Here are 35 Walk-Off Thoughts after the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 at Fenway Park to complete a three-game sweep and advance to the American League Championship Series.
And here are five videos from the clubhouse as the Indians celebrated.
1. It’s becoming just about impossible to count the Indians out of any situation. Most—nearly all—picked the Red Sox to win this series, even though the Indians were the No. 2 seed. All the Indians did was stifle baseball’s best offense in the regular season and sweep the Red Sox, along with clinching the ALDS at Fenway Park.
2. The Indians will face the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. Game 1 is Friday at Progressive Field. The Indians are still banged up, but they’ve continued to overcome every obstacle in their way this season and now postseason. They certainly don’t plan on stopping now.
3. Said Jason Kipnis, “Everyone did their job. Everyone. You saw the product of it where all these guys are doing their jobs and buying in and just playing good baseball and competing. No one’s flinching, no one’s backing down from any challenge. So we’re looking forward to it.”
4. The feeling in the clubhouse during the celebration, as champagne and beer were sprayed all around the visiting clubhouse at Fenway, was still one of the Indians earning respect as the underdogs of a series in which they held home field advantage. It’s still a “We know we can do it, let’s show everyone else” that mindset that’s carried them through the losses of Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Michael Brantley and for the most part, Yan Gomes.
5. In other words, the Indians are very aware and have been vocal about being counted out. And they expect to continue to be the underdogs in the ALCS.
6. Said Kipnis, “Pretty much. We were the underdogs coming out of this one. Nobody predicted we were coming out of this one. I think across the board on ESPN and everybody. Those are the people to prove wrong. But we’re focusing more on the people to prove right, the ones in here who are on our side and we’re looking forward to the next stage.”
7. When asked why this team is special, Indians manager Terry Francona said, “If you watch the way they go about their business every day. We might not be the most talented team in this league -- I don’t know. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t win. And I think everybody in here believes that. We get to keep playing. That’s the best thing I can say. We get to keep playing. Hopefully, when it’s time to go home, it can be on our terms.”
More: Indians notebook on Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, ALCS tickets
8. Game 3 starting pitcher Josh Tomlin used the word “gritty” to describe these 2016 Indians. And he spoke to the pride they’ve held in being a team with no real superstar, along with the low payroll and injury situation all playing into it.
9. Said Tomlin, “I think you can kind of see it right now. Everybody loves each other. We love being around each other. I’ve never seen a group of individuals who get to a ballpark as early as we get to the ballpark, play cards with each other, hang out with each other at night. There’s a bunch of things that go into it. It’s not just what we do on the field, it’s stuff we do off the field as well. We said it from Day 1, it’s not going to take 25 guys to do what we’re capable of going. It’s going to take a 40-man roster and guys stepping up and guys getting traded over here, whatever. It’s going to take a collective group of guys to do what we’re capable of doing. We all kind of bought into that from Day 1. You see us all buying into it and it turned into a special group of people, as opposed to being a bunch of superstars. We understand how we have to play the game. We just go out there and play it and see what happens at the end of the game.”
10. It’s been the mantra of this season for the Indians, without question. It’s gotten them into the ALCS with a chance to play in the World Series.
11. The Indians acquired Coco Crisp mere hours before the deadline for players to be added to the postseason roster. He was added by Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff and the front office because Abraham Almonte was ineligible for the postseason, and the Indians needed a fifth available outfielder to be matched with Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis and Brandon Guyer.
12. All Crisp did was come away with arguably the biggest home run of the season for the Indians, a two-run shot in the sixth that soared over The Green Monster. He did it to beat his former team, and he hit it off Drew Pomeranz, a former Indians pitcher.
13. It was a poetry-in-motion-type moment for the Indians and, in part, their front office. A late addition to the club as a fifth outfielder, Crisp came through in a huge way Monday night.
14. Said Indians manager Terry Francona, “I don’t know if Chris and Cherney and the guys get enough credit for the things we do. When we didn’t have Abe, that was a big hole. And Coco has the experience and he showed it tonight. He gets down in the count and gets a breaking ball he can handle and hits it out. At the time, those were huge runs, because we had to make them hold up.”
15. That home run put the Indians up 4-1. And it came half an inning after the Red Sox finally built some offensive momentum. For Crisp to have such a huge contribution, it was like something out of a Hollywood script for Crisp to be lifted from non-contending Oakland to go back to his original major-league team to hit a key home run against another former team.
16. Said Crisp, “Sure, it’s a little storybook. I started my career off with the Cleveland Indians in the big leagues. I think we were the only team, back when I was playing with them in the early 2000s, that won 93 games and didn’t make it to the playoffs. We had phenomenal teams back then. To come back here -- and Oakland gave me an opportunity to come back here -- was huge for me. As soon as I walked in here, these guys treated me like family and it was easy to come in here because it was familiar. I had been here before and I played for Tito and played with some of these guys. Storybook? I would say, so far, it is.”
17. When Crisp hit it, he knew he got all of it. Except, then he remembered that “he” hit it, and he wasn’t as confident anymore.
18. Said Crisp, “I didn’t actually see it. I hit it—no lie—I hit it and I was like, ‘OK, I got it. That’s a homer.’ And then I was like, ‘Wait a second, I hit it and that’s the Monster out there. It’s not really a pull homer.’ Then I started running and I had my head down. I touched the base and looked at the second-base umpire and he started twirling his finger and that’s when I got pumped up. So I didn’t actually see it clear, but I’m going to look back at the film so I can see it clear.”
