Cleveland is back.

Just months after the Cleveland Cavaliers came down from three games to one to beat the 73-win Golden State Warriors and win the NBA Finals, the Cleveland Indians stand on the precipice of making their first World Series since 1997.

It’s tempting to look at this sudden change in fortune and wonder if some cosmic forces are in play here, if there is some deity that is suddenly smiling down that little slice of Ohio.

Much like I debunked a Washington sports curse, however, I’m going to similarly rain on this parade of supernatural theories and say this: Nothing mystical is happening in Cleveland. Their teams got smart (and very lucky). And this is going to be a lot of fun for awhile.

This is a boring explanation. I realize this. It’s more fun to think about a change in the earth’s polarity or some such thing bringing instant fortune to Cleveland. That Ohio was forever changed when the Cavaliers managed to win that title.

And while it’s tempting to say that the Indians have been the benefactors of some cosmic shift now that the Cavaliers have lifted the monkey off the whatever, it’s a simplistic thing to say. The Indians were a pre-season World Series pick for several pundits, including our own Ted Berg (who predicted a Cubs-Indians World Series). They had built one of the most promising young staffs in baseball, a terrifying bullpen, a great manager in Terry Francona, and enough pop in the lineup to put runs on the board.

Any team, located anywhere on Earth, who had a starting rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer was going to be good. That three of those guys aren’t really involved this series speaks to the team’s depth, and the bullpen, well, having Andrew Miller and Cody Allen makes things a lot easier. Francisco Lindor is one of the game’s most promising young players. The team has speed, is great in the field, has young guys and veterans and everything you’re looking for.

Again, if this roster was located anywhere, this would be true. The Indians were poised to make a postseason run because they put together a great team, not because they sacrificed a goat to the Sports Gods.

As for the Cavaliers, well, they got lucky. LeBron James, the most important NBA player of the last 20 years, decided he wanted to come home and bring a championship to Cleveland. Without that decision, none of this happens. If James wasn’t born in Akron, this doesn’t happen. He made a choice, and put the pieces in place around him, and brought Cleveland a title.

Maybe some divine force had something to do with James’ decision. Maybe the Cavaliers’ championship win took the pressure off the Indians in some subtle way and has allowed them to play more freely this postseason, without the pressures that come with trying to break such a long title drought.

It’s all tied up and impossible to quantify, but what is clear is this: The Cleveland teams put themselves in a position to win. The Indians through smart trades and drafting, the Cavaliers by getting lucky that LeBron decided he would rewrite his legacy and got the team around him to do so.

Now all that’s left is the Browns. (That could take a while.)