CLEVELAND -- Wrapped in a white sheet, Yan Gomes knelt before a rotisserie chicken that a few of his teammates purchased Saturday morning. Gomes held a bat and listened as Mike Napoli, wearing a rainbow cape while surrounded by Cleveland's players, placed his left hand on the catcher's head while reading a prayer.
This was a plea to the baseball gods on Gomes' behalf.
"We have prepared this exorcism to honor thy holiness," Napoli read from a sheet of paper, "and to absolve Yan Gomes of any wrongdoing that he may have committed towards thee.