Cleveland's 10 Greatest Teams
Somewhat Honorable Mention to the 2007 Cleveland Indians. The Tribe's only Playoff berth between 2001 and 2013, they won the American League Central Division, then beat the Yankees in a weird AL Division Series, and led the Boston Red Sox 3 games to 1 in the AL Championship Series. Then they blew the Pennant. That, not the bugs from the ALDS or anything else, is why it's "Somewhat Honorable."
Honorable Mention to the 1945 Cleveland Rams. Founded in an early version of the American Football League in 1936, they came into the NFL in 1937, and won the NFL Championship in 1945, defeating the Washington Redskins. However, poor attendance, and the prospect of a booming market elsewhere, led owner Dan Reeves -- no relation to the later coach of the same name -- to move them to Los Angeles for the 1946 season.
Honorable Mention to the 1980-82 Cleveland Browns. After finally dethroning the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers as AFC Central Division Champions, Northern Ohio was sky-high over its favorite sports team. Then came a heartbreaking Divisional Playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders. After missing the Playoffs in 1981, the Browns made it again in 1982, but again lost to the Raiders.
Honorable Mention to the 1975-78 Cleveland Cavaliers. After 4 horrible expansion seasons, they nearly reached .500 in 1974-75, and then won their 1st NBA Central Division title in 1976. They eliminated the defending Eastern Conference Champion Washington Bullets in a 7-game series known as the Miracle of Richfield, for the location of their Coliseum, before losing the Eastern Conference Finals to the Boston Celtics. They made the Playoffs the next 2 years, but lost in the 1st Round each time. It would take another 7 years to get back to the Playoffs.
Honorable Mention to the Cleveland Barons. They won 9 Calder Cups as Champions of the American Hockey League: 1939, 1941, 1945, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1957 and 1964.
During the NHL's "Original Six" era, especially in the late 1940s and through the 1950s, not only were they no worse than the 8th-best team in North America -- the Quebec Senior League's Quebec Aces may have been 7th -- but they may have been better than 1 or 2 NHL teams, including the Rangers. They even challenged the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup in 1954, noting that the Cup was originally a challenge trophy. The NHL rejected this.
With the World Hockey Association having established the Cleveland Crusaders, the Barons moved. But in 1976, the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, and took on the Barons name. They were far less successful, merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978, and Cleveland has had only minor-league hockey teams since.
Now, the Top 10:
10. 1987-98 Cleveland Cavaliers. Over 11 seasons, they made 9 Playoffs, and reached the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals. The difference? In 5 of those seasons, they were knocked out by Michael Jordan and the Bulls, and their 1989 elimination on Jordan's "The Shot" in the deciding Game 5 in Richfield may have been more painful than the 1992 defeat.
9. 2005-10 Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron Part I. In 5 seasons, they won 2 Division titles, and won a Playoff round each year. They reached their 1st NBA Finals in 2007, but got swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
Then they lost the 2008 Conference Finals to an Orlando Magic team they should have beaten, and the 2009 Conference Semifinals to the defending champion Boston Celtics, a series in which even LeBron didn't show up for a full game -- leading to the joke that maybe he should play hockey, since hockey games only have 3 periods, and other jokes involving "quarters."
His contract played out, and owner Dan Gilbert never having brought in a 2nd star that could carry some of the load, LeBron left, "taking my talents to South Beach," where he, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh could share the load.
8. 1985-89 Cleveland Browns. After the 1980 and '82 Playoff losses, then there was a transition before they made the Playoffs again in 1985, starting a 5-year run of Januarys. But they lost the 1986 and 1987 AFC Championship Games in crushing fashion. When they lost the 1989 AFC title game by 16 points -- their 3rd title game loss to the Denver Broncos in 4 years -- it was almost a mercy killing.
The Browns made the Playoffs again in 1994, and won a Wild Card round -- in a retroactive irony, head coach Bill Belichick beat the New England Patriots. Then came the 1995 move, and the 1999 restoration. But they've only made the Playoffs once since, in 2002. Last year, they put together the 2nd 0-16 season in NFL history. Over the last seasons, the Cleveland Browns, one of the NFL's proudest teams, are 4-44.
