek said. "So, I mean, what are you going to do? Lee was off to a bad start this year. He was starting to turn things around and then I think the trade really rejuvenated him."
The hardest part, Swatek said, is that the Indians barely received a hill of beans for two aces.
"It hurts because they really got only one player of significance for dealing those guys (Matt LaPorta)," he said. "You would have liked to see them get more bang for their buck when trading players of that caliber."
All three journalists have ties to the Keystone state: Goul is currently in York, Swatek lived in Pittsburgh and graduated from Robert Morris before taking a job at the Hanover Evening Sun, where he worked with Rasinski and the Southpaw.
All three agree that they are rooting for the boys from the Keystone state.
"I'm currently rooting for the Phillies, mainly because I have always hated the Yankees, like any self respecting Indians fan," Rasinski said. "Plus after living in PA for two years I feel that I can root for the Phillies and feel good about it."
Goul, points out there is another tie-in to the Indians on Philadelphia's roster.
"(I) liked Ben Francisco," he said. "Wish they would have traded Choo instead."
Either way this series turns out, Indians fans will have to smile and ponder, "What if we'd kept them?"
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