Judging strictly by what seems to be omnipresent in my social media timelines, I can only assume there are indeed some of you who actually are happy that the Cleveland Guardians are moving on to major league baseball’s final four for the first time in eight years, way back when they used to be known by a nickname beginning with an I that it is no longer acceptable to reference. Outside of Drew Carey, I’m not sure who really is behind you. Heck, even one of your more accomplished natives has questionable loyalty.
Over 34,000 such supporters did fill the stands early yesterday afternoon on what turned out to be a picture-perfect afternoon despite the later threat of inclement weather that moved the deciding game of a surprisingly close Division Series out of prime time. That said, that’s less than half the size of the crowds that would swell the old Municipal Stadium, aka the “Mistake by the Lake”, in far less successful eras, and about a third the size that would have filled Ohio Stadium in Columbus had they been at home yesterday rather than blowing a golden opportunity for a win in Eugene, Oregon (allow me to let out a blood-curdling sigh of relief on behalf of every fellow Duck lover out there).
And I strongly suspect every single one of those supporters and those of you out there I simply don’t know to be hoarse and giddy in the light of what transpired yesterday, as THE ATHLETIC’s Zack Meisel and Cody Stavenhagen dutifully reported:
Lane Thomas started the ALDS with a three-run homer to the left-field bleachers at Progressive Field in Game 1. He punctuated the series and punched Cleveland’s ticket to the ALCS with a grand slam to a similar spot, which fueled a 7-3 Guardians win in a decisive Game 5.
Thomas, a July trade acquisition turned October hero, broke a 1-1 tie with a frenzy-inducing blast on a 97 mph sinker from Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who had once again silenced Cleveland’s bats before a nightmarish fifth inning.
The Guardians emerged from a high-tension, in-division battle and will head to Yankee Stadium for a best-of-seven brawl between the top two seeds in the American League.
The turn of events in that fifth inning, which arguably lifts Thomas into the same rarified air as Francisco Lindor is breathing in New York, put a kibosh on what was becoming one of the most compelling storylines of this so-far sensational post-season. As THE ATHLETIC’s double-team expounded:
Skubal and a heavy dose of pitching chaos transformed the Tigers from trade deadline sellers into AL juggernauts, but their season ended with a pair of losses to the Guardians that each swung on one well-timed blast to the left-field seats.
Designated hitter David Fry kept Cleveland’s postseason hopes flickering with a two-run shot in the seventh inning of Game 4 at Comerica Park. Thomas supplied the knockout blow in Game 5.
And ironically, the Guardians, not exactly brimming with strong starting pitching of their own, took a page right out of Tiger skipper A.J. Hinch’s playbook to help deliver that kitty-conquering defeat:
Cleveland skipper Stephen Vogt pieced together nine innings with eight pitchers
Matthew Boyd started a winner-take-all game against his former team in a storybook script. He struck out five and threw the fastest heater (94.9 mph) he’s tossed since June 2021. But Vogt turned to his trusted bullpen in the third inning, limiting Boyd to one turn through the Tigers’ order. Cade Smith and Tim Herrin became the first Cleveland pitchers to ever appear in all five games of a Division Series. Smith’s 12 strikeouts in the series are the most by a reliever in MLB Division Series history. Erik Sabrowski and Andrew Walters, who were pitching for Triple-A Columbus two months ago, entered the most pressure-packed games of their lives. Walters allowed the game’s first run, but Herrin bailed him out with a double play before Cleveland’s offense unloaded in the bottom of the fifth. Eli Morgan relieved Hunter Gaddis in the seventh and recorded a couple of strikeouts to end a Tigers rally.
I don’t know too many baseball fans beyond Guardians lovers who knew any of those names. We all knew closer extraordinaire Emmanuel Clase, but he was proven to be mortal during the Tigers’ late-inning clawbacks. We knew what the Tigers were doing with a similar strategy, and on Thursday night we saw Dave Roberts and the Dodgers save their season with a de facto bullpen game. It’s a tribute to Vogt’s intelligence and confidence that he was able to save his own team’s season in a manner akin to more seasoned skippers.
So the Guardians did punch their ticket to the ALCS for the first time since their near-miss in the 2016 World Series, a memory that I know causes agita for our unapolgetic Cubs loyalists. And in facing the Yankees, they reunite with a team that most recently sent them down to a five-game division series defeat two years ago, where the Guardians were a weaker wild card seed, but historically have been a team that frequently had the Yankees’ post-season number, being the only team in a five-year stretch between 1996 and 2000 to deny the Pinstripers a series victory. It’s no surprise that my many Yankee-supporting followers aren’t too thrilled about seeing them.
I’ll say this much for those of you who like the Guardians–you have my respect and gratitude. Vogt has done as much as a rookie manager as has Carlos Mendoza–and for six and a half months as opposed to four and a half so far. And were it not for management that didn’t want to sign Lindor to a ten-year deal, I’m not sure we’d be playing this week at all.
And I’ll leave you with this encouraging nugget: They won’t say it on the record, but I’m darn sure FOX executives are pulling for y’all. A Subway Series is an anethema for national ratings, and they’re coming off the least-viewed Fall Classic ever. Now if you can survive the looming threat that Bob Costas might use that I-word in describing your upcoming series, I might just be inclined to quietly give you a thumbs up if you do win four of the next seven.
Maybe THAT might get those of you out there I don’t yet know who are Cleveland fans to reignite my timeline. Lukewarm may only be a conclusion based on limited data.
Courage…