Well, the Tigers have clinched the division and the Indians have been officially eliminated contention. When I went to bed last night, secure in the fact that they had beaten the Twins in the first of a four-game series this weekend, I kept thinking “Your number is One.” (I suppose I could have had Stayin’ Alive in my head, but I hate the Bee Gees. So much so that I’m not even going to post a link. ) It was the classic Indians fan optimism, channeling Yogi and repeating, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” But of course, the freaking Tigers also won and so here we are. Out of it.

The fact that the Indians weren’t eliminated until the very end, with only 13 games left in the season, feels like some sort of accomplishment. Although it feels like it’s time to clean up the empty glasses, sweep the floor and turn out the lights, the remaining games must still be played. It’s kind of ironic that the team starts hitting and winning now that they’ve been eliminated, but they’ve won the first two in Minnesota by scores of 7-6 and 10-4.  They haven’t won two in a row since a three-game win streak August 29-31. With their record at 74-75, the task at hand now is to win as many games as possible over the next two weeks and finish over .500, which they haven’t done since 2007. They finished right at .500 in 2008, but let’s shoot a little higher, shall we? I don’t want the .501 blues.

4 Comments

  • Swift says:

    “It’s kind of ironic that the team starts hitting and winning now that they’ve been eliminated, ” – kind of ironic? Isn’t it actually pretty typical for the Indians?

    You know if back in February you had told me that they’d end up around 0.500 and in second place, I’d have been OK. But it still really hurts after how things went after the first two months and even how things were looking into July. I’d really like to know how they went from so hot to so flat, and no, I don’t think the injuries (which weren’t all that bad in early June) explain it. But I suspect we’ll never know.

    Yeah, yeah, wait till next year… but it just feels kind of flat at the moment.

  • Susan Petrone says:

    Yeah, kind of typical. Like Stephanie says, it’s not a question of when the Indians will disappoint you but how badly they’ll hurt you. I didn’t expect a lot this season, so April and May were like some kind of dream time. Maybe the question isn’t how they could fall so flat but how they could have been so hot in the first place. Nonetheless, I’m going to the game this afternoon/evening and and some part of me is still looking forward to it.

  • Carl says:

    What .501 blues? 82-80 equals .506. Also, and just in case, 81-80 equals .503.

  • Susan Petrone says:

    I’m hoping for .512, but then I’m an optimist.