The Cleveland Guardians clinch American League Central through the eyes of a child

Photo by Nick Michaels

Sunday afternoons are “Kids day” at Progressive Field. On a normal Sunday, the ballpark is full of children experiencing many opportunities for them to engage in the game. They often get to throw out the ceremonial first pitch or yell “Play Ball” over the sound system. After the game they get to participate in running the bases.

However, this Sunday afternoon was a little different. It was still kids day, but the children present were about to witness history. The Cleveland Guardians had already clinched a wild card spot on September 27, but they were still chasing the Detroit Tigers for the American League Central crown.

During the 9^th inning with the score knotted at five I left my seat in the press box and made my way down through the crowd. I was preparing to get to the field post-game should the Guardians pull out a win. They were facing the Texas Rangers who were not letting up on Cleveland.

As I sat down amongst families to watch the end of the game I could hear two children talking with their dad behind me. Their ages were seemingly around 5 to 7 years old, and they were sporting their baseball gear. The little girl was asking “what happens if they tie, daddy?” to which he responded, “they keep playing til someone wins.”

Shortly after those words Texas came out swinging in the 10^th as Rowdy Tellez hit a 3-run homer. This blast out of right field caused silence amongst the fans. The two children spoke in hushed tones with defeat in their voices as they said, “oh no” and “I don’t want the Guardians to lose.” Their dad gave some reassuring words to them, but his tone lacked hope.

Their exchange had me reminiscing of when my grandpa and father would take me to the ballpark at an early age. I was going to baseball games as far back as I could remember with my ball cap on chatting nonstop with so many questions. Those two men who took me to so many games are no longer here but they instilled the love of baseball in me that still lives on.

I could feel the love of the game all around me. That hope that was lacking from the family behind me saw a little spark as Bo Naylor hit a double scoring George Valera. The score was 8-6 and the kids cheered as the Cleveland mascots were jumping around, and glee rang through the park. Next up was the rookie Petey Halpin who drew a walk and Cleveland now had two men on base with nobody out.

The little girl began chanting “Rocchio, Rocchio, Rocchio” as Brayan Rocchio came to the plate. She loudly proclaimed that he was her favorite. The crowd joined her chants during his at-bat. With the count at 1-2 he hit a three-run homer to not only give Cleveland the win but also claiming the AL Central title.

As I scurried to get to the field I looked behind me at the kids. They were jumping up and down with the biggest smiles on their faces. In that moment everything felt like slow motion. I took a few minutes to take it all in. The fans of over 31,000 in attendance were celebrating so loudly you could almost feel the park shaking. As fireworks went off the team met Rocchio at homeplate to properly pounce on him with excitement. It was kids’ day at the park and in that moment we were all filled with childlike happiness.

The Guardians had completed the improbable feat of clinching the AL Central division in dramatic fashion. Cleveland overcame the largest deficit to win a division in Major League history. They had trailed Detroit by as many as 15.5 games back on July 8 (previous record set by the 1914 Braves.)

What’s even crazier is that in the month of September the Guardians were 11 games back of Detroit on September 4. This is also the largest comeback in September by a team to win their division (passing the 1964 Cardinals who previously held the record.) Both of these past record holders went on to win World Series titles in their comeback seasons. If Cleveland could join them in bringing home a World Series win it would certainly be the largest exclamation point on what has been a magical season. The kid in all of us can dream.