BLUE HEAVEN! Cubs win World Series
CLEVELAND - World champion Chicago Cubs.
That has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?
The Cubs earned their championship rings along with an exalted place in Chicago sports history Wednesday night with an 8-7 victory in 10 innings over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series at Progressive Field.
Ben Zobrist, named the MVP of the series, hit an RBI double down the left-field line to drive in pinch runner Albert Almora Jr. with the go-ahead run. Miguel Montero added an RBI single for insurance. The Cubs needed that insurance because the Indians scored a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Rajai Davis, who hurt the Cubs badly in the eighth.
The World Series victory was the first for Chicago's National League ballclub since 1908, and it forever put to rest talk of myriad curses or jinxes.
Cubs fans couldn't help but think all the forces of nature and beyond were working against them when the Indians scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the final two coming on Davis' homer off closer Aroldis Chapman to tie the game at 6-6.
"The clock resets to zero now," said pitcher Jake Arrieta. "One hundred and eight years doesn't really mean anything to anybody anymore after tonight. To be a part of that to bring a championship to Chicago and just be a part of this group, it's humbling, it's rewarding and we deserve it, man."
The wildly entertaining - and sometimes sloppy - game was played before a raucous gathering of 38,104 fans, with an atmosphere resembling at times a college football rivalry game or a European soccer match, with fans of each team singing and chanting back and forth.
Before the 10th inning started, rain delayed the game 17 minutes.
"I think the rain delay was the best thing that ever happened to us, to be honest with you," said general manager Jed Hoyer. "It was a break in the game. Things had stopped going in our direction. We went down and talked a little bit. Theo (team president) and I saw the same thing. All our hitters were huddled in the weight room during the delay.
"I felt great. I walked up into the stands. I said, 'Win this inning, and we're world champions. Maybe after 108 years, you get some divine intervention, right?"
Hoyer spoke to the meaning of the title.
"To me, it's all about getting home and enjoying it with our fans," he said. "So many generations have gone through this. That's really what it's all about. It's bigger than these 25 guys. It's about the city that stuck by the team forever. That's really what it means."
In the winning clubhouse, players chanted, "We never quit, we never quit," before opening the champagne bottles.
"This one about made me pass out," Zobrist said. "The way that the Series has been up and down, the elation of being up early … it was an epic battle."
The Cubs, winners of 103 games during the regular season, had to get out of their own way to win this one. Second baseman Javier Baez made 2 errors early, perhaps the product of being overly amped, but he atoned by hitting a booming home run to center field to lead off the Cubs' fifth inning.
Catcher David Ross, brought into the game in the bottom of the fifth inning along with pitcher Jon Lester, committed a throwing error on a little groundball. A wild pitch by Lester allowed 2 Indians runs to score on one play. Ross hit a home run, also to center, with two outs in the top of the sixth.
Kyle Schwarber, coming off knee surgery, got himself thrown out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double in the third.
No matter. The Cubs chased Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber with Baez's blast and scored a run that inning off seemingly invincible reliever Andrew Miller.
The World Series victory validates the rebuilding program set forth in the fall of 2011 by team president Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer and scouting/player-development head Jason McLeod. It also is a feather in the cap for the Ricketts family, which completed its purchase of the Cubs in the fall of 2009.
"In terms of validation, this is the goal," said a champagne-soaked team chairman Tom Ricketts. "I think our guys made the right decisions to move forward and actually put a little hardware in our trophy case, which by the way, we don't have one yet."
The Cubs got going quickly in this game as Dexter Fowler led off the game with a home run to center field. A jubilant Fowler rounded first base and then ran a few steps backward on his way around the bases.
The Indians tied the game on an RBI single by Carlos Santana in the third. The Cubs went ahead 3-1 in the fourth as Kris Bryant led off with a single to left field and Anthony Rizzo followed by getting hit by a pitch. Ben Zobrist grounded into a forceout, sending Bryant to third.
Addison Russell then lifted a flyball to short center field. The ball was caught by Davis, but Bryant was able to score, sliding under the tag at home plate. Willson Contreras made it 3-1 with a double.
The Cubs increased their lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Baez's leadoff homer chased Kluber in favor of Miller. Fowler's single was wiped out on a double-play grounder off the bat of Schwarber. But Bryant walked and took off and scored on Rizzo's single to deep right field, with Rizzo going to third on the throw.
Once again, manager Joe Maddon invited second-guessing when he pulled starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks in favor of Lester after Hendricks walked Santana with two outs.
Before the game, Maddon was asked how he might use Hendricks.
"I think you need to stay with tried and true with him," he said. "Look at the score, and look where he's at. How is he pitching? Is it relatively easy? Is he on top of his game? Is he not missing? Is he struggling or working to get outs?
"Normally with him, it's 90-100 pitches you feel really good about. Every game is separate entity, but I'll just be watching closely where he's at.
"You look at the last 3 starts and he's gone 85, 85 and 91 pitches. To expect a lot more than that at this time of the year under these circumstances would be kind of a stretch."
Jason Kipnis reached second base when Ross threw wildly to first base, putting runners on second and third. Both runners scored when Lester uncorked a wild pitch, as Ross had trouble retrieving the ball.
Like Baez before him, Ross atoned with a home run with one out in the sixth.