CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Over six years in Cleveland, Francisco Lindor made a lifetime of memories and friends.
But there’s one memory that may haunt him long after his career is over – Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
“I think about it a lot,” Lindor said while standing outside the Mets locker room in the bowels of Progressive Field. “Probably until I win one or maybe after I still [will] think about it. I think it's, that's just part of the journey. That's something that you got to keep in the back of the head so you can continue to grow from it, and you can continue to be better day in and day out.”
Making his first trip back to Cleveland since being dealt to the Mets four years ago, Lindor reflected on his time where his Major League career began. He’s not sure of the reception he will receive from Guardians fans Monday evening, but he is looking forward to acknowledging them.
“I don't expect anything. I got nothing but love for them, so I'll give them my love,” Lindor said. “I'll give them a great show this week. Hopefully we can play some great games and I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to putting a good show for everybody out there.”
In October 2016 the then named Indians seemed destined to win their first title since 1948 when they took a 3-1 series lead on the Chicago Cubs months after LeBron James and the Cavaliers ended Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought.
As fate would have it, the Cubs rallied back to win the final three games of the series, including Game 7 in extra innings, to end their own World Series drought that spanned 108 years.
“There's nothing better than winning,” Lindor said. “I know we didn't finish the ultimate goal. We didn't close it out, but just the experiences of winning and pouring champagne on each other and creating memories that way with teammates, their families, our whole entire family [and] front office. It was a great experience and seeing the crowd, how they got behind us with the rally towels and when it was all red and all white, it was pretty cool.”
Lindor thought he would get more opportunities to end Cleveland’s championship drought, but they never came close again over the next four seasons despite winning the AL Central again in 2017, 2018 and being a Wild Card team in 2020.
The harsh economics of baseball took over from there.
Unable to give Lindor the big payday he was looking for, Cleveland traded Lindor to the Mets in early January of 2021 along with starter Carlos Carrasco.
“A hundred percent. I loved it [here],” Lindor said. “It was just a matter of us coming to a good number, but it is a business and I fully understand their decision and I'm happy they sent me to New York.”
That number ended up being $341 million over 10 years.
“It was difficult knowing that I wasn't going to come back here,” Lindor said, “but the city of New York has been amazing. The people over there have been great. The whole organization has been great [to] me and to my family as well, which is very important now that I have two beautiful daughters and a wife.
“With that being said, yeah, whenever you leave a place that you're comfortable and a place that you love and you appreciate everybody from the top down, Paul [Dolan], Karen [Dolan], and [Chris] Antonetti and everybody, and it's hard. It's hard to leave.”
Carrasco, now back with the Guardians, greeted Lindor with a big hug along with other long time members of the organization.
“That's my brother,” Lindor said. “We got sent to New York together and he saw my best moments, my worst moments here in Cleveland, and he saw some of my best moments in New York and some of my worst moments in New York as well. So yeah, there's a lot of emotions. This is the first year he's not next to me in my 10 year career, so it was special to see him and the other guys I talked to as well.”
In Cleveland, Lindor became a four-time All-Star with the Indians where he also won two gold gloves, a platinum glove and two silver slugger awards.
As a Met, he’s not come close to regaining that form.
“I've always had the pressure,” Lindor said of trying to live up to his contract. “There's nobody out there that wants it more than me. I've always had the pressure to try to be the best person of Francisco Lindor I can be, but this is good pressure. I love that pressure. There's not a day that goes by that I say, ‘you know what, today I just want to be a bad baseball player.’ That's never has gone through my head. It's just baseball. You have ups and downs, you have good moments, you have bad moments. It just as far as the journey, you got to understand it. You got to embrace it. You got to stay the course.”
Lindor, who has yet to finish a season hitting above .270 with New York, entered play Monday night hitting .197.
“I don't like it and I will not be there,” Lindor said. “I'm not a numbers guy, so I just focus on winning and trying to find ways to win, and the numbers will be there at the end of the year. It is just so happened that I don't have enough sample size right now, so everything looks bigger than what it is. I feel like I've had greater bats the past week and a half. It's just nothing. The results are not coming through, but the process is great. I'm relying a lot on my coaches, my teammates. We have a great group of guys here, and I'm working. I'm working through things. It's just a matter of getting that batting average up a little bit. I think if I was hitting 30 points higher, I think the .190 wouldn't sound the same way.”
Lindor takes pride in being one of the centerpieces that helped get Cleveland’s baseball club back on track, and maybe a return trip to his first big league home this week will get him back on track too.
“I missed it,” Lindor said. “This was my home for a while and it feels great to be here.”
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