We are going to need a bigger boat.
A bigger screen.
A bigger W to fly.
Better yet this is ginormous.
The Chicago Cubs have won their first World Series title since 1908, outlasting the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings of a Game 7 thriller.
Baseball is a snooze button for six months. But these baseball playoffs have been far from boring. The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series after disappointment, tales of Billy goats, Bartman and extra innings with a dash of rain delay.
In a scripted like moment, it happened when Kris Bryant started to smile even before he fielded the ball. With his throw to Anthony Rizzo at first for the final out, the agonizing nicknamed lovable losers became lovable champs.
“It happened. It happened. Chicago, it happened,” first baseman Rizzo said after gloving the ball for the final out. “We did it. We’re world champions. I tell ya, we’re world champions. I can’t believe it.”
Rizzo put that final ball in his pocket. Cue it up. Hey Chicago what do you say? Go Cubs Go.
Wait in Cubs fashion, the baseball gods said it will not be that easy. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman blew a 6-3 lead with two outs in the eighth when Rajai Davis hit a tying, two-run homer. Davis’ hit was equivalent to a punch in the stomach to Cubs fans who really did not expect it.
The Cubs were blessed with a timeout used in football or basketball: a rain delay.
The rain delay may have had social media on pins and needles with fans on both sides, but the Cubs used it to remind themselves they will not be going back to Chicago empty-handed. They had tormented their fans long enough, came right back after a 17-minute rain delay before the top of the 10th and were not shell-shocked.
Minus the nail biting and need for oxygen tanks to summarize it, series MVP Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double and Miguel Montero singled home a run to make it 8-6. Davis delivered an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half, but Mike Montgomery closed it out at 12:47 a.m., and history was made.
“This is an epic game. It’s epic. I can’t believe we were able to do it — 108 years in the making,” Zobrist said. “We did it.”
Not only did the Cubs halt the longest stretch without a title in baseball, they also became the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
Off the diamond curses of the Bambino and the Billy Goat all gone courtesy of Cubs general manager Theo Epstein who has ended 194 years of droughts between Boston and Chicago.
“We don’t need a plane to fly home,” Epstein said. “It’s fitting it’s got to be done with one of the best games of all time.”
Epstein has punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame. Only thing left for him may be is the Cleveland Browns.
Speaking of breaking curses, the beat goes on for the Indians who now have gone longer than anyone without a crown. In the Indians’ previous World Series appearance, they were a double-play grounder from winning the 1997 title before losing Game 7 in 11 innings to the Florida Marlins.
“It’s going to hurt. It hurts because we care, but they need to walk with their head held high because they left nothing on the field,” manager Terry Francona said.
Earlier this year, LeBron James and the Cavaliers ended Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat Golden State for the NBA title. James and teammates were present, rooting hard, as the Indians absorbed the same blow as the Warriors.
The game itself was exhausting. However that was as good a Game 7 you will ever see and arguably the greatest Game 7 outside of baseball. The drama, it had it all. The Indians have now been involved in two Game 7s in the last 20 seasons and have lost both. The team that won this Game 7 is part of the biggest sports story of my lifetime. Las Vegas has stated the Cubs are the team to beat next year. If it happens again we will not need a bigger screen, the W flown from this year is big enough to last.
Photo/FoxMLB/twitter
Photo/ChicagoCubs/twitter
Photo/ChicagoCubs/twitter
