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After 13 years as a scapegoat, a weight was lifted off Steve Bartman’s shoulders when the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday, and according to a spokesperson, the victory brought happiness to the Windy City’s former public enemy No. 1. 

Per Josh Peter of USA Today, spokesman Frank Murtha said the following Thursday regarding Bartman’s reaction to the Cubbies ending their 108-year title drought: “He was just overjoyed that the Cubs won, as all the Cubs fans are.”

Bartman infamously got his hands on a foul ball in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series between the Cubs and the then-Florida Marlins, which prevented outfielder Moises Alou from making the catch.

The Marlins overcame a 3-0 deficit in that contest and a 3-2 deficit in the series to eliminate the Cubs, thus prolonging their title wait.

Many blamed Bartman for the loss despite several other factors coming into play, and it led to Bartman completely removing himself from the public eye.

Now that the Cubs are champions again, however, many have called for Bartman to have some involvement in Friday’s championship parade, including ESPN’s Rece Davis:

Despite the groundswell, Murtha said Bartman has no interest in overshadowing what the Cubs accomplished: “We don’t intend to crash the parade. The one thing that Steve and I did talk about was if the Cubs were to win, he did not want to be a distraction to the accomplishments of the players and the organization.”

Regardless of if or when Bartman decides to emerge publicly, it is abundantly clear that Cubs fans are ready to embrace him.

Time and winning can heal plenty, and although the backlash against Bartman was always unfair, perhaps no one individual benefited more or felt more relief when first baseman Anthony Rizzo secured the ball in his glove for the final out of the 2016 World Series.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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CLEVELAND — It was the wise Satchel Paige who warned, “Don’t look back; something might be gaining on you.”

Don’t the Cleveland Indians, who let a three-games-to-one World Series lead slip away to the Chicago Cubs, know it. Didn’t the Los Angeles Dodgers, who fumbled a two-games-to-one National League Championship Series lead, learn it. Weren’t the San Francisco Giants, who allowed a 5-2 lead in Game 4 of the NL Division Series to dissipate, guilty of it.

It took 108 years for the Chicago Cubs to catch up to the rest of baseball in the month of October.

But now that they’re champions, look out, because it may take everyone else several years to catch back up to them. Here’s something worth stashing in your closet next to the sunblock for next spring training: The last time the Cubs won a World Series, they did it in back-to-back years, 1907 and 1908.

These Cubs waged a campaign on multiple fronts this autumn to exorcise a century’s worth of demons: Rival teams, curses, ghosts and, to a degree, their own youth.

Youth is resilient and youth is beautiful, but it also is not on the clock. Players develop at their own pace, which is why the 2015 Cubs came steaming down the tracks ahead of schedule, and why still-learning uber-talents like Javier Baez (23), Addison Russell (22), Willson Contreras (24) and, at times, even Kris Bryant (24) maybe weren’t the perfect, mistake-free players Cubs fans expected at times as 2016 climaxed.

Experience is the great teacher. That this band of incredibly skilled, and young, Cubs was able to win it all while gaining it was impressive. That there is every reason to believe we haven’t seen the best yet of a team that won 103 games this summer is the stuff of imagination and wonder.

“Hey, listen,” Ryan Dempster, the retired pitcher who serves as a special assistant to Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, said as champagne sprayed in the Cubs’ clubhouse early Thursday morning. “The tough part is to realize that that’s the next goal, right?

“They can do it again and again down the road. Right now they deserve to embrace this moment. All year, they had a target on their back from other teams, the media, fans, and yet they still were the best team in baseball. They did it.

“To see what they did tonight bodes well for the future.”

Bryant, Russell, Baez, Kyle Schwarber (23), Anthony Rizzo (27) and Kyle Hendricks (26) are among the core players who are under contract through at least 2020. Jorge Soler (24) is another whom the Cubs think will develop into an impact player, though he had a disappointing season and stayed in the background this fall. Outfielder Albert Almora (22), who also played some but mostly remained on the bench during the postseason, was a first-round pick in 2012.

