Chicago Cubs Win the 2016 World Series After 108 Years

The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on November 2, 2016, defeating Cleveland 8–7 in ten innings of Game 7. The victory ended a championship drought that had lasted since 1908 and a pennant drought dating to 1945. To get there, Chicago recovered from a three-games-to-one deficit, lost a late lead in the deciding game, regrouped during a rain delay and scored twice in the tenth inning.

The final out came after midnight in Ohio, but official records date Game 7 to its November 2 start. That distinction explains why some personal recollections say November 3 while the 2016 calendar marks the championship on Wednesday, November 2.

Two long waits met in one Series

The Cubs’ 108-year wait was baseball’s defining drought. Generations of fans followed good teams, poor teams and famous near misses without seeing a title. The 1945 team’s World Series loss to Detroit had been Chicago’s last appearance.

Cleveland carried a long drought of its own. The franchise had last won in 1948 and had lost the 1954, 1995 and 1997 World Series. Whichever team won would end a wait measured across generations.

Chicago entered with 103 regular-season victories under manager Joe Maddon. Its young position players included Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez and Addison Russell, supported by veterans and a deep starting rotation. Cleveland, managed by Terry Francona, won the American League pennant despite injuries to key pitchers and relied heavily on an exceptional bullpen led by Andrew Miller.

Cleveland built a three-games-to-one lead

Cleveland won Game 1 behind Corey Kluber and Roberto Pérez, 6–0. Chicago answered in Game 2 as Jake Arrieta carried a no-hit bid into the sixth and the Cubs won 5–1.

At Wrigley Field, Cleveland took Game 3 by a 1–0 score and then won Game 4, 7–2. One more victory would finish the series. Chicago’s offense had struggled against Cleveland pitching, and no team had overcome a 3–1 World Series deficit since Kansas City in 1985.

The Cubs won Game 5 at home, then returned to Cleveland and took Game 6 by a 9–3 score. Addison Russell drove in six runs, tying a World Series single-game record. The comeback set up the first World Series Game 7 involving the Cubs since 1945.

Game 7 swung from the first batter

Dexter Fowler led off with a home run, the first leadoff homer in a World Series Game 7. Chicago added runs and led 5–1 in the fifth. Cleveland narrowed the margin after a wild pitch by Jon Lester allowed two runners to score.

David Ross, playing the final game of his career, homered in the sixth to make it 6–3. The Cubs still held that lead in the eighth when Maddon asked closer Aroldis Chapman, heavily used in the previous two games, to protect it.

Brandon Guyer doubled home a run. Rajai Davis then hit a two-run home run down the left-field line, tying the game 6–6. Progressive Field erupted. Chicago, five outs from ending the drought moments earlier, now had to keep the season alive.

Neither team scored in the ninth. Rain arrived before the tenth and stopped play for 17 minutes. In the visiting clubhouse, Jason Heyward called teammates together. Players later described the meeting as a reminder that they remained the best team in baseball and should stop carrying the weight of the drought.

The tenth inning ended 108 years

Kyle Schwarber opened the tenth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Albert Almora Jr. Kris Bryant’s deep fly ball allowed Almora to tag and advance to second, a small baserunning play that opened first base. Cleveland intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo.

Ben Zobrist lined a double past third base, scoring Almora. Miguel Montero followed with a single that brought home Rizzo for an 8–6 lead. The insurance run proved essential.

Carl Edwards Jr. recorded two outs in the bottom of the tenth but allowed one run. Mike Montgomery entered with the tying run aboard. Michael Martinez hit a ground ball to Bryant, who fielded it while moving toward third and threw across the diamond. Rizzo caught the ball for the final out and slipped it into his pocket.

Zobrist received the World Series Most Valuable Player award after batting .357 in the series and delivering the go-ahead hit. The entire roster’s contributions, from Schwarber’s return after major knee surgery to Montgomery’s first career save, made the final game difficult to reduce to one hero.

Celebration and the meaning of a drought

Fans gathered outside Wrigley Field, at homes and around family graves. Chalk messages covered brick walls with names of people who had waited but did not live to see the title. The celebration parade drew an enormous crowd through Chicago to Grant Park.

The championship also invited reconsideration of the so-called curses used to explain decades of losses. Those stories were part of fan culture, not a baseball cause. The 2016 Cubs won because of roster construction, player development, performance and survival through a close series.

The result remains one of the clearest examples of why a calendar date can carry family memory. Someone born after 1908 could live a full lifetime without a Cubs title; younger fans inherited stories of the wait. Readers can view the season within the full 2016 calendar or use the days-between-dates calculator to measure the extraordinary span from October 14, 1908, to November 2, 2016. Game 7 turned that number from an active burden into history.