Baseball anyone???

That was one of the best game sevens I have ever seen.  The 1991 series was great and some others but this one to me was the best.  My first thought on it was that Madden is one lucky manager.  I thought at the time (and still do) that he over managed that game and things worked out for him in the long run but he came close to blowing it.

I was rooting for the Cubs in this one since I am from a family of Cubs fans and I was rooting for them to win this thing.  But man it is still kind of tough for me to see so many FIBS happy.

Incredible game in a great series. One of the best I can recall. 

Can't stand cubs fans.  But the city really needed this.  whaddagame.

It's so wonderful that the only professional sports franchise that has long suffering fans won a title.  

'57

This.

"The reason the Cubs are not the Yankees of the National League is not that they can’t be or have been too honorable or sweet-natured for it; it’s that they’ve sucked at trying. They’re the Yankees, minus competence."

I really think the Cubs franchise over the years has been content on being the loveable losers and counting the money as it rolled in from selling out Wrigley.  I really believe that there were some years they didn't really try and win anything. 

But I think now is going to be weird that they aren't losers anymore.  Now they are kind of the model of what you should do and that is most of your talent is home grown and you fill in the gaps with some free agents here and there.  Oh and speaking of the management I think that Theo Epstein can just stroll in to the HOF.

They’re the Yankees, minus competence."

So they're the Yankees before Steinbrenner's early 90s suspension.

If I were an owner that wanted to win, I would offer Theo $25M a year.  I'm not kidding, well, sorta, as I'd actually say $50M/year works for me.  $50M a year for him is cheap.  The return on investment would dwarf that.  

He is the most valuable person in all of sports.  

I went out with my trivia teammates even though the contest was cancelled due to the tremendous influx of October diehards. There was that stink of freshly purchased jersey all through the bar. No matter. Two of my teammates are long suffering cubs fans and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them on the roller coaster last night. It is certainly in the mix for greatest game I ever watched. Kirk Gibson's one legged homer off the unhittable Dennis Eckersly is still tops for me. 

I am a White Sox fan. I don't explicitly root for the cubs to lose but there's no way I will cheer for them. There were 2 guys with Indian's shirts last night. They never actually ventured into the bar but stood at the lobby entrance. There were no seats anyway.  I tried to give them a little pump up when I went past to the restrooms. They left when the second run scored in the 10th and I never got to commiserate with them.

Theo is valuable only because he can convince people that in baseball, you have to lose to win (or be the ****ing cardinals).  

Best WS game 7 by both teams. Probably. Can't remember one better.

Best individual performance in a WS game 7?

Madison Bumgarner 2014. Nothing else.

1991 game 7 between Atlanta and Twins is probably the best game 7 I've ever seen. Smoltz and Morris each throwing 9 inning shutouts. 

The thing I'll remember about this years series is how both managers absolutely ran their bullpens into the ground. 

Think about this. This is the first World Series ever where neither team had a starting pitcher record an out in the seventh inning. Different kind of series. 

Not a baseball  fan, but Wow!!!  What a game.  Glad I watched it. 

grignon posted:

... greatest game I ever watched. Kirk Gibson's one legged homer off the unhittable Dennis Eckersly is still tops for me.

That was sweet!
Just arrived back in socal after two years in Thailand.
Watching at a bud's house with a buz and jet lag.
That was sweet!

CAPackFan95 posted:

If I were an owner that wanted to win, I would offer Theo $25M a year.  I'm not kidding, well, sorta, as I'd actually say $50M/year works for me.  $50M a year for him is cheap.  The return on investment would dwarf that.  

He is the most valuable person in all of sports.  

I couldn't agree more.  If the Cubs want to keep winning in the long term they have to #1 pay the man and #2 give him whatever he needs to stay happy and content and #3 stay our of his way and give him whatever he needs to build the team his way.  Ownership cannot not be tools and take care of him because if you don't someone will pay him to run their team.

And think about this he is only 42 years old. 

2016 was a great series
2014 was a great series
2011 was a great series
2001 was a great series
1997 was a great series
1991 was a great series

The hyperbole of that this was the greatest series ever needs to stop.  Jesus ****. 

Potentially the greatest series that ended in a Cub victory Mr. Highhorse

CAPackFan95 posted:

The hyperbole of that this was the greatest series ever needs to stop.  

I agree.  It is only the "greatest one ever" because it is the most recent we remember.  Every year my son (when he was very young) would say "this is the best Christmas ever".  Every year he said it I wondered if it was because in his mind it really did top the previous one or because it was in the present and the others were but a faint memory.  I should have asked - but I did not.  But I suspect the latter. 