19. The Indians badly needed all three healthy starting pitchers to limit the Red Sox’s vaunted offense to give the bullpen a chance. All three came through, including Tomlin on Monday night. When he left, he had given up one earned run in five innings and struck out four. Few starting pitchers really tamed the Red Sox this season, until this series.
20. Said Francona, “He was so good. To the point where it makes you think twice about going to the bullpen, just because he was so good. But, he got us where I thought our bullpen could handle it from there. With that short porch in left, if somebody would’ve hit one, I would’ve kicked myself. He pitched so good. He commanded the ball. He was hitting his spots the entire time, and you have to, because they’re such a potent lineup.”
21. After the Red Sox made it 2-1, the fans began chanting “Tomlin, Tomlin, Tomlin” looking to rattle him. It was a surreal moment for him, especially being his first career postseason start and having it chanted at a stadium like Fenway. Tomlin responded by striking out Sandy Leon for the second out and then inducing Jackie Bradley Jr. into a groundout.
22. Said Chris Antonetti, “It was awesome. To be able to give the ball to Josh and know he’d come into an environment like Fenway Park and not be overwhelmed. In fact, after he came out of the game, I was in the clubhouse and I saw him and I said, ‘Hey, what was that like?’ He said, ‘When they started chanting, “Tomlin! Tomlin!”, that was the coolest moment of my life.’ That tells you about him. I was like, ‘What was going through your head?’ He was like, ‘I just wanted to take a minute to enjoy it and then I knew I needed to make sure I get the guy out, or it was just going to get louder.’ It was pretty cool.”
23. Said Tomlin, “I was surprised there were that many people that knew my name, to be honest with you. It was awesome. I can honest to God tell you that it was hard for me to hear anything for the first couple innings. Once they started chanting my name, it kind of became real. I knew where I was at. After that, it was kind of settle in, try to check your emotions a little bit and understand what’s at stake, and go out there and do your job. I wasn’t trying to do anything more than I’m capable of doing.”
24. The Indians have Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin as three starters. How the Indians might treat Game 4 in the ALCS is still a mystery. But those three certainly showed up in the ALDS.
25. Cody Allen ran into trouble in the eighth and ninth innings, he was going to finish it. The Indians had previously warmed up Dan Otero, but no one was warming as Allen threw his 40th pitch, which ended up being the last he needed. The Indians have lived by Allen, Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw, and on this night, they were going to live or die with them.
26. Said pitching coach Mickey Callaway, “He was going to go up there until he lost.”
27. The Indians had a clear formula for how they wanted to approach this series in terms of their bullpen and the pitching staff as a whole: If they have a chance to win a game, they’re going to be as aggressive as they can. Andrew Miller is going to be used, and used a lot. Cody Allen is going to go out there, and it’s his game. There hasn’t been any half-way outings. Miller and Allen were used as much as possible when the Indians held leads in Games 1 and 3. Corey Kluber left Game 2 as nearly a night off for the bullpen.
28. But Francona showed that when the Indians have a lead—or likely when it’s tied and late—they won’t wait to use their best relievers. The Indians were put in a tight spot with little room for error due to the injuries to the starting rotation. So far, the plan has been executed well.
29. Said Callaway, “Yeah, absolutely. That’s what we wanted to do. Going in, we had those guys all fresh and available and that was the game plan in Game 1 and in this game. We were excited it worked out that way. Josh Tomlin was unbelievable. He made pitch after pitch to the corners and did what he had to do and got ahead.”
30. Injured outfielder Michael Brantley was able to be a bigger part of the celebration this time around, as he has his sling off. In Detroit, he mostly watched from afar. He also said it’s easier to deal with the nerves of a close game when you’re on the field.
31. Said Brantley, “It’s a lot easier playing, that’s for sure. I’d rather be out there with my boys playing. But at the same time I guess that’s what you live for, that’s how you know you’re human, those butterflies in your stomach, that feeling that you just want to come through for your teammates and get to celebrate. It’s awesome.”
32. Antonetti had his own cheerleader with him watching the tense eighth and ninth innings. That’d be his 10-year-old daughter Mya. Said Antonetti, “Yeah, there’s a little bit of stress. Actually, the great thing is I get to watch the game with my 10-year-old daughter, who is the most positive person in the world. She’s like, ‘Hey, we’re only one strike away.’ Or, ‘Hey, we’ll get the next guy out.’ Or, ‘He’s going to get this one.’ She’s always a good counter-balance to those negative thoughts that can creep into my head.”
33. In the clubhouse afterward, Antonetti was soaked, just as he was in Detroit. On Monday, as owner Paul Dolan was answering a question about his own nerves late in the game, Antonetti dumped a beer on him, and the two had a playful sparring moment. They’ve also had a lot to deal with during this season of injuries, a couple suspensions and road blocks to the division title and now the ALDS title.
34. Next up is a trip to the ALCS, with the World Series four wins away.
35. Said Dolan on those nerves let Monday night, “Oh, God. I think my heart has stopped racing like that. I don’t know what it could be like if we get down to seventh game with it all on the line.” [Antonetti pours a beer on him.]