7. 2016-17 Cleveland Indians. In the last 2 seasons the Indians have won a Pennant and taken Game 7 of a World Series to a 10th inning, with the tying and winning runs on base before being defeated; and won 102 games to take the AL Central, but lost an ALDS to the Yankees. This team could achieve more, and move up the list.
6. 1994-2001 Cleveland Indians. Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) was opened in 1994, and the Indians' plan to build and be ready to get into their 1st Pennant race since 1959 paid off. Then came the Strike of '94. But they won the Pennant in 1995, their 1st in 41 years, but lost the World Series to the Atlanta Braves in 6 games.
They won another AL Central title in 1996, but lost the ALDS to the Baltimore Orioles. They beat the Yankees and the Orioles in the 1997 Playoffs, and led Game 7 of the World Series in the bottom of the 9th inning. But the team then known as the Florida Marlins came back and won it in the 11th. This was followed by a 1998 ALCS loss to the Yankees, a 1999 ALDS loss to the Red Sox, a near-miss for the Playoffs in 2000, and a tough 2001 ALDS loss to the Seattle Mariners. That was it for the best Cleveland baseball team since the 1st term of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
5. 1917-26 Cleveland Indians. The team then known as the Naps, for 2nd baseman-manager Napoleon Lajoie, just missed the American League Pennant in 1908. Then they struggled for a few years, before a new player-manager, center fielder Tris Speaker, was brought in. They finished 3rd in 1917, and 2nd in 1918 and '19, before winning the team's 1st Pennant and World Series in 1920.
Then came the 1st Yankee dynasty, keeping the Tribe out. They finished 2nd in 1921, 3rd in 1923, and 2nd again in 1926, and then Speaker had to leave under dubious circumstances. It would be nearly a generation before their next near run, finishing 1 game out in 1940.
4. 1964-72 Cleveland Browns. 9 seasons, 7 Playoff berths, 6 Division titles (1964 and '65 NFL Eastern; 1967, '68 and '69 NFL Century; 1971 AFC Central), 4 NFL Championship Games, and the 1964 NFL Championship -- Super Bowl -II, if you prefer. It is still the Browns' last title.
3. 1948-54 Cleveland Indians. Nap Lajoie couldn't quite do it, but Tris Speaker did, and then, in 1948, another player-manager took the Indians to a Pennant. Shortstop Lou Boudreau got them to a tie with the Boston Red Sox, then personally hit 2 home runs in the 1-game Playoff to take the Pennant. The Indians then beat the other Boston team, the Braves, in 6 games to take the World Series.
But that remains the Indians' last World Championship. They finished 3rd in 1949, 4th despite 92 wins in 1950, then 3 straight 2nd-place finishes behind the Yankees, before finally toppling them, winning 111 games, an AL record that would stand for 47 years.
They finished 2nd again in 1955 and '56, and again in '59, and then entered a long period of dormancy, plagued by financial issues that came close to forcing them to move more than once. That the Indians are even still in Cleveland is a great story. That they haven't won a World Series since Thomas Dewey didn't actually beat Harry Truman is a sad story.
2. 2014-18 Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron Part II. Having whined his way back from South Beach to Lake Erie, the Cavs assembled a team he thought worthy of him, and all was forgiven for the prodigal son. They've made 3 straight NBA Finals, and in 2016 finally won the franchise's 1st NBA Championship, the 1st World Championship for any Cleveland team since the 1964 Browns.
They are now 1 win away from eliminating the Toronto Raptors and making a 4th straight Conference Finals, probably against the Boston Celtics. But they'd have to win another title to even be considered for moving up.
1. 1946-55 Cleveland Browns. 10 seasons. 10 league championship games. The 1st 4 in the All-America Football Conference, all won. The last 6 in the National Football League, winning in 1950, 1954 and 1955. They not only won titles, but they revolutionized football offense under head coach and general manager Paul Brown.
They added another NFL Championship Game in 1957, but lost. They added a tie, and thus a Playoff, for the NFL Eastern Division in 1958, but lost to the Giants.
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