CLEVELAND — On July 4, after the Guardians lost for the eighth time during their 10-game skid, players lingered in the dugout at Progressive Field and stared out at the scene of the Tigers’ celebratory handshake line.
The Guardians’ season had hit a new low point, but Slade Cecconi declared that they could channel the tough times into something great.
“I’m really looking forward to the end of the season when we look back at this eight-game skid and go, ‘Man, remember, remember how tough that was?’” Cecconi said that night. “‘Remember how we got through it? Remember how we trusted each other? Remember how we showed up the same every day and just kept working?’
“It’s going to pay off. We’re going to see ourselves in a great spot at the end of the season. I fully believe that.”
All they did was make baseball history. With the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on Sunday, the Guardians clinched the American League Central for a second straight season and 13th in franchise history, bookending perhaps the greatest comeback in baseball history. Then they started the party when Brayan Rocchio hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th inning for a 9-8 win over the Rangers.
The Guardians will host a familiar foe in the Tigers at Progressive Field in the best-of three Wild Card Series that kicks off on Tuesday.
Cleveland was as many as 15 1/2 games behind Detroit for first place in the AL Central, as recently as the morning of July 9. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the largest deficit a team has overcome to finish first in its division (since 1969) or league (pre-1969). The 1914 Braves (15 games back) previously held the record.
The Guardians were as many as 11 games behind Detroit this month, on the morning of Sept. 5. That is the largest September deficit overcome to win a division (since 1969) or league (pre-1969), surpassing the 8 1/2-game deficit erased by the ’64 Cardinals. Cleveland won 17 of 19 from Sept. 5-24.
The Guardians on Saturday became just the fourth team to reach the postseason in a season in which they had a 10-game skid. To say winning the division was unfathomable is a true understatement.
But those inside the home clubhouse at Progressive Field never gave in and maintained their belief they could do the impossible.
“I don’t think anybody ever lost the vision of where we were trying to go this year,” Cecconi said Sunday morning, “even at our darkest point in the season. Hence why I said what I said at that point. It’s really cool to see it come full circle.”
