Over a million Clevelanders crammed into downtown on Wednesday, celebrating something the they knew very little about: a title. It was an unrecognizable scene inside a city well-studied in sporting pain, where a drive here, a seeing-eye single there and “The Shot” once added up to 147 seasons passed without a championship.
Now the Cavaliers, their city, their fans are finally winners, and judging by the enthusiasm of the folks soaking up the Forest City sun, more regular opportunities to express championship exhilaration would be welcome.
Suddenly, Clevelanders are a much brighter bunch to be around. The notorious “quarterbacks jersey”, which includes the 24 names of every single Browns QB since 1999 has been retired by its owner Tim Brokaw, as he and fellow fans seek to flush out “all negative energy and bad juju” around town.
Yes, it seems a curse-killing mission is on in northeast Ohio, and while getting the Browns their elusive Super Bowl ring trumps all, it’s the Indians who are in pole-position to ride Cleveland’s new found sports mojo.
Of course, the lovable losing Cubs, who’ve gone over a century without a World Series win, own the crown jewel of all North American title droughts. Yet since the Red and White Sox broke through in 2004 and 2005, the Tribe’s healthy, but less-celebrated 68-year ring-less streak runs a strong second.
As the oldest team in town, the Tribe bear plenty of responsibility for the previous 52 years of misery in the city. From 1960 to 1993 Cleveland managed just seven winning seasons inside their cavernous and mostly empty Municipal Stadium, finishing above fourth place just once. Such prodigious losing proved endearing, at least to Hollywood: the 1989 film Major League brought laughs and a less sought after lore to the franchise.
Then the organization became known for something entirely different: innovation. General manager John Hart took over in 1992 and became the first executive to sign prospects such as Sandy Alomar Jr and Carlos Baerga, to long-term deals. They built a championship core: Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez to name a few. Two World Series appearances followed, but still, no rings. Cleveland’s 1997 loss came in spectacularly agonizing fashion: Edgar Renteria’s Game 7 extra inning base hit sent the city into a familiar malaise.
In 2007, Terry Francona’s Boston Red Sox ousted Cleveland in a seven-game ALCS. Now Francona is in his fourth season as the Tribe’s skipper, trying to turn the same curse-crushing trick he ordered in Beantown, all while former BoSox GM and current Cubs President Theo Epstein tries to beat down the Curse of the Billy Goat in Chicago.
The Cubs, with their blistering start and 9.5 game lead in the National League Central are a 14-5 bet to slay their dragon and win the Fall Classic, while the Indians are slowly creeping up the big board, from 16-1 in February to 12-1 today.
Vegas is beginning to believe, and perhaps now Clevelanders, who have an American League Central leading team, but are last in AL attendance, will begin to get behind their Tribe now that they know anything is possible in sports.
Cleveland fans should be in full on “why not us?” mode as they gaze upon their scorching hot club, one that’s ripped off a 15-6 start to June. With Tribe bats coming around to support their superb arms the Indians have become one of the most well rounded teams in the AL. And when everybody’s good luck charm,Juan Uribe, launches home runs in four straight games, you begin to wonder if the 37-year-old could be part of something special, again.
The Indians have survived the loss of their best hitter, Michael Brantley, for most of the season with shoulder issues and are three games up in the AL Central, benefiting from a Kansas City Royals team that’s struggling to find its feet inside a relatively weak division.
They have young stars: Francisco Lindor should be included in any best AL shortstops chats along with Carlos Correa and Xander Boegarts: the 22-year old has more than backed up his promising rookie season with even higher production. Danny Salazar is breaking out at age 26, leading a power-rotation that includes a surging former Cy Young Award winner in Corey Kluber.
Cleveland’s relief core, steadied by closer Cody Allen isn’t as strong as the starters, but throw them all together they’ve allowed the fewest runs in the American League. That bodes well should they reach the playoffs and take on an offensive powerhouse such as Texas, Toronto, Boston or Baltimore.
Meanwhile, their middle-of-the-road offense, missing the doubles machine Brantley, have just about enough to compete nightly, with the pop of DH Carlos Santana and first baseman Mike Napoli, and steady play from 2B Jason Kipnis, OF Tyler Naquin and OF Jose Ramirez.
Do the Indians need help? Sure, upgrades are needed, specifically Yan Gomes at catcher and Juan Uribe at 3B, who cannot be playing everyday, and they could probably use a bullpen arm. Cleveland’s small market pockets mean landing a big piece isn’t straightforward, but they do have a deep farm system and some reports have linked the sizzling Carlos Beltran to Cleveland, which is not one of the teams on his no-trade clause list, should the Yankees eventually throw in the towel.
The Indians have most of the ingredients to make a legitimate push towards a division title and beyond, perhaps summoning a second title to the city in four months: a notion that until this week, would have been soundly ejected with a snide snicker from Clevelanders.
Video of the Week
Miguel Cabrera’s 461-foot moonshot on Monday against the Mariners may not have been the longest in Comerica Park history (JD Martinez has that record at 467 feet), but when it leaves the park, for me at least, that trumps distance.