October 12, 2011. That was the day I knew the Cubs had a real shot at reversing their dreaded century-long curse.
That was the day the Cubs signed Theo Esptein as President of Baseball Operations. The man who was given the most credit for turning around the Boston Red Sox and reversing the ‘curse of the Great Bambino,’ forming the team, who in 2004, would give Boston their first World Series title in 86 years.
Over the past four and a half years, Epstein and his team have drafted top talent (Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber), made genius trades (Andrew Cashner for Anthony Rizzo, Jeff Samardzija for Addison Russell), signed veteran ace Jon Lester and hired veteran manager Joe Maddon. And this past off-season made huge impact-signings with Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey.
After a National League Championship appearance last year, as expected, the fruits of their labor have been paying off even more this season.
In case you haven’t noticed, the Cubs are sporting a 24-6 record, the best in all of baseball. They’re 9-1 in their last 10 games. And Sunday, on Mother’s Day, ended a 13-inning game over the first-place Washington Nationals with a walk-off homer for a 4-3 win.
Here’s the Javy Baez left-center shot that completed the sweep of the Bryce Harper-led Nats.
How scary are the 2016 Chicago Cubs? They’re looking all-time great so far.
Fun-filled facts
- The Chicago Cubs are now just the 12th team in the last 100 years (1st since 2003) to start 23-6 or better.
- They are 13-2 in their last 15 games.
- Their 24-6 record is the best after 30 games since the World Series-winning 1984 Detroit Tigers.
- They out-scored very tough NL contending teams 45-21 last week.
- Cubs ace Jake Arrieta hasn’t lost since July 25 of last year. He’s thrown two no-hitters since that time.
What’s at stake in 2016?
Just a reminder — the Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908. That’s 108 years if my math is correct (I was never good at numbers). But even more alarming? The Cubbies haven’t been to a World Series since 1945.
Call it the curse of the billy goat. Call it Steve Bartman. There was a reason broadcast legend Harry Carry nearly drank himself to death. Many believe, no matter how stacked the ‘lovable losers’ are, they’ll find a way to blow it.
I say the Cubbies have Theo Epstein.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports who is also a Cardinals/White Sox fan. Follow him on Twitter or like the channel on Facebook here.
