1948 When Cleveland Last Won The World Series

It's been 68 years, a long dry spell, since the Cleveland Indians were champions of Major League Baseball's World Series. How about a look back at how it happened?For starters, 1948 marked the first time in American League history, that two teams finished the season tied, however, the Indians advanced to the World Series with a one-game playoff victory over the Red Sox. Cleveland would go on to win the series in 6 games over the Boston Braves.

They had help from two black players who just a couple years before would not have been allowed on the field. Larry Doby and Satchel Paige likely endured discrimination and outright racism during the regular season, but both players were key contributors to Cleveland’s American League title. Satchel Paige didn’t factor into the World Series victory over the Boston Braves. He only appeared in one game and faced just two batters.

On the other hand, Doby, (pictured above in 1997), had a great series. He batted .318 with an on base percentage of .375 and a slugging percentage of .500.

With this year's series knotted up with one win each for the Cub's and Indians, they leave Cleveland and head to Chicago for games 3, 4 and 5. There's no game tonight due to travel.

Game 3, tomorrow night, will mark the first World Series game at Wrigley Field, since 1945.