Apparently, the Chicago Cubs were cursed. Something about a goat. And, no, we’re not talking about Michael Jordan here. An actual billy goat.
Something about a black cat. Something about a Gatorade cooler. Something about a fan in the stands during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins.
The Cubs were never cursed. There’s no such thing as curses. That’s dumb.
Then again, look at New England sports. New England sports fans have to live every moment of their lives pretending. Pretending what? That Tom Brady isn’t a lying sociopath. That Roger Goodell got bored one day and decided to frame him. That David Ortiz wasn’t on PEDs in 2004.
Sammy Sosa was on PEDs in 2003. He was a member of the Chicago Cubs then. If the Cubs had won the World Series that year, then Cubs fans would have to pretend too, just like Red Sox and Patriots fans have to pretend.
The Red Sox 2004 Championship didn’t end a curse. It started a curse. Dishonesty is a curse.
The entire history of the New England Patriots with Tom Brady is tainted. Brady is a liar. If he’s lying about Deflategate, which he is, then what else is he lying about? Did he take PEDs? A late round draft pick, in that era, turning into an all time great quarterback? We know he has poor character. Is Tom Brady too good to be true?
New England sports fans are cursed by Brady and Ortiz’s lies. They can never really enjoy the Patriots and Red Sox championships. Glory without honor is meaningless. It’s hollow to the core. Can New England sports fans truly be proud of their team’s achievements?
Cubs fans can be proud of 2016.
The Cubs were a laughingstock. One of the worst teams in all of baseball for years. Then Joe Maddon showed up.
Joe Maddon is a man of unusual methods. Whether it’s the petting zoos at Wrigley Field, inspirational art displays at Spring Training, pajama parties, or magic shows, Joe Maddon knows how to create an environment in which his teams can thrive.
Anthony Rizzo, Jon Lester and Aroldis Chapman led the way on the field. Successful baseball teams are built around leaders in three key positions – the lineup’s leader or the Anchor, the rotation’s leader or the Ace, and the bullpen’s leader or the Closer. Rizzo is the Anchor of the Cubs lineup, Lester is the Ace of the Cubs rotation, and Chapman was the Cubs Closer during the 2016 championship season.
Sports at its best is a giant metaphor. For what? Overcoming adversity and achieving great things. What perfect leaders, then, Rizzo, Lester and Chapman were for the 2016 Cubs. All three were survivors. Rizzo and Lester both beat cancer. And Chapman survived cancer of another kind – he escaped from Communist Cuba.
Communism is like cancer. It corrodes everything and everyone that it touches.
Led by the three survivors and by the man of unusual methods, the Cubs made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Cleveland, Ohio. Lebron James was in the house representing the Indians. Eddie Vedder was in the house representing the Cubs.
Corey Kluber didn’t have it that night. Was he starstruck?
The Cubs built a big lead in that game and squandered it. “Cursed,” their fans said. “It’s that awful goat again.”
But Joe Maddon is a man of unusual methods. He watched Lord of the Rings one time and so he knew how to perform wizardry. He channeled his inner-Gandalf and conjured up a mighty storm. That gave the Cubs a minute to chill out and regroup after the Indians fought back and tied the game.
It was just what the Cubs needed. After the rain delay, the Cubs took the field. Anthony Schwarber, the young power hitting phenom, led off the 10th inning with a single. Schwarber had torn his ACL the first week of the season. He returned just in time for the World Series.
Sports at its best is a giant metaphor. For what? Overcoming adversity and achieving great things. What a perfect way to start that inning for the Cubs.
He was replaced by a pinch runner. The speedy Albert Almora Jr., another of the Cubs young phenoms. Kris Bryant – Robin to Rizzo’s Batman – hit a deep fly ball to center. That allowed Almora to advance to second. After Anthony Rizzo was intentionally walked, Ben Zobrist stepped to the plate.
Zobrist, a veteran leader on the young Cubs team, delivered the biggest hit in the history of the franchise, an RBI double that scored Almora. The Cubs took a 7-6 lead. Miguel Montero, the prickly yet lovable veteran catcher, would drive in a key insurance run that put the Cubs ahead by two runs heading into the bottom of the inning.
The Cubs bent, but did not break. They held on to win the game 8-7. They won their first World Series Championship since 1908.
Cubs fans can be proud of that team. The survivors Rizzo, Lester and Chapman. The brash, young studs Bryant, Schwarber, Russell, Baez, Almora and Contreras. The grizzled veterans Zobrist, Montero, Lackey, and Hammel. The long time struggler turned dominant ace, Jake Arrieta. And the man of unusual methods himself, Joe Maddon.
If the Cubs had won Game 6 against the Marlins all those years ago at Wrigley Field, and had gone on to win the World Series that year, could Cubs fans have been proud of that team, Sammy Sosa’s team? Or would they have been cursed with the burden of his dishonesty, as New England sports fans are cursed by Ortiz and Brady’s?
Steve Bartman didn’t curse the Cubs. Steve Bartman saved the Cubs from that curse.
Was he drawn to that spot on that night? Drawn there so that at the moment that pop up was hit his way, he would be there to rescue the Cubs from Sosa’s deceit? Drawn there so that when the Cubs finally did win the World Series, it would be a team their fans could be proud of?
SABR Skeptic 