In Game 2 last week, the Cubs set a World Series record by starting six players under the age of 25: Schwarber, Bryant, Baez, Russell, Contreras and Soler. The previous record was five players, set by Cincinnati in Game 4 of the 1970 World Series.

Russell and Baez are growing up together in the middle of the infield and already are setting the bar high.

“I think the combination we have up the middle is as good as you’ll ever see,” starter Jake Arrieta said.

Bryant likely will be named the NL’s Most Valuable Player later this month when the awards are announced. Schwarber had just five plate appearances before a devastating knee injury ended his season. Then, in a stunning comeback on the game’s grandest stage, he batted .412 (7-for-17) with two RBI and two runs scored in 20 World Series plate appearances.

“He jacks everybody up,” manager Joe Maddon said of Schwarber during the World Series. “He makes the lineup better, thicker. Zo is seeing better pitches.”

Zo, Ben Zobrist, used one of those pitches to push an RBI double into left field in the 10th inning of Wednesday night’s Game 7, snapping a 6-6 tie.

There were times this postseason, especially at the plate, in which the Cubs were maddeningly inconsistent compared to what we generally expect of a 103-win team. There also were reasons.

“I think a lot of it has to do with youth,” Maddon said. “That’s what I keep bringing up. As we continue to move forward together, the one area of our club that I anticipate is going to get better is offense.

“If you put your scout’s cap on right now, normally you look at our group, or any group, you’re going to see running speed that should hopefully remain the same, possibly regress a little bit. Defense should remain the same, possibly get a little bit better. Arm strength the same thing, you want to at least maintain what you have. But if you had to write numbers down on a piece of paper, the one you’re going to project a lot on would be offense, whether it’s hitting or hitting with power.”

Over 17 postseason games, the Cubs batted .233 with a .293 on-base percentage and a .399 slugging percentage.

In the World Series, they batted .249 with a .316 on-base percentage and a .404 slugging percentage.

During the regular season, they hit .256/.343/.429.

Part of the struggle during the postseason, of course, is attributable to a steady diet of Corey Klubers, Madison Bumgarners and Clayton Kershaws. You’re not facing the Milwaukee Brewers‘ fourth and fifth starters in October.

But part of the inconsistency is growing pains, too. Baez was the MVP of the NLCS, then hit .167 with 13 strikeouts in 30 at-bats in the World Series. As one veteran scout said, Baez suddenly regressed to the young kid whom the Cubs first called up in 2014.

Everybody handles moments differently, and those who have an excitable personality, like Baez, sometimes have difficulty slowing things down when the noise becomes deafening. Also, opposing scouting reports are thick and detailed in the postseason, and these intelligence briefings expose the holes of even the greatest hitters. Not everybody is capable of making adjustments from at-bat to at-bat, or even from game to game, especially on the big stage. Baez, who is eminently capable of winning a Gold Glove at multiple positions (second base, third base, shortstop), made great strides offensively this summer, cutting his strikeout percentage down to 24 percent from 30 percent in 2015 and 41.5 percent in 2014, per Fangraphs.

“It’s going to be easy to understand that the area we’re going to get better at is offense,” Maddon said. “Understanding themselves better. Understanding what the pitcher’s going to try to do against them. Understanding how to make adjustments in the game. Understanding how to utilize the entire field more consistently as they gain experience.

“The part that’s really exciting to me is that we’re in this position right now, two years in a row. Last year we didn’t quite get here, but two years in a row now we’ve been one of the last four teams playing with a really young group of baseball players that are going to continually get better.”

Even despite Baez’s World Series struggles at the plate, there were moments like this one:

While Baez, Russell and Bryant consume most of the spotlight, signs of talented young Cubs were everywhere this autumn. At one point during a pivotal moment in Game 5 against Cleveland, rookie Carl Edwards Jr. (25) was on the mound throwing to catcher Contreras.

Both players started this 103-win season at Triple-A Iowa.

Contreras, too, was guilty of a rookie mistake under the bright lights. Though he was behind the plate in Game 2, catching Arrieta’s 5 1/3 no-hit innings, he rightfully caught heat for preening after a double in Game 1. After blasting a Cody Allen pitch to right field, Contreras flipped his bat and walked about five steps, admiring the fly, before realizing it wasn’t over the fence and turning on the afterburners to reach second.

