Who would have thought that Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw would show up to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series without his curveball? It didn’t take long for the Chicago Cubs to figure out that he couldn’t throw it for strikes, and they wasted little time in taking advantage, running up a 5-0 lead by the time he left the game. After that, it was just a wait for the celebration without a hint of drama or tension. As the TV cameras showed fans partying in the streets outside Wrigley, I couldn’t help but wonder why it couldn’t have been like this in 1984 or 2003.
Now the Cubs will face the Cleveland Indians, a team that against any other opponent would be the rooting favorite for a nation addicted to stories of underdogs finally reaching the promised land. Instead, we will mostly see stories of elderly Cub fans in their decades-old seats at Wrigley or possibly clinging to life in hospice care, waiting to see their final moment of joy before departing this earthly realm. This is only right—the Indians’ last championship only goes back to 1948, when Harry Truman rather than Teddy Roosevelt was president, and Cleveland just had a parade last June.
The matchups appear to favor the Cubs. The Indians’ lineup may be comparable to the Cub hitters, but the Indians’ pitching staff, outside of starter Corey Kluber and relievers Cody Allen and Andrew Miller, is about as patchwork a group as any that has won a pennant. Give manager Terry Francona credit for his creativity, but it’s hard to see this group matching up with the Cubs’ pitching even in a short series, and as we’ve seen up to now, the Cub hitters have proven to be distinctly unforgiving of their opponents’ weaknesses. No true Cub fan will say this publicly, but there is a lot of reason to believe that the Cubs will make the World Series look just as easy as their victory on Saturday. If they do, we will wonder again what took them so long.
