Chicago Cubs: World Series winners that won't be forgetten

Say goodbye to 2016, but the memories of the Chicago Cubs winning its first World Series in 108 years will linger on.

After seeing some of the interviews on CSN.com of various Chicago Cubs players, you could tell they were stoked about talking up the feat, weeks after it happened. David Ross spoke about how every player on the team chipped in to play a role. “There were no weak links,” he said.

Matt Szczur’s grand-slam against Atlanta, Kris Bryant’s three-home night vs. Cincinnati, Jon Lester’s safety squeeze bunt to score the winning run vs. Seattle.

And Anthony Rizzo’s steady bat day in and day out for a 32 HR and 109 RBI season are some good reasons why this regular season and post-season were so special.

It was good to hear Hub Arkush, a Chicago media veteran of many seasons talk openly about crying the day after the Cubs won Game 7. Our writers at Cubbies Crib have recounted the great plays made by Cubs players to win in the postseason.

Of course, the Cubs made a herculean effort in the Series down 3-1 in games, they just kept on fighting. They basically outlasted Cleveland, a team that gave the Chicago Cubs all it could handle.

Motivational Speech

Jason Heyward’s called meeting during the rain delay was one of the highlights of the season for me. Here was a player who was more or less an afterthought in the lineup during the season, who played his right field position extremely well, and ran well on the base paths.

He had the respect of his teammates and many said later, “when he spoke, they listened.” The Cubbies had a reset during that 17-minute rain delay before the top of the 10th inning and came out focused and re-charged. That’s saying a lot for a Chicago Cubs team.

But this year’s team stayed together, played together, and came together in clutch moments. When the team was in a hitting slump, it came out of it. When a hit needed to be made, someone got it.

The would-be MVP, Ben Zobrist, had a hot World Series and drove in the first run in the tenth inning with a drive to left field. This past season, the Cubs “embraced the target” and came out winners.

2016 won’t be forgotten in Chicago. Next step is to prepare for spring training and then the journey starts again.