Cubs vs. Indians: World Series for the Ages

What a game, what a game....in both the micro sense (what happened last night) and in the macro sense (baseball itself). Here are some random thoughts on the morning after the Chicago Cubs victory over the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series.

***Our prediction yesterday was a terrific Game Seven won by the Indians when the Cubs bullpen blows a lead. Part of that came true: the Cubs pen did blow the lead, but the Indians couldn't hold them back. Overall our post-season prediction record came to 19-13.

***In my opinion, that was the most exciting Game Seven since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves.

***I wish both teams could have won. Rajai Davis' homer in particular needs to be remembered, and I felt that Terry Francona did a better job of managing overall than Joe Maddon did. But ultimately the Cubs had more talent on the field than the injury-riddled Indians and that carried them through.

***Both teams are young and built for the long haul. The Cubs should be post-season contenders for years to come and the Indians core is quite impressive. We should all hope to see Addison Russell and Francisco Lindor manning shortstop in many more Octobers.

***A commonality between the two teams: both clubs rely heavily on ace pitchers who were never top prospects. Neither Corey Kluber of the Tribe nor Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs were ultra-hot prospects when they were in the minors, yet they became excellent pitchers and Game Seven starters.

***Overall, the entire series was baseball at its best. The Cubs and their fans should celebrate the breaking of the curse, but Indians fans should also be proud of what their team accomplished.

***Theo Epstein could retire today and would go down as one of the greatest GMs in history.