CLEVELAND _ When Francisco Lindor was caught attempting to steal second base in Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night, Michael Brantley was the first person to offer advice in the dugout.
"He was the first one to tell me, 'Keep on running,'?" Lindor said before Wednesday night's Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs at Progressive Field.
Brantley wasn't the only teammate with that message. Lindor said every player echoed the theme, saying, 'Keep doing your thing. Don't worry about it. It's part of the game.'?"
But the mentoring injured left fielder Brantley has given 22-year-old shortstop has been so valuable that at times Lindor says to Brantley, "?'You're daddy.'?"
Brantley, 29, played in only 11 games this season because of a right shoulder injury and biceps tendinitis that needed two surgeries in a span of nine months, the second on Aug. 15. But the player whom Indians manager Terry Francona called "the heart and soul of our team" as recently as Tuesday is still making his presence felt.
In the third inning of Game 1, the base-stealing conversation continued with Rajai Davis and Francona suggesting Lindor should have taken one more step off first. Then Lindor said Brantley offered, "We've got to work in spring training."
"So he's thinking already about spring training," Lindor said. "Stuff like that (makes) a huge impact on me. Brantley to me, he's one of the best."
Lindor has been the Indians' most consistent hitter in the postseason, batting .371 with two homers and four RBIs, including going 3-for-4 in his World Series debut. The Mr. Consistent tag used to belong to Brantley, a lifetime .292 hitter whose only playoff appearance was the 2013 AL wild-card game.
"He gives me that sense of calmness," Lindor said of Brantley. "When I go up to him, I'm like, 'What would you do against this pitcher?' He'll tell me and I'm like, 'OK, I'm going to go do that.' We talk and I listen."
Brantley has been in the clubhouse as the Indians clinched the American League Central Division in Detroit, won the division series in Boston and the AL Championship Series in Toronto. For the first, Brantley was an observer, his arm still in a sling, but he has been able to enjoy the last two a little more.
"It's hard when you're hurt. It's almost like there's an invisible wall that goes up, because you don't really quite share in all the frustrations, even though you care," Francona said of Brantley. "It's just different. I've been through it.
"Brant has found a way to eclipse that and still be a leader, which is not easy to do. I think it speaks volumes about him. He's so much a part of what we do and what we stand for that it hurts that he's not playing."
Lindor has other players he looks up to, most of them Hall of Famers. He said the players he grew up idolizing include ex-Indians Robbie Alomar and Omar Vizquel, the Yankees' Derek Jeter, the Reds' Barry Larkin and the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins.
"My dad and my cousin and brother they always told me, 'Try to get something from everyone. Don't get stuck on one player,'?" Lindor said. "That's one of the reasons I've got multiple favorite players growing up.
"I like the swag Alomar had, and how calm and how he impacted the game. Vizquel, how he always seemed like he knew what was going to happen. Jeter, how he was focused and he was always helping teammates. Larkin, how calm he was at the plate in big situations. Jimmy Rollins, little (5-foot-7), but at the same time, he was a big guy on the field."
Those five were Lindor's childhood heroes. But when it comes to those who have made an impact on Lindor as a pro, Brantley might rank at the top of the list.
