Francona channeled Connie Mack by starting Bauer, and it paid off
Surely, Terry Francona wasn't thinking about what legendary Philadelphia A's skipper Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy - aka Connie Mack - did some 88 Octobers ago when he handed Trevor Bauer the ball for Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday night.
Not even the modern-day mastermind known as Tito could have predicted Bauer shutting out the New York Yankees for 6 2/3 innings after taking a no-hitter into the sixth in the Cleveland Indians' 4-0 victory. Still, after this masterful performance, it's clear he was onto something when he picked Bauer to start Game 1 over potential Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. It was a risk, to be sure - but one that paid off in a big way, as it left the Yankees reeling with Kluber now waiting for them Friday.
Francona told reporters Wednesday he chose Bauer for Game 1 in part to make sure Kluber, who was overworked during the Indians' run to the World Series one year ago, didn't start on short rest. But there may have been more to this move than meets the eye.
By starting Bauer over Kluber, he caught the Yankees - riding high off a wild-card win heading into the lion's den of Progressive Field - off guard and ultimately tilted the series in his team's favor heading into Game 2.
(Courtesy: Action Images)
It was actually a page right out of Connie Mack's playbook, as baseball fans of a certain vintage will recall.
If there was a Cy Young Award in 1929, Mack's ace on his pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics - future Hall of Famer Lefty Grove - would have run away with it. That season, Grove dominated the American League, pitching in 42 games (37 of them starts) and crafting a league-leading 2.81 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and 170 strikeouts. He also completed 19 games and tallied four saves while anchoring the AL champions' staff.
His reward for that incredible season was riding the pine in Game 1 of the World Series. Instead of starting Grove, or even his solid No. 2 man, George Earnshaw, Mack shocked the baseball world by choosing 35-year-old Howard Ehmke - who made all of eight regular-season starts in 1929 - to face the powerful Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on nearly one month's rest.
Mack's gamble was widely ridiculed - that is, until Ehmke made everyone look silly by allowing just one unearned run in a complete-game effort while tallying a then-World Series record 13 strikeouts.
The Cubs never recovered from that defeat, losing the series to Philadelphia in five games.
On Thursday, Bauer became a modern-day Ehmke, making his skipper look like the Tall Tactician reincarnated. His stellar performance in the face of intense scrutiny over his even getting the ball has turned the Yankees' season on its head, not unlike what the '29 Cubs went through in that World Series.
In a best-of-five series, the Yankees face even more urgency after falling victim to Bauer's pitching. And if they don't want to go back to the Bronx down 2-0, they'll have to scrap for hits off a pitcher in Kluber who, in addition to boasting stellar regular-season numbers, just finished crafting a 0.84 ERA in September.
So, like Connie Mack all those years ago, Francona's risk appears to have paid off big time. Bauer's performance, along with that of the bullpen, has given the Yankees little room to breathe in a short series, and the Indians a clear path to the ALCS.
Trevor Bauer may never be half the pitcher Corey Kluber is, but on Thursday he put his name beside Howard Ehmke in playoff lore, while Francona proved once again why he's going to have a place beside Mack in the halls of Cooperstown as one of his era's great tacticians.
If the Indians advance past the Yankees and win it all, his Bauer gamble will be looked upon as the turning point in these 2017 playoffs.