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Chicago Cubs: Three years later, the memories are just as emotional
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been three years since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Here, we look back on that great day of November 2, 2016.
Down in my basement, I have a Chicago Cubs-themed mancave. It serves largely as a shrine to the 2016 World Series Champions, as I have several posters commemorating that victory. Whenever I go down there, I’m reminded of that one night – November 2, 2016 – when my entire fandom changed.
As I watched this year’s World Series, which also went seven games, and as we have come upon the anniversary of the Cubs’ victory, I’ve been thinking a lot about that day, about that small moment in time that I’ll never forget. It’s hard to believe, but it’s been three years since it all happened.
I’ve thought a lot, not only about that night in particular, but about everything that led up to it. It was my 23rd year following the team – and I know that many fans had suffered for so much longer. I’ve thought about all the frustration that led up to that point. I’ve also thought about everything that happened that year: the 103-win regular season, that crazy ninth inning comeback in the NLDS against the Giants, and about getting over the hump I’d waited 13 years for since losing the 2003 NLCS in beating the Dodgers to win the pennant.
Chicago Cubs: Rain washes away decades of disappointment
And after the Cubs and Cleveland Indians split the first six games of that World Series, it all came down to that night: Everything I had dreamed of as a fan would ride on this one game. It was as nerve-wracking as a game could be: A lifetime of emotions rolled up into four hours and 28 minutes.
There was the Dexter Fowler home run to lead off the game. There were the two rallies that opened up a 5-1 lead. There was Joe Maddon‘s decision to pull Kyle Hendricks early in favor of Jon Lester, who would give up two runs on a wild pitch. And there was the David Ross home run that gave the Cubs a 6-3 lead late.
It led up to a moment that almost became one of the most devastating of my life: the Rajai Davis home run that tied the game in the eighth. The Cubs were able to get the game to extra innings before the rain came. It was almost as if God would not let either one of these long-suffering franchises end their drought. It may have only lasted for 17 minutes, but it felt like hours.
Chicago Cubs: The rain ended the drought
Thanks largely to Jason Heyward‘s motivational speech, the Cubs found one more burst of strength and rallied for two runs in the 10th. I went crazy when Ben Zobrist drove in the first run, and again when Miguel Montero drove in another. Still, it was only a two-run lead. A tense bottom of the tenth would surely follow.
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Carl Edwards, Jr. got the first two outs before the Indians started to rally again. Maddon brought in Mike Montgomery to try to finish the game, and I remember that commercial break seeming to last forever. I paced up and down my house at least several times. This whole night, and my whole lifetime of following this team, would all come down to this moment.
My heart sank when Michael Martinez hit that slow grounder to Kris Bryant. That play seemed to go in super-slow motion. At that moment, I thought that a cheap infield single would ruin everything. Thankfully, Bryant was able to field it cleanly and get the ball to Anthony Rizzo at first base in time. I jumped up and down screaming for a couple minutes or so. I’ve gone back and watched the video of the final out many times, but at the time I didn’t remember what happened on the TV screen. I was too focused on my own celebration.
Regardless of whether the Cubs ever win another World Series again – and I sure hope there are more championships coming in my lifetime – November 2, 2016 will always be the most important day in team history. It was the day that 108 years of frustration ended, the day that all the jokes and jabs I’ve had to hear about being a Cubs fan all would go away. Nothing would ever be the same.
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I’m sure many of you fellow Cubs fans out there have great memories of November 2, 2016 just like I do. Hopefully, time will not diminish our memories of that day. Regardless of what happens for the rest of our lives with this team, we will always have 2016. And nothing can take that away.