Cleveland Indians in familiar spot with current record

Some Cleveland Indians fans may be worried, but this team is in a similar situation as to what we have seen in the recent past.

Having a short memory is part of being a sports fan. That remains true for a large portion of Cleveland Indians fans.

The team had the day off today and will enter play Friday with a record of 18-18. That is good enough for first in the American League Central.

This record is nothing to go wild about, either positively or negatively. It is the worst record of any of the division leaders, but that shouldn’t matter. There are still over 120 games left to be played.

Jensen Lewis, who gets on the nerves of fans at times, summed it up quite well.

Getting off to a crazy hot start isn’t necessary. It is nice to rack up wins early in the season, but the Indians haven’t done that in the recent past and still won the division the past two years.

The team is dealing with injuries and are without the best reliever in all of baseball, and are still at the .500 mark. In May. Through 36 games. In the worst division in all of baseball.

The AL Central, outside of the Indians, is atrocious. The White Sox have yet to win 10 games, the Royals are 12 games under .500, the Tigers are six games under .500 and the Twins are two games under .500 thanks to a five-game winning streak.

Part of being a baseball fan is watching a team go through highs and lows over a six-month period. The Indians have had some tough moments, but the team has avoided the peaks and valleys of the season so far. 18-18 is not as sexy as the 26-10 record currently sported by the New York Yankees, but let’s see how the final records shake out before determining what will happen in October while it’s still only May.

Next: Has Tyler Naquin overtaken Bradley Zimmer?

This is not to say that fans can’t be upset with the way the Indians are currently playing. Rather, it is a reminder that similar starts have led the team to division titles, and that is the first necessary step before even thinking about October.