Hail Indians in extending region’s championship run

Pinch me! No doubt many Northeastern Ohio sports fans uttered that jaw-dropping exclamation of disbelief and jubilation Wednesday as the Cleveland Indians clinched Major League Baseball’s American League championship and earned a berth in the World Series.

The jubilation intensifies when realizing that the city just four months ago celebrated its first pro sports title in 52 long years when the Cleveland Cavaliers captured the NBA Championship. Surely, it would take at least several more decades before the one-time “Mistake on the Lake” could ever hope to find itself basking in the glory of national champions in big-league sports yet again, many may have logically thought.

But then again, the Greater Cleveland region, which in sports circles extends well into the Mahoning Valley, has undergone a stunning transformation this year. Cleveland is now “Believeland.”

It’s been a year when believing big has reaped priceless rewards. In addition to the NBA championship, the city in 2016 did what many believed unthinkable not too many years ago. It successfully lobbied the Republican National Committee to hold its national nominating convention in the city. Like the NBA championship series, it, too, presented to the world an updated positive portrait of the once maligned city and region.

Now it is time for all to believe anew that Cleveland will triumph yet again. Beginning Tuesday at Progressive Field, the Tribe will face either the National League’s Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers in hopes of securing the team’s third World Series title since its founding in 1901.

TRIBE’S ABOUNDING TALENT

Of course, it’s taken more than positive attitudes for the 115-year-old Major League franchise to reach the pinnacle of professional play. It took raw talent.

From the seamless pitching of Andrew Miller, Most Valuable Player of the American League Championship Series, to the robust hitting of standouts Coco Crisp , Francisco Lindor and many others, the Indians had no shortage of it.

We in the Valley take particular pride in pitcher and former Mahoning Valley Scrapper Ryan Merritt, who’s been hailed as a hero for his performance in Wednesday night’s pennant-winning game against Toronto.

As the Associated Press reported Thursday, “The 24-year-old lefty defied expectations, shutting down the powerful Blue Jays before exiting in the fifth inning. Thanks to a most unlikely pitching performance, a most unexpected team won the ALCS 4-1.

Here’s hoping that Merritt, Miller, Crisp and the entire Tribe squad extend their sensational postseason success into Cleveland’s first World Series title in 68 years.

But regardless of the outcome, from “Believeland” to the Valley, the talent and resilience so proudly on display in recent weeks and all year will continue to win the day. Their uplifting ripple effects will heighten the vitality, economy and very psyche of the city and our region for months and years to come.