I’m not a huge (professional) baseball fan… Ever since the major league strike prevented the World Series from being played a number of years ago, I’ve been “down” on the major leagues. Of course, this year is different. Faithful readers of this blog will remember that the Cleveland Indians have been my favorite team since I was about 7 or 8 years old. If you care about why a kid from Oklahoma would choose the Cleveland Indians, you can search the archives of this blog to find the answer.
So my favorite team and not my favorite team, but one that I still wish well, the Chicago Cubs are taking the field tonight in Cleveland. The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908. The Indians have not won a World Series since 1948. (I remember the Indians win, I don’t remember the Cubs win.) Someone has to win — either the Cubs will win their first championship since 1908 or the Indians will win their first championship since 1948. There is no tie — it’s the only possible outcome.
The last time either team won a World Series people that have recently become eligible for Social Security weren’t even born! We could go on and on about things we have today that didn’t even exist the last time either team won the series, but I guess the point is, it’s been a really long time.
The Cubs last appeared in a World Series in 1945, but they lost to the Tigers in seven games. Supposedly a local bar owner brought a goat inside the ballpark and created The Curse of the Billy Goat that has haunted the Cubs since, starting with them losing the 1945 World Series. The Indians World Series victory drought is the second-longest in baseball, but at least it’s 40 years shorter than the longest — held by the Cubs. Combined, they have a championship drought of over 150 years.
So one of them will win — but — there’ll be a loser, too — that’s how it works. So one of these cities will have to continue to contend with some magic force working to keep them suffering.
One city on Lake Michigan and one on Lake Erie, playing for all the marbles. How can a series played on two Great Lakes not be a great series?
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