Chicago 365 Playoff Central: Sure as God Made Green Apples

     Wrigley Field. Saturday night. Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Kyle Hendricks takes the mound for Chicago in an attempt to become the first Cubs pitcher since Hank Borowy to propel the Cubs to the Pennant. Opposing him, was Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. The last time we saw him, he threw a masterful game against us leading to a 1-0 Dodgers win in Game 2. This time things would be different. We got off to a great early start, putting up 2 runs in the 1st inning. Evnetually, we added on a third, and from there it was smooth sailing. Wilson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo added on solo home runs later on in the game. Meanwhile, Hendricks was over on the mound tearing it up. He would go on to pitch into the 8th inning, when he gave up only his 2nd hit all night and was pulled for Aroldis Chapman. After that, Chapman wound up pitching quite well for himself. We come to the 9th inning. The Dodgers have their last 3 chances. Their first batter gets out. Their second batter gets on base and another guy comes up. All of a sudden he hits into a double play, the Cubs get the last out, the game goes official, and THE CUBS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!!!!!!

     Meanwhile, while all this is happening I'm outside. I, along with several hundred thousand other fans, are all swarming the streets of Wrigleyville. Tickets into the game were impossible to come by, and all the bars were packed. That didn't stop the Cubs faithful from gathering in the street in a Sea of Humanity. Waveland Avenue was packed. People were sitting on lawn chairs in the Ballhawk Alley. The area at the entrance to the bleachers was FULL of people. Some watching the game on big screens outside of Murphy's Bleachers, some gathered in front of the Fox Sports booth on the other side of the street. Ultimately, I joined a small army of fans who were posted up outside of Casey Moran's watching the game on one of their big screens that was facing the street. It was thrilling. As the game wound down, We were counting the outs left. 8 outs away, 7 outs away, 6 outs away, 5 outs away... As soon as we got to 4 outs away, I knew we had it. We had finally shaken the specter of 2003 and were now ready to circle past that and make our own history. Then comes the double play. Cubs win. Utter pandemonium on the streets. People singing "Go, Cubs, Go", people standing on barricades, people flying W flags, and the trusty Chicago PD making sure things didn't get too crazy(they didn't). As I migrated through the party, there were folks climbing on street signs, banging on street signs, and an air of revelry permeated the air. Walking down Waveland, giving strangers high fives(an ironic act actually, given the history of said gesture), and finally making it to the back of the ball park. Waveland and Addison. There are still hordes of people in the ballpark, some taking it in from the back of the bleachers. Meanwhile the crowd below is going nuts. I got showered by beer and champagne more than once. It was the best kind of revelry. I ended up leaving to catch a train around 11:40(about two hours after they won it) and the streets were still packed. There were even some people left in the bleachers.

     I feel it's appropriate to end this post with a video clip. It's from the end of the 1991 season, and it's where this post takes its name from:

We did it Harry, we finally did it. Game 1 starts in just over 14 hours from now in Cleveland. Go Cubbies.