2019 Browns Positional Preview Series: Cornerbacks
August 5, 2019055 – Bauer Traded, Hayden Grove — Andy & Jarid, Cleveland & Beyond
August 5, 2019It was an ideal summer night in Cleveland on Saturday. The weather was perfect. The sun was out. There was no rain in sight. The Indians were looking to beat the Los Angeles Angels for the second night in a row. Then, something happened to make it even more perfect. Baker Mayfield was shown on the Progressive Field jumbotron, and it was a moment that was heard (and seen) around the entire sports world.
Fanbases love when a professional athlete does something that makes him or her seem more like a casual fan in that fanbase. When an athlete does that, you see plenty of “Gets us” tweets throughout social media.
Saturday night was one of those moments, one that made Cleveland Twitter — and all of the social media platform, actually — explode. Through 4.5 innings of baseball, the Indians and Angels were tied, 0-0. Then, Baker Mayfield happened and there was no looking back.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback was shown on the Progressive Field jumbotron prior to the Indians starting their half of the fifth inning. But it wasn’t just any jumbotron sighting. Throughout the NBA season, NFL players, especially quarterbacks, were seen chugging beers. It got the crowd riled up. But for Mayfield, he took it to a whole new level. Not only did he shotgun a beer, but instead of using a key or knife to put a hole in the side of the can to do so, he used his teeth. Then came him showing off his Francisco Lindor jersey and his awesome mustache.
"I just don’t like the idea of my franchise quarterback spending time at a baseball game. I mean, what are you doing, @bakermayfield? You don’t see guys like Aaron Rodgers shotgunning beers. Just not a good look. Go watch some film." – @ColinCowherd (probably)
Legend. pic.twitter.com/IUCW1Kp4s3
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) August 4, 2019
That shotgunning moment not only sparked the crowd, but it seemed to put a spark in the Indians’ offense as well. Following that, the Indians scored five runs in the fifth inning. The five-run inning was due to a two-run home run by the red-hot Jason Kipnis and a three-run home run by Lindor. Franmil Reyes got the team’s first hit with a one-out double that inning to begin the rally as well.
With Mayfield rocking a Lindor jersey, it’s not a surprise that Frankie did that in his next at-bat. The fan-favorite watched what the quarterback did, too.
Francisco Lindor on Baker Mayfield's appearance on the scoreboard: 'We all appreciate him. We like Mayfield a lot, we love him, and we’re all a fan of him.'
'And what he did with the beer was impressive.'
And does Lindor have a Mayfield jersey?
'I'm getting one.'
— Ryan Lewis (@ByRyanLewis) August 4, 2019
Baker Mayfield is a legend. Cleveland’s legend, to be exact. He is so loved. Just wait until he leads the Browns to bigger and better things ahead, which will likely happen sooner rather than later. They went on to score their first five runs of the game in the fifth inning, leading to them winning the game, 7-2. Mayfield was not only the spark that the Browns needed, but it appears that he was the one the Indians needed Saturday night as well.
He may be our QB1, but he also gets us. That’s what makes him so awesome and so easy to root for and that’s what makes Baker a fan-favorite in Cleveland.