Cleveland Indians 2016 Phantom World Series Champs

Alright Cleveland, you flew too close to the sun in 2016.

After 40+ years of no pro-level championships in the city the Indians were one win away, three games in a row, of taking home their second major title in the last four months. The championship gods can be cruel, and after coming back from down 3 games to 1 (and bragging hardcore about it) in the NBA Finals, the Indians themselves fell victim to that very same fate allowing the Chicago Cubs to win their first World Series since 1908(!).

But man, what a World Series that was… we’ll be talking about it for years and years, a true Fall Classic. A round of applause to both the Indians and Cubs for giving us exciting baseball, that’s all I wanted — we got that and more.

Had the Indians won the game ~~tonight~~ this morning we’d see a split of World Series merchandise featuring both the primary “C” logo and the more recognizable (and oft-controversial) Chief Wahoo cap logo, although it appears the “C” logo is used more often. Let’s take a look at what we like to call “phantom championship” merchandise, here for the 2016 World Series Phantom Champion Cleveland Indians.

We start with what the Indians players would have worn on the field and in the locker room as they celebrated the championship immediately following the game:

And now moving on to the retail-only collection, starting with ballcaps (click any thumbnail for a larger image):

T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies (click any thumbnail for a larger image):

Collectables (click any thumbnail for larger view):

Sorry Indians fans, I know this must hurt and that’s certainly not my intention in making this post, sometimes it’s neat to get a glimpse into the alternate universe. If you’d like to see our other “phantom championship” posts, you can check those out here.