Chicago Cubs have given us plenty to be thankful for on Thanksgiving

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CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 04: Chicago Cubs fans attend a rally in Grant Park to celebrate the team’s World Series victory on November 4, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Hundreds of thousand of people lined the streets in downtown Chicago as the team paraded by in double deck buses on the way to the rally. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Cubs have given us, the fans, more than we realize to be thankful for in the last few years – including that long-elusive World Series championship.

At the end of the day, winning or losing, I’ll always be thankful for the Chicago Cubs. But in recent years, Theo Epstein, Tom Ricketts and Joe Maddon have given us more to appreciate than ever before.

No, the team didn’t deliver a repeat in 2017, but that’s – at least to me – an unreasonable expectation to go into any season with. Maddon and the boys picked up a second-straight National League Central crown. This time around, it wasn’t as smooth as it was in 2016, but a division title is a division title all the same.

Then, October hit. Chicago pulled off a gutsy National League Division Series win in Game 5 over the Washington Nationals and Dusty Baker. Wade Davis showed what it means to put the team first, turning in his longest outing in years to seal the deal in the finale. Then, in the League Championship Series, the Cubs ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The season ended. No Cubs players, executives or even Maddon himself brought home any hardware for individual accomplishments. Los Angeles went on to fall in the World Series in seven games to the Houston Astros, while Chicago watched from home.

And yes, perhaps this year more than ever, I’m deeply appreciative of what this team accomplished.

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