No doubt, you've heard about the Cubs' decades-long run of futility.
They hadn't won a pennant in seventy-one years or a World Series in a
record 108 years. To the frustration of Cubs fans everywhere, the team
often missed chances with soul-crushing defeats.
But after a complete teardown that resulted in a 100-loss season in
2012, Theo Epstein and his baseball staff reversed that with the Cubs of
2016, a team that was not only supremely talented, but cared nothing for
all the media narratives of losing. They did things during the regular
season that no Cubs club had done in more than a century, including
earning the most wins for the franchise since 1910. The club went on to
defeat the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National
League playoffs before beating the Cleveland Indians to win the World
Series.
Anthony Rizzo, MVP candidate Kris Bryant, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester,
manager Joe Maddon, and fan favorites like Javier Baez and David Ross
are the heroes of the 2016 Cubs' story. Told by Al Yellon, managing
editor of SB Nation's Bleed Cubbie Blue, A Season to Remember
chronicles not only the 2016 Cubs' rise to the top of the baseball heap,
but the team's--and the fans'--long journey to get there.