Yogi Berra was right: It's not over til it's over.
Even if a race seems settled, as long as there's a way, as long as there are enough games left on the schedule, there's still time to rally.
As the Guardians try to work their way back from a 15 1/2-game deficit to get within shouting distance of the AL Central-leading Tigers, we got to thinking about other teams that overcame huge deficits to win their divisions.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been five clubs to overcome a deficit of 12 1/2 or more games and finish in first place since the Divisional Era began in 1969.
Here's a look at those teams that dug themselves a big hole, but found a way out to become division champs.
1978 Yankees (14 games back in AL East)
The '78 Yankees -- despite having perennial All-Stars such as Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles and Thurman Munson -- fought an uphill battle for more than half the season. Though they were never more than three games under .500 (and that was in mid-April), they just couldn't catch the first-place Red Sox and were 14 games out -- and in fourth place -- entering play on July 19.
But they went 53-21 from that day forward, including an incredible 20-3 stretch from late August to early September that was punctuated by the "Boston Massacre," a four-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park that moved New York into a tie for first. The Yankees held a slim lead down the stretch, but the Red Sox caught them on the last day of the season, forcing a Game 163 tiebreaker at Fenway Park to decide the division. The Yankees won that game, which is often summed up in three words: Bucky Freakin' Dent.
They weren't done, either. The Yankees beat the Royals in the AL Championship Series and the Dodgers in the World Series, making them the only team on this list to go all the way.
2012 Athletics (13 games back in AL West)
The A's never got going during the first half of 2012 and ended June with a 37-42 record that had them in third place, 13 games back of the first-place Rangers, and pretty much left for dead in the AL West. But, out of nowhere, the team caught fire as the calendar flipped to July.
They started by winning 16 of 18 and finished the month with a 19-5 record (as Texas went 9-14) that left them just 3 1/2 games out as August arrived. The A's stayed hot in August and September, winning nine straight at one point, but still trailed Texas by two games going into the season's final series -- against those same Rangers. After winning the first two games to tie for the division lead, the A's trailed 5-1 in the finale before erupting for 11 unanswered runs -- aided by three Rangers errors -- and won 12-5 to take the division. However, they couldn't keep the momentum going in the postseason, falling to the Tigers in a five-game AL Division Series.
1995 Mariners (13 games back in AL West)
The Mariners were three games under .500 on Aug. 2 and not even in the conversation for the divisional lead. The first-place Angels had an 11-game lead on the Rangers, with the M's sitting 13 games back and focused on a Wild Card berth. But something happened in early September: The team went from lukewarm to scalding. Aided by Jay Buhner's 40-homer season and Edgar Martinez's AL-leading .356 average, Seattle went 19-8 that month and surged into first place as the Angels completely collapsed, the victims of TWO nine-game losing streaks down the stretch.
But the Angels still had a pulse and the two teams were tied atop the division at the completion of the 144-game strike-shortened season, setting up a one-game tiebreaker in Seattle. Unfortunately for the Angels, they had to face prime Randy Johnson, who went the distance, allowed one run and struck out 12 as the Mariners won 9-1 to earn their first division crown. They then beat the Yankees in the ALDS before coming up two wins short of a trip to the World Series, losing to Cleveland in the ALCS.
2006 Twins (12 1/2 games back in AL Central)
The '06 Twins had their biggest division deficit in May, but, like some other teams on this list, it really took until the dog days of August before they started to make a dent in the standings. Though they went 37-15 in June and July, won 11 straight at one point and surged from eight games under .500 to 19 games over, the Twins still sat 10 1/2 games behind the AL Central-leading Tigers on Aug. 7.
But led by eventual AL MVP Justin Morneau, AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana and AL batting champ Joe Mauer, they used several modest winning streaks to narrow Detroit's lead -- as the Tigers went 25-31 in August and September -- before finally tying for the division lead on Sept. 28. They remained tied heading into the last day of the season before the Twins pulled out a 5-1 win over the White Sox and the Tigers fell to the Royals for their fifth straight loss. That gave Minnesota the division crown before the club suffered an ALDS sweep against the A's.
1973 Mets (12 1/2 games back in NL East)
The world champion 1969 Mets get the "miracle" moniker, but the '73 squad might have a better case for that distinction. They were in last place on July 8 and trailed the first-place Cubs by 12 1/2 games in the NL East, but the team was also eight games under .500 as late as Sept. 1. But then Tug McGraw issued his famous "Ya gotta believe" directive and, well, a lot happened.
The Mets went 20-8 in September/October and used a seven-game winning streak to leap over the Pirates and into first place with a 1 1/2-game lead. But after dropping two straight, leaving their division lead very much in doubt (not to mention a winning season in general), the Mets closed out the season with two wins against the Cubs to finish 82-79 -- tied with the 2005 Padres for the fewest wins by a division champion. These Mets weren't done, making it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series before coming up just short against the A's.