CLEVELAND, Ohio — On July 8, the Guardians sat buried, 15 ½ games behind Detroit in the American League Central, their season written off before the dog days had even arrived. The standings said it was over. Logic said it was over. But in the upper decks and along the baselines at Progressive Field, there were still specks of stubborn faith.

Fans in navy and red who refused to let go, who clung to something invisible even as doubt slowly crept into the clubhouse itself.

By the end of the regular season, that attendance number reached 2,510,360 . It is the first time Cleveland has drawn 2 million fans in consecutive years since 2007 and 2008.

From that faith came a miracle. From that murmur of belief came the champagne of Sept. 28 , when Cleveland stormed back to complete the largest

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