Cleveland Indians Call Up Lonnie Chisenhall: Should I Be Excited?

It is just so hard to get excited all over again for potentially nothing.

I was born in Connecticut and lived there till I was 10 years old before moving to the Cleveland area. Before leaving New England, my only care in the world was for the sport of baseball and the Boston Red Sox in particular.

But the Indians teams of the late '90s really captured my impressionable young heart. I was torn between my first love and my new fling.

The Indians were playing thrilling and exciting baseball and were in contention for a World Series championship every year. I was hooked. The Red Sox seemed like a distant memory.

Then Larry Dolan bought the team in 2000. And with the turning of the century came the turning of the team.

My favorite player (Manny Ramirez) was allowed to walk away with only a token effort of keeping him (to the Red Sox, of all teams). One year later they did the same to Jim Thome. And piece by piece, the team I had fallen in love with was gone.

On the flip side, the Red Sox were purchased by John Henry and he immediately began pouring money into the team, making them viable and exciting for the first time in years.

Manny was now in Boston and they also had Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez. They were the fun and exciting team. They held all the same heartbreak history that Cleveland had. (By this time I was all on board with the Browns and Cavaliers, seemingly sealing my sports doom for eternity.)

So I, being a baseball polygamist, returned to my first love the Red Sox.

And how have they rewarded me? With not one, but two championships.

While those championships were sweet and I wouldn't trade them at all, there is still something lacking in my sports heart.

Because my heart isn't in Boston or New England...it's in Cleveland.

(And because overspending has made the Red Sox into little more than the junior version of the New York Yankees.)

The recent deep but unsatisfying runs into the playoffs for the Cavaliers left me with a Cleveland hangover several springs in a row. I've tried to fill that void with the Tribe every year only to be disappointed with a mediocre and often pathetic team.

But this year has been different. There was an early-season buzz about the team that had me thinking this might be something. Then they came back to Earth with injuries and poor play leaving us to ponder what the real 2011 Indians actually look like.

Am I getting roped into another loser? I've tried to stay at a safe distance thus far by only checking if the team won or loss on a day-to-day basis. I've tried not to get too invested.

But something happened yesterday. Something that couldn't keep me away.

The Indians called up promising prospect Lonnie Chisenhall and inserted him immediately into the starting lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He looked good in his first big league game going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

But is Lonnie Chisenhall's presence on the Tribe roster enough to get me hooked on Indians Fever?

It has already had one very profound effect on me: I'm actually writing about the Indians instead of just the Cavs and Browns.

I hope that Chisenhall will spark the Tribe into better play and get them back on top of the American League Central and into the playoffs.

I hope he won't be another disappointing Indians prospect who comes up with such promise only to fizzle on the big stage.

I hope he can get me excited about the Indians again.

But most of all...I hope he can help bring the city of Cleveland a championship.

No pressure, Lonnie.

You can follow me on Twitter @ClevelandFlack.