One of my favorite moments

One of the most memorable moments in my life came on November 2, 2016. For those who don't know me, I am a massive Chicago Cubs fan. My mom's side of the family had supported the Cubs for three generations, yet none had been able to witness a World Series championship. The Cubs had last won the World Series in 1908. Since then, the lack of a championship was attributed to the Curse of the Billygoat. The story goes that at the 1945 World Series, a man was not allowed to bring his goat to a game. As sensible as this may seem, the man was furious and cursed the team to never win a World Series again. Many Cubs teams tried to break this curse, but despite several good teams, none were able to reach the World Series. Due to this, the Cubs earned the title of "The Lovable Losers."

The 2016 season breezed bye with the Cubs finishing the best in the league. I enjoyed watching every game I could on TV. They reached the second round of the postseason again and were up against the LA Dodgers. After six extremely stress packed games, the Cubs won the series and advanced on to the World Series for the first time since 1945. The Cubs had a chance to break the 108 year long curse which had plagued the franchise, but had to get through the Cleveland Indians. Through 5 games the Cubs were down 3-1 in the best of 7 series, one loss away from a heartbreaking end to their season. However they stormed back to even the series at 3 and force a do-or-die game 7. 

I had never been so stressed in my life. It started out with a bang, as Cub Dexter Fowler hit a lead off home run in Cleveland. The game went back and forth for the next 6 innings. By the 7th the Cubs lead 6-3 following an emotional home run for David Ross in his final career game. At this point I was thoroughly excited knowing that the Cubs were 9 outs away from making history. I sat on the couch in our living room unmoved staring at the game on TV. However a 3 run 7th inning by the Indians tied up the game and made every Cubs fan including myself question if it wasn't meant to be and the curse would prevail yet again. Just when I thought the stress couldn't get any worse, there was a rain delay for half an hour. Half an hour of endless speculation and racing heartbeats. I discussed the game with some of my friends as we speculated the outcome. In the top of the 10th inning when play resumed, the Cubs scored two runs to take the lead. My parents and I were ecstatic. In the bottom of the inning the Cubs shut the door and won their first World Series in 108 years.

Like many households of Cubs fans, my parents and I went crazy. I had never imagined this moment would come. Our shouts of delight sent our cats sprinting into hiding. I talked to many of my baseball fan friends who just as excited. This is why I love watching baseball. The euphoria of success in unimaginable. We celebrated into the night, my parents had champagne and we watched the celebrations in Cleveland and Chicago on TV.  It's safe to say I was distracted at school the next day. I still get chills whenever I hear the commentary from that game. I would give anything to relive this amazing moment in my life.  

Comments

  1. Ethan AshbrookNovember 26, 2019 at 12:09 PM

    I personally am not a huge baseball fan, but I always turn on the TV to watch the World Series whenever it comes around each year. I remember all of the excitement behind that game, and while I definitely didn't have as big of an emotional weight revolving around it as you did, I definitely got involved in it. I really like reading your perspective of it, as it's clear how much this game meant to you just based on the play-by-play you give. I think this blog post really captures how big that game was, so good job!

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  2. Edward KongDecember 13, 2019 at 10:12 PM

    Unlike Ethan Ashbrook (cough cough), I am actually kind of a baseball fan. I'm a Boston Red Sox fan. (My hometown) Your description of the curse of the Billygoat reminded me of the quite similar curse of Bambino for the Red Sox (broken in 2004). As a fellow baseball fan, I found your feeling of excitement relatable through the pride of a team you cheer for.

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