When the Cubs won the World Series last week, they made history.
Some people say it was one of the most exciting baseball games ever played.
The Chicago Cubs, hadn’t won the World Series in 108 years. That’s one of the longest “droughts” in sports history.
(A “drought,” pronounced like “drout,” usually refers to a lack of water. But in this case, it means a lack of winning.)
There are very few people today who can say they were alive the last time the Cubs won the World Series. But you’d better believe that they were celebrating last Wednesday! Along with, oh, a few million others.
Just because the Cubs haven’t won in a lifetime doesn’t mean their fans had given up hope. And that’s probably what makes it all so compelling. Every year, Cubs fans would say, “This is gonna be our year!” And every year, they’d be wrong.
But not in 2016. That’s because they broke “the curse of the billy goat.” On October 6, 1945, a man nicknamed Billy Goat brought his pet goat to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs in the World Series. The owner wouldn’t let him in because, he said, “the goat stinks.” According to legend, Billy Goat declared that the Cubs would never win again–he put a “curse” on the Cubs. And, for more than 72 years after that, they never won the World Series.
Of course, there is no such thing as a curse that can make things happen or not happen, but it’s a fun story that people tell about the Cubs. Or… used to tell.
The World Series this year was exciting for more than just the Cubs being in it. For one thing, it went down to the last possible day… and hour. The World Series is a “best of seven” games series. Whoever wins four games first, wins the World Series.
Often, there is no need for a seventh game. But this year, the Cubs tied the Cleveland Indians 3 games to 3, so they needed to play a seventh game. (Cleveland had been winning 3 games to 1, but the Cubs won three in a row to keep themselves in it.)
Usually games only go for nine innings, but if there’s a tie, the teams have to keep playing. They have to play “extra innings.” The two teams battled it out until the 10th inning. The game was tied 6-6.
That’s when nature took over: it started to rain. And it rained and rained.
The groundskeepers put a tarp over the field while the rain poured down on the players and fans. But no one left the stadium; it was too exciting.
The rain finally stopped, and the game went on. And then the Cubs scored twice in the top of the 10th inning, to make it 8-6.
Cleveland had one more chance to win, but–although they scored one run–it wasn’t enough.
The Cubs won the game 8 to 7.
The City of Chicago has been celebrating ever since. Hundreds of thousands of excited fans poured into the street. City officials even coloured the Chicago River a deep blue for the World Series parade.
And for Cleveland? Well, there’s always next year.
Related links
Awesome photos/videos of oldest Cubs fans celebrating the victory.
108-year-old Cubs fan, Vivian Baron (Chicago Tribune article).
Check out this website for more information about the Curse of the Billy Goat.
Want to see what happens when you put blue dye in the Chicago River? Check out this picture on the Fox News website.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
This is a story about resilience. Resilience is never giving up on a goal and bouncing back after every challenge and difficult time. For the Chicago Cubs, they never gave up on winning the World Series… even after losing for 108 years!!!
What is another story where a team or an individual showed great resilience?
Resilience is a great quality. How could resilience help you to achieve your goals?
Reading Prompt: Variety of Texts
The curse of the Billy Goat is a type of fairy tale (except, some of the things in it are true).
What is a fairy tale? Can you think of a fairy tale that you know? How is a fairy tale different/similar to a short story or a non-fiction story?
Junior and Intermediate
Read a variety of texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (OME, Reading: 1.1).
Language Feature: Metaphor
The article explains, “The Chicago Cubs, hadn’t won the World Series in 108 years. That’s one of the longest ‘droughts’ in sports history. (A ‘drought,’ pronounced like ‘trout,’ usually refers to a lack of water. But in this case, it means a lack of winning.)”
A ‘drought’ is a metaphor, which means that it uses an unlikely word to compare two things. Metaphors help people to picture a word, thought or event.
Can you think of a metaphor for:
1. snow in the winter
2. summer sun
3. leaves falling in Autumn
4. ran in the spring
