For Tribe fans, final game at home was a clinch party

Spirits were high as fans watched the excitement unfold.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Indians loyalists made their feelings clear Sunday — with a stadium full of noise.

Aware that only one more win would secure the AL Central Division title and assure October baseball madness rarely seen in Cleveland, the fans weren’t disappointed and roared approval right to the last clinching pitch.

The Indians beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2, and entered the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

The crowd produced a standing ovation that lingered as the team walked to the outfield and a 2007 AL Central Division championship banner was hoisted above the scoreboard.

They cheered as All-Stars C.C. Sabathia and Victor Martinez took a microphone and thanked Cleveland fans for their support.

“Amazing. We’re pumped!” shouted Janelle Stamper, 23, of suburban Brook Park, who carried a large sign displaying “Fans Gone Wild.”

Bill Forester, 32, of Akron, had tickets to a game in April during Cleveland’s snowed out opening series with Seattle. He decided to exchange those game tickets for the last home game, hoping to see a clinch.

“It happened!” he said.

And this time, it didn’t snow.

The 40,250 in attendance enjoyed 72 degrees under a cloudless blue sky. Forester held up a sign that said; “To Do List: 1 — clinch division, 2 — beat the Yankees, 3 — win the World Series.

“I’ve had goose bumps all day,” Forester said.

It’s their time

Ushers and ticket-takers greeted fans as they wore bright red T-shirts showing words in bold print, “It’s Tribe Time Now.”

Devoted fan Jennifer Pearce, 19, of Cleveland, was one of the first into Jacobs Field and quickly staked out her favorite place standing next to a railing above left field in an area known as the Home Run Porch.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Pearce said, as the crowd flowed in all around her. But she hesitated before the game when asked whether the Indians would clinch.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Yesterday, everyone all around me was talking about it and look what happened. We lost that game.”

Fans, many who have suffered through many bleak Indians baseball seasons, wanted to be in that victory celebration intimately, not remotely. After Sunday, Cleveland closes out its schedule on the road with four games in Seattle and three in Kansas City.

The Indians last qualified for Major League Baseball’s postseason in 2001. The team advanced to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, only to lose to the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins.