By Mike Holzheimer
It might be time for Cleveland to forget about who it lost in the professional sports arena, and focus on who is here playing for the hometown
There is a lot to be happy about if you’re an Indians fan, and such happiness can be found standing between the positions of second and third base inside Progressive Field.
Francisco Lindor, Cleveland’s starting shortstop, who is affectionately known as “Mr. Smile,” is a real superstar on the baseball diamond-and you’ve got him Northeast Ohio.
Lindor, who can always be spotted grinning from ear-to-ear, plays the game with passion, enthusiasm and an enjoyment not often seen at the highest level of sports.
Lindor just has fun when playing the game. His production, though, both offensively and defensively that has seen him accumulate stats that are beyond belief, hasn’t exactly been a humorous experience for those trying to get a ground ball past him, or attempting to figure out a way to silence his efforts inside the batter’s box.
In an earlier game against Kansas City, Lindor had his teammates doubling over with laughter by way of an impressive seven RBIs that included a grand-slam home run and a three-run blast propelling the Tribe to a 9-3 triumph over the Royals.
His bases-loaded swat against KC starter Jakob Junis was certainly a “no-doubter” traveling 409 feet over the right field fence of Kaufmann Stadium, while the three-run shot came against the same Junis in Lindor’s next at-bat traveling a bit further at 418 feet that more than put the exclamation point on this victory.
Lindor may be considered a cleanup hitter in the leadoff spot, and his numbers would validate such a claim, but he isn’t really looking to go deep when he steps to the plate.
“My approach is to hit the ball and wherever it goes, it goes. If it goes out, it goes out,” Lindor told the media following his record-setting night.
Lindor tied former Indian Brandon Moss in terms of recording seven runs in a contest. Moss accomplished such a feat against the Texas Rangers on April 24, 2015. The only other Tribe shortstop with seven RBIs in a game, who just happened to do it against a Kansas City team (then the Athletics), was Chico Carrasquel back on April 26, 1956.
He joined other Tribe greats in Manny Ramirez (Sept. 24, 1999 vs. Toronto), Vic Wertz (Sept. 14, 1957 vs. Boston) and Pat Seerey (July 13, 1945 vs. the Yankees) to hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in the same game.
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