CLEVELAND -- It was sunny and 85 degrees the last two days at Progressive Field -- conditions that felt cruel at a time when, in the bowels of the building, they were packing up the baseball season. The clubhouse staff was busy cleaning up and cleaning out the clubhouse, players had their exit interviews with management, and the ticket office was issuing refunds for un-played playoff baseball.
When a season ends on terms other than your own, it's always brutal, but that's particularly the case in a place where they have spent six months -- 12 months, really -- anticipating October, only to have it erased in less than 80 hours.