Long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans have finally got the World Series they waited 71 years for but the championship they have dreamt about for more than a century seemed as far away as ever on Saturday.
Humbled 7-2 by the Cleveland Indians in a Game 4 rout, the Cubs were left on the brink of elimination trailing the best-of-seven series 3-1 after a lacklustre display in their second successive loss before a hushed Wrigley Field crowd.
Following a tense 1-0 Game 3 loss, the vibe on Saturday around the stadium had changed noticeably from a day earlier when the Cubs faithful had gathered and partied with the conviction that an end to a 108-year World Series drought was near at hand.
More from the World Series:
• Game 3: Cubs 'have to be ready' for Corey Kluber
• Game 2: 'Folks will be jacked up' as Cubs even series
• Game 1: Indians bring 'intensity' but Cubs 'have no concerns'
The Wrigleyville streets were again packed with revellers on an unseasonably warm autumn afternoon but even before the game’s start, the celebratory mood that greeted the World Series return to Wrigley on Friday seemed to give way to concern that was teetering towards, “oh no, here we go again” dread.
But after more than a century of heartbreak, Cubs and their fans know better than most that it is never over until it’s over.
“Nothing surprises me in this game,” Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant said. “You can be down but you can get up just as easily. That’s what makes this game great.
“It’s a seven-game series and we’re not out until we’re out.”
Some entering the “Friendly Confines” on Saturday sported the spooked look of fans scanning the area for warning signs.
Like black cats, the purveyors of bad luck, such as the one that scampered across the batter’s box during a game in 1969 that coincided with a Cubs’s slide out of contention.
Or Steve Bartman, the vilified Cubs fan who interfered with a foul ball with Chicago five outs away from reaching the World Series in 2003, setting off a string of blunders that cost them the win.
And of course the dreaded “Curse of the Billy Goat” that has haunted the Cubs since 1945 when Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis was asked to leave Game 4 of the World Series because the odour of his pet goat was offending spectators.
On his way out of Wrigley Field an outraged Sianis cursed the Cubs saying they would never again win a World Series.
These, however, are the bad luck omens of the past.
For jittery Cubs fans the concern on Saturday was the unknown. After 108 years, what new calamity could possibly befall a franchise that has endured so much misfortune?
There were no black cats and no Bartman but the Curse of the Billy Goat looks set to live on.
Only six times has a team fought back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series, the last coming in 1985 when the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the St Louis Cardinals.
“We’ve won three games in a row before,” Chicago’s Jason Heyward said. “That’s just the way it is. Keep going until the end.
“I am very confident that we can get something done and win three games.”
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