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2016 MLB Season Thread

Congrats to the Cubs, it was an exciting series and I'm sorry to see Cleveland falter at the very end.

As a long-suffering (if not truly diehard) Cleveland sports fan, I think we have a stronger claim to Narrative™ status than just about anyone else, so I can both heartily congratulate the Cubs for winning their first World Series in over a century and feel sore about their ruining what could have been a once-in-a-generation year in Cleveland sports.

I'm calling it the Curse of the Racist Logo; mark my words, we won't win another World Series until Chief Wahoo is rightfully consigned to history.
 
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So Back to the Future was off just by a single year it seems. Given the 100+ years in play, that's some good quality guessing there.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Congrats to the Cubs, it was an exciting series and I'm sorry to see Cleveland falter at the very end.

As a long-suffering (if not truly diehard) Cleveland sports fan, I think we have a stronger claim to Narrative™ status than just about anyone else, so I can both heartily congratulate the Cubs for winning their first World Series in over a century and feel sore about their ruining what could have been a once-in-a-generation year in Cleveland sports.

I'm calling it the Curse of the Racist Logo; mark my words, we won't win another World Series until Chief Wahoo is rightfully consigned to history.
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Congrats on a great season!
 
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quagmire said:
What is with the bad managing? Holy crap...... Hendricks was solid after that rocky 3rd. Two strikes get called balls and ends up walking one person with 2 outs and Maddon pulls him......
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I agree 100%
Hendricks does not get rattled.
The worst performance in the game was by the home plate umpire.
 
I just saw this article in The Age in Melbourne, Australia (also in the Brisbane Times, and the Sydney Morning Herald). It's really interesting when put into perspective.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/chic...-of-the-drought-breakers-20161103-gshdhz.html

Chicago Cubs round out sport's year of the drought breakers

Only in 2016 could a team chasing their first title in 68 years still be denied by a fairytale drought-breaker.

When Cleveland led Chicago 3-1 midway through the seven-game World Series, they looked certain to claim their first championship since 1948.

Folklore said the franchise was suffering from the Curse of the Billy Goat, after the owner of an animal kicked out of the stadium during their last World Series appearance in 1945 told the team's owner they'd never win again.

That spell has now been broken.

The city of Cleveland has known a thing or two about breaking their own curses this year too.

At the turn of 2016, the city's professional sporting drought had dated back to 1964, or a combined 147 seasons of the NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL.

But that all changed when LeBron James produced the block of a lifetime on Andre Iguodala to help the Cavaliers to a four-point win in the deciding Game Seven against Golden State to deliver the franchise their first championship since joining the league in 1970.

But neither or those will go down as the greatest drought-breaker of 2016.

Leicester City's was the longest of them all, their spectacular English Premier League title their first top-tier league trophy in their 132-year history.

While every other global drought-breaker in 2016 had at least gone close to the title before, the Foxes entered the season 5000-1 outsiders, aiming to starve off relegation.

Instead, they went on a miracle run, losing just three games to wrap up the title with two weeks to go.

In August, Wellington's Hurricanes also claimed their first Super Rugby title in their 21-season history, defeating a Lions side in maiden final.

That came before the magical first weekend of October in Australia when Cronulla and the Western Bulldogs ended the longest-running droughts in their respective sports.

In their first AFL grand final since 1961, Luke Beveridge's men overcame a two- point half-time deficit to Sydney to run out 22-point winners - claiming their first title in 62 years.

A day later, Cronulla's dream of a maiden NRL title in their 50th season looked shot when Melbourne took the lead in the final 20 minutes.

But a late Andrew Fifita try, combined with a last-ditch defensive effort on their own line sending their supporters into a frenzy of celebrations - just as 2016 has for long-suffering fans all over the globe.
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I had a number of friends catching the game during their workday in Sydney (it was 2pm the following day by the time the rain delay kicked in), and were glued to the live streams.

Regardless, the list of droughts broken is fascinating:

2016 TITLE DROUGHT-BREAKERS

  • Leicester City (English Premier League) - 132 years
  • Chicago Cubs (Major League Baseball) - 108 years
  • Western Bulldogs (AFL) - 62 years
  • Cronulla Sharks (NRL) - 49 years
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) - 46 years
  • Hurricanes (Super Rugby) - 20 years
For the Western Bulldogs, it was 20,090 days between appearances in their grand final. By comparison, it was 39,433 days for the Cubs, and going off of championships, 48,180 days for Leister and their first premiership.

BL.
 
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Last thing I'm pretty much going to post on this one.

Budweiser did damn good on this. They went into the Cubs archives, and were able to put together Harry Caray calling the last play of Game 7.

Enjoy.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2016...-caray-world-series-game-7-call-slick-editing

Harry Caray calls the Cubs' final out of the World Series in this brilliant, new Budweiser commercial
by Mark Hinog
Nov 3, 2016, 12:17pm EDT

Legendary Cubs announcer Harry Caray departed this earth 18 years ago, never having seen the team win the World Series. Fans in Chicago and around the world were surely thinking of him when the Cubs finally became champions for the first time since 1908. Budweiser did, too, as they ran one of his commercials for the beer company after the victory to honor him.

But then they stepped it up. On Thursday morning, they released a new ad where they made it sound like Harry Caray is calling the final out of Game 7. It’s really slick editing taken from audio of his past games, but they all fit perfectly with how the 10th inning ended. It’s also paired with footage of Cubs fans reacting to the win, which makes this even more special. This was an amazing gift for Cubs fans.
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Enjoy.


BL.
 
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As a Yankee fan who as seen his share of championships over the past decade, (5 of them) :p It is great to see living Cubs fans get to see one. I would rather the Cubs break their curse and wished the Red Sox were still searching. Although the pain Red Sox ownership is feeling seeing their former GM go down in history as the best ever is a nice consolation prize. And watching their star pitcher that they let go win another ring :D
 
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MacNut said:
As a Yankee fan who as seen his share of championships over the past decade, (5 of them) :p It is great to see living Cubs fans get to see one. I would rather the Cubs break their curse and wished the Red Sox were still searching. Although the pain Red Sox ownership is feeling seeing their former GM go down in history as the best ever is a nice consolation prize. And watching their star pitcher that they let go win another ring :D
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There are so many droughts but the most fascinating one was also long, 99 years for the Los Angeles Angels.

The move to start a professional baseball team in LA was only seen with the Angels organization as a minor league team. Every year in the early 1900s, somebody said they would take this to the bigs. Bankruptcies, disagreeing city councils, backstabbing by ambitious partners, and the worst of human nature takes this all the way into the 1930s, still with no major league team.

Then it becomes real, but like LA does unlike any other big city, screws the pooch and more mishaps happen and it takes Gene Autry and his investors go through many go and no-go scenarios. Then it looks awful when LA gets the Dodgers so who needs another team in LA, especially since the Angels had nearly 60 years to line up the documents and sign on the bottom line?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Angels_(PCL)

So then the LA Angels finally take their 1903 pro baseball concept to the bigs and get great guys like Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, and Nolan Ryan yet still can't get a title. In that time LA Dodgers pick up a whole handful of titles.

Without any of those amazing players, the Angels still put it together one solitary year and get it in 2002, almost 100 years after the inception of what would have been LA's western version of the Chicago's Cubs or New York's Yankees.

The paperwork and behind the scenes fight for the team was actually longer than their own 41 year drought on the field. So judging by players, coaches, managers, middle managers, owners, and partners, this is the most amazing American sports story ever in terms of persistence. History will remember the White Sox, Red Sox, and Cubs more but LA Angels are worth mentioning, at least in business school.
 
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