Well, despite a hard fought season and the hopes of an entire nation back them, the Toronto Blue Jays will not be competing in this year’s World Series. They played well, we cheered hard, but in the end it was not in fact #OurMoment. That’s because while Canadians were focused on their beloved team, the true Cinderella story in Major League Baseball, a truly historic event, was unfolding around us. The Chicago Cub will have a shot at the World Series championship.
Let me give you some context for why this is a big deal for baseball fans, sports fans and fans of amazing stories everywhere. The last time the Cubs played in the World Series was in 1945. Quite a long drought indeed. But that’s not even the start of it. The reason why anyone who is not from Cleveland will be cheering for the Cub in the World Series is because the last time they won the title was 1908. Now that is a long drought! That is 107 seasons without a championship which is 40 seasons longer than the next longest drought in in MLB (just so happens to be their 2016 World Series opponents, the Cleveland Indians, that hold that honour. So to add even more context to the situation, let’s look back on what the world looked like the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.
- In New York City it was illegal fr women to smoke in public.
- The first tunnel under the Hudson River opens– it was a railway.
- The fourth modern Olympic games is held in London.
- Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented .
- The first passenger airplane flight takes place– with one passenger.
- The most popular film of the year was the silent film, The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays.
- US President Theodore Roosevelt declined to serve a third term and chose his own successor to be William Taft.
- Lucien Petit-Breton wins the sixth Tour de France.
- Henry Ford introduces the first Model T which costs $825 US.
- Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition sets sail for Antarctica.
- The first long-distance radio signal is sent out from the Eiffel Tower.
- The Hoover Company introduces the stand-up vacuum.
- Notable births include actors Bette Davis and James Steward, Nelson Rockefeller and future US President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” hits the charts.
- The fifth World Series championship is played with the Detroit Tigers taking on the Chicago Cubs.
- 6,210 fans are in attendance at the World Series
- The Cubs won the game 2-0.