Expectations for the Aeros have been running high the past few years.

That’s what happens when the Indians’ Double-A team reaches the Eastern League Championship Series four times in five years, claiming a pair of titles in 2003 and 2005.

Problem is, fan expectations no longer include getting to the title game. These days, it seems, the team’s fans won’t settle for anything less than a title.

Despite a handful of team accomplishments and individual player accolades this season, the Aeros came up short for the second consecutive year, losing to the Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) three games to one in the Championship Series best-of-five matchup that concluded Sept. 15.

In 2006, the Aeros pushed the series to the limit in a deciding Game 5 in Portland, Maine, against the eventual champion Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox).

While many fans felt the Aeros should have won it all in 2006, they weren’t as upset after this season’s loss in the finals.

‘‘Last year, I kind of felt like the Indians robbed us of a title when they wouldn’t let (ace Adam) Miller pitch,’’ said long-time season-ticket holder Gary Rosen. ‘‘This year, you could tell Trenton was the better team, and we did good to get as far as we did.’’

This year’s championship series pitted the league’s best pitching staff, Trenton’s, against the league’s top hitting team, the Aeros. When it came down to it, however, the Thunder not only pitched well, but also saw its offense contribute, especially in their 10-5 deciding game at Canal Park.

‘‘We could talk about being a better offensive team all we want,’’ Aeros second-year manager Tim Bogar said, ‘‘but they were a very good team and got hits when they needed to.’’

Meanwhile, the Aeros got solid pitching when they needed it only with Jeremy Soweers on the hill.

This, despite the fact they had some added help in getting the right-handed Miller and left-hander Sowers from Triple-A Buffalo in time for the playoffs ` controversial moves that appeared to go against EL rules prohibiting players from higher levels joining teams in the postseason.

While Miller’s addition had little impact (0-0 7.50 ERA in two appearances, including one start), Sowers (2-0, 0.68 ERA) was dominant in his two starts.

‘‘I feel like I’m pitching the best I have all year,’’ Sowers said Sept. 14 after helping hand the Aeros their lone win against Trenton. ‘‘I’m ready to go up there and try to have an impact.’’

Which brings us to another ususual aspect of the season: Instead of most players looking to work their way to Buffalo, such as right fielder Brian Barton did successfully, many went to Cleveland after using Akron as a springboard.

Not long after starting the season in Akron, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, right-handed reliever Jensen Lewis and left-handed starter Aaron Laffey were suiting up for the Indians and helping the Tribe win a division title Sunday.

‘‘That’s what’s really gratifying - to see guys like that whose careers really took off here,’’ Bogar said.

And they weren’t the only ones to post career-type years.

First baseman Jordan Brown put his name firmly on the Indians’ prospect list by being the most consistent hitter. He batted a league-best .333 with 161 hits and won EL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors. More impressively, Brown did it on a bum right knee that will require offseason arthroscopic surgery.

Following with the tough-it-out theme, after a horrendous first half that had his batting average hovering around the .200 mark, center fielder Trevor Crowe put his swing together in the later part of the season, finishing with a respectable .259 average that included 26 doubles, 50 RBI, 62 walks and a team-high 28 stolen bases.

Although the Aeros didn’t get the kind of help they usually do from an infusion of Class-A Kinston players, help for next season should be on the way.

The K-Tribe had four pitchers finish with more than 10 wins, saw third baseman Wes Hodges bat a healthy .288, featured the dazzling play of shortstop Josh Rodriguez and was bolstered by the continuing emergence of first baseman/designated hitter Matt Whitney.

With that kind of help, the Aeros might just push their championship series run to five appearances in six seasons come next year - with that elusive third title to boot.

After Bowie slugger Luis Jimenez mashed multiple-run home runs in each of the first three games of the series against Bowie this week - compiling 10 RBI along the way - Aeros pitchers continued to pitch to the Baysox first baseman Thursday.

Furthermore, they continued to do so with manager Tim Bogar’s blessing - with the playoffs on the line in needing a win to clinch a wildcard playoff spot.

“To me, Jimenez is a great hitter but he’s pitchable,” Bogar said. “But if you pitch him right, he’s pitchable. I mean, there’s a reason why he’s still in Double-A. The man can hit. I like how he swings the bat and he gives you a quality at-bat every time. But I think our pitchers, when they do what they’re supposed to do, can get him out.”

