Game 7 of the World Series was remarkable. Yet, Cleveland came out on the losing end. It hurts and it will for a while.
At some point, you have to put misery aside and see the series — and Cleveland’s entire postseason — for what it was: amazing.
There will always be some sort of pain associated with the 2016 World Series for Tribe fans, but when you put it all into perspective, what the Indians did was remarkable.
So if you’re feeling heartbroken today, that’s totally understandable. But consider:
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They weren’t ‘supposed’ to be there
Cleveland was written off when two of its top starting pitchers, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, suffered season-ending injuries in September — and the Indians went on to win the AL Central anyway. Then they went on to beat one of the best teams in baseball, the Boston Red Sox, in the ALDS — which nobody expected. As huge underdogs against Toronto in the ALCS, the Indians mopped the floor with the Jays, nearly sweeping them — with a completely inexperienced rookie on the mound in the series clincher.
Reaching the World Series was an unfathomable feat.
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They gave you hope for the future
World Series appearances are hard to come by, but if the Indians made it there this year with a young, injury-plagued team that no one saw coming, imagine how much better the Indians will be next year. They’ll have All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley back and the starting pitching staff will re-establish itself as one of the best in the game with a healthy Carrasco and Danny Salazar. The team will (presumably) be healthy and with this postseason experience, it will come back even stronger.
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The Indians still have the best manager in the game
Terry Francona and Cubs manager Joe Maddon are regarded as the two best managers in baseball and they proved it this series. But you have to give a slight edge to Francona — and lucky for Tribe fans, he’s not going anywhere . The Indians have Francona locked up through 2018 and after the whirlwind season they just had, Tito has to be motivated to lead this team back to the World Series again next year — and win it all.
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They’ll come back even hungrier
When the Indians reached the Wild-Card Game in 2013 and lost, it was the first taste of the postseason for many of their core players. Guys like Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall vowed that they’d be back again, but as division winners. The core of that team grew together. Three years and a few important pieces later, they came one win away from winning the whole damn thing. Now that they made it all the way to the Fall Classic and fell short, you’d have to imagine it will motivate them to take it one step further next year.
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They believe in ‘New Cleveland’
It’s amazing what a difference a year makes and how much winning can change things. Last year at this time, many Cleveland sports fans (and players) walked around with the weight of a 52-year championship drought. The cursed “woe is me” Cleveland attitude was real and it was downright depressing.
That changed this summer when LeBron James and the Cavaliers made their legendary NBA Finals comeback to end the city’s title drought. It brought new hope to a city and fanbase that had become accustomed to being the butt of every joke. It signified the end of an era, and the start of a new attitude, one that is referred to as “Believeland” or “New Cleveland.” We saw that attitude carry over to the Tribe — Francisco Lindor wore it on his cleats — and it changed the sports landscape for the entire city.
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They gave us great memories
Game 7 was an emotional rollercoaster but as sports fans, that’s the kind of stuff we live for. Whether you watched the game live in-person at the ballpark, or from your lucky chair in your living room with your closest family members, or at the watch party on the Gateway Plaza with 10,000 of your closest friends — memories were made.
From the in-game excitement of Jason Kipnis scoring from second base in the fifth, to Rajai Davis’s game-tying homer in the eighth, the crowd got riled up as they fought and clawed their way back into the game. And you can’t forget the off-field moments that made you smile, like J.R. Smith’s shirtless rally cry to LeBron’s reaction to Davis’s homer. It was a fun ride all the way to the final out, when the Indians still had a chance to rally back. The real-life drama that sports can produce and the feelings that come along with it all, is just part of the game. And regardless of the outcome, it was one of the most memorable games — and seasons — for Indians fans.
