The Dodgers and Cubs go to the ninth with the Cubs leading 5-0. Chicago is three outs away from going to the World Series. Yasmani Grandal, Chase Utley, and a pinch hitter will face Aroldis Chapman.
Update: Kike Hernandez pinch hits for Grandal.
Update: Hernandez falls behind 0-2. He swings and misses at a 1-2 pitch for the first out.
Update: Carlos Ruiz hits for Utley.
Update: Ruiz gets ahead 2-1. Chapman comes back to a 3-2 count. After a foul ball, Ruiz walks.
Update: Yasiel Puig pinch hits. He grounds into a double play, the Cubs face the minimum number of batters, and the CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!
The Cubs are going to the World Series for the first time since 1945!
It took a while, but this 1946 book about Cubs history I picked up at a library sale a few years ago finally came true:
“The Cubs were able to point with pride to the individually pleasing performances of Hack, Cavarretta, Livingston, and Pafko, who fielded brilliantly and hit well. There was a lot to say about the earlier pitching moments Bowery and Passeau enjoyed, but neither the Cubs nor their clients were able to escape the fact they had failed for the seventh successive time in a quest for a world’s championship.
They’ll be back for more, however. They always have come back. They always will, for, as was set forth ‘way back yonder, if National League baseball can’t always get along with the Cubs, neither can it get along for long without them.”