A quick recap of the first 4 games of the World Series. Game one was on Tuesday October 25th in Cleveland. The Indians beat the Cubs by a score of 6-0. Game two was again in Cleveland on Wednesday October 26th, but this time dominated by the Cubs, winning 5-1. On Friday October 28th I walked down to Wrigley at 5p to catch the first Cubs World Series game at Wrigley since 1945. It was a crazy atmosphere with people everywhere. I saw tickets being sold for $4000, the cover to get into bars in the area ranged from $100 to $250. The Wieners Circle was in full Halloween and World Series garb dressed as the Goatbusters.
Song of the Week: Again I can't believe I am saying it, but Go Cubs Go
After enjoying the first inning of the Cubs game with a super crazy atmosphere I bought a game booklet thing and it came with a W sign. Go Cubs. The Cubs ended up losing the game 3 in a pitchers duel by a score of 1-0. The Indians dominated game 4 the next day as the Cubs fell 7-2 in Chicago for a second straight night. We were at U of I for Homecoming so only saw snippets of the game at the bars we were at. This loss meant the Cubs were down 3 games to 1, it was looking as if the curse would still go on. In fact, some random drunk Indian guy came up to me at Brothers when we were at U of I, grabbed me and said the Cubs are terrible, then went on to tell me we don't have a chance and some other not so nice things. I told him to have faith in the boys, even though I was unsure myself. We shall see, but speaking of World Series droughts. Look at the 2 teams that top the board! Chicago baby!
Sunday October 30th was the last home game for the Cubs at Wrigley in Chicago. We thought about going down to Wrigley to check out the crowds, but in the end were just too tired from the weekend and ended up watching from our apartment. Hey hey Cubs win game 5 at Wrigley by a score of 3-2. Rach and I watched Ghostbusters 2 that night, or at least part of it before falling asleep.
The next day was Monday, October 31st, Halloween. It was a slow boring day at work since everyone was out trick or treating. I spent the night at my parents to get some laundry done. I watched Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride to keep the Halloween mood. After that I watched the new Leonardo Decaprio film about climate change, Before The Flood. Great film. I called it a night after that, still feeling doubtful the Cubs could make the comeback complete, down 3 games to 2.
Tuesday November 1st, 2016 started with me stopping at the library, and then Fontano's subs for lunch (and dinner). The subs were super tasty. I should go to this sub shop more often when I am in the great Napes. Also it is 75 degrees out in November. Crazy. Let's fast forward to that night at work where parents were cheering loudly as I coached and the Cubs hit a grand slam. Booya! The Cubs did it again as they dominated game 6 by a score of 9-3 in Cleveland. Maybe they could actually do it? The series is all tied up 3 to 3! PS: It's been awhile since either team has won, check out the number of days since the last World Series for either team.
That night back at our pad Rachel made us some Salmon and cous cous for dinner. Thanks my lovely wife!
The next day, Wednesday November 2nd, 2016 would be a historic day, no matter which team ended up winning. I headed back to city early from work to ensure we would be able to catch the game. I don't even like baseball! What am i doing!? We picked up Wing Stop for dinner and turned on the epic game 7 of the World Series at our apartment.
