2016 World Series is a Beautiful Thing

The 2016 World Series is a beautiful thing.

Forget about whether it goes the distance or whether it has memorable
moments, it’s the match-up, not necessarily on the field, but the cities
and their fans.
You have to have been hiding in a cave not to know the implications of
what it means to the long-time loyalists of the Cubs.  Until Saturday
they had not won a pennant in 71 years. They have not won a World Series
in 108 years. The tales of how this club has been jinxed and the victim
of bizarre happenings has been dug-up annually.

In Cleveland things haven’t been quite as discouraging, but pretty close.
No world championship since 1948, a stunning failure in 1954 when the
Tribe won 111 games finally beating the hated Yankees only to get swept
by the New York Giants in four-straight. Oh, there have been a couple of
pennants in 1995 and again in 1997, but basically the image of Indians
baseball has been one of falling short. Again and again.

Now the two are colliding. The Cubs, clearly the best team in baseball
this season with 103 victories. A team with unbridled youth, who are
brilliant defensively and win with an air of supreme confidence buoyed by
a great manager in Joe Maddon who lost out to Terry Francona for the Red
Sox job in 2003. How’s this for irony: Francona is leading the Indians
this week, and the man who chose one over the other is none other than
Theo Epstein who has  built this Cubs squad and hired Maddon for this
assignment.

The Cubs are where people expected them to be. The Indians are a surprise
to be where they are. Both managers are loose, non-intense figures who
see the big picture.
Both teams may have sealed their place in the sun with in-season
acquisitions of left-handed closers. Aroldis Chapman for Chicago, Andrew
Miller for Cleveland.
How can the Cubs not be favored. The Indians pitching is solid but a lot
less predictable. The Cubs have four top-level hurlers and we all know
pitching decides these things.
But in a short series, you never know. Ask those Indians fans who
remember 1954.

One final thought. Originally, my view was that the Cubs had to win it
all to get the monkey off their backs. I don’t feel that way now.
After watching that dramatic and emotional scene in and outside Wrigley
Field Saturday, I was convinced Cubs fans were finally rewarded. First
pennant in 71 years.
Now, we’ll find out which fans in these two long-suffering baseball towns
gets to keep the smile on their face.