November 4, 2016

Two nights ago, on November 2, the Chicago Cubs ended the most storied championship drought in the history of professional sports, winning their first World Series title in 108 years. The Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a tense and exhausting Game 7 that carried into the 10th inning.

Chicago Cubs players celebrate their Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series on Nov. 2, 2016. It was the first World Series title for the Cubs since 1908. Credit: © Matt Slocum, AP Photo

Leading off the game in Cleveland, Ohio, Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler started the scoring by hitting a home run against Indians ace Corey Kluber. The Cubs built their lead to 6-3, but Cleveland tied it up with a 3-run 8th inning capped by a dramatic 2-run homer by Indians outfielder Rajai Davis off Cubs flamethrowing reliever Aroldis Chapman. Following a short rain delay after the 9th inning, the Cubs scored twice on hits by World Series Most Valuable Player Ben Zobrist and catcher Miguel Montero. In a tense bottom of the 10th, the Indians pushed a run across and were threatening to score again, but Cubs star third baseman Kris Bryant made a tough play on an infield chopper to record the last out. The Cubs players then erupted into a joyous baseball pile around the pitcher’s mound, celebrating the long-awaited and hard-fought championship.

Kluber had dominated the Cubs in Game 1 of the series, a 6-0 shutout in Cleveland on October 25. The Cubs struck back in Game 2 on October 26, winning 5-1 behind 5 ⅓ shutout innings by Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. The series moved to Chicago for the first World Series games played at Wrigley Field since 1945. Cleveland won 1-0 on October 28, and 7-2 on October 29, pushing the Cubs to the brink of elimination. The Cubs won 3-2 in Chicago on October 30, and routed the Indians 9-3 in Cleveland on November 1. With their Game 7 victory, the Cubs became the first team to battle back from a 3-games-to-1 World Series deficit since the Kansas City Royals did so in 1985.

The Cubs’ last World Series title had come over the Detroit Tigers in 1908. At that time, Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States. The first popular production automobile, the Ford Model T, had just been introduced. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, and New Mexico were not yet states. Tickets to the series cost $1.50. The Cubs last trip to the series came in 1945, just after the end of World War II. During that series (which the Cubs lost to the Tigers), colorful tavern owner William Sianis was thrown out of Wrigley Field for bringing his pet goat to the game. Sianis supposedly cursed the Cubs, and the “Curse of the Billy Goat” became a popular piece of folklore during the team’s long title drought.

For Cleveland, the gut-wrenching near miss in the World Series carried a bitter reminder. The Indians last chance at the title came in 1997, when they also lost Game 7 of the World Series in extra innings, that time to the Florida (now Miami) Marlins.

October 25, 2016

Tonight, October 25, the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series begins in Cleveland, Ohio. The World Series determines the MLB champion each autumn, but the teams involved in this year’s series make it a little extra special. The teams—the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians—have the two longest World Series droughts in baseball. A drought is a long period of dry weather, and when applied to baseball, it means a team hasn’t won a championship in a very long time.

The venerable lions guarding the Art Institute of Chicago received their first Cubs hats on Oct. 24, 2016, the day before the Cubs first World Series appearance since 1945. Credit: Art Institute of Chicago

How long are we talking about? Well, the Indians last won the World Series in 1948 (68 years ago), and the Cubs’ last title was in 1908—yes, 108 years ago. Do the math, and you have 176 years of combined futility. But with just two teams left—the two hungriest teams in baseball—something has to give. Somebody has to win. One team will end their title drought and elate generations of frustrated fans. But somebody has to lose, too. For one team’s fans, the disappointment will continue, and the ball club will have to “wait ‘til next year.” Again.

On Saturday night, the Cubs won the best-of-seven National League Championship Series (NLCS) by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 2. The Cubs won it in their home ballpark, Wrigley Field, which was built in 1914—six years after the Cubs last World Series win. The Cubs haven’t even played in a World Series since 1945, when they lost to the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs have been close, however—painfully close. In 2003, the team blew a 3-games-to-1 lead in the NLCS, losing to the Florida (now Miami) Marlins in seven games. In 1984, the Cubs squandered a 2-games-to-0 lead in the NLCS (it was then best-of-5), dropping the series to the San Diego Padres.

The Cleveland Indians hope to win their first World Series title since 1948. Credit: Erik Drost (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Last week, the Indians took the American League pennant by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 4 games to 1. The Indians’ title drought is long, too, but their last World Series appearance was a bit more recent. In 1997, Cleveland dropped a heartbreaking seventh game of the World Series in extra innings to the Marlins. The Indians also reached the World Series in 1995, but lost to the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2.

Several MLB teams have yet to win a World Series, but none of them even existed the last time the Indians won one or the Cubs competed in one. For the cities of Chicago and Cleveland, the World Series is more than just a sporting event. It is a cultural happening, an all-consuming thing that is the point of all conversation. The teams represent an identity, a history, and a common connection. And for the team that wins this year’s wonderful World Series, it will be their fans’ dream come true.

October 21, 2015

Today, October 21, 2015, is the future—or so it was way back when in the old days of 1989. Late in that now distant year, a movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox captured people’s imagination: Back to the Future Part II. The first half hour of the film, which is a sequel the 1985 hit Back to the Future, features a leap forward into the year 2015—October 21, to be exact. Today. As science fiction movies have always done, Back to the Future Part II made bold (if tongue-in-cheek) predictions on what the future would look like—what we would wear, what we would eat, what we would drive. The film made a lot of other wild guesses about the future, too—or perhaps, “II”. Did any of their predictions come true?

Canadian actor Michael J. Fox portrayed time-traveling teenager Marty McFly in the Back to the Future films. © Robert Pitts, Landov

What they got right: drones walked dogs in Back to the Future Part II. Drones (or UAV‘s) are beginning to do just about everything, so that seems plausible. There are cameras everywhere in the movie, following nearly everything people do. Got that right. The film also features alternative fuel cars and large, flat-screen televisions showing multiple channels; there are video chat systems, motion sensor video games, and wearable technology—all that sound familiar?

There were some obvious swings and misses, however. Flying cars, every sci-fi movie’s favorite future thing, do not exist. They could exist, but they would be impractical. Instead, we have Google and other companies developing cars that drive themselves. That’s futuristic, right? Disappointingly, there are no hoverboards (excepting one or two concepts) in today’s world of 2015. For better or worse, lawyers have not been banished, either. Telephone booths still stand on street corners, and fax machines are stacked around the house and mounted on mailboxes in the movie. Big misses. Hardly could the film creators have imagined how the Internet and smartphones would change nearly every aspect of communication. The movie also predicted the long-suffering Chicago Cubs would win baseball’s World Series in 2015. Tantalizingly close, this too seems like a long shot at best in the real 2015. The Cubs are down 3 games to 0 to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. Barring a miraculous comeback, this will also be a failed prediction.

1989 was 26 years ago. How well could you predict 26 years into the future? In the year 2041, what will you be wearing? How will you get to work? Will you even need to leave home to work? What will you eat or drink, how will you communicate or play? What will your hair look like? Will you have any? There are a lot of things to think about…