1 Championship Down, 3 To Go

Despite the fact that yet more work is scheduled to be done on my root-canaled molar tomorrow afternoon in order to prepare it for an eventual crown (can't they simply do all of this in a week instead of taking the better part of three months?), I've been wearing a big, silly grin for about eight hours now. In fact, I haven't felt this giddy in almost exactly ten years.

This past Wednesday, the Plain Dealer ran a 2-for-1 special on tickets to today's game. At the time, this just seemed like a nice excuse to take in the last home game of the regular season since at the time this promotion was announced (nearly a week ago), the idea of the Indians clinching the American League Central Division title at home seemed like a pretty long shot. Suddenly, the Tribe swept the Detroit series, surprising everyone, and a shot at grabbing the title at home looked like a sure thing ... for Saturday. But then that game was lost, and today became the day, and those tickets Sarah picked up for half price suddenly became the biggest steal of the year.

When the Tribe had clinched the title right after 4:00, we were watching and whooping it up in section 567 as part of a sold-out audience, and I don't think anyone could have asked for a better time at the park. Amidst some very tall competition, this was hands down the best game we've seen yet, with some exciting offense supplied by Grady Sizemore and "Mr. September" Casey Blake, a dominating pitching performance from Jake Westbrook and an absolutely electrifying perfect ninth inning from the unstoppable Rafael Betancourt. When that final pitch thumped home into the glove of Victor Martinez, it felt like the stadium was going to come down around our ears from all the noise and excitement.


Following such a joyous occasion, I didn't want to go home, and we stuck around The Jake (along with a few thousand others who must have felt the same way), watching the post game clubhouse festivities on the scoreboard and soaking up the atmosphere and the victory as long as we could. While I might have claimed an earlier date as such before, this was an absolutely perfect day: a great game, a fun crowd, not a cloud in the sky, not a trace of humidity, and the breeze coursing through the upper decks carried no hint of the arctic gales everyone knows are only a couple of months away.

Sure, we are still in the heat of the moment, but right now this team feels absolutely invincible. Off-days are becoming brutal to sit through. We want the postseason and we want it now. Bring on the god damned Yanks: right now, the Indians are just dying to give them their very best shot ...