IT'S GAME 7!!!

We have had just one other game 7 in Indians history.  Granted, the outcome was not in our favor, but it was against the Marlins- the first expansion team to be in the World Series; not an adversary we expected.  Now we have the game 7 we have always dreamed about.    

Many of you probably share my story.  I spent hours in the backyard playing baseball with neighbors and by myself, imagining this very moment in my mind.  I never worried about games 1 through 6 - it was always game 7.  Game 7!  I didn't dream of Games 5 or 6.  It was always Game 7.  And there were only two worthy opponents in those boyhood dreams: the Yankees and the Red Sox.  I look back on countless afternoons tossing the whiffle ball and dreaming up ninth inning scenarios leading up to the home run against Goose Gossage or Roger Clemens...  Seven-Five score in the ninth inning; two outs and no one on base; a cheap single; then, a walk after fouling off countless pitches; all leading up to the 3-2 fastball launched into the bleachers...  I have been looking forward to this game all of my baseball-loving life.  (In fact, I have been looking forward to this post-season all of my life - we have faced both the Red Sox and the Yankees!).

So, I am not going to let the disappointments of the past couple games diminish this dream.  I am not going to let the "warts" of baseball's current scandals prevent me from enjoying this moment.  I'm not going to let all of the doom-and-gloom Cleveland talk on discussion boards and in the media ruin this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Here's to the dream.  Here's to the anticipation of Game 7 glory.  And here's to the Tribe - a team that I would always want as teammates in my backyard dreams.

Let's Go Tribe!

(NOTE: This may be a little too sappy for the board, but I think it merits it's own diary because every red-blooded baseball fan likely shares this experience.  I hope it gets at the essence of the game.  As I sit here pinned to the computer, struggling, while my wife screams at me (literally) for wasting time, I am trying to make sense of this....)