Cleveland Indians players react in the dugout in the 8th inning against the Chicago Cubs in game six of the 2016 World Series at Progressive Field. David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland: The Cleveland Indians never get their due. Of course, usually they aren't due any due.
But because Game 7 of the World Series here on Wednesday night will be the only baseball game played in 2016 that has a chance to be remembered in 2124, we can be certain there will be no lack of discussion of whether the Chicago Cubs win their first title in (. . . just go ahead and chant "108 years"). All over the Cubs universe, set defibrillators to stun for grandpa in his Ron Santo jersey.
So now is a fitting time to put the Indians' distinguished 2016 in perspective, especially after Cleveland got its doors blown off in a Game 6 that, in essence, was over in the third inning when Addison Russell, who'd doubled home two runs on a misplayed flyball in the first inning, hit the first grand slam by a Cub in World Series history for a seven-run lead.
The authentic hairy scary 103-win Cubs were suddenly fully awake in a 9-3 win that will convince some fans that Game 7 will simply be a continuation of this momentum shift. The best news for the Cubs by far was that their dormant heart of the order - Kris Bryant (four hits, including a homer), Anthony Rizzo (three hits with a homer), Ben Zobrist and Russell - went a scorching 11 for 19 with eight runs and all nine RBI.
After so long a wait (and decades at a time of lousy play) why shouldn't everyone get to pop several vest buttons bragging about how the Cubs became the first team since 1985 to overcome a three-games-to-one deficit to grab the title? Out of vast indignity, pride at last.
That's what may happen, because the Cubs send the NL's ERA champion, cerebral Kyle Hendricks, to the mound on full rest, and with full confidence, too, after he shut out the Indians for 41/3 innings in Game 3.
The Cubs' main issue is that Manager Joe Maddon doesn't truly trust anybody in his bullpen except Aroldis Chapman, who got the final out of the seventh inning but also worked the eighth with a 7-2 lead and faced one hitter in the ninth with a 9-2 lead. Say what? Hello, Jon Lester, you're a reliever now.
"We wanted to make them use pitching, even in a loss. Hang around. At least Chapman had to pitch," Manager Terry Francona said.
For Cleveland, Corey Kluber will attempt in Game 7 something that hasn't been done since 1968 by Detroit's Mickey Lolich: start three games and win all of them in the same World Series.
Kluber is working on short rest for the second consecutive time. These days, such things just aren't done. Kluber, 30, has only pitched on short rest twice in his career - both times this postseason. But the Tribe has had to do many unorthodox things to get this far, and asking such olden-times hardihood from Kluber is of a piece with the whole team's character.
Besides, Francona seems to have had such a possibility in mind for some time and has trimmed Kluber's work load. Kluber threw 634 pitches in August and 489 in September, including a final-start tune-up with only 60 pitches. In October, Kluber only threw 462 pitches and, in his last three starts, has thrown only 89, 88 and 81. That's exceptional foresight in managing.
Since the end of the regular season, Kluber has had 10 days off between starts once and six days off twice. That's helped him post a 4-1 record and 0.86 ERA. Heck, he's almost been on vacation. And he has rested relievers Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen behind him.
Remember, Game 6 blowouts don't determine Game 7 winners. In 2014 and 2001, the scores of Game 6 were 10-0 and 15-2. Both Game 7s were 3-2 and put those Series among the best ever.
All season baseball fans all over America have lined up to see the Cubs when they come to town. They have the stars, the buzz, the story line and the No. 1 road attendance in the sport. Every year, just look at road attendance and you've probably identified the game's glamour team. What team is dead last in road attendance, the least appealing team when it comes to your town, the club with no Q Rating whatsoever that you wouldn't walk across the street to watch? Yes, Cleveland.
In the future, whenever a team whines about injuries, or low payroll (Cleveland is 27th of 30 teams with less than half the Cubs' salary, $74.3 million to $154.6 million) or lousy attendance (Cleveland is 28th with less than half as many fans per game as the Cubs, 19,650 to 39,906), just tell them to shut the heck up and watch how the 2016 Indians got all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.
The reason that so few grasp the gulf between unfollowed Cleveland and the national-darling Cubs is because the Indians refuse to feel sorry for themselves, even though they have every right.
Sometimes, baseball misses the point. Or maybe almost all the points.
Cleveland has no catcher and hasn't all year. Their backstops hit a combined .185 for the season. The Tribe had a July deal done for all-star catcher Jonathan Lucroy. When Lucroy stopped laughing, he vetoed the trade. In the postseason, Cleveland's catchers have hit .170.
Cleveland also has no outfield. Their second-best offensive player, little-known all-star left fielder Michael Brantley who hit a combined .318 in 2014 and 2015 with 45 doubles each year, was hurt in April and never returned. Because Cleveland is a low-budget team, it never considered a high-cost fix. The Indians will just wait for Brantley, 29, to return next year. So they've patched the outfield. And it's been homely.
Finally, since September, Cleveland has only had three MLB-quality starting pitchers after all-star Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, who fanned 216 men in 2015, were both disabled. Then, three weeks ago, Trevor Bauer slashed a finger on his pitching hand while fixing his toy drone. That should have been The End.
What we have here is a team with a fine, young, but mostly under-praised infield of Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis, plus a couple of Clydesdale sluggers who both hit 34 homers, Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana, who take turns at first base and designated hitter.
And a bullpen. What a bullpen. But you've heard all about that.
The whole package is tied together by perhaps the best manager of this period, Terry Francona, who is driven himself, to the point where his health has often been worrisome, while still "managing" - there's that word again - to convince everyone that baseball is just a blast.
If the Cubs win Game 7, this Tribe team should not be forgotten. They were the true and remarkable underdogs in this series, even if they didn't have "Cubs" on their jerseys. And there's no rule that says they're done yet.