Contreras apologized to Cubs fans via Twitter:

Said Maddon, “As [the young players] gain more experience, you’re going to see a lot of that stuff go away.”

Not surprisingly, the Cubs have left a trail of admirers in their wake.

“They’ve got a lot of versatility,” retired manager Jim Leyland, who now works for the commissioner’s office, said. “I love their young shortstop [Russell]. … He kind of gets lost a little bit with [Cleveland’s Francisco] Lindor and [Houston‘s Carlos] Correa and some of the other guys, [Corey] Seager out in Los Angeles, but this kid’s really good.

“Anthony Rizzo’s a two-way player; he’s an excellent fielder as well as a power guy. … And I think a guy like Ben Zobrist has been a big key for them. He kind of solidifies things. They’ve got a nice combination, and Joe does a great job with them.”

Perhaps as impressive as anything else was this young core’s ability to block out the anguish of more than a century of Cubs baseball, the billy goats and curses and black cats, and lift this franchise to heights few of us have ever before seen. And though it was far more difficult than it sometimes appeared, they made it look as if they were lifting a simple Louisville Slugger more often than not.

“I think the way they did it,” catcher David Ross said. “There are a lot of young, successful and talented players here, and they expect to succeed. They’re not worried about past things. They’re looking at now, and the future is very bright. …

“I’m happy for the city of Chicago, for Cubs fans who have been so dedicated. These guys worked their tails off. They’ve all been through a lot, and they deserve everything they get for the rest of their life.”

Not only will the surging Cubs be favored again in 2017, but there also doesn’t even appear to be a spot for Zobrist, the World Series MVP. Baez is the projected second baseman and Schwarber the left fielder with Almora expected to supplant Dexter Fowler in center field. Where might that leave Zobrist? Possibly on the trade block. Or in even more of a super-utility role than he’s accustomed to.

“There’s no question this should be a very good team for a very long time,” Leyland said. “Whether they’re going to get back to the World Series every year, that’s a different story. It’s pretty hard to do.”

Undoubtedly. But in winning it all this year, the Cubs have taken that long, difficult first step. Maybe this powerful young core develops into the next dynasty, or maybe not. But one thing is certain: Given the talent, youth and build of this team, the Cubs should be powerful for the next five or six years, minimum.

And as this group writes its own history, it will do so from a blank canvas that includes no previous baggage.

“It’s really great for our entire Cub-dom to get beyond that moment and continue to move forward,” Maddon said, “because now, based on the young players we have in this organization, we have an opportunity to be good for a long time, and without any constraints, without any of the negative dialogue.

“The burden has been lifted.”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

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There might not be another celebration quite like what we are expecting out of the Chicago Cubs and their fans after 108 years of waiting.

The Cubs won their first World Series title since 1908 Wednesday night. Two days later, they will take part in a parade that will likely only be a continuation of a full week of parties.

Longtime fan Bill Murray is certainly looking forward to it, per MLB Network:

Whether you are preparing to join the fun or just watch along at home, here is what you need to know about the upcoming event.

Cubs World Series Parade

Date: Friday, Nov. 4

Time: 12 p.m. ET

TV: MLB Network

Live Stream: MLB.com; CBS Chicago

The celebration is certain to be a big one, with just about anyone within a few hours drive likely to take the day off and join the fun.

“We’re going to have a parade in Chicago that will stand the test of time,” mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday, per John Byrne of the Chicago Tribune. “It will be a parade that 108 years have waited for. It will be a parade and a celebration that all of Chicago for 108 years in their mind’s eye, have been envisioning. We’re going to make it a reality in the city of Chicago.”

This is a lot to live up to, but the attendance alone is certain to make this event a memorable one.

As Carrie Muskat of MLB.com noted, the Chicago Blackhawks drew about 2 million people for their parade for their third title in five years. It’s easy to imagine a lot more will care about the Cubs in a city of this size, even considering the fact those on the South Side already celebrated the Chicago White Sox title 11 years ago.

