Cubs fans will love memorable 2016 World Series goat's surprise announcement

Every Chicago Cubs fan remembers this play. With the Cleveland Indians up three games-to-one in the 2016 World Series, outfielders Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin converged on a first-inning blooper off the bat of Addison Russell in right center field, only to have the ball drop between them, allowing the Cubs to tack on two more to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.

Chicago went on to win that game decidedly by a 9-3 final, and that first-inning gaffe by Naquin, Cleveland's rookie center fielder, set the tone for the entire game and allowed the Cubs to carry real momentum into the winner-take-all Game 7 the next night.

What if Naquin had caught that ball and Cleveland held the Cubs to just one first-inning run? Does Chicago still win that game? Do we ever get that incredible Game 7 and see a 108-year championship drought washed away in a tenth-inning rain delay? We'll never know.

Naquin went on to play parts of seven more seasons as a big-league outfielder, seeing time with Cleveland, Cincinnati, the Mets and White Sox. Now, though, he's making a comeback after sitting out the entire 2024 season - but this time, he's looking to crack an MLB roster as a pitcher with his former team.

Always known for his plus arm strength in the outfield, Naquin reached out about the possibility of signing a minor-league deal as a pitcher - and Cleveland liked what they saw.

“The interest came from him in terms of seeing what pitching looked like,” Guardians VP of Player Development Stephen Osterer told MLB.com. “But we started getting some reports that the stuff out of hand was pretty cool. [He was] throwing hard, he was creating some shapes [with his pitches] ... He’s always had a good arm, but when you get that information and the familiarity -- we know him -- it was an interesting door to open up and talk about the opportunities where we could explore what that could look like.”

It has not yet been determined if Cleveland will utilize him as a starter or a reliever, but it's always fun when these sorts of stories pop up. I think I can speak for all Cubs fans who bore witness to that defensive mishap back in the 2016 Fall Classic, though, when I say his career-defining moment - at least in our minds - is set in stone, regardless of how his foray into pitching goes.