When Kris Bryant fielded a ground ball to retire Michael Martinez, it ended a 108-year drought that can only be called the last great American sports story. The Chicago Cubs were the champions of baseball, making for a celebration unlike anything ever seen in sport.
The Cubs didn’t have the rag-tag, dirt dawg persona of the 2004 Red Sox, but don’t think for a moment that the North Side boys weren’t out there having the time of their life, from the chilly days of April to the chillier days of October. Seeing Kris Bryant smiling as he grabbed that game-winning putout Wednesday night was pure, unadulterated beauty, because in this age of constant conflict, no one gave two shits about contracts or salaries. 25 Cubs gathered in the obligatory pig-pile at the mound, because they know they had just written the perfect ending to the greatest sports story of all time, and it was awesome.
The 2016 Cubs were not a Cinderella by any stretch–they won 103 games, while losing only 58, and boasted both the best lineup and starting rotation in the game. Winning the World Series was simply the expectation, but that doesn’t take away from the magic of what transpired Wednesday night at Progressive Field.
You see, the Cubs of 1909-2015 were THE Cinderella story. Day after day, month after month, year after year, this team managed to hit some sort of wall. Sometimes it happened in April, or sometimes it happened in the eighth inning of the National League Championship Series. But sooner or later, every year, the Cubbies got stuck in the mud, and their paws weren’t going nowhere. On a sultry summer’s day, with the sun shining and the lakefront wind whirling, Harry Karay reminded us all that “if they don’t win, it’s a shame.” Damn straight, Harry.
So many stars have come and gone over the years. There was Hack Wilson, Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Andy Pafko, Phil Cavarretta, and Claude Posseau. There was Ernie Banks, Ralph Kiner, Buck O’Neil, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins, Bill Hands and Ken Holtzman. Later on, we saw Bobby Murcer, Rick Reuschel, Bill Madlock, and Bill Buckner. Why stop there? Rick Sutcliffe, Andre Dawson, Shawon Dunston, Ryne Sandberg, and Sammy Sosa. Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Derrek Lee, and Carlos Zambrano kept things spicy at Wrigley during the 21st century, when the top stories out of Wrigley seemed to be perennial losing and one unfortunate flop by a young, headphone-donning fan down the left-field line.
When the Cubs hit the field this April, the clock struck midnight for the Cubbies. The fairy-tale bullshit was finally over, but the magic was only beginning. The Cubs have always been different–they don’t live or die by a cliche, underdog tale that’s been blown up and beaten around more than the Bartman ball. They require a different antidote. The Cubs had to go out, win 103 games, be the National League top-dog, then play another drought-ridden team for the title. Then they had to go down 3-1 at the hands of the Indians, who boasted their own epic story regarding their journey to the Fall Classic. After winning two in a row to get to Game 7, the Cubs then had to blow a 5-1 lead, then a 6-4 lead, then prevail with hot bats in the tenth inning to pull it out. The Cubs go against the grain, in just about everything they do. But boy, is it fun to watch.
This is one of the great sports stories ever told. I’m Red Sox born and bred, but this is the greatest baseball feat of all-time simply due to longevity. The love for those lovable losers was palpable. Cubs fans drove hundreds of miles to listen to the game from the graves of parents, leaving flowers on the tombstones along with Cubs pennants and scorecards. A 108-year old Cubs fanatic (yep, 108) watched her team win it all from a New Hampshire nursing home. Bill Murray and Eddie Vedder closed a 5AM dive bar in Cleveland.
Baseball is a slow game, and in recent years we’ve found that to be detrimental to fan enjoyment and overall popularity of the sport. Well, this World Series might as well have put an end to that discussion. You see, baseball needs time to be processed. Every pitch, every out, every game needs to be digested, and eventually, romanticized. And for over 40 million people on Wednesday night, that reality was once again realized. Baseball needed this team. America needed this team. Hell, 2016 needed this team.
We expected so much from this team right from the get-go, and they did not disappoint. Congratulations, Cubbies, on an incredible achievement. Throw that glass slipper in Lake Michigan–you don’t need it anymore.
In the start of the season, fans had been doubtful that the team would take home the Championship trophy. Chicago hitters had been doing good hits but unfortunately sending the balls to the Indian defenders. They say that if the Chicago Cubs would earn another loss it’ll put them in a 3-1 hole and on the verge of losing the series. Good thing they got back up and scored themselves out the hole and into the ring. Awesome play Cubs! That’s right Cinderellas no more!