The
Greatest Defeat
Written
by: The Cleveland Fanatic
Hello
Fanatics and thank you for reading through this, my first blog. In the last few days I have had a chance to
gather my thoughts after the Cleveland Indians recent Game 7 World Series loss
to the Chicago Cubs. There are few words
that I can use to describe the game itself.
For anyone who was lucky enough to watch the game unfold you surely
realize you watched possibly the greatest 7 ever, at least the greatest of my
lifetime. The Cleveland Indians after
leading the series 3-1 (more on this later) heading into game 5 in Chicago with
a chance to end it all came up one run short.
The Game 5 loss set the stage for a phenomenal end to a rather
uneventful (respectfully) series. When I
say uneventful I am simply speaking to the lack of lead changes in the first 6
games of the series. Only two time has a
team scored first only to lose the lead at any point heading into Game 7. If you are anything like me when you woke up
that Sunday morning prior to Game 5 and had an uneasy feeling that what
happened just four months earlier in the Cavaliers unbelievable and historical
comeback in the NBA Finals, also down 3-1 to the overwhelming and record
breaking Golden State Warriors. I told a
friend that very morning that the 3-1 lead absolutely worried me. Now I am not one to say that Karma played a
part in the outcome of the World Series but to not consider it would be
foolish, unless of course you do not believe in such things. After the Game 5 loss I was asked if I was
still worried, on the surface I was not, but deep down I was very unnerved. The 2016 Indians were an incredible team to
watch with such a dynamic underdog story that for any Cleveland fan around it
felt like the rug was ready to be pulled out at any time. I know, for those of you reading it seems as
though I do not believe in our sports teams, and that could not be farther from
the truth. I love these teams and I
always have hope that until that last second, until the last out or the last
buzzer this year is always THE year! I
just simply felt that if a win in Game 5 did not happen that the overwhelming
series favorite Chicago Cubs would make history. This team was loaded with MVP candidates
(Rizzo and Bryant) and 2 Cy Young candidates and a former Cy Young Winner
(Hendricks, Lester and Arieta respectively).
The best record in baseball, the best pitching staff and the best
offense in baseball was never going to be easy to take down. The Indians in the face of all that, coming
off of two straight series wins against the Red Sox and the Blue Jays in which
they also were underdogs, never showed their fear. This club came into the series knowing they
could win it all and they came so very close to doing just that. Back to Game 7, the Indians got off to a
rocky start as their Ace Corey Kluber making his 3rd start of the
World Series was chased after he faced just one batter in the 5th
inning. Kluber in the series was
absolutely as dominating as he was throughout the playoffs and the hope that he
would pitch the Indians into history was taken away rather early. The team continued to battle back to make it
5-3 Chicago in the 5th only to see Chicago score again in the top of
the 6th to stretch their lead to 6-3. Fast forward to the bottom of the 8th
with hope fleeting and Aroldis Chapman entering in the inning with one runner
on. The chances of the Indians coming
back was all but gone, but then something magical happened. Brandon Guyer hit a double that scored Jose
Ramirez who reached on a single to second.
Then the at bat that very nearly changed the course of history happened. One of the unlikeliest of people, Raji Davis
who had struggled (Batting Average wise) so mightily throughout his limited
playing time in the Playoffs, fought off pitch after pitch, 100+ mph fastball
after another to take Chapman deep to tie the game. This was it, this was the moment, and the
Cubs went quickly in the 9th to set the stage for late inning
heroics. Unfortunately the Indians were
unable to score in the bottom half and sent the game into extra innings. What came next may not have even been
accepted by Hollywood for a movie script. A rain delay, of course why wouldn’t
there be a rain delay in a Game 7 where there were 176 years of combined
droughts between the two teams. Extra
innings and a rain delay, to my knowledge this has never happened in World
Series history. The delay lasted 18
minutes and the ensuing inning was not what we were hoping for. Chicago scored twice and Raji once again
drove in a run to make the deficit one run in the bottom of the 10th. Michael Martinez would ground out to end the
game and folks for the love of the game of baseball the next moment was
special. As a lifelong Indians fan I had
to take a moment and appreciate the beauty of seeing the Cubs 108 year title
drought come to an end as we Cleveland fans saw our combined 52 year title
drought broken by the Cavaliers. Every
emotion we felt 4 months earlier was now being felt by Cubs fans
everywhere. It was hard to see my team lose
in such spectacular fashion once again, but this feels different. This was not a Cleveland team that dropped
the ball, or was wildly overmatched.
This was an underdog who fought through to the bitter end, until the 30th
out (10 innings) of Game 7 and never quit.
I am so proud to be a Cleveland fan and these Indians embodied what it
means to be a fighter, the same as the people from northeastern Ohio know all
too well. Thank you Indians for giving
me the most memorable season I have ever watched and for fighting til’ the end
of what I was always remember the Greatest Defeat of my lifetime. Next year is real, the same as it was for the
Cavaliers I believe this too is the last year, we say Next Year for the
Indians.