Game 7 could not have started off any better for the Cubbies. Dexter Fowler crushes a home run to put the Cubs up early. At this point I was ecstatic and thinking wow, this has to be our year. Kyle Hendricks was dominating at pitching for the Cubs, holding a 5-1 lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th when Joe Madden made a terrible management call. He pulled Hendricks after a bogus non called third strike that ended up in a walk. With 2 men on and 2 men out, Hendricks was pulled, a cold Lester was put in and a cold David Ross at catcher was put in. The next batter they faced resulted in Lester throwing a crazy wild pitch, that surely concussed Ross, resulting in 2 runs scoring. Why would you take a hot pitcher out and put in a guy who can't throw a pick off move? All of a sudden that feeling like we were going to win the World Series went sour. All of a sudden the upward climb we were on suddenly on an extreme downward slope. Let the wild emotional rollercoaster called game 7 begin. Bad managing in my opinion. The next inning Ross hit a homer to put the Cubs up 6-3, all of a sudden we were back on the climb as we entered the 8th inning. Lester had proved to be doing well since his poor start in the 5th, but had walked a couple of batters. With 2 men on, Madden made his second worst decision of the year. He pulled Lester and put in their star closer, Chapman, who had to pitch over 2 innings the night before even thought the Cubs were up by 6 or 7. He only needed to get 5 outs, but his hard work the night before proved to be too much. After the Indians already got 1 run in during the 8th off Chap, Rajai Davis for the Indians crushed a 2 run homer to tie the game at 6. Wow. Just like that the upward climb of the rollercoaster took a steep downward slope. Beyond steep. It was honestly crushing and put a terrible feeling in my stomach. Again, I don't even like baseball! At this point I told myself and Rachel, maybe we really are cursed. The game is over. We blew it, we won't win. The 9th inning went scoreless, but then the rains came. In a crazy series of events, the tarp was pulled out, and a 15 minute rain delay ensued. What the hell is going on!? At first it seemed a little frustrating, but what then happened in the 10th, it proved to be something necessary for the Cubs. The rain delay before the 10th proved to be a momentum charger. Hayward, who did absolutely nothing the entire playoffs, we later found out, gave an inspirational speech that rallied the boys. The Cubs came out in the 10th bats swinging. With 1 out and 2 men on, Ben Zobrist hit a 2 run double that put the Cubs up by 2. They would then load the bases, but the Indians got out of the inning with only 2 runs given up. It was 8-6, but in my mind I said it is not enough, they needed more! Madden took out Chapman for the 10th, but the Indians were still swinging. With 2 outs Davis came to bat again, oh dear lord no. This time he hit only a 1 run single, but making the game 8-7 Cubs. Wow. So many emotions! With 2 outs and 1 on, some dude who hasn't done well and was more of a defensive change for the Indians came to bat. He hit a chopper to third where Kris Bryant snagged it, slipped as he threw but made it successfully to Anthony Rizzo at first. Cubs Win! World Series Champs! First time in 108 years. UNBELIEVEABLE. Wow. Rizzo pocketed the ball and the celebration took place. I still can't believe we won.
After seeing fireworks being set off out of our window and watching a few minutes of the celebration, I looked to Rachel and said, "We need to go out." She agreed to head north until we got turned back. After the Hawks won we only made it as far as Belmont before being turned back. We headed out, the bars were emptying and we joined the masses in a "Road to Wrigley" march. We literally were walking down Clark street, in the road, high fiving people in their cars as they honked and everyone cheered chanting Go Cubs Go. What a great time to be in the city. We made it all the way to Sheffield and Clark before the crowds became too thick to go any further. The crowd was relatively calm and there actually wasn't any rioting as I had expected. I am not sure if it was because everyone was emotionally drained from that rollercoaster of a game or what. I mean sure, people were still setting off fireworks, climbing buildings, spraying champaign, and then smashing the glass on the ground, but still, relatively calm. Rachel's bro Rob was in the area working that night, so we eventually made our way over to where he was and found him before returning home for the night, getting home around 1am. Wow. What a night, what a game. Probably the best sports game I have ever seen. SO amazing that I have lived int he city for 3 championships and have lived to see 11. 6 by the Bulls, 3 by the Blackhawks (2013), 1 by the Whitesox, and now 1 by the Cubs. The only team we are missing is the Bears who last won in 1985, but made it to the Superbowl in 2006. What a great time to be a Chicago sports fan. Pretty amazing and cool I have lived during the greatest sporting moments in the history of Chicago.
Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago Whaddya Say, the Cubs are gonna win today! Fly the W! Woowee! We are World Champions!
Video of the Week: Cubs won the World Series! Holy cow! Still in shock, unbelievable! Be sure to check out all that World Series action in Vlog#5 below.
Wow. The Cubs won the World Series everyone. Still in disbelief over here!
Josh