Castro: Baez, Lindor have special connection

CLEVELAND — Francisco Lindor on one side. Javier Baez on the other. The energy, atmosphere and anticipation all electric.

What? You think we’re talking about Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night at Progressive Field? No, no, although that’ll be cool, too.

• World Series Game 1: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET air time | 8 ET game time on FOX

No, we’re talking about a high school game west of Orlando in 2011.

“Feb. 17, 2011,” Indians scouting director Brad Grant says, reciting the date from memory. “Montverde [Academy] and Arlington [Country Day School]. There were probably 150 scouts there, and Montverde is a boarding school, so you had about 150-200 students there, too. So the environment was really cool.”

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Scouts spend their nights eating bad food in bad hotels in search of the next great thing. So they don’t forget a night like this, when two legit first-round-type talents — either capable of being the first shortstop selected — elevate their game in a heated competition mere months before the Draft. Lindor went 3-for-3 with a walk, while Baez went 1-for-4 with a triple and, perhaps as memorably, sprayed homers to all fields in batting practice.

Lindor and Baez had been on the same field several times before. In the 2010 Aflac All-American Game, for instance, they hit back-to-back triples. But that game on Feb. 17, 2011, stands out because of its Draft implications.

Game Date Time (air time/game time) Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 25 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX Gm 2 Oct. 26 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX Gm 3 Oct. 28 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CLE @ CHC FOX Gm 4 Oct. 29 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CLE @ CHC FOX *Gm 5 Oct. 30 8 p.m. CLE @ CHC FOX *Gm 6 Nov. 1 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX *Gm 7 Nov. 2 7:30 p.m./8 p.m. CHC @ CLE FOX * If necessary | All times listed ET • World Series coverageShop for postseason gear: Cubs | Indians

Four months later, Lindor went at No. 8 overall to the Indians, and Baez went at No. 9 to the Cubs.

Five years after that, the 22-year-old Lindor and the 23-year-old Baez are arguably the two most captivating everyday players on this World Series stage. And their remarkably similar paths — both were born in Puerto Rico, moved to Florida at a young age and wound up being taken back to back in the Draft — has secured a friendship and a shared respect. The two even had a Thanksgiving dinner together at Baez’s house a few years back.

“His family made food, and my mom brought something,” Lindor recalled. “We just chilled, we ate, we hung out with our families, then we played paint ball with his brothers and his cousins, just like kids do.”

Added Baez: “He’s like my brother. We’ve kind of had the …

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