Is Cleveland a bad baseball town?

Apparently, we don’t like what we see in the mirror at the moment.

Heading into play Friday, the Indians were 78-68, 1.5 games out of the second wild card spot, 3.5 games out of the wild card lead, and in a deep but still-scalable six-game hole in the division.

They’re in the midst of a series in Chicago against the last-place White Sox. The remainder of the season includes three games against the third-place Royals, a four-game home series against the last-place Astros, two more games against the White Sox and four games to close out the season against fourth-place Minnesota.

This is exactly what we wanted in March, right? September finally matters for the Indians, and it’s one of the softest September schedules the team has ever faced.

We should be oozing confidence as a fan base. We should believe that the Indians not only could make the playoffs, they should make the playoffs. They should be able to tear through the remainder of the schedule at an .800 clip and, at the very least, end up on the doorstep of the top wild card spot.

But we don’t believe that. We’ve voted with our attendance at Progressive Field, where four-figure and low five-figure weeknight crowds are still the reality of the situation.

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Now that's how it goes. 

That's how it goes, that's how your supposed to do it, and that is how you want to handle your business throughout the rest of the season.

You may not win every single game against the White Sox throughout the rest of the season, because there's seven of them and the Indians have already beat up on the hapless Sox all year. But this sets the tone and gets them out ahead where they need to be. You need to handle your business against this portion of the schedule, and that means winning, sweeping if you can, the series.

INDIANS - 14 | WHITE SOX - 3

W: Corey Kluber (9-5)

L: John Danks (4-13)

[BOXSCORE]

And there was no more definitive win than this one Heck, it was probably over after the fourth when the Indians just kept scoring and the Sox finally couldn't answer back. Aside from a Konerko homer and a pair of hits in the third, the Sox had nowhere near the firepower the Indians were unleashing on this one from the get-go.

It was already 7-2 when the fifth inning occurred, and then it was all over. Which was nice in support Corey  Kluber, who had struggled early with his command.

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This is it people. This is freaking it. If you don't make it a point to go down to the ballpark for one of the final home games in the next two weeks, you need to stop this charade. You either support this team or you get off the bandwagon. If you don't have the means, I understand, I don't either. I'm lucky enough to have tickets to Sunday's game. But do EVERYTHING you can. Heck, I might start putting pennies away for a possible postseason game. If you can't be there, throw your heart into it on television and show how much you care. Forget about the Browns. They'll be losing games on Sunday in six weeks in the same fashion that they are right now.

This team is primed for a spot in the postseason. This isn't going to line up any better for a team. They've seemingly caught fire at the right time, have the most favorable schedule out of any team left in the wild card race, and they have the most well equipped manager for this situation.

I'm running the Akron half-marathon in less than two weeks. It is tough and everyone tells me that the last mile is tough. But you know what gets someone through that last mile? That last little bit? The people cheering at the finish line. The people encouraging you, telling you that you can get to the finish.

If you aren't all in right now, I don't know what you need. You asked for more support financially, you got it. You asked for a competitive team, you got it. you asked for everything you've been given so far to get out there this season and show your backing. This team isn't going anywhere this year, they're in the race. It's time to go out and support them to the finish line and let them know that they can do it.

Because damnit, this team can do it.

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Last week, Peter King of The Monday Morning Quarterback and Sports Illustrated made headlines when he announced his decision to refrain from using the name ‘Redskins’ when referring to the Washington Football Franchise. He’s not the only one to make this decision; Bill Simmons of Grantland also refrained from using the name in his recent NFL power rankings, although he did so without any type of announcement or proclamation. The controversy regarding the name ‘Redskins’ hits especially close to home for Clevelanders, as they also root for a team with a name based on Native American nomenclature that is supposedly steeped in tradition.

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