Day 73

Fresh Start_73: History

THAT WAS THE SINGLE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME. (At least the best of my lifetime.) The game that I am talking about is the seventh game of the World Series that happened last night. The game was everything you could have imagined and more. Everything that could have happened and did, and the Chicago Cubs Are World Champions for the first time in 108 years. All of the goats are gone, the black cats are staying put, and even Steve Bartman can come out of hiding for the parade. I am surprised I am able to write this article right now. The emotions and conversations I have had about this game while it was going on was absolutely surreal.

This game doesn’t seem like it happened, all of this doesn’t seem like it happened in real life. This game will go down as one for the ages. I am so fortunate that I will be able to tell my kids and my grandkids about the team that broke the curse of the Billy Goat. This game and the decisions that were made and the second guessing that happened due to the moves that Joe Madden made. At the end of the day, all of those decisions paid off. Theo Epstein the man that brought this entire team together and told the fans that “it would take a while” but it finally happened. Joe Madden was the man that they wanted coaching this team, has his World Championship. The emotions that generations of Cub fans most be feeling right now.

Aroldis Chapman was almost the Steve Bartman of this World Series, giving up the two-run game tying home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Chapman, who was traded for in July is the winning pitcher on record. The flame thrower almost ran out of gas, and Mike Montgomery got his very first save in the Major Leagues. Ben Zobrist is the World Series MVP, he drove in the go ahead run double in the top of the tenth. The Cubs would later add another run in the top of the tenth to later go on and win. The Cubs overcame a 3-1 series deficit to win it all that the tenth inning. Miguel Montero added a much needed RBI after Zobrist hit the go ahead double. Carl Edwards Jr. would give up a run in the bottom half of the tenth frame. Zobrist ended up batting .391 with 2 key RBI’s including the go ahead RBI. Zobrist was now won back to back World Series championships, but I bet this one just feels a bit sweeter. This win was a total team win. From the 4^2/3 innings from starter Kyle Hendricks, to the 3 innings willed by Jon Lester, and the three home runs from Fowler, Baez, and Ross, to the final out recorded by Kris Bryant.

This team will be around for a longtime, this will probably one of many for the Chicago Cubs. This is the team of history and the team that broke the curse, and it is almost impossible to not be happy as a baseball fan. You have to feel bad for the fans of the Indians, but just getting to the World Series is just an accomplishment. The Indians tied the game with only four outs to go and the tying run at the plate. The tying run was on base when the final run was recorded. Terry Francona has to go down as one the all-time greats for the job that he did this season with this squad. As I said before, the mantra around this team in Cleveland was “they are almost there” and the Indians beat all the odds staked against them and went to the final game of the World Series. I have to tip my hat to the Indians and their fans.

I am happy for a lot of people around the game of baseball on the Northside of Chicago. For the families that have routed for the Cubs threw all the long and hard years. I am excited for my grandmother who is a Cub fan and got to see her team not only win a World Series, but do it in grand fashion. The only thing I will be able to compare this to is if the Jets win the Superbowl, but I am not going to get into that because tonight is for the Northside. Tonight is the night Champion Champagne rains down for the visiting locker room in Cleveland. 108 years of celebrating tips off tonight with the final out. This is the team of destiny for Chicago and they delivered on their promised.

This Chicago Cubs team who lost in the NLDS last year to the New York Mets, retooled, grabbed the best closer in the game in Aroldis Chapman, get the best record, beat a battled tested champion team in the San Francisco Giants, beat the best pitcher of this generation in Clayton Kershaw, and finally beat the Cleveland Indians down 3-1 in the World Series. After Game 5 in Chicago I shot a text to a close friend saying that I thought this team would be the Kansas City Royal team of 2014. Meaning that they would get to the world series and not be able to win it, boy was I proven wrong. If any team was going to break the curse it would be this team. There is nothing but good things you can say about this Cubs team and the overall story is heartwarming. The true underdog, was turned into a favorite and they got the championship that thousands of fans longed for.

It is just truly incredible to say I witnessed this game and witness history like this. The emotions that a true baseball fan is feeling and just everything not being able to sink in is something special. Games like the one that transpired last night demonstrate the reason why I love the game of baseball. A game like that Game 7, is a demonstration of why “Game 7” and the two single best words in sports. And a game like the game last night is a testament to how amazing the game of baseball is, and why it is the best sport in modern history. I am at a loss for words and I am not sure words are the right thing to describe what happened last night. What I will say and this is for my grandmother and all of the Cub fans out there is “GO CUBS GO, GO CUBS GO, HEY CHICAGO WHAT DO YA SAY, THE CUBS ARE GONNA WIN TODAY!”

Sources:(baseballreference.com, mlb.com)

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