Well guess what? They didn’t the first three nights of this important series home stand and they didn’t again in Jimenez’s at-bats in the fifth and seventh innings Thursday.

After hitting a three-run home run against Aeros starter Eric DuBose in the series opener Monday, Jimenez smacked another three-run bomb against reliever Michael Finocchi Tuesday. He settled for a two-run homer against starter Bobby Brownlie Wednesday and continued to beat up Akron pitchers when he doubled home two runs to give the Baysox a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning Thursday against starter Shawn Nottingham.

The 6-foot-4 205-pounder from Venezuela managed to leg out a single against reliever Rich Rundles in the seventh, who was the unsung hero of the night for the Aeros in earning the win.

But give the Aeros pitchers some credit. When the game was on the line with two on and two out in the ninth, closer Jim Ed Warden got Jimenez to ground out to short to end the game and vault the Aeros into the playoffs.

Asked what he was thinking when Jimenez strode to the plate in the final at-bat, Bogar admitted: “My first thought was ‘get him out.’ Then I thought, ‘Please don’t make a a mistake and let’s get this guy out for once!’ ”

Warden did just that, his fastball down and away bouncing into the glove of waiting shortstop Brandon Pinckney, who fired to Michael Aubrey at first base for the huge out.

Moments later, the Aeros lockeroom reeked of cheap champagne, as the players celebrated by soaking each other - and Bogar - from head to toe with glee.

Across the hall, Jimenez and his teammates quietly got dressed and then headed outside to the team bus for what promised to be a long seven hour ride home, their season over save for four meaningless games at home against Connecticut.

I get the sense the Aeros are driving a lot of fans crazy these days. At least they’ve been driving me crazy for a while now.

Granted, ups and downs are a part of every season. I used to have a manager in Triple-A Columbus named Trey Hillman who used say to me all the time, “Stephanie, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Relax.”

I do try to be patient. But my patience has run thin lately. Aside from a recent 10-game stretch in which the Aeros went 8-2, the team has not looked very good for a nearly two months now.

A part of the reasdon is that Akron keeps losing its best players to Triple-A (SS Asdrubal Cabrera, OF Brian Barton, P Aaron Laffey) like it does every year.

But instead of getting Class-A Kinston’s top players in return (1B Matt Whitney, 3B Wes Hodges, P’s Kevin Dixon, Ryan Edell and James Deters), the Aeros have been given subs and forced to play the remainder of the season with several players playing out of position.

It’s not exactly the formula for success, and it’s very frustrating.

And when I’m really moody, I think maybe the Indians just want Kinston to win this season and just don’t care much about Akron. But a good scout friend of mine insists the lack of movement doesn’t have as much to do with wanting one team to win over another as it does setting up the entire system (majors to minors) for proper movement in the next year or two.

But why wait till next year?

The answer was complicated. But his premise that there’s much more thought put into this than we like to think at times is no doubt true. The Indians know what they’re doing, even if it drives us all crazy at different levels in the minors in the meantime.

However, if the Aeros aren’t careful, they could easily find themselves out of the race within a week with Erie playing well and the Aeros headed there for a pivotal three-game matchup Monday through Wednesday.

With the current state of the team, I don’t know how far the team would make it in a playoff run. But it would at least be nice to get a chance to find out.

A lot of baseball folks might not consider losing their No. 2 and No. 3 hitters a way to “jump start” a struggling team.

Yet that’s exactly what Aeros manager Tim Bogar believes happened to the Aeros when they lost shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and right fielder Brian Barton recently in a week’s span.

Say what?

“This change is exactly what this team needs,” Bogar said confidently. “We were kind of mumbling and bumbling along, just kind of getting through it. Then all of a sudden Cabrera leaves, a week later Barton leaves, and these guys still here are like ‘Hey, what’s going on? Maybe I have a chance to move. Maybe I could do some things and get out of here. Now I’m the guy, so I better put some numbers up.”

First baseman/designated hitter Jordan Brown has been putting up numbers all season long, entering Wednesday game batting a team-best .331 (second in the league) and leading the Eastern League in hits with 128. This, despite battling a nagging knee injury that will require off-season surgery.

