Chicago Cubs: How the number 17 is shaping Chicago sports

When the improbable or impossible happens, we search for answers to explain the phenomenon. The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series would undoubtedly fall within the category of improbable.

You can say that they dominated all year, or that their roster was simply too talented. But after the dust settled, many fans and writers looked at an act of mother nature as the defining moment.

I’ve been fumbling around in recent weeks thinking about the number seventeen. An odd number and one that seems rather random. Although the number seventeen seems harmless, the unorthodox sum is becoming a recurring symbol in Chicago sports.

Seventeen minutes. In the midst of the lowest point in the Cubs journey to the top, our agony of uncertainty was extended when the skies opened up in Game 7. Seventeen minutes that completely changed the course of history.

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Fans refer to it as the “greatest rain delay in baseball history”. We simply missed the significance of that moment at the time. This isn’t the first time we have witnessed seventeen in this city.

In 2013, the Chicago Blackhawks clinched their second Stanley Cup championship in three years when they scored two goals in the span of seventeen seconds. Prior to that moment, the fate of that season was in doubt.

Destiny

The same doubt that hung over the heads of many Cub fans, it was a span of seventeen minutes that capped off the greatest World Series matchup ever.

Jason Heyward used the delay to rally the group. Led by Kyle Schwarber‘s leadoff single, the Cubs halted the momentum of the Indians. The debate will forever rage on whether the Cubs simply got lucky or if there was somehow a shot of fate that interceded.

If you want to call it divine intervention, there are scores of people who would agree with you. After all, this is the season of miracles. When you think about it, the whole game was ripe with long shots.

Aside from both Corey Kluber and Andrew Miller getting hit hard when it seemed they were unhittable. No one would have predicted David Ross going deep in his final game. Or better yet, anyone other than Aroldis Chapman would be on the mound for the final out.

Are we on a Mission from God?

So it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Cleveland was unseasonably warm for an early November night. But maybe, the number seventeen does hold some valued significance.

After doing some “super in-depth research” (Google), I came across the importance of the number seventeen as it pertains to biblical stories. As it turns out, seventeen is mentioned numerous times and was often associated with victory over an enemy. So there, God really did want the Cubs to win the World Series.

Next: Cubs-Indians rematch?

I’m still pretty skeptical that the Cubs were the beneficiaries of something bigger, but there is strong evidence that they came back because the were just that good.

If the coincidence of this number is nothing more than that, it’s still fun to think about where else this number may pop up again. Perhaps we will know sooner than later. See you all in ’17.