Saturday after walking five batters and hitting another.

Hours later, it still hasnt sunk in.The Chicago Cubs won the World Series.Far from the crazy crowds of Wrigleyville, much less Progressive Field in Cleveland, Rich and I watched the game on his bridge-of-the-Enterprise-sized TV.Beer and pizza, pretzels, chips and salsa, family coming and going, the dogs begging for scraps. Like hundreds of other Bears or Cubs games over the years.Except the stakes were so much higher. Down three games to one, the Cubs fought back to even the series, and this one game was bigger than any other in our lifetimes. Or our parents lifetimes. Or our grandparents lifetimes.Comparisons to the Super Bowl dont cut it. The World Series is so much longer, so much more drawn out, so full of dramas large and small, internal to the particular moment (Schwarber!) and connected to all the teams history (108 years since Tinker and Evers and Chance won it all).This final contest of 2016 showed why baseball is such a maddening -- or perhaps in this case, Maddoning -- game.Two runs score on a single wild pitch?An unhittable closer blows a three-run lead ... and gets the win?A rookie pinch-runner tags up and goes to second on a fly ball to right-center and later scores the go-ahead run in extra innings? The Cubs have four catchers on their roster; one starts at DH and gets three hits, and each of the others has a hit and an RBI?The mind reels. After Rajai Davis brought the Tribe back to tie the game at 6, every Cubs fan in the world shared a single thought:Here we go again.We prepared to dissect, if not eviscerate, Maddons every mad move. Taking Hendricks out when every baserunner hed allowed had been on an error by Gold Glove-worthy Javy Baez? Bringing Lester in with a man on base? Then taking Lester out when he too seemed dominant, and bringing Chapman into a dirty inning?Dirty didnt begin to describe the language we were using as the tarp was brought out for the 17-minute rain delay.Unbeknownst to us, Jason Heyward was earning some of his free-agent millions with a weight-room pep talk, focusing his teammates on being what they were: the best team in baseball all year.But an entire baseball season can come down to a single inning, a single at-bat, a single pitch, and sometimes the better team doesnt win.This time, it did.Kris Bryant grinned as he scooped up Michael Martinezs soft ground ball -- the kind of dinky, weak ball in play that the Indians had repeatedly gotten on base or driven in runs with in this series.And as quickly as you can say, 5-3 putout, the Cubs won the World Series.We were really too stunned to smile. The torture of that blown three-run lead still dominated our emotions. Instead of the five-outs-from-the-World-Series moment of the 2003 NLCS, this turning point came four outs away from a world championship. No scapegoats out there for nonsense curse narratives, just the strongest arm in baseball serving up a homer to a guy who hadnt hit one in months.Cubs fans, wed all been there before, and we anticipated the pain of losing after such a great season, and of hearing about it forever.Then the worst somehow didnt happen.The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions.What now? A huge rally, probably Friday, will fill the streets of Chicago with blue-clad fans, long-suffering and bandwagon jumpers alike.Me? Im already looking ahead.In 150 days, the Cubs open the 2017 campaign at St. Louis to begin their quest to defend their title. Time to repeat, just like in 1907 and 08.A week later, well return to Section 416 for the home opener against the Dodgers, and watch the Cubs hoist their World Series pennant over Wrigley Field.By then, it will have sunk in. The Cubs are World Series champions. JJ Arcega-Whiteside Womens Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Clayton Thorson Womens Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens-Harold-Carmichael-Inverted-Jersey/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Shareef Miller Womens Jersey Chuck Bednarik Youth Jersey . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. LOS ANGELES -- A hip injury is expected to land Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy back on the disabled list, the second time the right-hander has gone on the DL this year.McCarthy has struggled in each of his past three starts, and a sore hip was revealed to be at least part of the reason the Dodgers starter has given up a combined 15 walks over his past three outings.McCarthy was removed after 1? innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday after walking five batters and hitting another. The Dodgers rallied for an 8-4 victory behind 17 hits from their offense.The Dodgers officially diagnosed McCarthy with right hip stiffness. The club did not announce a DL move, but McCarthy revealed that it is an inevitability.I dont know how much more of that they want to see, so I would guess thats a yes, McCarthy said when asked if hhe expects to go on the disabled list.ddddddddddddMcCarthy was in his eighth start since returning from his original DL stint. He was out since early in the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.Its been a long road with the arm and now something else is bothering him, manager Dave Roberts said. You see the frustration and he feels hes letting the team down. I absolutely feel for him and his teammates feel for him. But the No. 1 thing is we have to get him right and get him back with us.The Dodgers are expected to activate starter Brett Anderson from the disabled list Sunday so the left-hander can make his 2016 debut. Anderson has been out since spring training after undergoing an arthroscopic back procedure. ' ' '