This whole night and early morning seemed jammed with Cubs symbolism.
Now all that will be forgiven, though probably not forgotten. The happiest Cub may have been Maddon, who, in the view of many - okay, almost the whole baseball universe - had overused Chapman unnecessarily in Game 6, allowing him to pitch in all or parts of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, even though he had already gotten an eight-out save, the longest of his career, in Game 5. Just a guess: It was better than the one in 1908. At 12:47 a.m., after 4 hours 28 minutes, the mound mob scene began. O’Leary’s barn had that little accident in 1871. He allowed one run, but Mike Montgomery finally put out the blaze - the largest, perhaps, in the view of Chicagoans since Mrs. Incredible on a Cubs Halloween plane ride, tried to get the save. Soon World Series MVP Ben Zobrist had sliced a double into the left field corner to break the tie, then Miguel Montero singled home an insurance run.įinally, in the 10th inning, reliever Carl Edwards Jr., who had dressed as Mr. Kyle Schwarber greeted losing pitcher Bryan Shaw with a single. When the tarp was removed, the sun rose on the Cubs, even though it was past midnight. Was that the baseball gods’ idea of an appropriate amount of time for prayer, begging and unspeakable promises to all available deities? Chapman finished the eighth, then he pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game into extra innings. His blast, fair by less than 10 feet and a few rows deep into the bleachers, might as well have traveled 600 feet - and the score was 6-6.įor 108 years, this is when the “curse” arrives and gags the life out of the choking Cubs. Then on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, 35-year-old journeyman Rajai Davis launched a two-run homer into left on a 97.1-mph fastball. Obscure Brandon Guyer smashed an RBI double off the center field wall on a 97.9-mph fastball. With two of the most unexpected swings in World Series history, the baseball worlds of these two cities flipped. Paige was the first black pitcher to throw in a World Series. Cleveland outfielder Larry Doby was the first. Editor's note: A previous version of this video incorrectly stated that Satchel Paige was the first African American player in the American League. Hint: Dewey did not defeat Truman that year. He would slam the door on the Indians and extend Cleveland’s own World Series drought, which dates from 1948. Cubs fans all over the world thought they knew what would happen when he entered with a man on first base and two outs in the eighth. With a 6-3 lead and just four outs required to clinch this series, the Cubs brought on Chapman, who, earlier this year, threw a 105-mph fastball. Only this time, at long last - it only took a century or so - the abyss blinked. They lifted the silly “curse” of Murphy the Goat and roused the spirits of a worldwide legion of interwoven sufferers who share a passion and an affliction - a lifelong freely chosen Cubness.īecause this game went beyond the baseball surreal, because it provided forgetfulness and forgiveness for several Cubs who might have been enormous goats, including reliever Aroldis Chapman and Manager Joe Maddon, it seemed to encapsulate the team’s long history of staring into the abyss. Of course these Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, in 10 thrilling, brain-warping innings in Game 7 for themselves, for their own joy and glory.īut as they have been reminded endless times in the past seven months of this baseball season, they also won the Cubs’ first title since 1908 for the citizens of a nation without borders.
CLEVELAND - The Chicago Cubs won the World Series here Wednesday night for the young, the old and the long dead, too.