A long drought is going to come to an end at the conclusion of the 2016 World Series between the National League champion Chicago Cubs and the American League champion Cleveland Indians.
The Cubs have not been to the World Series since 1945, when they lost in seven games to the Detroit Tigers. Chicago's last World Series title came in 1908, and that was before the team called Wrigley Field home.
The Indians are baseball royalty in comparison. The Tribe last made it to the World Series in 1997, when they lost in seven heartbreaking games to the Florida Marlins (not yet rebranded as the Miami Marlins). Cleveland had the lead in the ninth inning of the seventh game but could not hold onto that advantage.
The Indians last won the World Series in 1948, surviving a one-game playoff with the Boston Red Sox to win the American League pennant and defeating the Boston Braves in six games to win the championship.
One of those droughts is about to go by the wayside, as one of these excellent teams will soon triumph in the World Series.
The city of Chicago went through a catharsis Saturday night when the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 in the sixth game of the National League Championship Series to clinch a long-awaited pennant.
The celebration outside Wrigley Field lasted until morning as Cubs fans laughed, cried, partied and broke out in song.
The World Series will start in Cleveland Tuesday night, and the Cubs will bring a dominant team to Progressive Field. The starting rotation includes Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey, and it appears likely that Arrieta or Lester will get the start in Game 1.
Arrieta was scheduled to start Game 7 versus the Dodgers if that had been necessary, but Chicago manager Joe Maddon did not make pronouncements on his Game 1 starting pitcher during the middle of the pennant celebration.
The Indians don't appear to have the depth among their starters to compare to the Cubs. Corey Kluber is the ace and has been effective throughout the postseason. However, Josh Tomlin is the only other regular starter who is not battling an injury, and he appears to be hittable. He had a 13-9 record with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in the regular season.
Starters Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer (cut pinkie) are all hurt, and that means Cleveland manager Terry Francona will have to rely on a sensational bullpen led by Andrew Miller.
The Cubs have a powerful lineup, which is led by Kris Bryant (39 HR, .554 slugging percentage) and Anthony Rizzo (32 HR, 109 RBI) and has outstanding supporting players, including Dexter Fowler (.393 on-base percentage), Javier Baez (14 HR, 59 RBI), Addison Russell (21 HR and 95 RBI) and Ben Zobrist (18 HR, 76 RBI).
The Indians have a couple of power hitters in Mike Napoli (34 HR) and Carlos Santana (34 HR), and they also have a fine supporting cast in Francisco Lindor (.301 average, 78 RBI), Jason Kipnis (23 HR, .469 slugging percentage) and Lonnie Chisenhall (.286 average).
The Cubs, who won 103 games to lead Major League Baseball, are strong favorites to come away with the World Series title. They are minus-185 favorites (bet $185 to win $100) to win the title, according to Odds Shark.
The Indians are plus-160 underdogs (bet $100 to win $160).
A dramatic World Series is about to unfold, and each voracious fanbase is hopeful that its long World Series dry spell will come to an end.
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