NL Central

CHICAGO — The old girl is dressed to the nines. Wrigley Field, on deck to host her first World Series game Friday night since Oct. 10, 1945, is crackling with energy.

The World Series is returning to Chicago's North Side for the first time since 1945. That's the lead storyline ahead of Friday's pivotal Game 3, which is scheduled to be aired at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Here's an intriguing subplot: Unlikely Cubs offensive catalyst Kyle Schwarber will be on the bench.

The 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians shifts to Wrigley Field for Games 3-5 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the North Siders will not have the luxury of starting one of their impact players from the first two games.

CLEVELAND — Don’t worry. Hitting savant Kyle Schwarber isn’t Superman all down the line. In some respects, he’s just like you and me.       

Take the private plane that winged him back to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, his first trip to the majors since the devastating knee injury in early April. OK, so the private plane part might not be like you and me. But the accompanying boredom was.

The postseason of the bullpens ran into an everlasting truth in the first two games of the World Series.

The team with the better starting pitcher still wins most games. And the team with more good starting pitchers has an edge over the team that doesn't have enough.

Jake Arrieta, line one is for you. It's destiny calling—and it's urgent.

Don't worry. We're not going to get too melodramatic after the Chicago Cubs' dispiriting 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field on Tuesday.

At the risk of going out on a limb for a team that hasn't won a World Series in 108 years or even scored in a World Series in 71 years...

Don't worry. The Chicago Cubs still have this.

There’s a growing conundrum plaguing the minds of baseball’s best executives. To a man, each is searching for the sport’s most elusive prize: a shutdown bullpen.

See, hundreds of pitchers are drafted and singed by all 30 organizations every year. But none enters the sport’s professional ranks wanting to pitch in relief. Each has intentions on being a starter, as is evident by the oft-used phrase “he was sent to the bullpen,” which has an inherently negative connotation.

For the baseball fan who appreciates the historical aspect of the game, the Chicago Cubs clinching the National League Championship Series on Saturday night with a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers set up a dream World Series against the Cleveland Indians.

I went looking to see how Bleacher Report covered things the last time the Chicago Cubs went to the World Series. No luck.

I couldn't find any of our stories about the last Cleveland Indians' World Series title, either.

We weren't around in 1945 (the last time the Cubs made it) or in 1948 (the last time the Indians won it) or even in 1997 (the last time the Indians played in it).