Travis Bazzana used to have a problem when he wanted to watch October baseball.
He lived on the other side of the world.
Growing up in Australia meant Major League Baseball postseason games weren’t exactly convenient viewing for a baseball-obsessed kid. The time difference presented a challenge, but Bazzana found ways around it.
Sometimes that even meant watching baseball when he probably wasn’t supposed to.
Bazzana still remembers being a 14-year-old student in Australia during the 2016 World Series and finding ways to secretly follow the Cleveland Indians’ heartbreaking seven-game loss to the Chicago Cubs from his classroom.
Ten years later, Bazzana isn’t sneaking a look at Cleveland postseason baseball anymore.
He’s playing in it.
Travis Bazzana’s Incredible Journey To October
There might not be another player in this postseason with a path quite like Bazzana’s. He grew up in Sydney, Australia, thousands of miles from Major League Baseball.
Still, he dreamed about reaching the majors.
Bazzana eventually moved to the United States and became a superstar at Oregon State before Cleveland selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
His rise didn’t stop there. Bazzana reached the majors and became an important piece of another Guardians postseason team.
The symmetry is remarkable. As a kid, Bazzana watched Cleveland come within one victory of winning the 2016 World Series.
Now he has an opportunity to help the franchise chase another one.
Bazzana Gets Chance To Create His Own October Memory
Bazzana’s childhood memories of postseason baseball aren’t vague. He remembers the final inning and final out of Cleveland’s crushing Game 7 loss in 2016.
Those moments stuck with him. That’s what October baseball does.
Now there are kids in Australia who could be watching Bazzana the same way he once watched Major League Baseball’s biggest stars.
The circumstances have changed dramatically. He doesn’t have to hide a game in the classroom. He doesn’t have to imagine what it might feel like to participate in October baseball. He’s standing on the field experiencing it.
The 14-year-old kid watching Cleveland from Australia couldn’t possibly have known where the next decade would take him.
Ten years later, he’s wearing a Guardians uniform with Cleveland chasing the championship he once watched slip away.
That’s a pretty remarkable baseball journey.
The Best of Cleveland Baseball
- Cleveland’s 5 Greatest MLB Hitters of All Time
- Cleveland’s 5 Greatest MLB Pitchers of All Time
