While the Indians didn’t reach their ultimate goal of being the best in baseball, they were still the best in the American League and it seems appropriate to rank them among the greatest League Champions in Cleveland history. These only look at the major sport franchises (NFL, NBA and MLB) that won their league pennant, even if they didn’t win the whole thing.
10. 1995 Cleveland Indians – Lost World Series vs Atlanta Braves
As much as the 2015-16 Cavs were the curse breakers, the 1995 Indians were the first team to make Cleveland sports relevant again. They were the first Indians team to win 100 games since 1954 and the second ever. They were the first Cleveland team to reach the championship game/round since the Browns in 1964. They single handedly ended decades of sports misery for a city even if they didn’t go all the way. This team was an offensive juggernaut lead by the three players who still hold the top three spots in career home runs for the Tribe, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle and had a surprisingly solid pitching staff. Jose Mesa had a season as closer that may never be matched and Orel Hershiser pitched in the play-offs like it was 1988 all over again. Despite all that, the Braves had multiple Hall of Famers on the mound and held the Indians to just seven runs in their four losses. They did at least win two games, Cleveland’s first wins in a championship game since 1964 and the Indians first since 1948.
9. 1954 Cleveland Indians – Lost World Series vs New York Giants
The 1954 World Series is mostly remembered for Willie Mays‘ catch of a Vic Wertz fly to center in game one and the subsequent sweep, but the team that got there was extremely impressive. Hall of Famers Early Wynn and Bob Lemon lead the rotation along with Mike Garcia while Al Rosen and Larry Doby provided the power. The team won an MLB record 111 games (.672 winning percent) and looked ready to steamroll the Giants until the exact opposite happened.
8. 1954 Cleveland Browns – Won NFL Championship vs Detroit Lions
The Browns lost just one game in 1951 and 1953 during the regular season, but each time they lost when it really mattered, in the NFL Championship game. In 1954, they were beaten week one, by the Eagles, then by the Steelers and in the final week of the season by the Lions. Despite losing 14-10 against Detroit during the season, they dominated the Lions in the championship game 56-10 to win their second NFL Championship and sixth between the NFL and AAFC. They would repeat the feat the following season again thanks to an incredible defense and the final season of Otto Graham at quarter back.
7. 2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers – Lost NBA Finals vs Golden State Warriors
Unlike the other devastating championship losses for Cleveland teams, this Cavs team was demolished by injuries and almost certainly would have been able to win with a healthy roster. They proved this the following season in the rematch, but even with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love hurt, they still brought the Warriors to game six, winning games two and three. To get there, the Cavs won the Central easily, finishing second to Atlanta in the East, then swept Boston, beat Chicago in six and swept the Hawks to get to the Finals against the Warriors. Despite a starting five in game six against Golden State that featured Lebron James followed by Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellevedova, the Cavs still only lost the final game by 8.
6. 2016 Cleveland Indians – Lost World Series vs Chicago Cubs
You can’t get any closer to winning a title than extra innings in game seven of the World Series and the Indians have done so twice in the last twenty years and still not won a ring. Much like the previous Cavaliers listing, the Indians were decimated by injuries, particularly late in the season with Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco going down, but earlier on as well with Yan Gomes and Michael Brantley being significant losses. Hopefully, the Cavs will have provided the precedence for this team and they can return next year healthy and take the whole thing as the Cavs did earlier this year.
5. 1964 Cleveland Browns – Won NFL Championship vs Baltimore Colts
After great success early on in franchise history (more on that later), the Browns missed the play-offs five years in a row after losing in the divisional round in 1958. They won 10 games for the second of three straight seasons in 1964, largely on the back of Jim Brown, who averaged over 100 rushing yards per game over the 14 game season. Eight time pro bowler and Hall of Famer Paul Warfield was Frank Ryan’s primary target and the trio combined to be the second best offense in the league. In the title game, the Browns completely outmatched the Colts, who were the best offensive and defensive team during the regular season, winning the game 27-0. This team gained further reverence as it was the last Cleveland championship until the Cavs broke the curse in 2016.
4. 1948 Cleveland Indians – Won World Series vs Boston Braves
It’s very possible that no Cleveland team will ever be as full of truly incredible, world class players as the 1948 Indians (although if you go by percentages, the Cavs with Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are close). The pitching staff included Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Satchel Paige. The manager was Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau and his Hall of Fame double play partner Joe Gordon. In addition, they had another Hall of Famer in the outfield in Larry Doby and the player considered the bench mark for being as close to being a Hall of Famer as possible without being one, Ken Keltner, at third base. This group really underperformed considering they made it to just two World Series (most of them just one), but it all worked perfectly in 1948 as they beat the Boston Red Sox in a one game play-off behind the rookie Gene Bearden, then the World Series in six games against the Braves.
3. 1950 Cleveland Browns – Won NFL Championship vs Los Angeles Rams
The Browns won the league title in each of their first five seasons, went to the championship game in their first ten seasons and were champions seven times between 1946 and 1955, but 1950 was their first season in the NFL rather than the eight team All-American Football Conference. The Browns lost just two games during the regular season, both against the New York Giants and, after going 10-2, beat the Giants when it mattered in the divisional round of the play-offs. In the NFL championship game they won a tight one, 30-28 against the Rams. This wasn’t indicative of their regular season success where they had the second best defense and fourth best offense thanks to Hall of Fame QB Otto Graham.
2. 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers – Won NBA Finals vs Golden State Warriors
After winning the East in the previous season and for the third time with Lebron James at the head, the Cavs finally ended their championship drought in 2016 after, never before winning in their previous 46 seasons. They easily made the play-offs as the top team in the East, then burned through their early opponents with sweeps of the Pistons and Hawks in the first two rounds. Toronto provided a slightly more difficult opponent, but they still won the series in six games before taking on the Warriors for the second straight season. No one needs a reminder of what happened next as they fell to 1-3 in the series before storming back and completely shutting down Steph Curry over the next three games to win it all in game seven.
1. 1920 Cleveland Indians – Won World Series vs Brooklyn Robins
There’s nothing like your first. Long before the creation of the Browns and Cavaliers, Clevelanders were already worried about a lengthy drought without an a league pennant. In the franchises 20th season, they finally won not just the AL Championship, but the World Series on the back of an incredible pitching staff including Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski, Jim Bagby, Sr. and Duster Mails. Hall of Famer, Tris Speaker, managed and played center field and the team survived the mid-season death of Ray Chapman, replacing him with another Hall of Famer in Joe Sewell. In the series itself, which was one of the few that was a best of 9 instead of best of seven, the Indians won four in a row to finish off the Robins after losing two of the first three.
Cleveland’s Other Pennant Winning Seasons: Indians 1997, Cavaliers 2006-07, Browns 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957 & 1965
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