The Cleveland Indians are currently battling the Chicago Cubs for the World Series. Much has been made, for good reason, of the 108 year title drought that the Cubs have suffered through. Decades of black cats and billy goats have cast Wrigley Field in curses since Claude Passeau was toeing the rubber.

Over in Cleveland the dry spell has been something fierce as well. They haven’t taken home the title since Harry S. Truman was in office.

Over the last decade, the Indians have shown tremendous promise, but either opted to make moves to invest in prospects by trading current talent like Cy Young award winners Cliff Lee (traded to Philadelphia in 2009) and CC Sabathia (traded to Milwaukee in 2008) or were debilitated by injuries in cases like sluggers Travis Hafner (after chronic knee and back injuries signed by Yankee’s after 2012 season) and former star Grady Sizemore (Struggled with injuries to elbow, back and both knees. Released in 2012 after appearing in zero games).

So In 2013, it had been 6 seasons since the Cleveland Indians had even tasted the playoffs. All of those stars of the past long. Half of those seasons tallying less than 70 wins and finishing in fourth place in the American League Central.

The Indians next move? They hired two-time World Series winning former manager of the Boston Red Sox- Terry Francona.

In his first year in Cleveland Francona led the Tribe to 90 wins and a playoff berth.

Which brings us to the 2016 season. How did a team marred with remarkable injuries- their best hitter has been out all year since early shoulder surgery and their No. 2 and 3 starters were hurt in September and have been out since, a team with the fourth lowest payroll not to mention the AL’s second worst attendance- win the American League?

Those losing season do come with a consolation prize- strong draft picks. The Indians have five No. 1 draft picks on their roster, three of which were drafted by Cleveland. Of course, not all draft picks pan out, but sometimes as Ozzie Guillen likes to say, I’d rather be lucky than good. Turns out they were both. Those picks snagged them prospects like pitcher Danny Salazar and everyday guys like Lonnie Chisenhall, Tyler Naquin, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis just to name a few. All raised grassroots within their own minor league farm system.

Also, remember those little investments? Those aging starters that they started trading away for young players in the late 2000’s. Trading away veterans helped pave the way for budding superstars like 2016 Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber. However, not all of those investments have paid dividends for the Indians through this season. The major players that the Indians gained from those high profile trades of Sabathia and Cliff Lee being pitcher Carlos Carrasco and star hitter Michael Brantley are both on the disabled list this postseason, unable to contribute to the championship effort. So it’s been up to the homegrown talent like replacement Third Baseman Jose Ramirez to step up and fill the roles left behind.

The way they have circumvented those injuries has been both the depth of their roster they have cultivated and by playing extremely smart and aggressive baseball, led by one of the the most dynamic, yet under the radar pitching staffs in baseball.

The Indians staff finished second in the AL in wins, era, and first in hits and strikeouts. On the offensive side led by 22-year-old star Francisco Lindor they finished third in average, second in runs and first in steals and sacrifices.

All of this culminated this year to elevate the lowly Cleveland Indians who hadn’t sold out a non-opening day home game in three years before July to the young, scrappy and hungry force to be reckoned with in this World Series.

Sources

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/six-unsung-heroe...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2016.s...

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/history/year_...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brantm...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carrac...

http://www.espn.com/mlb/team/salaries/_/name/chc/c...

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2016/01/h...

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2016/07/cleveland_indians_attendance_n.html