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Cleveland Indians History: The only time a team ever lost a title by a half-game

Cleveland Indians fans may be thinking: “What? How could that happen? Clearly one of the two teams had a game they needed to make up.”

It’s true. Today teams make up games if needed to determine who wins the championship. Even 100 years ago they did that. But 110 years ago, they did not. The Tigers had a September game against Washington rained out. The game wasn’t made up. The Tigers finished 90-63. The Indians, at 90-64 were a half-game behind. That’s how it ended.

Worse – there was time for a makeup game. The Cubs and New York Giants finished tied for the regular season and (even back then) had to do a one-game playoff.