World Series Game 7
One game that perfectly encapsulates the purest form of sport.
No matter the result in game 7 of the World Series, sports at its purest form is taking place. Curses, suffering fans, talented players, great managers, and incredibly efficient infrastructures. The result couldn’t matter less in a bigger game for the casual fan. Sure, the Cubs winning sets a subset of Cubs fans into a frenzy, and of course Cleveland winning sends the entire city into jubilation for a second time in a few short months after years of living without championships. As sports fans around the world tune in tonight, the majority of them are tuning in for the game itself. They aren’t tuning in to watch the Cubs or the Indians win or lose. Its an event that requires the world’s attention, its sport in its purest form.
Not having a stake in a big game provides the potential for one of the best sporting experiences a fan can ever hope to have. Watching your team win after years of nothing is of course the pinnacle of the fandom experience. But being able to experience a game without any strings attached allows for fans to experience the game before them in the way that it was meant to be experienced. The opportunity is there to be engrossed in all the fine nuances that a high stakes sporting event has to offer.
In both the Cubs and Indians there are of course the talented baseball teams that take the field. But in the franchises as a whole there is so much more. For a casual baseball fan, like myself, the stereotypical picture of the Cubs is the lovable loser. They’re the team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908. They’re the team that has Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon, somehow, on the same team. Two of the smartest people in baseball, on one team with a mission to end the championship drought for Cubs fans.
They’re the team with an incredibly talented pitching staff, an exciting lineup of talented hitters, and Jason Heyward. Win or lose, observing these talented pieces collectively try to end one of the most famous and fascinating curses of all time is simply one of the most layered and yet simple sporting storylines of all time. At the simplest layer, they’re a team trying to end the championship droughts of all championship droughts. At a more complex layer they’re a team on the ropes after an amazing regular season. Potentially without Aroldis Chapman after throwing 20 pitches with a five run lead and staring down a freshly rested Andrew Miller. Not to mention Javier Báez is cold and Jason Heyward remains defensively masterful and offensively inept.
On the other side the Indians are looking for a World Series win for the first time since 1948. They’re a team that was up 3–1 and should have put the Cubs away. They’re a team with a manager looking for satisfaction after being shorted by the team he put over the top. They’re a team with a hot pitching combination ready to go, and bats that are prepared to calmly and efficiently put the Cubs away early.
The Indians drought is rightfully being overshadowed by the Cubs drought, but what cannot be forgotten is the city’s drought behind them. As a city Cleveland has been a championship wasteland for years in comparison to Chicago. The city of Chicago has had the Bulls, Blackhawks, Bears, and White Sox win over the last 40 years. Cleveland has had nothing, until LeBron and Cavs earlier this year. That matters. Despite the fact that the Cubs have had a longer drought than the Indians, the city of Cleveland wants another championship. The destiny of the Indians in game 7 weighs heavily on the overall narrative of Cleveland sports.
These are just a few of the narratives that are on the main stage in game 7. The results couldn’t matter more for fans in Cleveland and Chicago, and yet for the casual sports fan, the winner or loser couldn’t matter less. Any casual sports fan who watches tonight is a winner in simply witnessing the weight of such a game. The overwhelming amount of storylines on display will overwhelm even the biggest baseball fan. Any result in game 7 will begin a chain reaction in either team that no one can predict. One team will end a drought longer than most can comprehend, the other will go back to the drawing board with the heavy expectations of their fans squarely on their back. Whatever happens, watching what takes place tonight in Cleveland will be memorable.