The attention for this series is also much more than anything we have seen in years. Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily reported over 40 million people watched Game 7 between the Cubs and Cleveland Indians, the most for a baseball game in 25 years.

Everyone from the diehards who were suffering for decades to the casual fans who just started watching this week will be able to enjoy this event, which will likely flood the streets throughout the city.

According to WGN, fans will be encouraged to watch from one of three locations, at Addison from Sheffield to Pine Grove, North Michigan Avenue from Oak St. to Ohio St., and Columbus Dr. from Monroe St. to Balbo Ave.

The parade itself will travel from Wrigley Field down Michigan Ave. and then Columbus Dr. toward Lower Hutchinson Field in Grant Park, where the official rally will take place around noon local time.

There could be north of 3 million people crowding the streets, so either be prepared for some all-day craziness or watch from the comfort of your own home.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.

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For the first time in 108 years, the city of Chicago will be able to bask in the glow of a World Series celebration with the Cubs when the team holds its victory parade on Friday.

The Cubs capped off their historic season with a dramatic 3-1 series comeback against the Cleveland Indians, highlighted by an 8-7 win in Game 7 that saw them blow a three-run lead in the eighth inning before scoring two runs in the top of the 10th and holding off one more Cleveland rally. 

Parade Predictions

Predicting a parade isn’t nearly as agonizing as a game because no matter the outcome, no one feels like they lost. 

However, it will not be a stretch to say the Cubs’ parade will be the biggest baseball celebration in history.

Using the totally unscientific list of largest peaceful gatherings compiled by Wikipedia (via Paula Schleis of the Akron Beacon Journal), the Boston Red Sox‘s celebratory parade on October 30, 2004, ranks first among sporting-related events with an estimated 3 million people in attendance. 

If you prefer something a little more concrete, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2013 the Chicago Blackhawks’ parade in Grant Park drew approximately 2 million fans. 

As of May 2016, per Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business, the city’s total population is just over 2.7 million. There will also be spectators from around the area making a journey into the city for this historic moment. 

One thing that does hurt the potential turnout is the quick turnaround from Wednesday’s game to Friday afternoon. Fans who could have been looking to fly in might not be able to make necessary arrangements in time. 

But this is still going to be a huge event with a record number of fans joining in the festivities. 

As for what to expect from the actual celebration, there is nothing likely to surprise anyone. There should be many Cubs legends in attendance, but as far as which person will get the biggest ovation, don’t count on it coming from anyone who wore a uniform. 

It’s not hard to pinpoint when the Cubs’ plan was put into place: October 25, 2011. Things were rapidly unraveling for the franchise as they went from 97 wins in 2008 to 71 in 2011, leading to the firing of general manager Jim Hendry in August 2011. 

After a three-month job search, the Cubs introduced Theo Epstein as their president of baseball operations on that date in October. Here is what he said at his introductory press conference, per ESPN Chicago:

We’re going to build the best baseball operation we can. We’re going to change the culture. Our players are going to change the culture along with us in the major league clubhouse. We’re going to make building a foundation for sustained success a priority. That will lead to playing October baseball more often than not. Once you get in in October there’s a legitimate chance to win the World Series.

Epstein’s model has so far been nothing short of brilliant. His first three first-round draft picks were Albert Almora (2012), Kris Bryant (2013) and Kyle Schwarber (2014). He helped execute trades that brought Jake Arrieta, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and Kyle Hendricks to Chicago. 

Jon Lester, who was with the Boston Red Sox when Epstein was general manager, signed with the Cubs before the 2015 season.

No one in Major League Baseball has built an operation with a more consistent level of success on the field and in player development than Epstein. He was the primary architect of three World Series teams in Boston, even though the 2013 title came after he left, and did the same thing in Chicago. 

Players are the ones who have to do the work on the field that everyone recognizes, but Epstein deserves to be the most praised person at the victory parade because of how he completely transformed the way business was being done in Chicago.

