I don't know how to feel.  There's that blind faith, the foolish optimism that grows on us because we're just sick of the gloom and doom.  Maybe we don't have it in us to keep the glass half-empty any more.  I know that I like to think that I've exhausted enough negative energy for three lifteimes, but a light shove can knock any one of us into that pool of pessimism at any given time.  While we don't forget that it's only baseball, only a game, there's no denying this is one of the constants in our lives.

The word "due" rattles around the brain at times like this.  That should be upgraded to "overdue", and even saying "way overdue" would be overstating nothing.  That's Cleveland, the only one I've ever known; the city hopes, and waits, and walks away disappointed.  It feels like that happens every season, going back several decades, but sometimes we are granted mercy.  At times, there is no hope and no waiting for the disappointment, so the disappointment doesn't sting; it's just a long, dull pain that we'd rather not experience.

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Not only was I there twice during the posteason, I was there several times down the stretch when the Indians had some heated games against the Detroit Tigers en route to winning the AL Central in 2007.

Nothing is better than that Cleveland crowd when Progressive Field is filled up and rocking. There is no better atmosphere. I will always complain and whine about the lack of support for this team in the attendance war. It is definitely sad when this club can't draw 10K for a game.

But the reason that it is so sad is because we've seen this fan base come to bat. And when they come to bat, they usually hit it out of the park. I know tonight that Progressive Field will not only be filled with Indians fans, it will be filled with loud and proud Indians fans.

It is a little depressing that it takes a solidified playoff game for that to happen, but at least it is there. This isn't a team like Arizona, where there's a struggle to fill the park for a playoff game. This isn't a team like Miami where they don't draw a darn thing during the season.

This is a franchise that once sold out 455 straight games. And while I know and fully understand that those days are not only over, but a different time with a perfect storm of circumstances, you can see that drive. This is a franchise that comes to bat for their team when it counts. I've seen it, I've experienced it, I've felt it. 

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Have you ever had so much to say, you simply cannot figure out what to say first or figure out an order to say it all? Part of me wanted to just start off this with a bunch of gibberish. Or CAPS locked yelling nonsense words in between Indians, Playoffs, Tribe, and Oh My GOD mixed around. 

But simply said, this is awesome... Just awesome. And this is all I got for you.

Okay, that's it. Rundown Over, See You Wednesday....

Just Kidding! 

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Baseball is an amazing game. After 161 games, the Indians, Rays and Rangers are separated by just one game in the standings. A long season that started way back in April comes down to a single game for these three teams, with a playoff berth on the line. The “every game is important” mantra was one that Indians fans learned well in 2007, when one more Tribe victory would’ve given the Indians home field advantage in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. We all know how that turned out. Here we are again six years later, and one game could make the difference between a postseason run and hitting the golf course in the first week of October. The Indians have won 91 games already, not bad for a team that Vegas put the over/under at 76 ½ coming into the 2013 season. They’ve won 23 more games than they did in 2012. They’ve won 20 games in September, including 14 of their past 16. And yet, it could all be for naught if the Indians lose today and Tampa Bay and Texas both win. That would trigger a complicated scenario in which the Indians would host Tampa Bay on Monday, with the loser of that game traveling to Texas, and the winner of those two games making the playoffs as the two AL Wild Card representatives. All of the potential scenarios are laid out here, including who plays where and when regardless of who wins tomorrow. Worst case scenario, the Indians have two cracks at a tiebreaker game, both of which would be played at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. But the whole thing will be academic if the Indians take care of business in Minneapolis tomorrow afternoon. So really, it’s simple; win tomorrow, host the AL Wild Card game. Win that, and it’s on to Boston. It’s both exciting and stressful, and twitter follower @themadlibs used the very appropriate term awesome/awful to describe the adrenaline rush associated with watching the Indians down the stretch. Living and dying with every pitch is a great feeling, one that hasn’t been associated with Indians baseball since that fateful Game Seven in Fenway Park back in 2007. My stomach has been churning and sleep has been hard to come by the past few nights, but I’ll gladly take this over another September spent playing out the string in a series of meaningless games while other teams plan for the playoffs.

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