Watching Cleveland Indians baseball this year reminds us of how we cherished the gateway era Indians of the mid-90’s and how great it would be to have those feelings once again. Terry Francona‘s boys play like the have nothing to lose and have phenomenal mental resilience. With a diverse line-up, this year’s Tribe is never out of a game and there is a different hero every night.
In last night’s game at Progressive Field in front of 22,000 Tribe fans, the magic continued. Battered and shell-shocked from the previous two games, the Chicago White Sox found two runs in the top-of-ninth to take a 5-3 lead. With the Indians’ patient hitters, no lead is safe. After tying the game in the bottom-of-the-ninth, it was Carlos Santana in extra innings that would send a 3-2 fastball to the right field stands for the walk-off victory.
Whether it’s Jason Kipnis, Jason Giambi, Ryan Rayburn, Michael Bourn, Michael Brantley, or Santana, this team is fun to watch again. The amount of fight and determination they have in them is how all Cleveland teams should model themselves. There is a sense of hope and major excitement back at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Like the energy pulsating through the microphone in Indians radio announcer Tom Hamilton‘s voice, Tribe fans are once again ready to flock downtown Cleveland.
The Indians now have a seven game winning streak as they close up the series at noon today. Justin Masterson (12-7, 3.42) takes the bump against slender lefty, Chris Sale (6-10, 2.69).
It doesn’t matter what the sport is; if you win, they will come. This October could be a whole lot of fun.
Ryan Ruiz is a Cleveland Sports Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Ryan is also a Cleveland Browns Correspondent for The Sports Fix. Listen in on Fridays at noon on www.thesportfix.net