The World Series victory of the Chicago Cubs over the Cleveland Indians last week shone a light on a sport often ignored in the Philippines but is acknowledged as “the national pastime” in the United States. Major League Baseball (MLB) reported the highest ratings in 25 years over the duration of the seven games in the World Series as both teams sought to end their respective title droughts in the sport.
For the Indians, their last World Series championship happened back in 1948. Unbelievably, the Cubs had an even longer losing streak of 108 years without a title.
Long viewed as “lovable losers,” the Cubs always seemed to be hounded by periods of bad luck as residents of Chicago blamed curses cast by goat owners(!) to late game collapses, to their own fans interfering by trying to catch baseballs in the stands. There seemed to be no end to the Cubs’ futility even as journalists and columnists both inside and outside Illinois have chronicled their misfortunes for over a century.
Cubs fans who regularly made their way to “the friendly confines” of historic Wrigley Field often wazed poetic on the magic of their revered home field. It still had a hand-operated scoreboard. Every Cubs win meant a white flag with a navy blue “W” was flown over Wrigley, and every baseball lover couldn’t say they were that unless they made a pilgrimage to the venue. Yet the losses continued as generations of Cubs players, coaches, and fans would inevitably say, “Wait till next year!” or “Someday, we’ll win it all!” as each baseball season ended.
Thus, when the Cubs finally defeated the Indians in extra innings in the seventh game of the World Series in 2016, it was as if the earth itself shook to its foundations as a huge sigh of relief enveloped Chicago. Nike and Wieden+Kennedy immediately released an ad honoring the feat as “someday” finally arrived for the long-suffering franchise.
The late Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray, a Chicago fixture even during their losing years, once said that, “sure as God made green apples, someday the Chicago Cubs are gonna be in the World Series.” When Caray passed away in 1997, it seemed then that the team was close to proving him right… only to fail again one year after another.
Budweiser and VaynerMedia brought Caray back from the grave to call the Cubs’ final out in an ad that finally validated his prediction as he said, “the impossible is possible.”
As seen in the image at the very top, Toyota also proved to be a winner as the company’s logo was displayed prominently beneath the famous Wrigley Field marquee as it finally flashed a message that many people thought they would never see.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t take another 108 years before the Chicago Cubs win it all again.