Center fielder Trevor Crowe has begun to pull his weight, turning his dismal season around the last month to enter Wednesday batting a much more respectable .248.

Now it’s time for veteran left fielder Ryan Goleski (.253) to do the same, as well as shortstop Brandon Pinckney (.220) - now that he has the advantage of playing every day with Cabrera gone.

“Right now we got what we got,” Bogar said. “We’ll figure it out. There’s plenty of hitters on this team.”

The Aeros’ pitching staff needs to share a portion of the burden during this final month as well, as the hitters have carried the team most of the season.

As decent as Wednesday’s starter Chuck Lofgren has been at 10-6 with a 4.28 ERA, the left-hander has yet to live up to his pre-season “ace” billing. And as a three-year Double-A veteran, right-hander Jake Dittler needs to do better than the 4.37 ERA he’s posted in 19 appearances.

After going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored in the Aeros 6-3 win over Altoona Sunday afternoon, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo.

Ironically, Cabrera started at second base Sunday for the first time all season, fueling immediate talk that it was likely his last game for the Aeros.

Sure enough, the sudden position switch after he’d played 95 games at short signaled preparation had begun to advance Cabrera to the next level - where he’s expected to split time with veteran Luis Rivas at both second base and shortstop. Aeros manager Tim Bogar even suggested Cabrera could see some time at third base.

“He plays everywhere in Winter Ball, so he can play anywhere (at Buffalo),” Bogar said. “Selfishly, you don’t want to see him go because he is such a great player and a big part of our offense. Guys respect him and watch how hard he works. But development-wise,
he’s ready.”

Arguably the team’s first-half MVP, Cabrera batted .310 (114-for-368) with 78 runs scored, 54 RBI, 23 doubles and stolen bases and eight home runs for the Aeros this season.

Not long after left-handed picther Aaron laffey was pulled from his start after 48 pitches at Triple-A Buffalo Sunday, a post popped up in this blog from one our faithful readers wondering what was up. Props to Roger for being so on top of things - especially with just a week left before the trading deadline, when these kind of things happen regularly.

Yet, a few days later, we’re still trying to figure it out. The Beacon’s Indians beat reporter Sheldon Ocker reported in Tuesday’s paper that Tribe manager Eric Wedge denied anything is going on with Laffey - which in baseball terms almost always means something is absolutely going on.

The question is what?

I don’t think it’s that Laffey was involved in a trade gone bad, as many are speculating. Because if that were the case, the Indians wouldn’t have let him pitch at all Sunday instead of limiting him to 50 pitches (a sure sign to me that’s he’s being readied for the bullpen).

My guess is that the Indians finally have had it with struggling Fernando Cabrera (a solid starter with the Aeros a few years ago before he was converted to a reliever) and have plans to call up Laffey to join the Indians bullpen. Because Cabrera is out of options, he will likely be claimed on waivers (other teams also think they can fix a guy). With the open roster spot, Laffey can slide right in.

So what’s taking so long? If the Indians didn’t start the process with Cabrerra until Monday, they have to wait until the end of Wednesday to see if he was claimed or can be sent to Buffalo to begin the rebuilding process.

So hang on. There’s more to this story coming in the next few days. Fun, isn’t it?

You know a win is huge when it snaps a four-game losing streak.

But at Canal Park, you know an Aeros win is really big when manager Tim Bogar busts out his cowboy boots.

I don’t mean once he’s out of uniform and dressed in street clothes. Nope, Bogar’s big-game statement is always made while still in his uniform, parading around the clubhouse with his old out-of-style brown cowboy boots.

Bogar doesn’t care how goofy he looks. The boots were a gift from teammates when he first made it to the big leagues, and Bogar reserves wearing them now only for his team’s big wins.

It didn’t take Bogar long to put them on Wednesday night after shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning that not only won the game 9-7, but also snapped the team’s losing streak AND prevented a sweep by lowly Harrisburg.

But before the boots came out, former Aeros catcher Javi Herrera blasted a three-run home run in the fifth that handed visiting Harrisburg an early 6-0 advantage.