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The Chicago Cubs and their diehard fans enjoyed a celebration befitting the long-awaited end of the team’s 108-year championship drought early Thursday morning as the team completed a memorable World Series comeback by defeating the Cleveland Indians on the road in Game 7.

Michael Martinez made the final out as his slow chopper to third was picked off the slick grass by Kris Bryant and fired across the diamond to Anthony Rizzo, who slyly slipped the ball into his back pocket as the celebration erupted in both Cleveland and Chicago.

It’s a moment many Cubs fans have waited decades to witness. They endured a multitude of heartbreak few fanbases in the United States can even fathom along the way. In the end, however, all of that disappointment made the hard-fought triumph even more euphoric.

Of course, the moment of exaltation didn’t come until after some drama. The Cubs blew a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth as Rajai Davis smoked a game-tying two-run homer to left field after Brandon Guyer had doubled home a run for Cleveland.

After a scoreless ninth, the umpiring crew decided to call for the tarp as a heavy rain shower passed through the area. But after waiting 108 years, a couple of extra minutes is nothing.

Chicago came right back out in the 10th and put two runs on the board courtesy of RBI hits by Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero. Cleveland got one back thanks to another clutch hit by Davis, but it wasn’t enough as Mike Montgomery finally slammed the door shut on a terrific World Series.

Afterward, Cubs manager Joe Maddon discussed the championship from both a long-term and short-term perspective, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

“Historical,” Maddon said. “This carries more significance in the city of Chicago, the fanbase, just history. Obviously, the last time it was won was over a century ago. But for me, the significance is that this team, this group, wins a World Series.”

He added: “I wanted to attack the word ‘pressure’ and ‘expectation’ from day one, so that our guys would be used to hearing it, and also channel it in the proper direction. You’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit, because they’ve been hearing this from day one.”

Steve Keating of Reuters passed along comments from World Series MVP Zobrist, who likened the series and its epic Game 7 finale to a prize fight.

“It was like a heavyweight fight, man,” he said. “Just blow for blow, everybody played their heart out. The Indians never gave up either, and I can’t believe we’re finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy.”

It’s a result that seemed like a long shot after the Cubs fell behind 3-1 in the series with the final two games looming at Progressive Field.

But perhaps in the end, the Indians’ injury issues finally caught up with them. They embarked on the playoff journey without outfielder Michael Brantley and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco. Fellow starter Danny Salazar returned, but he was limited to a bullpen role.

While the offense remained formidable, the starting rotation got stretched thin, forcing Corey Kluber to pitch three World Series games. The Cubs stuck with a four-man rotation and looked fresher over the final three contests. If Carrasco and Salazar were available to start, maybe Cleveland closes it out.

That said, Chicago was the best team all year long. It won 103 games during the regular season, eight more than the next-closest team, and the club’s star-studded roster responded to adversity with seemingly unwavering confidence throughout the playoffs.

It set the stage for a night Cubs fans, who were tortured for so long and endured 464 losses in a five-year span starting in 2010 as the organization went through a complete rebuild, will never forget. Billy Witz of the New York Times provided the perfect remarks to sum it all up from Rizzo.

“We’re world champions,” Rizzo said. “The Chicago Cubs are world champions. Let that sink in.”

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Fact: The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings on Wednesday night, giving the franchise its first World Series title since 1908. 

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: B/R Insights

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The better team won.

After all the talk of curses and droughts, and all the angst about which manager shouldn’t have used which pitcher at which point, it came down to simple baseball logic. The Chicago Cubs had more dependable starting pitchers and more productive stars.

They have the World Series title they deserve, and they have a more-than-memorable Game 7 to talk about for the next 108 years.

And here at Bleacher Report, we have World Series awards I started working on Sunday, when the Cleveland Indians had a 3-1 series lead. As you might imagine, it looked a little different then.

It changed Sunday night when the Cubs won Game 5. It changed even more when they won Game 6 Tuesday. And it changed two or three more times over the course of a Game 7 that began Wednesday night and ended after midnight Cleveland time Thursday morning.

It won’t change again, because after a baseball season that went the distance and then some, the Cubs have ended a legendary drought that went the distance and then some.

