Indians looking to get one more win this year

Last season, one more win would have put them in the World Series.

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — Clutching a sheet of paper with his name boldly typed on one side, Grady Sizemore fidgeted in a folding chair as a photographer barked out instructions to Cleveland’s All-Star center fielder.

“Grady, hold the bat a little higher,” he said. “Grady, swivel to your left, please,” he said. “Smile, Grady,” he pleaded.

It was photo day at Chain O’ Lakes Park, an annual rite of training camp for the Indians, who will pack up and leave Florida for good next month and relocate their spring home to Goodyear, Ariz.

For more than two hours, players dutifully paraded in front of portable backdrops and tiptoed around klieg lights and over extension cords while posing for head and action shots — the initial impressions of an upcoming 2008 season the Indians hope ends with at least one more win.

But there’s a lasting image from 2007 that C.C. Sabathia can’t forget.

“For me,” the Cy Young winner said on Tuesday, “it was just being on the plane back from Boston with everybody after Game 7, talking about what happened and talking about how to get back.”

Last October, the Indians were in control of the ALCS, leading the Red Sox 3-1 before losing three straight games to drop the series and extend a World Series title drought turning 60.

Sabathia insists he spent little time brooding over the collapse, which came after the Indians had run away with the brutal AL Central and followed their playoff elimination of the New York Yankees.

“I went back and watched the games,” Sabathia said. “But once I left Cleveland about three days later, I just let it go.”

The left-hander just hopes his teammates did the same.

“This game is tough, and if you’ve got that in the back of your head and you’re dwelling on that, it’s hard to get ready for this year,” said Sabathia, who is eligible for free agency next fall.

In order to get back where they were, the Indians may have to match a season in which they tied the Red Sox for the most wins (96) in the majors, recorded 44 comeback victories and won their division by eight games over the Detroit Tigers, who added All-Star reinforcements Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Edgar Renteria and Jacque Jones this winter.

And as 2008 sprouts, it’s the Tigers, not the Indians who are being labeled as the team to beat.

“That’s good. That’s OK,” said pitcher Paul Byrd, still awaiting word from Major League Baseball on his admitted use of human growth hormone. “It should be that way. They have an All-Star lineup. Everybody should be talking about them.

“But I like our team. I like our pitching especially. I like our team chemistry. I’m excited about where we’re at.”

The Indians did little during the offseason. They didn’t have to, which is perhaps the most telling sign of their arrival among baseball’s elite class. Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro made a couple of tweaks, adding Japanese reliever Masa Kobayashi and utility infielder Jamey Carroll, but the Indians will return virtually their entire team from a year ago.

There is one major change, though.

“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody, that’s for sure,” Sabathia said. “We’re going to have to go out and earn it. We’ll grind it out, look up every now and again to see where we’re at, and keep grinding.”

The roster is a well-proportioned mix of experience and enthusiasm, proven veterans along with up-and-comers. Cleveland’s top players — Sabathia, Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez — are also the club’s most driven, a luxury which allows manager Eric Wedge to focus on other things.

“They all work hard and lack ego,” Byrd said. “It’s a very unusual situation over here. It’s very unique to have the quality of personality, quality of people and quality of talent on the field together.

“Usually you have one or two guys like that, you don’t have five or six that are all superstars and they go about their business the right way.”

And they take their cues from their 40-year-old manager.

Wedge demands accountability from his players. He preaches to respect each other, their opponent and the game. As his sixth season in Cleveland dawns, he isn’t worried about complacency from this group, which after finishing fourth in 2006 wasn’t expected to do much last season.

“There’s a lot of old school in them in how they play,” Wedge said, “and in what’s important to them.”

Since camp opened, Sabathia has sensed a resolve in the Indians, who came so close a year ago.

“I see the commitment, but this clubhouse is loose,” he said. “We know we’re a pretty good team now. There’s no question anymore about that. We’ve got that silent confidence around here.”