Opinion

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.

CLEVELAND — You had LeBron James with a triple-double in the building next door. And you had Corey Kluber raising him at Progressive Field.

King them. The out-of-town guys never had a chance. Not even if the Chicago Cubs had waited 71 years for this night. Imagine, waiting seven decades for something and then playing tree to a wood chipper. That's how good Kluber—the Klubot—was as the World Series returned to Cleveland on Tuesday for the first time since 1997.

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.

The last time the Chicago Cubs were in the World Series was 1945. That's 71 years ago. That's a long time.

But most of these Cubs were born in the 1990s. They know very little about curses, and they certainly don't care about Steve Bartman or Alex Gonzalez.

They care about making history, and their performance in the regular season proved that in many ways.

Watch this video and find out more about the Cubs' past and present.

CHICAGO — All around this city, there is noise. Beautiful and joyful, chaotic and urgent.

No matter the result, the 2016 World Series will provide salvation for one of the most cursed teams in Major League Baseball.

The Cleveland Indians are seeking their first title since 1948, while the Chicago Cubs have famously gone more than a century since their last World Series triumph (1908). The series begins Tuesday night in Cleveland.

When: Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. ET

Here we go.

The 2016 World Series begins Tuesday at Progressive Field (8:08 p.m. ET on Fox). In one dugout, the Cleveland Indians; in the other dugout, the Chicago Cubs.

Between them, 176 years of championship-free baseball. And in living rooms from Ohio to Illinois, a whole lot of angst and anticipation.

The Cleveland Indians don't need Corey Kluber to be anyone other than himself.