In 1906, the Chicago Cubs won 116 games and stormed into the World Series as the obvious and heavy favorite. However, they ran into the 1906 White Sox, a team so ineffectual at the plate that they were dubbed the "Hitless Wonders", which led to their first ever (and so far only) crosstown matchup in the World Series. Once the Series started, the White Sox stunned the Cubs and the rest of baseball.by taking the Series. The next two seasons the Cubs went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, winning on both of those occasions.
In 1907, the Chicago Tribune organized a group of fans to watch the deciding game of the Series at a local venue. When they won it, fans poured out onto the streets in celebration and blocked up traffic for a considerable time(though, even with that, the celebration was probably much more tame than the postgame for the 2013 Stanley Cup). After that exuberance, the team came back to town and played a celebratory baseball game at West Side Park, before wrapping up the celebrations with a special breakfast with the fans.
The 1908 Season saw the Cubs return to the championship round(abetted by what is possibly the single most controversial officiating decision of all time) where they once again came up against the Detroit Tigers. The Series started out with some intrigue as authorities took in two fans who were suspected of wagering on the game. Later on in the Series, the Chicago Tribune held a gathering for fans where they could hear electronic dispatches from the game being played. This event attracted over 4,000 people, and the proceeds were used to assist local hospitals. Upon their victory in the Series, the Tribune published yet another article genuflecting about the Cubs becoming the first team to ever win back to back World Series titles, and informing the fans that these Cubs were here to stay and that a long run of titles was just around the corner. Funny, 105 years doesn't seem very close around that corner...
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