FanPost

A Test of Fandom. Tigers at Indians. September 14th 2012.

Do you remember where you were on Friday September 14th 2012?

I do.

I bet that most of us that day were listening to the game on the radio, watching it on TV, or even at…*sigh*…Progressive Field with whomever. Or you weren’t doing anything Indians related at all. Maybe you were just doing normal people stuff.

To fill you in on these teams that year, many Detroit players were in the prime of their career, and also had a healthy lead in the AL Central (Spoiler Alert: Tigers get swept by the Giants in the World Series). Meanwhile, Cleveland consisted of the almighty-righty, yet fairly new Corey Kluber guy, some Chisenhall guy, this Carlos dude, and a young dirtbag named Kipnis.

If you hadn’t already looked at the season prior to this game, don’t. All you need to know is that at that point in the season the Tribe were 60-84 and just came off the month of August winning only five… FIVE games. Manny Acta really was earning his paycheck. Tribe finished the year 68-94 and 20 games out from the 1st place Tigers. Ouch.

Every Tribe fan that year was thinking, "What can we possibly do to get where the Tigers are now?" and "How long does it take to create a team THAT good?"

Just to give you a glimpse of what it looked like, here were the lineups…

CLEVELAND
1. Choo RF

2. Kipnis 2B

3. Santana C

4. Canzler (Who???) LF

5. Kotchman 1B

6. Chisenhall 3B

7. LaPorta DH

8. Carrera CF

9. Donald SS

P. Kluber

DETROIT

1. Jackson CF

2. Dirks LF

3. Cabrera 3B

4. Fielder 1B

5. Young DH

6. Boesch RF

7. Peralta SS

8. Avila C

9. Infante 2B

P. Verlander

Obviously signs of change for both teams since then. But if there’s one thing I took away from this game in particular, it was that my fandom was being tested. For me, I was 21 and had been a lifelong Tribe fan since I can remember. That night, I had just got done working at a retail store and had planned on driving back home to my college rental house to go drink beer with my friends in Findlay, Ohio. On the way home, I knew I had enough time to tune in and catch the last inning or so of the game, and as usual I did. I knew that if that night, the tribe could just get one solid win against Justin Verlander and the rest of Tiger club it would make my night. I could go home, drink my Old Millwaukee Light, eat pizza and play video games with the dudes knowing the Tribe beat a real good Tiger team.

I remember clocking out and getting in my car. Tuning in to the local FM station and hearing Hammy probably said something like, "Tribe down two to nothing. Top of the ninth."

I thought, "Well at least we’ve got a shot"

Hammy *probably*- "Two runs, eight hits, no errors for Detroit. No runs, six hits, no errors for the Tribe."

I moaned with frustration and remember picking up gas on the way home. I stopped at the pump, filled up, and by the time I got back in the car I probably heard Hammy say something like..

"That ends the top half. Tribe still down two-nothing. We head to the bottom of the ninth!"

I drove the rest of the way home and when I got there. I parked my car and sat right outside my house waiting to hear the end of what could be a walk-off game winner...

Hammy *probably*-" Here we go! Bottom of the 9th!"

I remember clinching the wheel of my car, staring at the radio and praying my dream that night would come true.

….and then the most depressing thing started happening. It started raining down pouring outside…

*Kotchman flied out*

*Chisenhall walked*

*LaPorta flied out*

*Carrera flied out*

I just wanted to cry. It looked like straight out of a movie *cue: Eric Carmen- All by Myself*. The rain was so loud that I had to turn up the post game show so I could hear Hammy tell us why we should tune in tomorrow for yet another spanking. The Tigers had permanently crushed our Wild Card hopes (if we even remotely had any) and the Indians had hit one of the lowest points that I had been alive for. Sorry 70’s and 80’s Indians fans.

But I think it’s safe to say things are looking up.

Like wayyyyy up. Like 21 in-a-row up.

Let September 14th 2012 serve as a test, and if you experienced that game, your fandom has been tested, and you passed (again)! Congrats! You’re not a loser anymore!

And back then, did you ever recall thinking, "What if Detroit didn’t have talent of Jackson, and Fielder, and Delmon Young, and Valverde or Verlander anymore?"

Well here’s your answer…

Team Recrd Pct Strk Playoff%

CLE 90-56 .616 W21 99.9

MIN 76-69 .521 W2 59.8

KC 72-73 .497 L1 4.3

DET 60-85 .414 L5 0.1

That game was 5 years ago to this date…Believe THAT Believeland!

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