Sweet Home Chicago

After decades of suffering, Cubs fans witness a World Series win – and the hobby rejoices

- Stephen Laroche

It took 108 years, but the Chicago Cubs finally won another World Series championship. During a streak that featured some of the most colorful stories and theories behind the lack of success for Wrigley Field’s resident team, the idea of the Cubs finally winning it all became a pop culture punch line. The image of lovable losers was hard to shake, even with so many talented players in the lineup from Hack Wilson to Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg to Sammy Sosa. Every player to step into the lineup was hardly resigned to their ultimate fate, and the fans remained loyal through it all.

Looking back, the Cubs had not even made it to the World Series since 1945. They came tantalizing close a few times, but their best simply was not enough to get back there. Over the past 20 years, postseason appearances were much more frequent, but losing a heartbreaking National League Championship Series in 2003 (thanks, Steve Bartman!) and getting swept last year by the New York Mets only made defeat even more bitter.

However, the 2016 edition of the Chicago Cubs was built to win and they were determined to finally silence the critics and bring a very supportive and growing fan base what it deserved. Boasting an incredibly talented lineup with names like Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Jorge Soler, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward and hobby darling Kris Bryant plus a strong starting rotation with Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta; success was imminent.