It took the Chicago Cubs 108 years to do it, but today they stand tall as a shining beacon of baseball optimism. If they can win the World Series, any team can.
We are not referring to their Lovable Loser persona and their century-plus history of haplessness. We are talking about recent history, and a new era in which all teams have a realistic chance to build something out of nothing very quickly.
Just three years ago, Chicago were a last place team in the National League Central. Today they are champions.
It is not a singular story. Major League Baseball’s have-nots routinely are remaking themselves into winners in short order.
Since 2011, seven teams have finished in last place in their divisions and rebounded to make the play-offs within two years.
No one was worse than the Kansas City Royals over the 2000-12 span, before reaching the World Series in 2014 and winning it in 2015.
• In photos: Sights from the Cubs' historic World Series celebration
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros were pitiful 100-game losers early in this decade, and contenders by the midpoint.
What is happening?
Primarily, all teams are getting smarter. With the infusion of advanced metrics in MLB, every organisation has a squadron of statistical analysts who spit out valuable data that helps executives better evaluate talent and managers to employ detailed strategies.
Pitcher-batter matchups. Defensive shifts. Pitch patterns.
If it moves, it gets measured, charted and exploited.
The sport is no longer ruled simply by the talent of ballplayers, the shrewdness of a manager and the eyeball-generated reports of scouts.
Computer programs are the new great equaliser, as important as a Cy Young Award candidate at the top of your rotation.
Information is power. The Royals were not an explosive offensive team, so they fashioned a defence that took runs away.
The Astros were early to the defensive shift, moving fielders to inventive new positions more than anyone else, because the data told them to.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon turned some players into multi-position chameleons, so he could squeeze in more favourable matchups for his line-up.
The other common denominator in flipping a morbid franchise into a winner? Young stars.
That formula used to be a staple strategy for small market teams that always lost their best players through free agency to their wealthier neighbours.
They had no choice but to cycle inexperienced players into their line-ups. The twist was developing a core of top prospects together, and sticking with them.
The once-dreadful Tampa Bay Rays parlayed the idea into a World Series appearance in 2008, leaving a blueprint.
At the same time, more and more players in their late teens and early 20s were showing up ready to play at an elite level.
The sport now overflows with young stars, players capable of hoisting mediocre clubs into contention as soon as they arrive.
The first year the Washington Nationals jumped into contention was 2012, the year Bryce Harper, then age 19, arrived.
The Cleveland Indians fell one game short of a World Series title this week, thanks to a core of gifted youngsters, with shortstop Francisco Lindor, 22, at the heart of things.
The Cubs, of course, have famously watched their team of apprentices become the best in MLB nearly overnight. Six regulars are 24 and under.
Veteran catcher David Ross observed after Game 7 this week that the youngest Cubs players were unfazed by the 108-year-old streak.
“They’re looking to the future,” said Ross. “And the future is bright for that group.”
They are not alone. Young talent and smart front offices abound, bringing light to baseball’s darkest places.
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