There are two things that the Chicago Cubs are infamously known for: a 104 year World Series title drought and arguably the worst run of the luck in the Major Leagues.
The Cubs haven’t won a World series in 104 years and it’s been 63 years since they have even been to the Fall Classic. The club has had it’s ups and down in terms of lineup, managerial and ownership changes and even when it seems the Cubs have a chance to go the distance something happens to screw it up. And it is not always the teams fault. That’s why the Cubs have been dubbed the lovable losers.
Now the Cubs aren’t the only team that has had a bad run of World Series Luck, but have seemed to turn it around in the recent years.
I thought the Boston Red Sox had it bad when their streak kept going and going. But in the end the Red Sox found a way to overcome the fears of past failures and 84 years against them. It wasn’t the curse of the bambino, it was just a run of bad luck.
The Chicago White Sox have also had a streak of their own: going 86 years without a World Series title. The White Sox too thought they were cursed because of the infamous Black Sox scandal. But through great pitching and the will to win overcame the doubt and grief.
Most recently the San Francisco Giants found a way to get themselves a championship after going 60 years without a title since moving west from New York. The Giants got it done with the spirit to believe that anything was possible and you had to believe in yourself.
I can honestly say not being a Giants fan, but not hating them either that I believe that it was no fluke and sure some will say after last year that the Giants championship was an aberration. They tend to forget the unbelievable amount of injuries the Giants suffered throughout the year, sub par pitching and absolutely no offense with the main part of the giants hitting either struggling or hurt.
The only other teams to have a significant streak of now winning a World Series is the Cleveland Indians sitting at 64 years and the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros still waiting for their world series since coming into the league in 1961 and 1962 respectively.
It looks like from the past few years the Rangers will be the next team to break a significant streak.
Texas has come so close the past two seasons and there is no doubt they will eventually pull it through.
The Cubs can learn from these hard-luck clubs: taking these teams hard-luck blueprints and running with them..
The Cubs may be on the right track now with new ownership who want to win by getting the right management in place. It seemed like before the owners could have cared less about the overall success of the organization as a whole.
The Ricketts family came in with their new ownership team and saw the current leadership wasn’t getting the work done. They spent on too many lucrative deals on banking on pitchers like Kerry Wood, Mark Pryor and Carlos Zambrano to get it done by them. That left them with very little wiggle room in their farm system to bring up any new talent.
They also spent too much money on flash in the pan players that seemed to be up at times but mostly down for the better part of their careers. Players like Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez completely saturated their budget.
The new management team led by newly acquired President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer are a step in the right direction. If you can get smart people that care and believe in what their team is about then I think the Cubs can overcome.
I admit it will probably be a slow process and I’m not expecting the Cubs to win right away. That being said if management makes the right decisions and banks on the right players as well as rebuild the farm system then anything is possible.
If that time comes where the Cubs win that elusive World Series then you would see a scene unlike any other seen in anybody’s lifetime. If you thought you saw an explosion in amount of respect and attention that the Red Sox or Giants got was extravagant. It would be an ultimate party that probably wouldn’t end for about a month after. Am I saying that the Giants and Red Sox winning wasn’t a big deal? No, I’m just pointing out that the Cubs have one of the most loyal and most popular fan bases in all of baseball.
I remember the heartbreak from 2004 and the infamous Bartman incident that led to the eventual collapse of the Cubs only chance since 1945 to go to a World Series. People were beside themselves with grief and tears of utter disbelief. When that time comes for the Cubs turn to take the spotlight I think they can overcome just like the Red Sox, White Sox and Giants did.
Do I think that a goat curses the Cubs? No, I think that history has shown that curses aren’t spiritual or supernatural they are mind games that get played out. All that these teams needed was to get out of the mindset that losing is what’s attached to all of these cases.