This summer, the Cleveland Indians won 22 consecutive baseball games—a seemingly impossible streak that elated fans of the team and captivated non-fans. The Indians won large and they won small. They won the 22nd game in a comeback, getting a hit with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning, when trailing 2-1. After the Indians scored the winning run in the tenth inning, all was bedlam: The crowd screamed and swung signs around. The players pumped their arms and leapt and hugged. Fireworks popped off outside, a large, bright collection that loaded Progressive Field with smoke.
If this excitement sounds like the joy you’d expect following a miraculous World Series win, you’re on the mark. That has been baseball this year: fresh, full, and dramatic. Remember the years when steroids dogged baseball and left fans disgruntled? The game is different now, and the way it has changed in recent years has made it more likable than it has been in years. One indication of the change: Giancarlo Stanton, the 27-year-old Miami Marlins star, belted 59 home runs, the most in-season homers since 2001. This makes Stanton the first post-steroid-era hitter to make a serious run at the record. And yet his attempt was just one tale among many in this exciting season. And there is more still to come in playoffs that have the potential for stirring contests—and perhaps a World Series as dramatic as last year’s, when the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in the tenth inning of the seventh game to win the title.
Any of the teams has enough weapons to win, no matter the score in their series as you read this—it’s just that someone has to prevail, and luck, as always, is sure to play a big part. That’s the style today. The most charming and talented team this year—though not by much—is the Indians, back better than last year after that crushing World Series loss. Look at the Indians and behold a flawless team with 102 victories this season. The team is fast and excellent at defense, with well-rounded hitters and pitchers. Corey Kluber, the 31-year-old starter, went 18-4 during the season with a 2.25 earned run average (the best major-league ERA for a starting pitcher this season) and 265 strikeouts. Carlos Carrasco, age 30 and from Venezuela, also won 18 games this season. Trevor Bauer, a 26-year-old, won 17.
The Indians’ bullpen is even stronger than their collection of starters. Leading the way: 32-year-old southpaw Andrew Miller, whose height—he’s 6-foot-7—gives him an angle for one of the fiercest pitches in the sport. For the year, he struck out 95 batters in 62.2 innings and kept his ERA at a remarkable 1.44. When Miller winds up and throws, he releases the ball so far from the side that against lefties, it looks like he intends to hit the batter with a fastball, and then it zips in for a strike at the corner. It’s a pitch lefties find nearly impossible to hit.
All the top teams in the playoffs are different, but there is one entertaining similarity: a modern shortstop. Once the home of small, quick players, the shortstop position now has size and hitting to go along with excellent defense. Big-hitting shortstops could be the key for four teams: Cleveland, Boston, Houston, and Los Angeles.
For the Indians, Francisco Lindor leads. He’s the small one of the group, though still tall for a shortstop: 5-foot-11. His power impresses. Lindor, age 23, hit 33 home runs this season, including a grand slam in April against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning while trailing by a run.
For the Dodgers, who with 104 wins had the best record in baseball this season, 23-year-old Corey Seager is the shortstop phenom. He’s tall—6-foot-4 and 220 pounds—and quick, and hit .295 with 22 home runs. The Dodgers looked to be the best at everything earlier this year. But a spate of losses—including an 11-game skid—has recently worried fans. The team’s decline makes the playoffs seem much more open than back when the Dodgers looked like they could break the single-season wins record. Manager Dave Roberts believes the team is now on its way back: “I think the troubles are over,” he said. “The quality of baseball is better and the best is yet to come. The guys are healthy. The right guys are trending in the right direction.”
Another star shortstop plays for the Houston Astros. Like Seager, Carlos Correa is 6-foot-4 and 23 years old. This season he hit .315 with 24 home runs and 84 runs batted in, a fine year for an outfielder, never mind a shortstop. And in the field he’s electric. Correa has made dazzling plays and catches, especially with high popups hit behind him. His glove arm looks like it stretches several inches when he races into the outfield, his balance just enough to keep him from falling as he tracks down the ball.
Houston won 101 games this year, joining the Indians and the Dodgers as the only teams to reach triple digits. The team has young talent, great offense, and Carlos Beltrán, the 40-year-old pro from Puerto Rico, which is suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. “I try to come to the ballpark with a positive mentality, but my heart and my mind is not here,” Beltrán said. In his 19 years in baseball, Beltrán has reached just one World Series. That was in 2013, when he and the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox that year were one of the most resilient teams in memory. No matter the score or the pitching on the opposing team, the 2013 Sox, led by David Ortiz, came through. The 2017 season is their second straight season in the playoffs; last year the Indians beat them out. This year won’t be any easier. Boston’s postseason starts against the Astros. The two keys to success could be pitcher David Price, who is back from an injury, and Xander Bogaerts, the 25-year-old, 6-foot-1 shortstop who hit better in the late part of the year.
Price is fascinating to watch. He’s left-handed and throws hard, with nice movement on his pitches. After an injury this year he has returned to the bullpen rather than starting, a move that could strengthen the Sox on the mound. Bogaerts and third-baseman Rafael Devers, a 20-year-old sensation, are keys to the team’s success. Bogaerts is a fine defensive shortstop, one of the best in baseball, and dangerous on offense when he’s hot. Devers is more of a wildcard. Of all he can do—he slugs the ball—fielding is not a strength. Whenever he’s in the field, an error may not be very far away.
Just shy of the Red Sox were the New York Yankees, with a mere two fewer regular-season victories. The team has surprised with its pitching and even more with its absurdly powerful rookie, Aaron Judge. The 25-year-old Judge is huge: 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, with no fat to be found—his muscles look like chiseled stone. Judge hit 52 home runs this season but when he misses, he misses big: He struck out 208 times. He’s one of those dramatic players like David Ortiz who could win a series with his own hitting, like when he clubbed a homer against the Minnesota Twins in the October 3 wild card game. It’s just a matter of how confident Judge will be.
Ever since the Chicago Cubs broke their fabled 108-year World Series failure streak last year, the Indians have held that unhappy record. The team hasn’t won the series since 1948, when they dumped the Boston Braves in six games. As much celebration and joy as there was after their 22-game winning streak, the Indians want more, and manager Terry Francona knows how to get there, guiding the team with his understanding and his friendly demeanor. In 2004, he coached the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918. The Sox had trailed the Yankees three games to none in their meeting, then won four straight games. No team in baseball, and arguably sports in general, has ever made such an unlikely comeback in a series.
Last year’s loss by the Indians was almost as brutal as that of the Yankees. The Indians led three games to one, needing just one more win for a title. But the Cubs came back and won three straight games to clinch the series. This year, the Indians want nothing less than a World Series victory. For the team—and everyone else—this is about the ultimate win in American sports. Let’s enjoy the show.
Tom Perrotta writes about sports for the Wall Street Journal, FiveThirtyEight, and other publications.