It’s safe now, I think, so here are Bleacher Report’s 2016 World Series awards.

Begin Slideshow

You can exhale, Chicago Cubs fans. It finally happened.

After 108 years of waiting, you watched your team storm the field and hoist a trophy. You watched the Cubbies win the final game of the postseason 8-7 Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

You did not have to wait until next year.

It wasn’t easy. The Cleveland Indians kept pushing back. They came awfully close, in fact, to turning Cubs skipper Joe Maddon and closer Aroldis Chapman into a pair of goats, to invoke the Windy City’s least favorite barnyard creature.

In the end, Chicago’s heroics prevailed against the Tribe and Mother Nature. Just barely.

Things began on an auspicious note for the Cubbies, who led 1-0 after Dexter Fowler’s leadoff home run in the top of the first inning. 

The Indians tied it 1-1 in the third on a Carlos Santana single, but Chicago plated two in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a commanding 5-1 lead.

Shortstop Addison Russell, who tallied six RBI in Chicago’s 9-3 Game 6 win, notched a sacrifice fly. Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo knocked in runs with a double and a single, respectively. And brash second baseman Javier Baez launched a solo homer.

The Cubs, by all accounts, were in control. They’d gotten to noted postseason ace Corey Kluber and neutralized the threat of Cleveland’s shutdown bullpen, particularly Andrew Miller.

Then, in the fifth, with two outs, starter Kyle Hendricks walked Santana. Hendricks, MLB‘s reigning ERA king, had been mostly excellent, commanding his pitches and exhibiting a cool, collected demeanor on the hill.

Still, Maddon went to the pen and summoned Jon Lester, a proven postseason performer but by no means an experienced reliever, along with catcher David Ross, replacing Contreras.

Right on cue, a throwing error by Ross and a wild pitch by Lester plated two runs and made it 5-3.

Ross made it 6-3 in the sixth with a solo homer, temporarily easing the sting.

But Maddon‘s machinations weren’t over yet.  

With one on and two out in the eighth, the Cubs manager turned to Chapman. It made sense in a way. The Cubs acquired the fire-balling reliever at the trade deadline for precisely this moment. 

Maddon, however, used Chapman for 20 pitches in the Cubs’ relatively easy Game 6 win after asking him to get the final eight outs in Game 5. It was worth wondering how much the Cuban hurler had sloshing in the tank.

Chapman surrendered a run-scoring single to Brandon Guyer to make it 6-4. Then Rajai Davis launched a two-run homer, his first home run since August 30, to tie it at 6-6. 

That was the moment when the curse fog crept in, when long-suffering Cubs fans could be forgiven for curling up in the fetal position with visions of Steve Bartman dancing in their heads.

Their bullpen stud had failed them. Their manager, a noted chess master, had wandered into checkmate. The air smelled like defeat.

Instead, after a 17-minute rain delay that felt like a practical joke from above, the Cubs rallied.

Kyle Schwarber, who was supposed to be done for the season after busting his knee in early April, opened the 10th inning with a single. 

After a Kris Bryant flyout and an intentional walk to Rizzo, Ben Zobrist plated a run with a double. Miguel Montero added an RBI single to make it 8-6.

Davis made it 8-7 in the bottom of the frame with an RBI base hit. Ultimately, though, the Cubs pen locked it down. It wasn’t Chapman who recorded the final outs, but rather Carl Edwards Jr. and Mike Montgomery.

It was a true team effort. There were heroes up and down the roster. Maddon was saved from an offseason of brutal second-guessing. Chapman avoided becoming the latest symbol of the Cubs’ formerly inevitable futility.

It felt like the duo escaped as much as triumphed, as NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra noted:

Hindsight is 20/20. Maddon pulled many of the right levers this season, and Chapman was a necessary cog in Chicago’s curse-busting machine. 

In Game 7, however, it was the sheer force of the Cubbies‘ collective will that got them over the hump. A team accustomed to choking chewed up the moment and spit it out, victorious.

