Eight teams have never won the World Series and two, including my team, the Seattle Mariners, have never even been to the World Series.
However, if I had one wish for the 2015 Major League Baseball season, it’s for the Chicago Cubs to win it all.
It’s not that I like the Cubs. In fact, most of the Cubs’ fans I know in the States are insufferable preppy types who like to accentuate their blue hats with pressed striped Oxford shirts, khakis and Sperry Top-siders.
They may or may not be real baseball fans.
But with Major League Baseball struggling to keep up with the NFL and the NBA, the sport needs good storylines that will enthral the nation. When the Boston Red Sox ended their 86-year drought in 2004, it became a national story and television ratings soared.
A Cubs’ World Series win – even an appearance – would put baseball back on the front pages in the middle of the NFL season.
Let’s stop right here and mention a name: Teddy Roosevelt. He was the 26th President of the United States and his face is one of four on the famous Mt. Rushmore monument.
He was also in office the last time the Cubs won the World Series. That, believe it or not, was 1908. World War I was still six years away. Baseball games wouldn’t be heard on the radio for another eight years.
And the Chicago Cubs won the second of back-to-back World Series with a 4-1 series win over the Detroit Tigers. Although they’d make seven more appearances in the Fall Classic, the last in 1945, the Cubs haven’t won it in 107 years.
You think the Red Sox were cursed? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Perhaps some of you reading this have seen the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Catching Hell, the film on Cubs’ fan Steve Bartman, who may (or may) not have cost his beloved team a berth in the 2003 World Series.
Bartman’s interference with Chicago outfielder Moises Alou was a key part of a Cubs’ collapse that saw them turn a 3-0 lead into an 8-3 loss to the Florida Marlins in Game Six of the National League Championship Series.
The Marlins would go on to win Game Seven (and the World Series), earning Bartman death threats and continuing a line of conspiracy theories that date back to 1945 when, as the story goes, tavern owner Billy Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field with his pet goat and allegedly said something like, “The Cubs they ain’t going to win any more.”
Call it a curse, call it a coincidence, call it a lot of bad baseball, but the Cubs haven’t been relevant for a while. They did make the post-season in 2007 and 2008 but were eliminated both times without winning a game. They haven’t had a winning season in five years and have five consecutive last place finishes in the National League Central.
So why all this World Series talk?
Well, Chicago has been slowly building a pretty good squad. They’ve got some tremendous young talent – infielders Kris Bryant and Javier Baez and outfielder Jorge Soler – to blend with players like first baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro.
They’ve also signed a couple of key veterans, including former Red Sox starter Jon Lester and ex-Diamondbacks’ catcher Miguel Montero.
But the thing that has the fans on the north side of Chicago excited is new manager Joe Maddon, who did a brilliant job in Tampa Bay.
Maddon, who’s been wearing thick-rimmed glasses as long as any inner-city hipster, is known for his unique approach to managing. He had his teams dress up like nerds for a road trip and once met the media with a cockatoo on his shoulder.
Those antics, however, belie his status as one of the game’s best managers, who is adept and handling both emerging talent and experienced stars.
Maddon is a two-time American League Manager of the Year and guided Tampa to the World Series in 2008. In the power-packed American League East, Maddon’s Rays were in the playoff hunt nearly every year.
He and his team have some hard work ahead of them, especially in the National League Central, which includes two ready-made playoff teams, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And while it’s a big ask for the Cubs to win the division, let alone the World Series, fans in Chicago are excited. If the team has a good season – as most expect – the national media will surely turn its attention to Wrigley Field.
If that happens, the only bad thing will be the sudden appearance of thousands of Cubs hats – in the US, in Melbourne, in Sydney – and it might be hard to tell the hardcore Cubbies from the bandwagon jumpers.
Brian M
Guest
That's stretching things a lot. MLS announced attendances supposedly are slightly higher but the numbers are very suspect, not to mention the ticket prices are far lower than NBA and NHL and they give away many free tickets. I can assure you, its not becoming "massively popular." Its become more popular but the average American still doesn't pay any attention to it except for a month every four years (or maybe every two years if you count the women's world cup).
Tigranes
Guest
Not to mention that soccer is becoming massively popular, and it draws bigger crowds than ice hockey and basketball.
Optimus Prime
Guest
What about a salary cap? Unlike baseball, the NFL and NBA have done a decent job of spreading the talent around their leagues. This increases the appeal to fans and is more interesting than GM's fighting it out with their checkbooks. (And I'm a yankees fan!)
Tigranes
Guest
Is there much Hispanic interest in baseball? You would think so, with Cuba and the Domican Republic having baseball as their national sports. Its somewhat similar to cricket and soccer in Australia, since they are played professionally during the summer. Cricket spectators are generally older, Anglo-Saxons, whereas soccer supporters are generally younger, well-educated hipsters of multicultural backgrounds. I went to Wrigley Field back in 2011, it was a night game during May - it was freezing.
Glenn Innes
Guest
The American sporting scene has changed so much since the fifties, .Back then the big three were baseball, horse racing, and boxing. Horse Racing and Boxing are pretty niche these days but Baseball is still hanging in there, but the days when it was THE sport are gone Football knocked it off it's perch along time ago and as mentioned above even Basketball rates better on TV.
Brian M
Guest
MLB has definitely fallen behind the NFL and probably college football, but its not "struggling to keep up" with the NBA. The NBA is no where near as massively popular as some seem to think. It gets a lot of publicity due to high profile stars, but its somewhat niche. A poll last year indicated, if i remember correctly, that 14% of Americans consider baseball their most preferred sport, and I think only around 5% cited the NBA. The only metric that NBA beats MLB in is regular season TV ratings, otherwise MLB remains significantly more popular. That said, MLB has the oldest average fan base of the four major sports, and thus it does have longterm concerns, not to mention falling farther and farther behind football every year, which is unquestionably the most popular sport in the US by a massive margin.
