The Chicago Cubs and their veteran catcher David Ross last night played the game of their lives to end a 108-year wait for baseball's biggest prize.
Manager Joe Maddon's team beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings to finally take Major League Baseball's World Series.
The Cubs had been playing diligently throughout 2016, but had found themselves 3-1 down in the best-of-seven series before clawing back to put themselves on the brink of glory in last night’s match.
For Ross, this final Game 7 would be his last; and for the Cubs, this game would arguably be their most memorable.
For everyone else, including the masses watching on TV, this would be the night they witnessed two historic moments on the field.
Tension was high in the center of Progressive Field in the sixth . The Cubs had started the game in intense fashion, taking a 5-1 lead, before being pulled back to 5-3 by a resurgent Indians.
Ross went up to bat in the sixth innings, facing off against Indians pitcher Andrew Miller and managed to keep his nerve to slam a 1-2 pitch over the wall of the field, making a crucial contribution to the Cubs .
“I can not believe I homered,” Ross said to press afterwards, astounded. “I can’t. And off Andrew Miller, too, who is one of the nastiest guys I’ve ever faced and caught.”
At the age of 39, in Game 7, he had become the Oldest baseball player to hit a home run in a World Series game.
The drama would not end there, as the Cubs would quickly lose their advantage, with the Indians tieing them at the bottom of the eighth.
Fans and players feared that the curse would come back, and they would yet again lose in the World Series, but this was not to be the case.
Following RBIs from MVP Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero, Mike Montgomery gained the final out in the 10th to secure the Cubs long-awaited title and the world record for the Longest time between baseball World Series wins, at 108 years.
World Series MVP: @benzobrist18pic.twitter.com/pIsRYYHw06
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 3, 2016
To put things in perspective, the last time they were crowned champions in 1908, won Theodore Roosevelt was president, women did not have the vote and zips had not been invented.
Incredible scenes of joy inevitably broke out among players and Cubs fans in the stands as well as across Chicago following the victory, with the team also receiving congratulations from US President Barack Obama - a fan of city rivals the Chicago White Sox - who tweeted: "It happened: @Cubs win World Series," he wrote. "That's change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave?"
