An odd but exhilarating championship year for Tribe

The long wait is over. After six frustrating seasons of dashed hopes and missed opportunities, the Cleveland Indians have lifted the collective spirit of northeastern Ohio with stellar late-summer play and have thrust themselves into post-season action.

Congratulations to the Tribe for clinching the American League Central Division championship earlier this week in their stinging 6-2 defeat of the Oakland Athletics at Jacobs Field.

As a result, no doubt you’ll be seeing more and more folks in the Mahoning Valley and throughout northeastern Ohio sporting those ’07 AL Central Championship T-shirts, sweats and caps in coming days and weeks. And why not? There’s plenty of solid reasons to wear our pride prominently.

Start with the team. With the opening of the season postponed because of blizzard conditions in downtown Cleveland, one got a real feel that this would be no average year. Before long, however, things heated up both on the thermometer and on the playing field.

With six games left and with baseball’s best record at 93-64 entering Wednesday night, the Indians have proven their richly deserved championship kudos.

Ex-Scrapper shines

Consider the pitchers.

First, there’s former Mahoning Valley Scrapper C.C. Sabathia, the No. 1 starter and a top contender to win the prestigious Cy Young Award this season. Complementing him have been the strong-arm talents of Fausto Carmona, Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook. Solid hitting — such as that demonstrated by Casey Blake’s 11th-inning homer against archrival Detroit just last week — illustrates that the long forlorned Indians now have all their bases covered.

The team’s return to glory also brings with it many positive vibes that reverberate throughout the nation. For at least the next two weeks, Cleveland will be recognized as a home of champions, not the home of one of the highest urban poverty rates in the United States. For at least the next two weeks, the region — including the Greater Mahoning Valley — will be lifted up by the positive buzz generated by The Tribe, not torn down by recurrent images of Black Monday and economic decay. Indeed the slow but steady comeback of the Indians serves as an apt metaphor of the slow but steady comeback of the Valley.

Before becoming overly philosophical or senselessly euphoric, serious Tribe fans here realize the quest for that elusive World Series championship — one not held by the Cleveland franchise since 1948 — will be a difficult and daunting task.

Obstacles abound. The Indians will likely play Boston or New York in the AL division series. The season’s records show the uphill battle the Tribe will face with either team. Cleveland is 2-5 this season against the Red Sox and 0-6 against the Yankees. But as the team has proven in the past, sometimes the Indians thrive on adversity.

The Indians’ championship caps a momentous year for Ohio and northeastern sports in the national limelight. It’s been a great year thus far as the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cleveland Cavaliers made it to the national finals in their respective sports. Although both efforts fell short, we’re counting on Tribe talent and momentum to make this third try the charm.