For the Cubs and the City of Chicago, "Next Year" is Finally Here

12:47 AM eastern time. Two outs, and a one-run lead. Mike Montgomery was on the mound. Wait, who? Talk about your unlikely closer. This moment was made for Aroldis Chapman, the flame-throwing left-hander who came up big time and time again in the World Series. Or maybe this moment was Jon Lester, the prized 2015 free agent who put up Cy Young-caliber numbers this season. Or maybe, though it's a stretch, this moment was for Hector Rondon. A guy who struggled with consistency yet still managed to seal a couple key wins for the Cubs these past few seasons, yet lost his closing job when Chapman was acquired this summer. Could you imagine Rondon being the hero after the guy who took his job was knocked out of the game? So many scenarios, so many possibilities, but it was Montgomery who had the weight of 108 years and generations of sadness on his shoulders.

108 years later, the Cubs can celebrate once more

And it didn't phase him one bit. That final pitch, a curve ball that the Cleveland Indians' Michael Martinez grounded just past the mound to a charging Kris Bryant, is the pitch that will replay in the minds of Cubs fans for eternity. Bryant threw the ball to Anthony Rizzo, Montgomery completed the one-out save, and the baseball world was turned upside down. The Chicago Cubs, yes, THE Chicago Cubs, were World Series champions. There are people who lived and died without ever saying those words in the same sentence. Yet here we are, still trying to comprehend what took place in Cleveland, Ohio last night.

So many times in that game it seemed like the Cubs were going to crumble. Dexter Fowler's lead-off home run seemed too good to be true when it happened, but the Cubs piled it on early. It was in the fifth inning when things started to get shaky, and every Cub fan desperately hoped and prayed that this team would avoid another historic collapse. David Ross' throwing error, Lester's wild pitch, Chapman giving up three straight hits, Rajai Davis' game-tying home run in the eighth. You name it. Time after time it seemed like the Cubs' magical season was going to come to a horrific end. So many times it seemed like history could repeat itself.

But this team never cared about history. Dexter Fowler said it himself. This team was not going to break under any pressure. Down three runs in the ninth inning of game four in the NLDS? No worries. Fail to score a run in consecutive NLCS games? Don't sweat. Trail 3-1 in the World Series which requires winning two of three games on the road? No big deal. Time and time again this Cubs team was faced with season-threatening obstacles. To watch this team fight back and show grit and heart that no Cubs team has ever shown is something that every baseball fan should be able to admire. I understand the Cubs have their fair share of enemies and haters, but to look at a group of kids, literally kids with a little veteran leadership,  and see the maturity, the fight that this group has. How can you not appreciate that?

It's what brought so much excitement to the north side of Chicago. It's what gave every single Cub fan reason to hope. The emotions that fans feel towards the Cubs are something no other fan base can truly appreciate. No other fan base in all of sports understands what that kind of perennial mediocrity and disappointment feels like. I'm 22 years old, I don't even know the full affects of that, but I'm old enough to vividly remember "The Bartman Game". I watched the Cubs get swept out of the playoffs back-to-back years in '07 and '08. I sat and watched as they lost 101 games in 2012. I witnessed the Cubs drop four in a row to the New York Mets in the 2015 NLCS. 22 years of age and still experienced all that disappointment. God bless those Cubs fans who are on the back half of their lives. That's dedication that will always be respected.

That is why emotions were in abundance when Bryant and Rizzo combined for that 5-3 putout. Decades of hope, passion, and anxiety finally rewarded. No more talk of curses. No more jokes. No more "this is what was happening in the world the last time the Cubs won" on Sportscenter. No more waiting for next year. The Cubs are on top of the baseball world, and this team is built to last.

Bedlam in Wrigleyville

So now what? 108 years of pain has been alleviated, so where do the Cubs go from here? The "lovable losers" label is long gone and the wait for a championship is now over. Are the Cubs ever going to be the same? The answer is no, and that's perfectly okay. Look at what the Red Sox have done since they broke their curse: they're now perennial contenders (with a few bad years sprinkled in) and have sustained their success. To this generation, they are a better organization than the New York Yankees even though history would certainly tell us otherwise. Are the Cubs now setting themselves up to be viewed as superior to the St. Louis Cardinals? Again, history would tell us otherwise, but for now the Cubs are in the driver's seat in the NL Central with a young core that will be around for at least a couple more years. And now, with no curses to think about and every single reason to hope, Cubs fans can truly begin to wonder if a dynasty started on November 3rd, 2016.


I shed a lot of tears last night. I wasn't old enough to appreciate Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. The Cubs went to the playoffs four separate times before this year and never came close to winning the World Series. Shawn May and the North Carolina Tar Heels beat Illinois in the 2005 men's basketball championship. Peyton Manning and the Colts took down the Chicago Bears in the 2006 Super Bowl. USC disposed of Illinois in the 2007 Rose Bowl. Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL in 2012, one year after the Miami Heat beat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, and that core's potential was never fully realized. I've never experienced what it's like to have a favorite team of mine win on one of the games' biggest stages. Let me tell you, watching my brother and grandpa celebrate a couple St. Louis Cardinal World Series wins got old really quick, too. So last night, there was a lot of emotion that went into that Cubs victory. Sweet relief and pure joy. This Cubs team gave the city and its fans everything they had and completed one of the best seasons in major league history. And you know what's most exciting? They could just be getting started. Hey Chicago, what do you say?