Even though they finished in fourth place and traded off two future Hall of Fame stars, a club that played over a hundred years ago has been making headlines all week. Thanks to this year’s historic Cleveland Indians winning streak, the 1916 New York Giants are back in the news more than a century after they made history.

It’s those Giants’ 26-game winning streak that the 2017 Indians hope to match or surpass, so a long-awaited reflection on that club seems appropriate. Led by John McGraw, the club had speed on the bases at its best asset with two-time stealing champion George Burns and future Hall of Fame third baseman Bill McKechnie.

That speed helps explain a remarkable fact, beyond the record Cleveland is currently chasing, about the 1916 Giants. Several months earlier they had enjoyed a sixteen-game winning streak, going undefeated from May 9-29.

They then began a 26-game winning streak on September 7, a 4-1 win over the Brooklyn Robins. The Giants would not lose again until the second game of a doubleheader on the last day of September, an 8-3 loss at the hands of the Boston Braves.

The record 26-game mark included a 1-1 tie against Pittsburgh on September 18, when future Hall of Famer Honus Wagner drove in the Pirates’ lone run. Another player who would one day join Wagner is Cooperstown, who had been on the Giants during the first streak, only to be traded a month before the September run.

Center fielder Edd Roush, who rarely played because of New York’s crowded lineup, was traded to Cincinnati in a trade that also saw Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Matthewson go to the Reds. Roush, of course, would be a key element of the 1919 Cincinnati team that defeated the heavily favored White Sox in the World Series, one that was marred by allegations that players paid eight Chicago players to pitch multiple games. .

Ironically, the White Sox had beaten the Giants in the World Series just two years before that scandal, just one season after New York had its remarkable 26-game skid. Unfortunately, however, the Giants team that achieved the streak was a long way from making it to the World Series in 2016.

Despite the two impressive streaks, New York finished fourth in the National League standings with just 88 wins, meaning nearly half of their wins came during those consecutive streaks. Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Boston finished ahead of the Giants, with the Robins winning the pennant only to fall to the Boston Red Sox four games to one in the World Series.

The 2017 Cleveland club, on the other hand, has used their current winning streak to bring them to the brink of clinching the AL Central championship. Not only that, but it has also awarded the Indians the best overall record in the league, which would give them home field advantage during the playoffs.