After AL Central title, Guards relishing each celebration along the way

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Three days. Two champagne baths.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt joked about how difficult it may be for him to recover from these festivities, given that he’s one of the older guys around the clubhouse now. But this team is determined to celebrate every moment it has a chance to, even if it had to happen after a loss on Saturday night.

“This is awesome,” Vogt said amid the chaos. “I mean, just to see the joy. Obviously, the results of tonight’s game, it matters, but at the end of the day, we need to celebrate this.”

On Thursday, the Guardians not only were celebrating a walk-off victory over the Twins that eliminated their division foe from AL Central title contention, but they finally earned their spot in the 2024 playoffs. Pure jubilation ensued.

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You could hear the screams down the hallway underneath Progressive Field. Vogt had taken center stage, giving a speech to his first Major League squad before they all ripped the corks out of their champagne bottles to drench each other in celebration.

The smell of alcohol and cigars wafted into every vacant room nearby. Countless corks covered the plastic-lined floor. The serious champagne sprayers wore heavy-duty ski goggles to prevent the burning sensation that happens when the bubbly creeps into their eyes. They don’t have time for pausing.

There are brave souls like Vogt, who are always in the middle of the action without the eye protection, unafraid of fighting through the red eyes. There are guys who quietly take in the moment, like Josh Naylor, who remained on the outskirts, enjoying a cigar. There are others who want to share the experience with the world, racing to be the first to show the action on their Instagram stories. There are a few who dance to whatever music is blasting at a decibel that requires everyone in the room to scream if they’re going to be heard.

“It's the best thing in the world,” Guardians rookie starter Joey Cantillo (No. 15 prospect) said of his first clinch celebration. “It's pretty damn cool.”

They didn’t want the party to stop. They knew they had a chance to clinch the division as early as Saturday, just 48 hours after they got a taste of what postseason celebrations would be like.

Each player packed their champagne-scented ski goggles from Thursday night and brought them to St. Louis. There was no chance to clinch on Friday, but the goggles hung in each locker, ready to be broken out once again.

The Guardians helped their chances of popping bottles even sooner with a 5-1 win over the Cardinals on Friday. They hustled back into the visitors' clubhouse at Busch Stadium and gathered around the TV. They watched as the Royals failed to complete a comeback against the Giants, and when the last out was made, Cleveland’s clubhouse erupted.

Starter Ben Lively was talking to the media as it happened. He paused in the middle of his answer to look up to confirm that the screams were what he thought. He instantly got a smile, looked directly into the camera in front of him and said, “One win closer.”

“It’s a fun time of year,” Vogt said. “You’re watching the scoreboard, you’re doing all of that. Our guys have earned this. Our guys have earned every minute of being proud of themselves, because they should be.”

It was bound to happen at this point, but the Guardians wanted it now. So, even though they suffered a 6-5 loss against the Cardinals on Saturday, they had no problem enjoying the celebration of the bigger-picture victory.

After Vogt initiated the champagne spraying once again, the players picked up right where they left off. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti dumped champagne on Cleveland owner Paul Dolan’s head. He grabbed another bottle and poured it down the back of Vogt’s pants. In the tight confines of the visitors’ clubhouse, players were dousing each other with no room to hide.

Vogt looked around the room to take it all in. He took turns between partaking in the fun, embracing his coaches and just standing off to the side, processing everything that’s happened. He knows that this group is special. He hears it all the time. He watches it every day. And now, he’s excited to see what they can do in October.

“This is a baseball team,” Vogt said. “Talking to friends and family back home, people around Cleveland, they said that watching this team has made them fall in love with baseball again.”