Game 7 of the 2016 World Series began in Cleveland. After coming right off a hot 9-3 win against the Indians Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs prepared for a final game. With Cleveland Indians pitcher, Corey Kluber on the mound, it was game time. Cubs Manager Joe Maddon stuck with the strong batting roster that had brought victory the night before, beginning with Dexter Fowler. Starting off the night right, Fowler on a 2-1 count, hit a home run. Next up was Kyle Schwarber, safe at first from Lindor bobbling his infield grounder. Schwarber steals second to astonish the crowd, something unheard of after recovering from a knee injury. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist followed at bat, all hitting high flies to end the top of the first. Overall a strong first bat for the Cubs, proving to Kluber that his pitches aren’t untouchable. We cubbies were riding pretty comfortable until Javier Baez and fellow infielders had some errors allowing runners on base.

Soon the 1-0 lead was tied and we were up to bat. With Bryant on first and Rizzo up at bat, Rizzo naturally stood more in the batters box. Just to test Rizzo, Kluber threw a left inside pitch and hit Rizzo square in the bicep. A hit by Zobrist causes Bryant to tag up and score, bringing the Cubs up by one run.

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I am known to have experienced heartbreak when it comes to the team, and as expected, heartbreak was endured. It all happened so fast. Cleveland scored; Maddon took Kyle Hendricks and Wilson Contreras out, Jon Lester and David Ross in, and things changed quickly. A wild pitch hit Ross, bouncing off his helmet, getting out of his reach, allowing two runs scored. Right then and there, the curse was slowly creeping back up from the dead. Frazzled, we struggled with batting and fielding but managed to score some runs in between. Next thing we knew, Indians were up to bat and Rajai Davis hit a two-run, two out homer off recently placed pitcher Aroldis Chapman. It was tied 6-6, and the pit that had been in all of our stomachs earlier had returned. If things couldn’t get more stressful, the 17-minute rain delay came and the crew began to roll out the tarp. Biting the fingernails that remained, I patiently waited for the game to resume. I don’t know what Heyward said when he called that small team meeting in the dugout, but it must’ve been magic. The delay was over and something had gotten into the Cubs. Hitting one after another, we were finally up again. Cleveland scored one run, but not enough to take away our win in the 10^th inning.

Words that came to mind: Thank god, finally, Holy cow. Like many cubs fans, a wave of relief and disbelief came over me. I like my wins like I like my coffee, with a little room, but it was just too much to ask for from the 2016 cubs. In the end, it had been an excruciating 39,466 days since the last win, but extremely happy with the win. This isn’t the best thing since sliced bread; it’s the best thing since 20 years before sliced bread. (Sliced bread came out in 1928).