Guardians' Austin Hedges in company of rare 1941 MLB history originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.It's a good time to be Austin Hedges.For starters, he got engaged after the Cleveland Guardians' win on Sunday. But on the field, things are great, too.His bat is actually doing some damage for the first time in a long time, and his impact behind the plate is being felt in a huge way.The stat that sums that up is this: The Guardians are 8-0 when Hedges starts at catcher this season.
When he doesn't, they're 5-11.According to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, that's the second-longest undefeated streak by a Cleveland catcher to start a season.The record was a remarkable 15-0 start by Gene Desautels in 1941.MORE: Nathan Lukes is on fire since Blue Jays discovered his vertigoFirst time hearing about Gene Desautels? Can't blame you.He wasn't exactly a storied player. He was a career .233 hitter with 469 MLB hits in 13 seasons between Cleveland, Boston, Detroit and the Philadelphia Athletics.
He did miss the 1944 season while serving during World War II.That 1941 season with Cleveland featured just a .201 average in Desautels' age-34 campaign, but those Indians simply kept winning every time he played.This year's Guardians are certainly feeling the good vibes when Hedges starts, turning him from just a positive clubhouse presence into a guy who impacts winning, too.The 1941 Indians actually finished below .500 despite that Desautels feat.This year's Cleveland team ought to keep relying on Hedges as long as they keep winning. He's doing so much right at the moment.More MLB news:Explaining the absurdity of 2 MLB players named Max MuncyThis hitter has a worse OBP than his batting averageRed Sox green uniforms have absurd walk-off magicThis slider is really good and moves the entirely wrong directionAustin Hedges ended a great Guardians day with a proposal