Take me out to the ballgame

In an effort to cope with a particularly aggressive hangover this past Sunday, I took a nice walk around the city of Cleveland and ended up strolling past Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. (FYI: this remedy works great for a headache - I felt like 600 times better when I got home.)

I took a peek inside the park and a strong wave of emotion and excitement came over me. I got chills looking at the field and thinking about the (then) short 15 days until Opening Day. I looked off to my left and saw the pennants on the facade of the upper deck. The gold World Championship flags from 1920 and 1948. The gold AL pennant from 1954 that Willie Mays and company snuck in and painted red. The red 1995 AL banner next to it, showing how long Cleveland baseball fans suffered. The red 1997 AL banner that, if you stare at it hard enough, turns to gold. The four blue AL Central pennants hanging around those flags from '96, '98, '99, and '01, proudly marking the resurgence of Tribe baseball.

And there, at far right, the blue 2007 AL Central Champions flag, a symbol of the success that was, the flirtation with greatness that nearly was, and the promise of seasons to come.

Opening Day is right around the corner, and I couldn't be more excited to be there in person to see the Tribe reflect on the success of 2007 and kick off their 2008 march to October. Go Tribe.