Remember 2008? The most recent year that both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox made the playoffs? Probably not, seeing as both teams were quickly and painfully eliminated in their respective division series. How about the second most recent year? 1906, of course, where the Cubs were defeated in the World Series by the Sox. If that one doesn’t ring a bell either, I’ve got good news for you: baseball is back in Chicago and this year (as well as future ones) will be a season to remember.

For only the second time in MLB history, three teams won 95 games in a division and had the top three records in the league. One of them, your Chicago Cubs, had one of the best second halves in a season ever with a 50-25 record and won a playoff game for the first time since 2003.

At surface level, the success of the Cubs has come from the Rookie of the Year, Kris Bryant, the Cy Young, Jake Arrieta, the fourth place MVP finisher, Anthony Rizzo and rookies such as Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Jorge Soler and Javier Baez. Due to the ability of small name players to take big time advantage of the long ball in windy Wrigley Field, the Cubs rallied to strike hope and faith into Chicagoans whose battle cry of “no more next year” became a reality in 2015. Veteran pitchers, who gave the Cubs the most strikeouts in the league, also aided in this stretch as they kept earned runs to a minimum.

However, below the surface, every last drop of credit can be attributed to Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Joe Maddon. Maybe not as well recognized as the blue-eyed miracle, Bryant, or the beautifully-bearded, cutoff t-shirt making, push-up doing, mustache onesie wearing ace Arrieta, yet exponentially more valuable to the future of the franchise, these men have promised an anticipation, a reason for optimism. Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Epstein, who has already broken one long-running baseball curse for the Boston Red Sox, and General Manager Hoyer have strengthened the team in several ways. Large deals in free agency to land Jon Lester, John Lackey, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward as well as finding huge upside value in Arrieta, relief pitchers such as Hector Rondon, Travis Wood and Justin Grimm and field players like Dexter Fowler, Miguel Montero, Russell and Schwarber have allowed the Cubs to become the most dynamic and deep team in the MLB.

The best thing about the Cubs upcoming lineup is the depth. At any given moment, there are two more than capable players of filling in any position. There are powerful lefties (Schwarber, Rizzo, Heyward) to drop moonshot dingers off of RHPs onto Waveland Avenue, contact righties (Zobrist, Russell, Soler) to wear down LHPs and fielders (Russell, Rizzo, Fowler) good enough to take home gold gloves. This assures that even if speedbumps such as Soler’s stretch on the disabled list or Russell’s postseason injury are faced again this year, something can and will be done to assure that they are not missed.

However, what makes 2016 fascinating is more than the Cubs 4-1 odds to be wearing golden rings after October. The South Siders too are experiencing a revival as a team to be reckoned with. The addition of a former Cincinnati slugger Todd Frazier and veteran Jimmy Rollins to an already talented infield with young star Bobby Abreu will create a highly powered batting lineup that is backed by Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton. Accompanied by hard-throwing, strikeout machine Chris Sale, the White Sox are no doubt dangerous contenders in a shaky AL Central division that has no clear standout.

As the great announcer Harry Caray once said, “Sure as God made green apples, someday the Chicago Cubs are going to be in the World Series,” and I have no bigger belief that not only the Cubs, but also the Sox will shine this year.