Written by Paul Cousineau

---

Division champs!!!  Who woulda thunk it?  The Indians, the first team in baseball to clinch their division, and presently owners of the best record in all of baseball.  Facts that would have been hard to fathom a couple months back when the Indians were in the midst of their post All-Star break funk.  Paulie Cous was at the clincher yesterday, and produced this superb photo montage of the days events for us. If a picture can tell a thousand words...well...

Arriving at our beloved corner of Carnegie and Ontario this afternoon, the smell of a pennant in the air, I was greeted by an old friend with a simple message.



The park was packed and the Red Sea had emerged.




The game never seemed in question, keeping the "Rally Pie" shirts on the rack.



Thanks to a (big surprise) team effort, Senor Slo-Mo threw the pitch that (ultimately) won the Central.
And, the celebration was on.






The team headed out to CF to raise the AL Central pennant while Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" blared over the loudspeakers.






Slider came on with his cursory bufoonery (which certainly doesn't merit a picture here), followed by...yes..."You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" (who says nobody in the Tribe organization reads this site) as my buddy T-Bone and I stood there, mouths agape. As the team made their way back to the dugout, C.C. and Victor led the on-field comments and the glad-handing and congratulations were on.








The party carried over into the clubhouse, where Ryan Garko declared, "Party's on West 6th tonight...ask for Josh Barfield".






The souvenir lines quickly stacked up selling AL Central Champ gear.





The celebration wasn't limited to the field and the clubhouse.



Note the shirts at "Local Heroes" (worst name ever for a bar - the old Cooperstown) RIGHT after the game.



Many more hurdles stand in the way of the dream and it's a simple AL Central championship and nothing that breaks the trophy-less streak, but this is a day on that will live on forever.