Heartbreak & the Chicago Cubs
Introduction
The Chicago Cubs are known as the "loveable losers" and have been for many years. They have not won a World Series since 1908. Their last appearance in a World Series was in 1945. For those of you who are not quick on your feet with numbers that is 96 years without being crowned the best team in baseball. The Cubs do not have a record of winning. In 127 years of existence, the Cubs have only won the World Series twice. They won 16 National League Championships, and they won their division three times (Gentile 59). Yet every year, fans flock to Wrigley Field in hopes that this year, is the "next year," that they have been waiting for all their lives.
Including the last Cub appearance in the World Series in 1945, Cub fans have been subjected to some very painful moments. They lost the World Series to the Tigers in the seventh game, after rallying to beat them in the sixth game in extra innings. In 1969, the Cubs were ahead of the New York Mets by nine ½ games in the middle of August, and then fell short of even making the post season. The Cubs were leading the best of five series 2-0 in 1984 against the San Diego Padres, only to watch their World Series dream fade away again after a ground ball went through the legs of their first baseman in Game 5. The last heartbreak and quite possibly the most painful came just last year in 2003 when they were just five outs away from making it to the World Series when the Cubs ' world came tumbling down again. The Cubs are continually one of America 's favorite teams, even though, and quite possibly the reason, their history of heartbreak.
1945
The Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series. This was not the first time they had faced the Tigers in the World Series. The Tigers had beaten them 10 years earlier in 1935. Ironically, the only two World Series that the Cubs won (in 1907 and 1908) were against the Tigers. (Sporting News.com)
The Cubs won Game 1 easily, beating the
The Chicago Cubs are known as the "loveable losers" and have been for many years. They have not won a World Series since 1908. Their last appearance in a World Series was in 1945. For those of you who are not quick on your feet with numbers that is 96 years without being crowned the best team in baseball. The Cubs do not have a record of winning. In 127 years of existence, the Cubs have only won the World Series twice. They won 16 National League Championships, and they won their division three times (Gentile 59). Yet every year, fans flock to Wrigley Field in hopes that this year, is the "next year," that they have been waiting for all their lives.
Including the last Cub appearance in the World Series in 1945, Cub fans have been subjected to some very painful moments. They lost the World Series to the Tigers in the seventh game, after rallying to beat them in the sixth game in extra innings. In 1969, the Cubs were ahead of the New York Mets by nine ½ games in the middle of August, and then fell short of even making the post season. The Cubs were leading the best of five series 2-0 in 1984 against the San Diego Padres, only to watch their World Series dream fade away again after a ground ball went through the legs of their first baseman in Game 5. The last heartbreak and quite possibly the most painful came just last year in 2003 when they were just five outs away from making it to the World Series when the Cubs ' world came tumbling down again. The Cubs are continually one of America 's favorite teams, even though, and quite possibly the reason, their history of heartbreak.
1945
The Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series. This was not the first time they had faced the Tigers in the World Series. The Tigers had beaten them 10 years earlier in 1935. Ironically, the only two World Series that the Cubs won (in 1907 and 1908) were against the Tigers. (Sporting News.com)
The Cubs won Game 1 easily, beating the
Cited: Chen, Albert. "Scouting Report - Chicago Cubs." Sports Illustrated 5 Apr 2004: 86-87. Chicago Tribune. Out of the Blue: The Remarkable Story of the 2003 Chicago Cubs. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2003. Gentile, Derek. The Complete Chicago Cubs: The Total Encyclopedia of the Team. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2002. Kuenster, John. Heartbreakers, Baseball 's Most Agonizing Defeats. Chicago: Ivan R Dee, 2001. Parnell, Sean. "The Curse of the Billy Goat". Chicago Bar Project.com 18 Nov. 2003. 25 Apr 2004 Sporting News.com. "History of the World Series - 1945." Sporting News. 2002. 25 Apr 2004 .