After falling behind 3 games to 1 against the Indians in the 2016 World Series, the Cubs rallied back to force a Game 7 for the ages.  After taking an early lead, the Cubs found themselves tied at the end of 9 innings thanks to an overused Aroldis Chapman.  A brief rain delay before the 10th let them catch their breath and they plated 2 runs before giving up 1 in the bottom of the 10th.  With the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate, Mike Montgomery managed to get Michael Martinez to ground out to Kris Bryant, ending the game and giving the Cubs their first World Series title since 1908 and the cities first title since 2005.

The Cubs spent most of 2016 as the best team in baseball and appeared to have the right attitude regarding the so-called curses that had stopped the team from even appearing in the Fall Classic since 1945.  Once the team won the NL Pennant two weekends ago, it looked like nothing would stop them from taking the title, especially not an Indians team that had a decimated starting rotation and was forced to use their remaining pitchers on short rest for the entire series.  After splitting the first two games at Progressive Field, the Cubs came home to Wrigley Field feeling confident, but dropped to next 2 games to leave the Indians one win away from their first title since 1948, the second longest title-drought in the Major Leagues.  Facing elimination, the Cubs managed to win the next 3 games.

With a throw from Kris Bryant to Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs managed to erase 108 years of futility and their identity as the “lovable losers.”  Nobody knows what the future now holds for the team.  There will be increased expectations and, probably, less tolerance for failure from a fan base that has had more than its fair share.  But those are worries for next spring.  For now, the Cubs, and their fans, can enjoy being on top of the baseball world for the first time since the Teddy Roosevelt administration.