It has almost been three weeks since the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in game seven of the World Series. It was their first title since 1908, breaking the longest drought in American sports history. I have spent a lot of time since watching highlights, reading articles and just thinking about the game and I am still trying to process what happened at times. I have seen a lot of the key plays at least 100 times and I still am realizing new things every time I watch highlights again.
The biggest thing I have realized from watching highlights is how Rajai Davis had one of the worst defensive innings in a big game. No, he did not have an error, but he did not get behind the fly ball which allowed Kris Bryant to score in the fourth inning. It was a shallow fly ball into left center. Davis got to far underneath the ball and did not have momentum to make a good throw. This allowed Kris Bryant to barely get under the tag. I think if Davis gets behind the ball and has momentum in the throw, Bryant would have been out at the plate. In the same inning, Davis' first movement was in on the RBI double by Contreras. The ball hit off the wall but could have been catch able if Davis went back like outfielders are taught. These two mistakes allowed two runs to score which helped the Cubs build that early advantage. Obviously Davis was the hero for the Indians as he went on in the 8th inning to tie the game off Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman.
The next thought that has popped into my head a lot since the World Series is "Why is everyone so surprised about Ross' homerun?" It is the perfect ending to a great career and I have figured out people just think it is just too good to be true. My counter to that statement is "hasn't this whole season been too good to be true for Ross?" My point with that is David Ross played really well the whole season and he seemed to have a lot of power. I also love stats and my favorite stat from the Cubs season is that Ross collected his 500th hit and his 100th home run in 2016. This means one out of every five hits has been a home run which is not normal. The way I look at is, why can't this man end his career the perfect way? He has earned it.
The last thought is "WOW." That was probably the best game of baseball I will ever see. The back and forth, the rain delay that added so much drama, and of course the curse being broken. Fans of the Cubs and Indians had their hearts broken a few times each while the fans of the other 28 teams got to sit back relax and watch an insane game of baseball. The fact that the Cubs ending up winning helps but I have heard fans from other teams say how awesome that game was.
November 2nd, 2016 will go down as one of the best days of my life and it makes me so excited for April 2nd.
