Francona, Indians deserve credit
Team is mighty; manager has brilliant mind
The city of Cleveland, the brunt of jokes for all these years, is getting the last laugh on everyone.
They are champions of the NBA, with the Cavaliers unfurling the championship banner and ring ceremony last week, breaking the city’s 52-year championship drought.
And the Cleveland Indians — despite losing 3-2 Sunday — stand one victory from winning their first World Series title since 1948.
Laugh all you want, but Cleveland is about to be anointed as Title Town, USA.
“It was great for the city, the celebration of the city, and having a championship,” Indians President Chris Antonetti said of the Cavs’ championship. “It uplifted the city.
“Our guys embraced it. They shared in that celebration.”
And the city hasn’t been the same since, with nearly 30,000 fans packing Progressive Field on Sunday night to watch their potential World Series clincher against the Chicago Cubs.
Yes, Game 5 was played at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
No matter, Cleveland’s titlestarved fans wanted to be together, celebrating the chance at history and bracing for that championship parade they’ve dreamed of for generations.
Fans were honking their horns driving through downtown Cleveland on Saturday night after their Game 4 victory, with Indians announcer Tom Hamilton’s voice blaring on car radios.
The Cavs drew 1.3 million for their parade route in June, but the Cavs are like the little brother to the Indians and the Cleveland Browns.
The Cavs’ celebration would be just an appetizer to the main event, with nearly all of Ohio coming to Cleveland for the parade of all parades.
“They’re ready, they’re deserving,” said Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis, who grew up as a Cubs fan, living on the north side of town. “I’ve adopted them as my own, and they’ve adopted me. They know I love that city, and we’re one win away now from giving them a championship.” This is no fluke. The Indians are this good. The Indians have completely dominated this postseason, going 11-3 and outscoring the opposition 44-25, out-homering teams 16 to seven, without giving up a homer with a man on base.
Their pitching staff has yielded a 1.80 ERA, with a major leaguerecord five shutouts.
Ace Corey Kluber’s 0.89 ERA in his first five postseason starts ranks second only to Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson.
Reliever Andrew Miller has yielded a 0.53 ERA, giving up just a solo homer to Dexter Fowler, and nothing else in his 17 innings.
Together, Miller and Kluber have combined for a 0.76 ERA, yielding four earned runs in 471⁄ 3 innings this postseason.
“They’ve been pitching great,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “They’ve been outstanding. And they’ve been outstanding through the entire postseason. And you can see it. We’re obviously having a tough time, like the other teams did.”
Can you imagine if the Indians were actually healthy — or simply had the players who were in their original plans?
They’re here with All-Star center fielder Michael Brantley out for all but 11 games this season. Their No. 2 and No. 3 starting pitchers, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, had pitched one combined inning this postseason. Two of their outfielders, Marlon Byrd and Abraham Almonte, were suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. And one of their starters, Trevor Bauer, was sidelined by a drone.
“I don’t know if I can list all the things we’ve had to go through,” Cleveland reliever Dan Otero said, “but anytime during a long season you’re going to face adversity, and it’s how you overcome those different times that kind of reveals your true character as a team. I think we have an unbelievable clubhouse from the top down, starting with the front office and how they communicate, to the manager, all the way down to us. “So I think it starts there.” The Indians will tell you they’ve had to rely on everybody, but their trio of Kluber, Miller and closer Cody Allen have accounted for 51% of their innings this postseason.
And yet with a starting rotation that earns a combined total of $11.7 million — less than half of Cubs ace Jon Lester’s $25 million salary — the Indians are on the brink of history.
Indians manager Terry Francona has been in town for only four years, but a World Series title would catapult him to immortality, becoming the most famous coach or manager in Cleveland since legendary Paul Brown.
By ending two of the longest World Series droughts in history, winning the 2004 World Series with the Boston Red Sox, and again in 2007, Francona would be remembered as one of the great- est postseason managers in baseball history.
“The way he manages a game is not an accident,” Antonetti said. “Nothing surprises me. He is prepared for every scenario. He’s thinking two, three, four steps ahead.”
The only one who doesn’t seem impressed by being the first manager to end at least 60 years of World Series droughts with two different teams is Francona. Yes, the man who ordered $44 worth of ice cream at 3 in the morning Sunday, trying to cure his insomnia.
“I get it that fans have lived through maybe not winning,” Francona said, “and it’s fun to talk about it or to commiserate, but it’s also unfair to the group in there to ask them to win for other people. This is hard enough doing it right now.
“Believe me, we’ve never had a meeting saying, ‘Whatever, it’s been how many years.’ I mean, I’m aware of it, because people have asked, but we just need to go play baseball.”
It has been a whole lot easier, of course, with Francona pushing all the right buttons, making the right lineups, making the perfect double switches and brilliantly managing a bullpen.
“We didn’t come this far to play it safe,” Francona said.
He has seized utter control of a postseason, as if using a joystick with a video game.
“We’ve got the best manager in baseball,” Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We knew that the whole year. Now, everybody sees it.” And maybe one more time. Riding on a parade float.