A Brief History
On October 19, 2016, just a few hours ago, the Cleveland Indians won the American League Pennant (Championship) and earned a ticket to the World Series against either the LA Dodgers or the Chicago Cubs, starting Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4 games to 1 (finishing with a 3-0 shut out) after beating the Boston Red Sox 3 games to 0 put an intimidating stamp on the playoffs. And this was with the loss of 2 of their best pitchers late in the season!
Digging Deeper
Not a bad year for Cleveland sports fans, fans that had languished without a major sports championship since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964 with Jim Brown carrying the ball. The stretch of over 50 years without a championship was a civic embarrassment and kind of depressing to boot.
All this depression changed radically in 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers led by Lebron James captured their first ever NBA championship, and then mixed martial artist Stipe Miocic (from suburban Cleveland) won the UFC Heavyweight championship, and threw in a successful defense of his belt in Cleveland as an exclamation point. Although not technically a major league team, the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League also won their league championship in 2016. (Too bad the Browns are so bad!)
Cleveland also “won” another “big league” title by earning the right to host the 2016 Republican National Convention, an event expected to be a contentious and maybe even riotous affair. Well, Cleveland and the excellent Cleveland Police Department pulled off a wonderful job as hosts and provided a welcoming and safe environment for the convention.
The Indians last won the AL Pennant and went to the World Series in 1997 and 1995, but last won a World Series in 1948. (Other appearances in the Big Show were in 1920 and 1954.) Here is wishing the Tribe good luck and good health throughout the World Series. Way to go, Indians!
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Perfect Timing. Cleveland Indians 2016 Calendar. John F Turner & Co, 2015.