WORLD SERIES / Atlanta Braves vs. Cleveland Indians : Sentiment Will Get You Nothing : Baseball: Indians spent all season making believers of fans in best season since 1954, but Braves have spoiled the party.

The bouquets that were tossed at the Cleveland Indians--you know, best baseball team in the modern era, most potent offense in decades--have browned and wilted like week-old roses out of water.

After two World Series losses to the Atlanta Braves, the almighty Indians have suddenly become a team that can’t hit, field, run the bases, throw strikes, make the right managerial moves. . . . And this just in from the Indian clubhouse on the eve of Game 3 tonight in Jacobs Field: They’re not mad enough.

“I don’t think he’s as frustrated as I’d like him to be,” center fielder Kenny Lofton said Monday of Albert Belle, the Cleveland slugger turned sluggish in postseason play, with a .229 average and four errors in 10 games. “I’d like him to break a bat or two to get kick-started.”

Belle, who became the first player to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in a season, who hit 31 homers in August and September, is known for his volatility, his outbursts being the rage of the Indian clubhouse.

“Every day it’s a different thing,” shortstop Omar Vizquel said. “I’ve seen him throw a cooler, break a telephone, a trophy. . . . One day we came in and there were cookies all over the place.”

But Belle, who has hit two playoff homers but has driven in only four runs, has been as serene as Atlanta’s World Series crowds, and his teammates seem to have chilled out right along with him.

The Indians had the highest regular-season team batting average in 45 years, .291, but have slipped to a .224 mark in the playoffs and .125 (eight for 64) in the Series.

The Indians want the old Belle--and their old offense--back.

“He’s been acting so calm, but maybe if he started breaking some bats he’d start to hit better,” Vizquel said. “I think I’m going to bring that up to him.”

Lofton, the Indians’ speedy lead-off hitter, has done what he can to spark the offense. He has a hit in each game and has stolen four bases. His aggressive running has led directly to three of Cleveland’s five runs.

He even tried to fire up his mates by breaking a bat during Game 2 Sunday night in Atlanta. “It took me three or four times, but I finally did it,” Lofton said.

But the rest of the Indians are in a team-wide funk, the result of too many swings at pitches out of the strike zone, too much pressure trying to live up to their gaudy reputation, and too much dominant Braves’ pitching.

Series averages for the heart of the Cleveland lineup: Carlos Baerga, .000; Belle, .167, and Eddie Murray, .167.

“We’re just not swinging the bats well--we’re not doing our job,” Lofton said. “It’s going to come sooner or later, though, and when it does, it will be with a bang.”

But if Lofton’s big-bang theory doesn’t become reality tonight against right-hander John Smoltz, the Indians will be in danger of reliving what for longtime Cleveland fans is a 41-year-old nightmare. The Indians won 111 games in 1954, the last time they reached the Series, but were swept by the New York Giants.

Two things working in the Indians’ favor tonight: They are home, where they went 54-18 this season and notched 17 victories in their final at-bat, and they return to American League rules, which allow for the designated hitter. Paul Sorrento will return to first base and Murray, who played first in Atlanta, will go back to his customary DH role.

Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox will use regular left fielder Ryan Klesko as his designated hitter, putting Luis Polonia into left field and the No. 2 spot in the order.

“It’s a place we’re familiar with and where we’ve played well,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said of Jacobs Field. “It should be a big boost to us.”

So, too, should the fact that Cleveland has developed a knack for bouncing back from adversity. Several of the young players can recall the 105-loss season of 1991 and the loss of teammates Steve Olin and Tim Crews, who were killed in a 1993 boating accident.

The Indians’ longest losing streak this season was four, and that happened only once.

“Either we’re really resilient or we’re really stupid, but we seem to bounce back from losses real well,” said Charles Nagy, Cleveland’s Game 3 starter.

The Braves, however, can also claim history as an ally. Atlanta had a better record on the road, 46-26, than at home, 44-28, this season, and the prospect of more than 40,000 screaming Indian fans is hardly intimidating.

“We know how hard it is to win here and the reputation the Indians have at this field, but we like the position we’re in,” said Atlanta closer Mark Wohlers, who saved Game 2 for the Braves.

“It’s not the ballpark that’s going to beat you, it’s the other team. There were 50,000 maniacs in Colorado [for the division series] and we overcame them. Hopefully, we can do that here.”

Both teams may have to deal with nasty weather. Although temperatures reached the 70s on a sunny Monday afternoon, showers and much cooler temperatures, with lows in the 40s, are expected today.

“But I enjoy pitching in the most adverse conditions,” said Smoltz, who went 12-7 with a 3.18 earned-run average and 193 strikeouts this season after undergoing off-season arm surgery.

“I grew up in Michigan and I used to love pitching in the cold weather. I even like pitching in Candlestick Park. I rely on moving my fastball around and my slider, and if I can jam hitters, it’s going to be tough for them. I think it’s to a pitcher’s advantage, because the hitters will be uncomfortable.”

Maybe so uncomfortable that Belle will become irritable, launch a clubhouse tirade and break a bat . . . instead of Indian fans’ hearts.