Few Aeros fans would ever openly root for an opponent, but here’s betting there were plently of people doing it quietly for one of Akron’s former favorite players.

Six Aeros will be accompanying Aeros manager Tim Bogar to the Eastern League All-Star Game July 11 - the highest number of players from the 12-team league.

Making the trip to Norwich, Ct., with Bogar are pitchers Randy Newsom and Reid Santos, first baseman Jordan Brown, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, catcher Wyatt Toregas and right fielder Brian Barton.

‘‘I’m not surprised at all that we placed so many guys,” Bogar told me Monday aftrenoon from Erie, Pa., where the Aeros are playing on the second leg of a three-city road trip. “Jordan Brown is having a great year, Brian Barton is doing well and Asdrubal Cabrera is perhaps the best player in the league. Wyatt’s catching abilities behind the plate set him apart, and enough
can’t be said about the job Reid has done in a variety of roles for us and how Randy has stepped right into such an important closer’s role.”

Bogar is right. Hoever, that doesn’t always translate into the right players being picked (anyone remember Ronald “Bear” Bay going just last year?) But voters - media and fans - got it right this season. Consider:

Cabrera and Brown vied for the honor of the Aeros’ first-half MVP, with the slick fielding Cabrera owning the third-best batting average in the league at .338 (91-for-269) featuring a league-high 64 runs scored.

But the slugging Brown has been just as important, checking in at sixth place in league batting average (.321), but owning league highs in hits (95) and doubles (25).

Toregas may be batting just .240 (41-for-171), but there’s more to the selection of the catcher than the obvious stats - as Bogar said he considers Toregas’ game-caling and defense to be among the leagues best.

While steady most of the first half, Barton has begun to take his game to another level over the last month of play. Plus, he’s not afraid to take one - or two - for the team. In 75 games, Barton is batting .303 (82-for-271) with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBI and a minor-league-leading 24 hit-by-pitches.

That leaves the lefty Santos and side-arming righty Newsom - a pair of pitchers who have been instrumental in keeping the Aeros pitching staff ranked among the best in the league.

The do-it-all Santos started out as a late-inning reliever, moved over to closing when the team’s original closer Bubbie Buzachero was promoted to Triple-A and has spent the last six game in the starting rotation. In 22 games, he’s 5-1 with a save and a sparkling 1.99
ERA and 44 strikeouts.

All Newsom has done since he joined the team May 12 is go 12-for-12 in save opportunities while recording a 3-0 mark and 2.28 ERA along the way.

Larry wrote wondering about how high the ceiling is for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. He figures the Tribe must be getting a little worried about third-base prospect Andy Marte (now at Buffalo). minors and how far Cabrera needs to go before he’s MLB ready. It seems like he’s surpassed expectations every step of the way, so far.

It’s a very relevant question right now as many of us baseball folks have been talking about the same thing a lot lately.

A lot of us really like Cabrera - his defense and his offense. He clearly doesn’t belong at the Double-A level. As for his ceiling - yes, I think he could be an every day major leaguer. In the near future I could see him at short for the Tribe and Peralta at third (where I think he profiles better, anyway).

Of course, that means the Tribe deep thinkers will have to get over Marte, and reality says they won’t make that move quickly - they never do.

Charlie wants to know whether Franklin Gutierrez stick with the Indians and what that means for another outfield prospect in Ben Francisco. Lastly, he wondered if pitcher Fausto Carmona will be the Tribe’s #2 starter by the end of the year.

The Tribe is so loaded in the outfield, I’ve thought the last two years that they’d try to trade Gutierrez. Maybe it’ll happen this season with them needing more bullpen help. Gutierrez came to the Indians from LA in the Milton Bradley deal with plenty of tools, but has always struggled hitting off speed stuff. He was hitting much better this season at Buffalo, making me think he’s rectified that enough to be able to bring him to Cleveland to showcase for trade possibilities.

I like Francisco. He’s as good of a guy as you’ll ever meet. I think he could be the fourth outfielder on some big league teams - it just isn’t going to happen with the Tribe.

As for Carmona, it sure looks like he’s finally figured it out. His “stuff” was never questioned, so it’s good to see the mental side has cacught up with his physical abilities. If not this year, I can see him as a No. 2 next.