1. The Cleveland Indians crushed the hapless New York Yankees this evening, 12-3, in the first game of their five-game division series. Alex Rodriguez continued his postseason ineptitude by going 0-2. He is a roiling cauldron of doubt at the plate. He is Mr NonOctober.

2. A couple of readers have commented on my posts about New York’s payroll. My point is simple. New York outspends every other team by a significant margin. This gives New York an advantage. There should be no such advantage in a sport. That New York hasn’t won a World Series in seven years only testifies to the incompetence of team management. When you outspend your rivals by as much as the Yankees outspend theirs, you ought to win every year. Did I mention that it’s a great time to be a Yankee hater?

3. In my 40 years as a baseball fan, I have never seen anyone as uninspired as Bobby Abreu or Hideki Matsui. I have no idea how or why Yankee fans tolerate these duds. By contrast, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are among the most inspired players I have ever seen. As much as I hate the Yankees, I have never been able to dislike either Jeter or Posada.

4. I told you about Cleveland. The Indians are relentless. If I were a Yankee fan, I’d be worried.

5. Kenny Lofton of the Indians went 3-4 and was named Player of the Game by TBS. I’ll bet not many of you know that Kenny was a star basketball player for my Arizona Wildcats when I was a graduate student. I had no idea, at the time, that he also had baseball talent. Kenny, now 40 years old, is one of the true gentlemen of the sport. He played for my adopted Texas Rangers this season.