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CLEVELAND -- The immediate price tag of World Series infamy is being surrounded by 40 or so reporters and cameramen, all boxing out for position to hear you describe the worst night of your sporting life. A team spokesman moves a wooden step stool to the middle of a losing clubhouse to accommodate the demand. The 1 1/2-foot tall stool looks like the loneliest spot on sports' biggest stage. If you are 25-year-old rookie center fielder Tyler Naquin, wearing, of all things, a black hat, you look at the stool and ask politely, "Do I have to stand on this thing?" He is told he does, so he steps up above the gaggle of reporters. His Cinch flex fit cap is pulled down low on his brow, and his voice is quiet but not defeated. Naquin, who probably will finish third in the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting, has become a signature member of the Cleveland Indians' organization. The 15th pick of the 2012 draft out of Texas A&M, he has moved smoothly through the team's farm system and could be a cornerstone player for years to come. The future, though, is no one's concern right now. Naquin was the goat of Game 6 of the 2016 World Series, a 9-3 Indians loss to the Chicago Cubs, with a supporting role from his right fielder, Lonnie Chisenhall. The two combined to allow what should have been the final out of the first inning to drop. Later, with a shot at some redemption, Naquin struck out with the bases loaded.  If the Indians don't come through in Game 7, this will be known as the Tyler Naquin Game. That's not the kind of history anyone wants.
"It is kind one of those things you have to learn from it," Naquin said. "It was a heck of a situation to learn from it, a big series. There are two ways to look at it -- you can grow up from it or you can dwell on it." Even after the game, Naquin and Chisenhall were not on the same page. Naquin said both of them called for the first-inning ball, and Chisenhall said neither did. Their manager, Terry Francona, said that Naquin yelled, "It's yours!" to Chisenhall. But they all agreed on one thing -- it was loud. On the misplay, the Cubs' Addison Russell lofted a ball in the air that hung up in right-center field. On these types of looping liners, the center fielder has the right of way. It does not matter that Naquin is a rookie or that Chisenhall is three years older, and a major league veteran of six seasons. It is Naquin's ball. Naquin took a confused route, while Chisenhall sprinted across the field from right, appearing as if he might take it. Neither had a good explanation for not catching it. "Nobody said anything," said Chisenhall, which doesn't really explain why he didn't try to catch it. Naquin wasn't close to the ball. "Me being the center fielder, I need to take charge on that," Naquin said. It dropped in, and the Cubs scored two runs to take a 3-0 lead. They never looked back. "I should have caught that ball," Chisenhall said. "I made that aggressive move with it. The ball is moving toward me. Somebody has to catch it. It should have been me."  Naquin and Chisenhall didn't betray any animosity after the game, but they looked as if they might unfriend each other in the third inning. After another ball was hit to right-center, Chisenhall took charge, making a play, while Naquin was forced to slide away behind him. Naquin seemed to disapprove with how it all went down.
"You can't let another drop," Chisenhall said. "You risk making a collision there or whatever you have to do to catch the ball." There is a beauty to the game that provides redemption, or, at least, a chance of it. For Naquin, it arrived in the fourth inning. Cleveland had a run in, but was still down 7-1. The bases were filled with Indians. Naquin walked to the plate with a chance to change his night, and erase a potential place in the game's infamy. Jake Arrieta apparently isn't a romantic. Four pitches later, a 1-2, 94-mph fastball spelled further doom for Naquin. His swing and miss ended the inning. The Indians never had a better chance to get back into the game. "We just have to win [Game 7]," Chisenhall said. "If we are winners, people will remember that." Said Naquin: "We've got to take care of business tomorrow." If not, the Tyler Naquin Game won't soon be forgotten in Cleveland.
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