Are Cubs Destined To Win World Series?
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series in a very long time. It’s been over 100 years and longtime fans of the team don’t want to hear about how long it has been. As the 2016 season gets ready to conclude on Sunday and the North Siders get ready to begin a playoff push, is this finally the time where “Wait till Next Year” is actually “Wait until This Year”? It looks like the stars are aligning in a way where this may be the year that every Cubs fan who weren’t born in the first decade of the 20th century has been waiting for their entire lives.
The Cubs won their 99th game on Sunday night with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. They clinched their best home record in franchise history in the process. The other teams in the National League all have a lot of issues surrounding them going into the postseason. The Cardinals’ pitching isn’t as strong as previous years and they are not a home run hitting teams. The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants have pitching problems of their own which the Cubs’ offense can exploit. Are Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo actually going to disappear though? Are David Ross and Jon Lester simply going to give up if things get tough? That's a negative on both.
The Washington Nationals have great pitching with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg but who knows if Strasburg will stay healthy into the playoffs. The Los Angeles Dodgers look solid with Clayton Kershaw at the top of their rotation and have the pitching to stop the Cubs but after Kershaw, it is truly a team that can’t count on any one pitcher 100%. If the Cubs can get through the NL, it would bring them to the World Series for the first time since the end of World War II.
The American League is a different animal with the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers but here is where things get interesting. If the Cubs do make it to the World Series, there is going to be a bit of pressure actually taken off the team just by getting there. This slight sense of relaxation should overcome whatever their opponents have to offer. This may finally be the year that Cubs fans want to see. The parade may be 10 miles long and have fans 10 deep all the way around it. It will be a sight to see when it does happen.
