Indians ready to make Cleveland rock
The Cleveland Indians can feel it, sense it, even smell it, and now they’re allowing themselves to wrap their minds around the idea.
Just one more victory, and they can finally wipe away 68 years of dust on their mantle to make room for that coveted World Series trophy.
Their frenzied fan base was poised to erupt late Tuesday night at Progressive Field, celebrating not only an anticipated game-time temperature of 70 degrees for Game 6 of the World Series, but also witnessing the first Cleveland sports team to clinch a championship at home since 1964.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers earned their first NBA title in June, they won Game 7 in Oakland.
There were the 1964 Cleveland Browns, knocking off the Baltimore Colts to win the NFL championship at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, before the Super Bowl was born.
There were the 1920 Cleveland Indians, who won Game 7 against the Brooklyn Robins at Dunn Field.
And here are the 2016 Indians, daring to go where none of their ancestors has gone in two generations.
“It’s incredible to even think about,” Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis says. “You start to think about it, as it gets this close, and you get chills.
“It will hopefully be rushed into a bottle of emotions if it happens, but it’s something you don’t want to think about too far ahead… we have a tall task ahead of us.”
Yet if the Indians listened to the noise out there, you would never know they’re the ones who were up 3-2 in the World Series heading into Tuesday night. You would dismiss the idea that their two scheduled pitchers, Josh Tomlin in Game 6 and, if necessary, Corey Kluber in Game 7, have gone 6-1 with a 1.18 ERA this postseason.
You’d forget that their vaunted bullpen is so well-rested that you could see Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combining to pitch five innings in Game 6 or 7, if needed.
And you’d ignore the fact that only three teams in World Series history have recovered from a 3-1 deficit by winning the final two games on the road, and that the Indians are 58-29 at home this season.
“We’re the underdogs to everybody else but ourselves in this clubhouse,” Indians first baseman Mike Napoli says. “We’ve been in first place for 100-some games. And we won the AL Central. It’s not like we snuck in anywhere. “We’re good.” Awfully, awfully good. The Indians have won 10 of 13 games this postseason, knocking off the heavily favored Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays to reach the World Series, only for everyone to believe the Series was over when it headed to Wrigley Field tied 1-1.
“Nobody gave us a chance to get out of Chicago,” Napoli said. “We kept hearing, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be able to get out of Chicago,’ and this and that. Well, we’re up 3-2, at home, where we play good.
“So, it’s not us against the world, like everybody’s saying. Everybody can pick who they want and say who they think is better, but we’re confident in each other. We know what we can do.”
So go ahead, the Indians say, keep on showering the Cubs with all of the hype. Let ‘em watch all of the Rocky movies they want, blaring Eye of the Tiger as their walk-up music or even feigning a few punches after crucial base hits.
While Cubs manager Joe Maddon implored his team to wear Halloween costumes Monday on their flight to Cleveland, the Indians are the ones who should be wearing their Rocky Balboa outfits trick-or- treating. Let’s see, they have the ninth-smallest payroll in baseball, including a starting rotation that earned a combined $11.7 million – less than half of Cubs ace Jon Lester’s salary. They have also been ravaged by injuries.
Certainly, the Indians realize after nearly 70 years it won’t be easy. These are the Cubs. They won 103 regular-season games. They knocked off the beasts of the NL West, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, in the playoffs. And now, by being able to use the DH at Progressive Field, they’re back at full strength with Kyle Schwarber in the middle of their lineup.
The Indians, of course, have a fan base in such a frenzy that 67,000 fans showed up at Progressive Field to watch Games 3, 4 and 5 while the Indians were at Wrigley Field.
“Hopefully, we give them a chance to see something special,” says Miller, acquired by the Indians in July from the New York Yankees. “Everyone remembers what this town was like when the Cavs won.
“We know this city is excited, and if we just go out and do our job, they’re going to have a blast.”