Chicago Cubs: Remembering a World Series championship two years later

Chicago Cubs: ‘The Cubs have done it!’

At this time, everyone in my household leaned forward in their seats, moved their hands over their mouths and began to hold their breath, myself included. Pitch after pitch, I could feel my heartbeat nearly breaking through my chest.

I personally can’t imagine how lanky, young right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. felt. Standing on the mound with a two-run lead in Game 7 of the World Series, three outs away from making history. He allowed a run to score on an RBI single and, just like that, it was a one-run ballgame.

Maddon went to the bullpen and and tapped his left arm, signaling for Mike Montgomery. Another learning he was being dealt from Seattle to Chicago mid-season, his former teammates had told him, “Now we’ll see you pitch in the World Series.”

And here he was.

With Davis at second, Montgomery got Michael Martinez to bounce a slow roller to a charging Kris Bryant. Ballgame. Drought over. World Series champions. Just like that, decades of losing, talks of goats, black cats and Steve Bartman meant nothing. The Cubs had done it.

Almost immediately, millions of fans crowded the streets of Chicago. Wrigleyville was a scene of utter jubilation and chaos. Watching from home, I could feel the energy through the television screen.

For years to come, that moment – when we watched Bryant throw across the diamond to Rizzo – will live on as the memory we all carry with us. And, as we continue forward with an eye on the future, Theo Epstein and his team haven’t forgotten what that was like. It’s what drives them each and every day.

And honestly, it’s not that far off. We’ll be there again, Cubs fans. Keep the faith and remember to never give up. Why? Because we never quit.