Two Indians players reflect on that fateful 10th inning from Game 7
For Cleveland Indians fans, losing Game 7 of the 2016 World Series in an extra-innings, rain delayed game against the Cubs was an example of ultimate baseball heartbreak. But two players on the Indians don’t look at it that way. Catcher Yan Gomes and 10th inning reliever Bryan Shaw spoke to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about that fateful 10th inning, where just inches could have changed the story significantly.
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Shaw broke down Kyle Schwarber’s lead-off single, which was the spark that ignited the Cubs eventual win. Schwarber’s hit just squeezed through the hole on the right side of the infield, barely out of the reach of second baseman Jason Kipnis.
“I had faced (Schwarber) a few times,” Shaw says. “I think he did the same thing every time — hit a groundball right in that hole. This time, I didn’t move Kip over enough.”
After one of the coaches typically aligns the infield, Shaw said that he sometimes asks that fielders move a little bit more to reflect what he’s trying to do with his pitches. When he faced Schwarber, he opted not to do that with Kipnis.
After Kris Bryant flied out, there was a base open, and Shaw intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo. That brought up Ben Zobrist, who had loomed large at the plate the entire series. The Indians, including Yan Gomes, had to decide what to do next.
“Things started to speed up,” Gomes recalls. “We were trying to figure out, ‘Do we pitch to Zobrist? Or do we go to the next guy? Who do we want to go to?’”
Even though Addison Russell was up after Zobrist, no one wanted to give him a chance to repeat his insane Game 6 grand slam. So Shaw pitched to Zobrist. And on what Gomes called “a pretty decent pitch,” Zobrist hit a ball that hopped past third baseman Jose Ramirez and scored a run, giving the Cubs the lead.
“If Jose is playing a foot toward the line, he fields that ball, steps on third, throws to first — it’s a double-play ball and we’re out of the inning,” Shaw says.
Baseball is a game of inches, and that 10th inning of Game 7 illustrated that really, really well.
What’s really refreshing are the attitudes of Gomes and Shaw. They have no regrets and no bitterness. It really casts the difference between fans and players into sharp relief. Fans pour their passion into their team, spending their leisure time on nights and weekends watching or going to games, keeping up with their favorite players, following every storyline and injury. And while players also have passion, for them it’s a job. They’re going to be sad, but to get better they need to deconstruct it analytically. They can’t carry that sadness with them. Here’s what Shaw had to say:
“It sucked what happened, obviously. But you give it a couple of days and start thinking about next year. I was ready to go,” Shaw says.
No matter how they feel, it’s really interesting for two Indians players to thoroughly break down that fateful tenth inning from their perspective. History will definitely remember the Cubs breaking their curse, but there’s another side to the story that shouldn’t be forgotten.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
