Chicago is lit up today waiting for game 6 of the 2016 World Series. It’s been over seventy years since our city experienced this kind of excitement, and our team here at CHT is on pins and needles waiting for that first pitch tonight.
Even native Chicagoan and mega-fan Bill Murray can hardly contain his happiness!
Bill Murray has become the embodiment of happiness. #FlyTheW https://t.co/VsRvyFPDrW
— Ethan Anderton (@Ethan_Anderton) October 23, 2016
In an effort to occupy ourselves as we count down these last few nail-biting hours, we dug up 5 little known facts about the Cubs.
The more you know, the more you love!
- This year’s Cubs finished with an impressive 103 wins, but the record for the most wins actually belongs to the 1906 team, with 116 games. Bonus fact: that team also made it to the World Series, where they played against the Chicago White Sox, in the only Chicago vs. Chicago championship in history.
- Billy Murray is far from the only celebrity Cubs fan. Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam frontman, even wrote a song about his favorite team, titled “All The Way.” The lyrics begin, “Don’t let anyone say that it’s just a game/For I’ve seen other teams and it’s never the same/When you are born in Chicago, you’re blessed and you’re healed/the first time you walk into Wrigley Field.”
- You’ve probably never known the Cubs as anything other than, well, the Cubs. But for their first 26 years, they went by three different names before settling on our favorite familiar one: the Chicago White Stockings, the Chicago Colts, and the Chicago Orphans.
- So, how did we get our name? It was originally a nickname used by the Chicago Daily News, dating back to 1902. In 1907, it was adopted as the official name.
- Who doesn’t love the rush of adrenaline when you see a foul ball flying your way? Did you know that Wrigley Field was the first ballpark to let us fans keep them?
Even though the Indians are leading the series 3-2 going in to tonight’s game, we know that the Cubs are the heart and the soul of our city. We may not have been in a Series since 1945, or won one since 1908, but we’ve still won more games than we’ve lost in our history. That fighting spirit counts for a lot!
Besides, several teams have stepped on to the field for game 6 at a 3-2 disadvantage and have come back to win it all. Over 20 times, in fact! In other words, it’s not over until it’s over.
One thing’s for sure, though, whether we win or lose tonight, we’re all part of World Series history now. The way our city has come together in the last week has been worth every ounce of nervous energy.
Perfect strangers have shared tears and hugs, dads and daughters have high-fived until their palms tingle, moms and sons gripped each other tight in anxious anticipation. The excitement of millions of people across Chicago – super fans, sometimes fans, fans of other teams now throwing all their support behind our beloved Cubs – can be felt like one giant heartbeat.
That kind of energy is priceless, and whatever the final score tonight, the CHT family will be flying our W high with pride!