As expected, the Cleveland Indians are basking in the afterglow after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in five games in their ALCS.
Cleveland’s 3-0 win over Toronto secured the team’s spot in the World Series for the first time since 1997, with starting pitcher Ryan Merritt leading the way before the bullpen shut down the Blue Jays offence.
Merritt was obviously a topic of discussion in Ohio newspapers this morning, which was an even bigger storyline thanks to Jose Bautista’s comments about the rookie ahead of Game 5.
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer — Ryan Merritt might not be a household name, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher is the talk of the town
It was Merritt, the kid targeted by Toronto’s Jose Bautista, who claimed Merritt would be “shaking in his boots” when he took the hill at Rogers Centre.
“I heard it,” Merritt said. “But I didn’t let it affect me or get to me.”
Those boots, brown Cowboy boots worn to the park by the native Texan, sat on the clubhouse floor with a bottle of champagne tucked inside. One teammate shouted that Merritt ought to sign them and send them to Bautista.
The News Herald — Cleveland Indians beat Blue Jays, 3-0, to advance to first World Series since 1997
A day after Toronto averted a sweep, the crowd at the roaring Rogers Centre expected the Blue Jays to roll over the rookie.
Maybe the Blue Jays did, too.
“With our experience in our lineup, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be shaking in his boots more than we are,” Toronto slugger Jose Bautista said after Game 4.
After the Blue Jays were eliminated, Bautista took a different tone.
“He seemed to make the right pitches at the right time,” Bautista said. “Hats off to him.”
After the game, Cleveland players chanted “boots” in the celebration, urging Merritt to pull cowboy boots from his locker and shake them.
Cleveland Star — Indians celebrate ALCS win, World Series berth
On paper, Cleveland is probably best matched up against Los Angeles, but this team has overcome so much, and defied so many odds, the players would probably want a crack at Chicago. No matter who emerges as the Tribe’s opponent, the men inside the champagne-soaked clubhouse in Toronto did not expect to be favored. They have not been favored yet.
“I’ve got news for you: Nobody is picking us next series,” Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “They won’t, and we don’t care. If it means that we’re going to win again, none of us care. Predictions mean nothing. The game is decided in between the lines, and that’s where we do our best work.”
Columbus Dispatch — Rookie Ryan Merritt helps punch Tribe’s ticket to World Series
Manager Terry Francona’s team will try to augment what’s already been a scintillating year in Cleveland after LeBron James and the Cavaliers earned the city’s first major pro sports championship since 1964. The Indians’ title drought dates to 1948.
“We always said if we could do it with this group it would be so special because this is as close to a family feel as you can get in a professional setting. So for that part of it, it is beyond feeling good,” Francona said.
