On This Date: The Cubs Win the World Series, 108 Years Later (Nov. 2, 2016)
On Nov. 2, 2016, the Cubs beat Cleveland 8-7 in 10 innings of Game 7, surviving a blown lead and a rain delay to win their first World Series since 1908.
For most of a century, the Chicago Cubs were baseball’s favorite punch line. They had a curse, a goat, a fan named Steve Bartman, and a championship drought older than Wrigley Field itself.
On Nov. 2, 2016, in Cleveland, they finally won it. It took 10 innings, a rain delay and a team meeting in a weight room.
108 Years
The Cubs won back-to-back World Series in 1907 and 1908. They didn’t win another.
They reached the World Series 7 more times through 1945 and lost all 7. In that 1945 Series, a tavern owner named Billy Sianis was thrown out of Wrigley Field with his pet goat, and the story goes that he put a curse on the team on his way out. They didn’t win another pennant for 71 years. In 2003 they were 5 outs from the World Series when a foul ball, a fan and a collapse sent them home again.
Then the Cubs hired Theo Epstein, the executive who had ended the Red Sox’ 86-year drought, and he tore the team down and rebuilt it around young players like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez and Kyle Schwarber. In 2016 they won 103 games.
Down 3-1
Their opponent, Cleveland, had a drought of its own. The Indians hadn’t won the World Series since 1948, and they took 3 of the first 4 games. The Cubs won Game 5 at Wrigley and Game 6 in Cleveland to force a Game 7.
Game 7
Dexter Fowler led off the game with a home run, the first leadoff homer ever in a World Series Game 7. Báez homered in the 5th to chase Cleveland ace Corey Kluber. David Ross, the 39-year-old backup catcher playing the last game of his career, homered in the 6th. The Cubs led 6-3 after 7 innings.
In the 8th, Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in his closer, Aroldis Chapman, who had already thrown a lot of pitches in the last few days. With 2 outs, Brandon Guyer doubled in a run. Then Rajai Davis hit a 2-run homer off Chapman over the left-field wall. It was 6-6, and Progressive Field shook.
Neither team scored in the 9th. Then it rained.
The Rain Delay
The tarp came out before the 10th inning. During the 17-minute delay, outfielder Jason Heyward called the Cubs into a weight room behind the dugout and told them to pick each other up. Rizzo later called the delay the most important thing to happen to the franchise in 100 years.
In the top of the 10th, Ben Zobrist doubled down the left-field line to put the Cubs ahead, and Miguel Montero singled in another run for an 8-6 lead. Cleveland got 1 back in the bottom of the inning. With 2 outs and the tying run on 1st, Michael Martinez hit a slow ground ball to 3rd. Bryant, smiling as he fielded it, threw to Rizzo.
It was after midnight in Cleveland. The Cubs had won the World Series, 8-7, for the 1st time in 108 years. Zobrist was the Series MVP.
What Came After
About 40 million people watched Game 7 in the United States, and 2 days later the city of Chicago estimated more than 5 million came out for the parade and rally.
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