CLEVELAND — It’s still fun for the Cubs to visit here, isn’t it? Still a kick to think about two days in November 2016, when a team from the North Side of Chicago — and an army of fans who couldn’t get enough of history in the making — took over an opposing ballpark and made it their own?
Progressive Field is home to Tuesday’s 90th MLB All-Star Game. It’s also the Cubs’ house. At least, the National League All-Stars and 2016 World Series champions Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Javy Baez might call it that.
Well, maybe not Baez. Certainly not if his old pal Francisco Lindor is in earshot.
“To play against him, it reminds me of back in the day when we’d play against each other when we were kids,” Baez said of Lindor, the host Indians’ star shortstop. “I’m happy to be here another year with him.”
Baez will make his second straight All-Star start and his first at shortstop. Lindor, an All-Star for four years running, will come off the bench for the American League.
“That’s my guy,” Lindor said.
All-Star games. World Series games. World Baseball Classic games, in which the two have been teammates on Puerto Rico’s must-watch squad. When Baez and Lindor share a field, it tends to be a really big deal.
And never more so than on Feb. 17, 2011, at Lindor’s high school outside Orlando, Florida. That wasn’t the first meeting of these spectacular young talents, but it was one of a kind. Baez’s Arlington Country Day School, from Jacksonville, took on Lindor’s Montverde Academy in front of more than 100 pro scouts and other baseball officials. The number of students and other fans in attendance was far higher. All were on hand to see the top two shortstops in the draft class of 2011.
“Really exciting,” Baez said. “I think that was my first game that I played with a [large crowd].”
Lindor had three base hits that day. Baez tripled after an unforgettable performance during batting practice.
“In BP, he’s just taking these wild swings and seeing if he can hit it back to Jacksonville,” Cubs area scout Tom Clark recalled.
Lindor also remembers that pregame show. It impressed him, but it didn’t surprise him.
“Javy, I played against him growing up,” Lindor said. “He was a center fielder, then he was a catcher. I remember him being all over the place. He threw me out once at second base, from center, to finish a game.
“But Javy has always been Javy. Always been the same person — has never changed.”
So, which shortstop took home the “W” that day?
It doesn’t matter. Heck, both of them won, solidifying their status with all those scouts. Lindor and Baez would be drafted that June with the eighth and ninth overall picks, respectively.
“We played a couple of showcases before we got drafted and were talking about trying to go first and second,” Baez said. “We didn’t, but we went together. So it was special.”
