Guards-White Sox is September baseball at its finest
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The mural by local artist OK Pants debuted on the Easy Out patio in May. Photos: Sam Allard/Axios
The Guardians' biggest series of the season begins Monday, when the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox arrive at Progressive Field for a three-game homestand.
Why it matters: September baseball is electric in Cleveland once again!
- The Guards have been nipping at the Sox's heels for weeks and still hold the American League's final wild-card spot, so the series has implications on two playoff fronts.
The intrigue: Chicago leads the season series 6-4, which means Cleveland needs a sweep to secure the tiebreaker and potentially tip the division's scales with fewer than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
💠Sam's thought bubble: To get in a suitably combative state of mind, I ventured to Easy Out in Lakewood and paid homage to the "Down goes Anderson!" mural by local artist OK Pants (Aaron Sechrist).
- The mural, which debuted in May, captures the brawl between José Ramirez and Chicago's Tim Anderson on Aug. 5, 2023, and the Tom Hamilton narration that cemented the moment as an instant Cleveland sports classic.
🚲 Incidentally, I rode my bike and was delighted to see that Easy Out had installed a bike rack out front on Detroit.