We close the books on 2016 Saturday night, a year that featured two wild rides for Cleveland’s sports teams, as well as one barely successful attempt from the Browns to escape history’s backside.
The Cavaliers ended the city’s championship drought and brought on the long-awaited parade for a tortured sports town in June. The Indians followed with an improbable run to the World Series featuring a banged-up roster that, instead of bowing out in the American League Division Series in Boston, lasted until extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series.
Here are the top 10 moments from the Indians’ 2016 calendar year, from a frantic trip around the bases in Cleveland to some not-so-shaky boots in Toronto to a major signing a few weeks ago that has fans unable to wait to get to Goodyear, Ariz., in 2017.
10. Coco Crisp’s heroics: Crisp was acquired from the Oakland Athletics in late August to take Abraham Almonte’s place on the playoff roster and made the most of his time in Cleveland. If the Indians clinched something, Crisp was hitting a home run. He drilled a go-ahead two-run home run the night the Indians clinched the AL Central, belted another two-run home run that turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 advantage in Game 3 of the ALDS in Boston and then added a solo shot in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto.
9. A streak, a marathon: The stretch that propelled the Indians from another battling team in the Central to one of the top contenders in the AL. Beginning on June 17, the Indians rattled off 14 consecutive wins, the longest streak in franchise history, which ended with a 19-inning marathon and five scoreless innings in relief by Trevor Bauer in Toronto. That game wreaked havoc on the Indians’ roster for weeks, but the streak was their turning point.
8. The division at last: On Monday, Sept. 26, the Indians took down the Detroit Tigers 7-4 to clinch their first division title since 2007. To make it a bit sweeter, they did it in Detroit, home of the club that had made their lives miserable for the previous three seasons. Injured players Michael Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Yan Gomes were all in Detroit for the celebration.
7. Josh Tomlin pitches in front of his dad: It was an emotional year for Tomlin, who in August struggled to the point of being taken out of the starting rotation. Meanwhile, his father received a life-threatening scare that left him paralyzed from the chest down. But in late October, his father, Jerry, was able to see his son pitch in a 1-0 win in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, a dream-come-true for any father and son.
6. Landing Edwin Encarnacion: On Dec. 22, the Indians gave their fans a new Christmas present with a big red bow, signing Encarnacion, one of the game’s premier sluggers, to a three-year, $60 million deal that includes a club option and $5 million buyout for the 2020 season. It was an aggressive move from the normally practical Indians, but it further shows how the front office is willing to pull the trigger when the time is right. Encarnacion, owner of the largest free-agent contact the Indians have handed out, will be a fixture in the middle of the lineup for at least the next three seasons.
5. Tyler Naquin (quickly) touches ‘em all: The Indians enjoyed a stretch in late August in which every night seemed to include another thrilling, walk-off win. None were more notable than Naquin’s walk-off, inside-the-park home run against the Blue Jays. That hadn’t been done in Cleveland for nearly 100 years to the day. Naquin’s “rock on” symbol, thrown up just after sliding at home, is perhaps the most memorable image from the 2016 season.
4. Trevor Bauer’s bloody pinkie: And then, a turn for the bizarre. Bauer sliced his right pinkie open while maintaining his drone the night before Game 1 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays. It forced the Indians to flip their already-depleted rotation around. In Toronto for Game 3, the stitching around Bauer’s pinkie didn’t hold up, and it began dripping blood on the mound, forcing his exit in the first inning. Somehow, the Indians pulled through in their biggest “bullpen game” of the year, taking down the Blue Jays 3-0 in perhaps Terry Francona’s finest managing job of the season.
3. The Andrew Miller trade: The move that signaled the Indians’ aggressiveness, not only to the fans, but to the clubhouse as well. The Indians sent four prospects to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline in exchange for Miller, one of the top relievers in baseball. He then put forth a historic October as Francona’s lethal, versatile weapon out of the bullpen, setting a postseason relief record with 30 strikeouts. He was nearly untouchable in the ALDS and ALCS, striking out 21 batters and giving up five hits in 11⅔ innings.
2. Ryan Merritt and his boots: The Indians’ pitching situation forced Ryan Merritt, a relative unknown to many fans even in Cleveland and the least experienced starting pitcher in LCS history, to the mound for Game 5, facing the Blue Jays’ vaunted lineup in Toronto. Blue Jays star Jose Bautista said Merritt would be “shaking in his boots” to face them, but Merritt responded by throwing 4⅓ scoreless innings to propel the Indians to their first World Series since 1997. He also retired Bautista in both at-bats.
1. Rajai Davis’ Game 7 home run: For Indians fans, Game 7 of the 2016 World Series will always be tainted with a bit of pain for the 8-7 extra-innings loss to the Chicago Cubs. But Davis’ game-tying, two-run home run will always be remembered as one of the most exciting moments in franchise history. With the Indians down to four outs and Aroldis Chapman on the mound, Cubs fans were merely counting down the seconds until they could finally celebrate after 108 years. But Davis put those hopes on hold, choking up on his bat and lining the game-tying shot to left field. It sent Progressive Field into pure bedlam, though the Cubs eventually took a two-run lead in the 10th inning, and the Indians couldn’t respond, putting an end to a memorable, wild ride through October and early November and a historic World Series.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