The Cubs were last champions when Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance won consecutive titles in 1907-08, until now the only ones in team history.
At the time, Theodore Roosevelt was president, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states, and the first Ford Model T car was two weeks old. They reached the top again on the 39,466th day after Orval Overall’s three-hit shutout won the 1908 finale at Detroit in a game that took 1:24. Twenty-one other teams had won the World Series since Cubs last were champions. Montgomery took over, and helped set off a wild celebration on Chicago’s North Side.Ĭubs jumped on each other between the mound and second base, and their fans in the stands kept cheering. struck out Mike Napoli, Ramirez grounded out, Brandon Guyer walked and Davis hit an RBI single.
Then in the bottom half, Carl Edwards Jr.
Montero singled to make it a two-run lead. Rizzo was intentionally walked and Zobrist slapped an opposite-field double past a diving third baseman Jose Ramirez. in a still-packed ballpark.Īlbert Almora Jr., pinch-running for Schwarber, alertly took second on Bryant’s long fly to center. It was just the fourth time that a Game 7 went to extra innings, and the rain delayed play until 12:11 a.m. While Cubs fans hugged with delight, there was only despair for the Indians, who now have gone longer than anyone without a crown.ĭexter Fowler homered on Corey Kluber’s fourth pitch of the game, 23-year-old Javier Baez and 39-year-old David Ross also went deep for the Cubs, who led 5-1 in the fifth inning and 6-3 in the eighth.Ĭhapman wound up with the win and Montgomery got one out for his first save in the majors.īryan Shaw, who gave up a leadoff single to Kyle Schwarber in the 10th, took the loss. It hurts because we care, but they need to walk with their head held high because they left nothing on the field,” Francona said.Īfter defeating San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs, Chicago became the first team to earn a title by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. In their previous World Series appearance, they were a double-play grounder from winning the title before losing Game 7 in 11 innings to the Marlins. The Indians, meanwhile, added more heartbreak. He also assembled the Red Sox team that broke Boston’s 86-year drought with the 2004 championship.įrom Curse of the Bambino to the Billy Goat Curse, he ended another jinx. Zobrist was among the players brought to the Cubs by Theo Epstein, the baseball guru added another crown to his collection. Zobrist was chosen as the World Series MVP, a year after he helped the Royals win the championship. Third baseman Kris Bryant, one of Chicago’s young stars, began smiling even before fielding a grounder by Michael Martinez and throwing it across to Rizzo for the final out. The Cubs then ended more than a century of misery for their loyal fans - barely. World Series favorites since spring training, Chicago led the majors with 103 wins this season. Manager Joe Maddon’s team halted the longest title drought in baseball, becoming the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.Ĭleveland was trying to win its first crown since 1948, but manager Terry Francona’s club lost the last two games at home.