Top 100 momentsNo. 71
The Cubs, at last
Chicago comes back from 3-1 down in the World Series. A rain delay, extra innings, 108 years. Wrigley does not know what to do with a trophy.
The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. In 2016 they blow a lead in Game 7 against Cleveland, then sit through a rain delay. Jason Heyward talks. They win 8-7 in ten. Bill Murray cries. A goat story dies of old age.
Theo Epstein’s rebuild, Joe Maddon’s lineup cards, Kris Bryant’s throw — the baseball is modern. The wait is antique. Two droughts end in two years after the Red Sox, and baseball looks, briefly, like a sport that still does myths.
Cleveland has to wait longer. That is the other half of Game 7. One city’s party is another’s extended sentence. 2016 is still the night the ivy got a parade.