CLEVELAND, Ohio — Shane Bieber wore a brave face, but his voice betrayed him. The Guardians ace wanted to project optimism and keep perspective on Monday. He wanted fans to know that his season-ending elbow injury, which will require Tommy John surgery, would not break his spirit, and that the predicament he’ll face next offseason, with a new contract to sign and a repaired ligament to rehab, should not garner any pity.
“Things could be a lot worse,” Bieber told reporters.
But the more Bieber spoke, the more his voice crackled. The closer questions crept toward his emotions, the longer he took to gather his composure. And with each strain in his speech or pregnant pause in his cadence, Cleveland fans recognized a pain in Bieber that they have seen (and felt) too often over the last sports calendar year.
“I was falling back in love with pitching,” Bieber said. “I was having a lot of fun, and this group is great. They’re capable of so much, with or without me. I know I’ll still be a part of it, just in a different capacity. There’s a lot of emotions that go into it.”
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Shock. Sorrow. “Son of a ...”
Bieber is walking the first steps of a grief process that too many other Cleveland stars have followed recently, and it’s breaking the city’s heart (again). If you watched running back Nick Chubb climb a cart in Pittsburgh or quarterback Deshaun Watson choke back his own tears after his biggest win of the Browns’ season, you could empathize with Bieber on Monday.
If you’re watching Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell play on a knee that won’t let him explode to the rim, you see the frustration Bieber must’ve battled when the pain in his elbow wouldn’t quit despite producing 12 scoreless innings during his first two starts. And if you’ve seen every saga in Cleveland’s most recent tragic sports chapter, you must be wondering how many more punches one fanbase’s abdomen can stomach.
To be clear: No mere observer could actually relate to the pain Chubb felt in his knee when Minkah Fitzpatrick’s helmet crashed into it. Fans cannot duplicate the disappointment Mitchell feels while falling below his standard when the Cavs need a boost. And nobody felt worse for Bieber on Monday than the man himself.
But we all feel something when our favorite athletes fall from grace, in part because we invest so much time and energy into their success. Here’s an uncomfortable equation for you: With how many friends or family members do you spend 51 uninterrupted hours per year? What about 205 hours (8.5 days)? Does anybody get 486 hours (20.25 days) from you?
Because that’s how much time 17 Browns Sundays, or 82 Cavs games, or a 162-game Guardians schedule demands. And for every person that thinks nobody can watch that many games, another is lucky we’re only counting the game time. How many Cleveland sports podcasts do you download? How many press conferences do you watch? How many people are reading this story without realizing that, yes, this 90-second break also counts?
If you’re worried about the spouse doing that math, good. Cleveland is considered a great sports town because of how deeply its citizens care about the city’s favorite teams and athletes. When the Browns break a losing streak, office morale rises across Northeast Ohio (and beyond). When the Guardians play their home opener, Cleveland treats the event like a city-wide holiday. And when a star Cleveland athlete suffers a season-ending injury, the citizens suffer with them.
Over the past sports calendar year, they’ve suffered too much. First Chubb, then Watson. Then Darius Garland and Evan Mobley missed a month each. Now Mitchell is fighting a knee injury while Bieber is shelved for the season, leaving fans of both to question fate once again.
Why us? When will it stop? What could possibly go wrong next?
Don’t tempt the Cleveland sports gods (demons?) or underestimate their cruelty. Don’t even joke about your favorite player watching Monday’s solar eclipse without proper eye protection. And please, for the love of Jim Brown, do not let Myles Garrett join your pickup basketball games this summer.
Because one city can only suffer so much sports pain, no matter how much the athletes try to pretend they aren’t hurting. Bieber smiled through several moments of his Monday interview, and he tried to tell fans that his luck isn’t so bad. But his vocal cords told a different story that Cleveland should recognize by now:
Their favorite player is hurting, and neither he nor his fanbase can hide the heartbreak it’s causing.
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