Watch live: Indians face Royals in MLB Free Game of the Day
Behind LeBron James, Mike Napoli might just be the most popular athlete in Cleveland at the moment. On an Indians team that’s built a six-and-a-half game lead in the AL Central after Tuesday night’s win over the Kansas City Royals, Napoli has become an unlikely phenomenon.
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Part of this is because of his homers, sure. He’s hit 21 of them, which ranks 11th in the American League. He hit another one Tuesday night, a first-inning, two-run dinger that started Cleveland’s 7-3 win. But another part of this is the heart that Napoli’s brought to the team, and by extension, the party.
The rallying call of this year’s surprising Indians bunch is Party at Napoli’s. It’s a fan sign that turned into a T-shirt that’s turned a charitable effort. For the Indians, who are one of the most fun teams in baseball this season, Party at Napoli’s has also turned into a mission statement.
Let’s see if the party continues Wednesday, when the Indians play the Royals again at Kauffman Stadium. It’s the MLB Free Game of the Day, which means you can stream it for free on Yahoo Sports. First pitch is at 2:15 p.m. You can watch live on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home, in this very post or on the Yahoo Sports app. Local blackouts apply, per MLB rules.
The Party at Napoli’s craze all started when Indians fan Nate Crowe, who is known on Twitter as @HipsterTito, brought a Party at Napoli’s sign to a game in April. It was a great sign, since Napoli partied the hardest when his Boston Red Sox team won the 2013 World Series.
PARTY AT NAPOLI'S#TribeLive @Indians @MikeNapoli25 pic.twitter.com/TzczYtZTW1
— HIPSTER TITO (@HipsterTito) April 20, 2016
The “Party at Napoli’s idea” caught on with fans and built to the point that Mike Napoli himself eventually wore a “Party at Napoli’s” shirt in a postgame interview in early June, which is when the whole thing took off.
Soon enough, the Indians and 108 Stitches were selling officially licensed Party at Napoli’s T-shirts, with a portion of the proceeds going to Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, which was Napoli’s one condition for making the T-shirt.
This week, Napoli announced he’d personally match all the donations from sales, and the Party at Napoli’s T-shirts have been an even bigger hit. Last night, in a matter of three hours, the donation portion of the sales jumped from $21,000 to $25,000.
Over $25,000 raised and counting since this little t-shirt went live. pic.twitter.com/nzYDXCoNdI
— 108 Stitches (@108Stitches) July 20, 2016
Fittingly, Napoli was awarded the Indians’ Heart and Hustle Award on Tuesday, an award for the one player on each MLB team who best demonstrates “a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game.”
Beyond the “party,” Napoli has also revived his career. He hit .224 last season between stints with the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers, with 18 homers and 50 RBIs. That’s part of the reason he ended up in Cleveland on a one-year contract worth $7 million.
He came to Cleveland to rebuild his value. Turns out Napoli has built a whole lot more.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
