2016 World Series and Riding the Roller Coaster

A few players in the 2016 World Series made mistakes early in the game but got redemption later with key hits when it counted most.

The seventh game of the 2016 World Series will go down in history as one of the greatest Game Sevens in the history of baseball. Both teams had their closers come into the game early and starting pitchers come out of the pen to work in relief. The Indians fell behind midway through the game but fought back to tie it in the eighth. There were four errors in the game and four home runs, with some players doing both. In fact, there were a few players who made mistakes early in the game, only to redeem themselves with big hits later.

Javier Baez has had an interesting postseason. He hit very well in the first two rounds, even earning the MVP trophy of the National League Championship Series. He also showed off his ability in the field with great range at second and impressive hand-eye coordination when making tags at the bases. As good as he was in the playoffs, when the World Series rolled around, his bat deserted him (5 for 30 with 13 strikeouts).

In Game Seven, Baez made a throwing error in the bottom of the first that allowed Francisco Lindor to reach safely. In the bottom of the third, he dropped a toss from Addison Russell on a potential double play ball when he attempted to barehand it rather than get the sure out. It was looking like a bad day for Baez. The guy who had made so many good plays in the field had two errors through the first three innings. Then came the top of the fifth. Baez led off the inning against Corey Kluber by taking one out deep to right-center to put the Cubs up, 4-1. That got Kluber yanked from the game earlier than the Indians would have liked. It was a little bit of redemption for Baez.

David Ross also had his ups and downs. When Kyle Hendricks walked Carlos Santana with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon brought in Jon Lester and his personal catcher, David Ross. Maddon had said before the game that he would most likely bring Lester into the game at the start of an inning, rather than mid-inning, so it was surprising to see Lester come into the game with a runner on base. The first batter hit a slow roller down the third base line that Ross came out from behind the plate to field (owing to Lester’s inability to throw to first). Ross fielded the ball but made a bad throw, with the runners ending up on second and third. Lester then threw a wild pitch and both runners scored to make it 5-3.

Ross got his chance for redemption in the very next inning when he hit a one-out home run to up the Cubs’ lead to 6-3. That home run gave Ross the record for oldest player to hit a home run in a World Series Game Seven. He announced earlier this year that he would be retiring after the season. It’s nice to see him go out on a high note.

The guy who really had an interesting game was Rajai Davis. In fact, it was an interesting postseason. He did nothing at the plate in the first two series, going 0 for 6 in the ALDS against Boston and 0 for 6 in the ALCS against the Blue Jays. In the first six games of the World Series, he was 3 for 17. Prior to the eighth inning of Game Seven, he was 0 for 3, making him a combined 3 for 29 in the postseason overall.

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Davis started Game Seven in part because of a defensive misplay in the previous game by Tyler Naquin. In the top of the fourth inning, Davis had adventures of his own in center field. With runners on first and third and one out, Addison Russell hit a fly ball to short left-center. The fly ball appeared to be much too shallow for the runner at third, Kris Bryant, to tag up on. Davis must have thought so as well. Not only did Davis not make the catch with his momentum coming forward, he also hesitated for just a second before throwing home. His throw was high and Bryant slid in under the tag. If Davis had anticipated that Bryant would go, he would have come up throwing and likely prevented that run from scoring.

The next batter, Willson Contreras, then hit a deep fly ball to right center. The replay showed that Davis made the cardinal sin for an outfielder, he came in slightly as the ball came off the bat, then had to turn and sprint towards the fence. He couldn’t make the play and Contreras had a double. It’s hard to know if he would have made the play had he read the ball correctly off the bat, but he would have had a better chance.

Davis, of course, made everyone forget those two plays with his heroics later in the game. The Cubs led 6-3 going into the bottom of the eighth. After Jose Ramirez reached on a one-out single, Joe Maddon brought in Aroldis Chapman. Brandon Guyer toughed out an impressive seven-pitch at-bat by lining a double to right center to score Ramirez. That brought up Davis. It was another very good at-bat, similar to Guyer’s. After the count went to 2-2, Davis fouled off two pitches. On the seventh pitch he saw, he hit a game-tying home run down the left field line to tie the game. It was an incredible moment. A team that looked down and out at the start of the inning had tied it on a home run from a guy who was 3 for 29 in the postseason before this at-bat.

That wasn’t all for Davis. After the Cubs took an 8-6 lead in the top of the 10^th, the Indians showed their grit by fighting back in the bottom of the inning. The first two hitters went down, leaving the Indians just one out from a loss. Then Brandon Guyer had another good at bat when he earned a walk. He went to second on fielder’s indifference. Rajai Davis then singled up the middle to make it an 8-7 game. Of course, that’s where it ended for Cleveland when Michael Martinez grounded out to end the series. Davis, though, had come back from an earlier mistake with two huge hits late in the game.

Sometimes baseball can be like a soap opera. A player can go from hero to goat and back again. The seventh game of the 2016 World Series was one for the ages and the individual stories of Javier Baez, David Ross, and Rajai Davis played a big part the drama.

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