“It’s really great for our entire Cub-dom to get beyond that moment and continue to move forward,” Maddon said, per Jordan Bastian and Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. “Because now, based on the young players we have in this organization, we have an opportunity to be good for a long time, and without any constraints, without any of the negative dialogue.”

He’s right. The Cubs are just another squad now, talented and looking toward the future. They slayed the billy goat and kept it out of Maddon and Chapman’s lap.

You can exhale, Cubs fans. It finally happened. 

It finally happened.

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The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series since 1908, and it only feels appropriate that they put their dedicated fans through one of the most back-and-forth, stress-inducing baseball games in recent memory.

They prevailed, 8-7, against the Cleveland Indians in Wednesday’s Game 7 at Progressive Field in a 10-inning battle that saw a dramatic game-tying home run off Aroldis Chapman from Cleveland’s Rajai Davis in the eighth, a rain delay after the ninth and three combined runs in that extra inning.

Ben Zobrist notched an RBI double in the 10th and earned World Series MVP honors. The team shared him accepting his trophy:

The Cubs also passed along a clip of the final out with the potential winning run at the plate and captured manager Joe Maddon holding the Commissioner’s Trophy:

The players naturally reacted to the historic accomplishment, via the Cubs:

While the players made the headlines, the long-suffering fans were more than ready to join in on the fun. Wall to Wall Sports of 10TV in Columbus, Ohio, captured hundreds of those supporters singing in ecstasy after the championship victory.

The fans outside Wrigley Field also soaked in the moment:

The Cubs’ most famous fan reacted to the triumph, via SportsCenter: 

Bill Murray wasn’t the only celebrity pleased to see Chicago break the curse, as Kyle Griffin of MSNBC noted:

Snapping a 108-year championship drought didn’t happen by accident; this team won an MLB-best 103 games this season, the culmination of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s rebuilding plan that has been in motion since he took over in 2011. 

Dexter Fowler, Javier Baez and David Ross all hit home runs, Zobrist and Miguel Montero drove in crucial runs in the 10th inning, Jon Lester pitched three innings out of the bullpen after starting Game 5, starter Kyle Hendricks allowed one earned run in 4.2 innings and Mike Montgomery earned a cathartic save.

Sports Illustrated captured the deserving celebration:

Now attention will turn toward the 2017 season as the team that hadn’t won a title in over a century looks to defend its crown. Chicago is well-equipped to compete for years to come with a young core that includes Anthony Rizzo (27), Kris Bryant (24), Addison Russell (22), Baez (23) and Willson Contreras (24), among others. 

Even if the Cubs add a handful of titles in the coming years, their fans will never forget the one that ended the suffering. 

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Ben Zobrist has been named Most Valuable Player of the 2016 World Series while helping the Chicago Cubs secure their first title since 1908.

The outfielder had the game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning of the dramatic Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Baseball Reference noted the historical importance of the game-winning hit:

He also finished the series batting .357 with a .419 on-base percentage, getting a hit in six of the seven games.  

Zobrist has now won back-to-back titles after winning the World Series with the Kansas City Royals last season.

ESPN Stats and Info provided an interesting note on the veteran player:

Per Odds Shark, the No. 4 hitter had 10-1 odds to win this award coming into the series, tied for second-best among Cubs players behind only Jake Arrieta. He lived up to expectations with a strong performance throughout the seven games.

He finished with a .250 batting average and five RBI in 17 postseason games.

His wife, Julianna, provided motivational words from her view of the big play:

Buster Olney of ESPN discussed the lack of pressure Zobrist had put on himself in these big games:

Of course, with a team like this, there were plenty of other options for MVP. Woody Paige of the Gazette noted the possible options:

Kyle Schwarber batted .412 in his appearances as a designated hitter after missing most of the season. Anthony Rizzo hit .360 with some clutch RBI, while Kris Bryant was responsible for some of the biggest moments in the series.

The pitching staff also had some big moments, although Justin Verlander was voting for a sentimental favorite:

David Ross hit a key home run in his last game before retiring.

Still, it was Zobrist who took home the hardware, helping break the longest championship drought in professional sports in his first season with the team.

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