The Chicago Cubs’ epic comeback in 2016 fits the bill as best World Series of all time
The first modern MLB World Series took place back in 1903. Theodore Roosevelt was President, and most people still rode horses to work. Since then, 115 World Series have taken place, and at least 10 of them have a genuine case for being the best of all time. Picking one is almost impossible.
To do it, we must first establish our criteria for evaluating each World Series.
First, it must have a great storyline. Baseball games are only as big as the stories they tell, which is why basically every sports fan across the globe is obsessed with underdog tales and epic comebacks.
Second, it must be a full seven-game series with several close games and relatively even run totals for each team. Good stories only go so far if the games don’t put me at the edge of my seat.
Finally, we need at least one game that went down as an all-time classic. With our three criteria in mind, you may start your drumroll.
Call it recency bias, but the best World Series in MLB history happened just four years ago when the Chicago Cubs stunned the Indians four games to three, slaying an alleged billy goat curse in the process.
The best case for the Cubs-Indians World Series of 2016 is the storyline. The Cubs had not won a title in 108 years, dating back to 1908. What’s worse is they appeared in the Series seven times in that 108-year span, losing every single time. Still, 2016 was their first appearance in the big dance since October 1945 – just a month after World War II ended.
The series didn’t start well for the Cubs. Indians ace Corey Kluber dazzled in game one with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts, leading his club to a 6-0 home win.
The Cubs countered by snagging game two behind a solid outing from Jake Arrieta, tying the series as it headed to Wrigley Field. Game three was a pitching duel between Indians backend starter Josh Tomlin and Cubs Cy Young candidate Kyle Hendricks. Neither team scored until the seventh inning when veteran Coco Crisp laced a pinch-hit RBI single to give Cleveland a 1-0 edge which proved enough to seal the win.
Cleveland destroyed the Cubs in game four behind another dominant performance from Kluber, notching a 3-1 lead in the series. In game five, Chicago took a 3-2 lead into the 7th inning. Recently acquired closer Aroldis Chapman wore it for his teammates, throwing an absurd 42 pitches over 2.2 innings to grab the save and the win. The series was headed back to Cleveland.
Tomlin wasn’t as effective in his second start of the series, and the Cubs jumped ahead 7-0 in the third inning of game six. They cruised to a 9-3 win, forcing a game seven the next night, when the series’ truest classic would take place.
Cubs lead-off man Dexter Fowler started the game with a solo home run, and the Cubs extended the lead to 5-1 by the top of the fifth. A wild pitch by Jon Lester in the bottom of the inning allowed two runs to score, but David Ross countered in the next half inning with a solo homer, extending his team’s lead to 6-3. That brings us to the eighth inning with two outs.
Indians infielder Jose Ramirez bounced an infield single to keep the inning alive. The Cubs immediately brought in Chapman to finish the game. Brandon Guyer launched a 99 mile-per-hour fastball to right field for an RBI double, cutting the deficit to 6-4. That brought Rajai Davis to the plate with two outs and a man on second.
Davis choked up several inches and tied the game against arguably baseball’s best reliever. The Cubs’ probability of breaking the curse went from 86 percent to 47 percent with one swing.
Neither team scored in the ninth inning, sending the game to extra innings.
Then the wait began. The rain delay lasted 17 minutes, and the Cubs were back at the dish before long. Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero came through with huge knocks against Bryan Shaw, taking an 8-6 lead. But the Indians weren’t done yet.
With two outs in the 10th, Guyer drew a walk against Carl Edwards Jr., and he advanced to second on defensive indifference, which brought up Davis. Davis came through again with a two-out RBI single, cutting the deficit to 8-7. That brought up Michael Martinez, who grounded out.
The rest is history. The Chicago Cubs, after perhaps angering the baseball gods with their shameful scapegoating of Steve Bartman in 2003, finally got it right. The longest World Series drought in baseball history ended.
No team has ever faced higher stakes than the 2016 Chicago Cubs, yet they overcame a 3-1 series deficit to win the series. According to a CBS Sports article, it was the first seven-game World Series in MLB history where both teams scored the exact same number of runs. The 2016 spectacle had the storyline, the competitiveness and the all-time classic game to fit the bill as best of all time.