GWS
Guest
I think one reason baseball has lost some popularity was the ending of the separate divisions that have allowed cross divisional play. To throw out that history purely to exploit rivalries for television markets SUCKED!
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
I've just hoping the Padres have an okay season. Don't expect a World Series berth but a challenge to the bigger teams would be nice.
Kingcowboy
Guest
Cubs don't have a deep enough rotation to challenge in 2015. I think Lester will struggle as well. Maybe a shot at a wildcard spot but St Louis and the Pirates are too strong in the NL central. This is the Red Sox's year again. Mookie Betts to win the AL MVP easily!!!!
Ed Wyatt
Expert
Micky - thanks for reading and commenting. NFL has done a great job of making it seem like a year round sport. The draft has been an "event" for years and now they're doing the same thing with the combine. It keeps fans engaged, and with the NFL Network, they can replay games as well as provide original content. But you're right about the short season helping - the NBA and especially the NHL regular seasons are all about jockeying for playoff position. Pretty much every game is important in the NFL.
Mickyt
Guest
Ed, Great read. I have seen the ESPN Catching Hell and am a Red Sox fan. Not in the Bandwagon category nor the Fever Pitch / The Perfect Catch category. I have made the pilgrimage twice to Fenway including the last World Series win. I must admit there is something romantic if the Cubs give it a shake. The comments about baseball declining in attendance and viewing is an interesting one. A number of sports here. I remember when a Rugby Test was a special and rare occasion. You would have a long lunch, go to the game and have a few drinks afterwards. In the professional area they pump out so many tests that I don't go to any live games, have a cursory look at the score and do other things. Its been so commercialised for the $ that old school fans walked away. Baseball is trying many things. Change ticket pricing depending on opponents and time etc. There is a lot of games in the season. Ditto NBA and NHL. NFL just seems short for the season hence only 8 home games therefore still holds a limited amount rather then a deluge from other sports? Great read
AGO74
Guest
Thanks for your response Ed. It is amazing how the NFL with only a 16 + 4 week season has high level year round coverage. A lot of that coverage is not necessarily great though - Ray Rice, Roger Goodell, concussions etc. they make a lot of Nrl or Afl athletes look like choirboys by comparison! I think your comment on baseball not being big amongst African-American people is interesting especially when you consider the level of exposure to African-American culture via music, tv, film etc that exists today compared to the past and how that can also indirectly effect a sports popularity. Anyway, I'm going to San Francisco later this year and looking forward to watching a Giants game when I'm in town. Cheers.
Ed Wyatt
Expert
I agree 100% that Red Sox mania will be hard to match. Part of that, of course, is driven by ESPN - headquartered in Connecticut - which is full of both Red Sox and Yankees fans. The Sox/Yanks rivalry (and Boston's curse-breaking win) is a dream scenario for ESPN and the East Coast media. I do love that quote - I have a friend who grew up in St. Louis and told me there is a bar somewhere in Illinois that is painted half in Cardinals colours and half in Cubs colours.
ciudadmarron
Guest
The interesting part for me is the comparison to the Red Sox curse. Perhaps it's the involvement of Babe Ruth, perhaps it's the fact that the Sox have a wider diaspora of fans - (is the preppy thing the reason the cubs don't enjoy this so much?) - but I don't think a Cubs win would resonate quite so much as that one did to a wider audience. Always like this quote: "I grew up in Champaign, Illinois, midway between Chicago and St. Louis. At an age too tender for life-shaping decisions, I made one. While all my friends were becoming Cardinals fans, I became a Cub fan. My friends, happily rooting for Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, and other great Redbirds, grew up cheerfully convinced that the world is a benign place, so of course, they became liberals. Rooting for the Cubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I became gloomy, pessimistic, morose, dyspeptic and conservative. It helped out of course that the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, which is two years before Mark Twain and Tolstoy died. But that means, class of 1998, that the Cubs are in the 89th year of their rebuilding effort, and remember, any team can have a bad moment." It doesn't help them that they are in a division that is usually pretty strong as you point out. Especially now the Astros are gone.
Ed Wyatt
Expert
Excellent question. I think the speed of the game is an issue for some people a la cricket. Baseball skews very old and very Caucasian in terms of fanbase and is not a big sport in the African-American community. There is still some residual fallout from steroid scandals and the missed World Series in 1994. And of course, the NFL and college football have become near year-round sports.
AGO74
Guest
Good read Ed. Question for you - what do you think is behind the decline of "America's game" in comparison to say the NFL or the NBA? Do you think it faces similar issues to cricket here where a) baseball is a summer sport and people have more options in the summer than they perhaps had previously and/or b) that baseball can be a long game which is great for the purists (similar to test cricket fans) but in today's society with increasingly less time (or attention spans!) people are more likely to tune out?
Chop
Roar Guru
I think this is one of the better stories in MLB so personally I hope they get to the world series and lose it so that the legend will grow even more before it's done and dusted. A winning season would be a massive leap for them....
Ed Wyatt
Expert
Kurt, love it! I really shouldn't criticise any fanbase, considering my M's have never made it to the World Series. And Wrigley is one of the great American sporting experiences.
Kurt
Guest
I am one of the annoying preppy cubs supporters you mention ever since I spent a fantastic afternoon in the sunshine at Wrigley field drinking beer and occasionally glancing at the baseball (I think the Cubs lost badly, although the details are a little hazy). Rest assured I will be shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon if they have a good season!