BOSTON - Corey Kluber walked up to me Monday night in the Indians clubhouse at Fenway Park, poured a beer over my head and said, "Thanks."

I knew what he meant, but he was definitely thanking the wrong guy. He should have been thanking himself and his teammates for sweeping the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series.

On Sept. 17, I said the Indians were done. I said their postseason dreams were over before they began. I wrote that after watching Carlos Carrasco walk off the mound with a broken right hand. Carrasco's injury followed the loss of Danny Salazar on Sept. 9 to a right forearm injury.

When a contender loses its Nos. 2 and 3 starters in September, any plans for an extended stay in October are more fantasy than fact.

I believed that when I wrote it, but I was wrong.

I said the Indians would win the AL Central, but that was it. There was no way they'd advance past the best-of-five American League Division Series. Not when they'd be facing powerhouses such as the Red Sox or Rangers.

Well, the Indians just swept the favored Red Sox in three games. As for the Rangers, they went down in three against the wild-card Blue Jays. Now it's the Indians vs. Toronto in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series starting Friday at Progressive Field.

The Indians, as they did in the ALDS, will have home field advantage.

As you can imagine, the Indians weren't pleased with what I wrote. Some of them still aren't. Near the end of Monday's celebration, Jason Kipnis said, "Will you at least admit you were wrong?"

I told him I was wrong.

But I don't for a minute think that what I wrote had an effect on how the Indians played. Reporters who cover baseball teams can aggravate those teams. They can make life miserable for them. But they cannot determine if they win and lose.

If the Indians think otherwise, they're shortchanging themselves. I underestimated them, but they shouldn't underestimate themselves. This is a good team with a good manager and coaching staff. It's a team that's going to get better, as well.

In my mind, however, there was no way they could win a postseason series with the losses of Carrasco and Salazar. That was before Kluber came out of Sept. 26 start in Detroit after four innings with a strained right quadriceps muscle.

But the rotation of Trevor Bauer, Kluber and Josh Tomlin did just fine. It helped that they were backed by a killer bullpen and an offense that outscored and outmuscled a Red Sox team that led the big leagues in runs scored during the regular season.

In the end, I don't need a beer poured over my head to remind me I was wrong. I would have much rather drunk it, but I get the point that was being made.