On Oct. 11, 1907, the Chicago Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 6-1 to clinch the World Series title for the first time in their history. One year and a few days later, on Oct. 13, 1908, they beat the Tigers yet again to win the title for the second time in a row. At the time, fans were very content with their team, expecting them to keep up the winning streak. For the next 35 years, the Cubs remained a contender, but didn’t win in that time period. Then, something happened in 1945 that turned the franchise upside-down.
In October of 1945, the Cubs yet again faced the Tigers in the World Series. On Oct. 6, the Cubs led the Tigers two games to one. During the game, a man who owned a local tavern, William “Billy Goat” Sianis tried to enter the stadium with a Billy Goat. He was denied entry because the employees said that the goat smelled bad, to which Sianis replied “The Cubs ain’t gonna win no more.” Ever since that day, there has been nothing but disappointment from Cubs fans. They witnessed loss after loss every season, until now.
The Cubs ended their impressive regular season with a record of 103-58. In the NLDS, the Cubs dispatched the San Francisco Giants, 3 games to 1. In the NLCS, the Cubs beat the Dodgers, to win the pennant 4 games to 2. They would face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. This would be their first championship appearance since 1945. Like the Cubs, the Indians had not won a championship for a long time, their last title coming in 1948.
Games one and two were played at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Roberto Perez’s two home runs gave the Indians momentum which led them to dominating game one. The final score was 6-0. In game two, it was the complete opposite. The Cubs, fueled by pitcher Jake Arrieta, trumped the Indians by a score of 5-1. The series would go to Wrigley Field, tied 1-1.
Game three was a lot less eventful than the previous two games. Perez scored the only run in the game as the Indians beat the Cubs to take a 2-1 series lead. Game four was another landslide, this time in favor of the Indians. Despite taking a 1-0 lead, the Cubs let up seven runs within the next six innings and lost by a score of 7-2. The Cubs found themselves in a hole, down three games to one.
They needed to win the next three games straight in order to win the World Series. The last time a team came down three games to one was in 1985, when the Royals beat the Cardinals.
Game five would be the last game played at Wrigley field in this World Series. The Cubs, empowered by their fans and a fourth-inning rally, the Cubs came out on top, winning by a slim score of 3-2. The series returned to Cleveland for game six, where it would remain if a game seven was necessary.
In game six, The Cubs started out big, scoring three in the first inning. In the second, 22-year-old short-stop Addison Russell smacked a grand slam to give the Cubs a 7-0 lead. The Cubs added two more runs and went on to destroy the Indians, 9-3. This paved the way for one final game to decide the World Series.
The two most anticipated words in sports was to take place on Nov. 2- Game seven. It was winner take all. Like game six, the Cubs scored first, but the Indians tied the game in the third inning to make it 1-1. Four unanswered runs by the Cubs in the fourth and fifth innings were answered by two runs from the Indians in the fifth. The score was 5-3. The Cubs made the score 6-3 in the sixth inning, and it looked like the outcome was inevitable at this point, but the Indians weren’t done yet.
The Indians scored three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game. Fans at Progressive Field were ecstatic at this point. As the ninth inning rolled by without anyone scoring, the teams went into extra innings. In the top of the tenth inning, the Cubs scored two runs to put the pressure on the Indians. The bottom of the tenth inning came, and the Cubs knew they needed only three outs to win the World Series.
The Cubs got two outs right off the bat, but the Indians scored a run off of an outfield hit by Cleveland outfielder Rajai Davis. After a pitcher switch, the Cubs got the final out that they had been looking for, for the past 108 years. The Chicago Cubs are World Series Champions.