Indians adding to baseball's imbalance of power

ByDAN SZYMBORSKI
December 28, 2016, 9:01 AM

— -- Many of the most exciting stories in baseball are tales of the underdog. The Amazin' Mets of 1969 not only overcame a large Cubs lead in the standings, it was also their first good season ever and one that few saw coming. The 1991 Worst-to-First World Series between the Braves and Twins is still remembered on that basis (and for the Jack Morris/ John Smoltz showdown).

What made 2016 different from the typical season was that there literally were no Cinderella teams. The Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series since 1908 was the big story -- the last time they won a World Series, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were alive and Austria had an emperor -- but this wasn't exactly a tale of shocking victory, but of the favorite winning.