Ending the drought: Chicago Cubs win World Series for the first time in 108 years

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Cubs fans participate in a victory parade. The Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years this year.

by Tiffany Wong and Alex Wang

A long-awaited moment in baseball history- the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year championship drought when they clinched game seven of the World Series 8-7 on Nov. 2 at Wrigley Field, beating the Cleveland Indians in seven games.

The series between the Cubs and the Indians began on Oct. 25. After losing the first game 0-6 to the Indians, the Cubs rebounded to snag a win 5-1 on Oct. 26. Going into the fifth game of the series, the Cubs had only won one game to the Indians’ three, but won both the sixth and seventh game with scores of 3-2 and 9-3, respectively. Both teams headed into the final seventh match with three wins each.

The Cubs’ comeback in the series marks them as one of the few teams in Major League Baseball history which has successfully recovered from a 3-1 deficit in a World Series. Thirty-one years ago, the Kansas City Royals accomplished the same feat against the St. Louis Cardinals when the Royals won three consecutive games after the Cardinals grabbed an early advantage in the 1985 series.

Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist was named the MVP of the World Series after hitting the game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning.

Veteran Cubs catcher David Ross hit a home run in the top of the sixth inning in his final World Series game, which also marked the last baseball game of his career.

Following the Cubs’ win, Cubs fans celebrated on social media by posting updates on the team’s victory.

“Finally y’all Cleveland fans know how it feels to blow a 3-1 lead,” Shreyas Chandrashekaran (11) wrote on Facebook following the Cubs’ win. “I hope the Cubs roast you at every opportunity they get.”

The Indians’ loss has drawn many comparisons to the Warriors’ loss in the NBA finals earlier this year, as both teams started off with three wins and only one loss, but ended up losing the last three games to lose the whole series.

“The game seven Warriors loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers—the pain remains very palpable in my heart, so I decided to root against the Cleveland Indians,” Alex Youn (12) said. “When watching the game last night and seeing the final out, I felt joy at Cleveland’s pain, but also genuine joy for the Cubs, a team that demonstrated the true nature of perseverance and resilience over the course of an 100-year drought and how a dream can manifest into reality.”

Had the Indians won this year’s World Series, they would have ended a World Series championship drought of 68 years. The droughts for both teams added significance to this year’s World Series.

“On most occasions, I find myself discovering a reason to pull for a team in the World Series when my favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, aren’t involved,” upper school college counselor Greg Roumbanis said. “Either a particular player or storyline gives me a reason to root for one of the participants. This particular year was rather unique in that both teams had compelling storylines.”

The Cubs’ storyline saw an end to their championship drought, while the Indians’ saw a disappointing game seven loss.