I think there were a lot of great series - but for different reasons.  They all had their own flavor - if you will.  For example, who can forget the "Harvey wall banger" series?  And every time they showed him on camera he was spitting chewing tobacco.  Or the Charlie hustle series.  This one will be special because 2 teams who had not been there in a long time met and did not disappoint on the field.  And this just might be the series where the team who finished 2nd is remembered.  Time will tell on that ....

This is the greatest thread ever.

On the greatest forum ever. 

Well you know Faux and BSPN will say it if the greatest series ever because they made huge money off of covering it and the Cubs factor.  I think there were people watching the series (I am guilty) who normally don't give a rats you know what about the world series and have watched it. 

Just in my lifetime I can think of series that rival this one.

Red Sox vs. Reds in 75

Pirates vs. Orioles 79

Brewers vs. Cards 82

Twins vs. Cardinals 87?

Twins vs. Braves 91

Red Sox vs. Cards 2004

The 1957 Series was the greatest ever......'58 not so good.

Beauty  is in the eye of the beholder...

The '82 series sucked.

bvan posted:

grignon posted:

... greatest game I ever watched. Kirk Gibson's one legged homer off the unhittable Dennis Eckersly is still tops for me.

That was sweet!
Just arrived back in socal after two years in Thailand.
Watching at a bud's house with a buz and jet lag.
That was sweet!

Resulted in one of the best lines from a broadcaster, up there with "Do you believe in Miracles?"

"I can't believe what I just saw."  

- The good Buck.

baseball is over.  get this baseball **** out of my football forum! 

That might be the greatest post ever

Hungry5 posted:

The '82 series sucked.

It wouldn't of if Jim Gantner had went to the mound and cold cocked Andujar. 

The Heckler posted:

Well you know Faux and BSPN will say it if the greatest series ever because they made huge money off of covering it and the Cubs factor.  I think there were people watching the series (I am guilty) who normally don't give a rats you know what about the world series and have watched it. 

Just in my lifetime I can think of series that rival this one.

Red Sox vs. Reds in 75

Pirates vs. Orioles 79

Brewers vs. Cards 82

Twins vs. Cardinals 87?

Twins vs. Braves 91

Red Sox vs. Cards 2004

 

 

Twins-Braves 1991 was the best one I've seen. That whole post-season was great. Even Braves-Pirates (Sid Bream scoring the winning run in Game 7) NLCS to get there was great. 

The Heckler posted:

I really think the Cubs franchise over the years has been content on being the loveable losers and counting the money as it rolled in from selling out Wrigley.  I really believe that there were some years they didn't really try and win anything. 

But I think now is going to be weird that they aren't losers anymore.  Now they are kind of the model of what you should do and that is most of your talent is home grown and you fill in the gaps with some free agents here and there.  Oh and speaking of the management I think that Theo Epstein can just stroll in to the HOF.

This. I grew up a Cubs fan, mostly because every game was on WGN. As I got older I started to wonder why the Cubs sucked year in and year out. My dad, a Brewers fan, explained that it didn't matter if the Cubs won or lost...Wrigley sold out regardless.  It didn't make sense to ten-year-old me, but I guess you get wiser as you get older...or at least you hope to.

I'm pretty sure that the Cubs slogan one year was, "Cubs.  We're working on it."  Really???

Then the Cubs let Greg Maddox, arguably the best pitcher in baseball at the time, walk away in free agency and win a World Series With the Braves.  At that point I was done. I couldn't switch allegiance to another team.  I had to quit baseball altogether. 

I fell back into the hype in 2003, but yeah...Bartman, the curse and more heartbreak.  

I'm a dreaded fair weather baseball fan.  I paid attention this season but I'll admit that I didn't watch one regular season game.  I got sucked back into the WS though.   Had they lost, I wouldn't have lost any sleep over it, but it sure was nice to see them pull it off for the first time in 108 years. Way to go Cubbies!

As for Theo, he's the hottest commodity in sports right now....Bellicheat being number two.  But I don't see Theo staying in Chicago long.   I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him end up in Cleveland next.  And he'll win a World Series for them too.  

Why not Beertown?

Yeah if Theo is going to be going anywhere , I wouldn't mind him coming to Milwaukee and win one or more. Not one bit.

Twins and Braves 1991 series for me.  Tough to beat the drama and heroics in that one. 

The set up to get there was great.  Barry Bonds not throwing out that speedster Sid Bream was a classic moment.  **** Bonds 

1991 series.  I was the recipient of excessive money, poonanny and Chili Davis counting out our tips at the bar.   You would think that would make me a Twins fan.  Nope.  Bud Selig hadn't quite ruined MLB for me yet.  Dale ****ing Sveum.

Theo just signed a 5-year extension. Don't think he's going anywhere.

The notion that Wrigley Field always packed the stands regardless of the team's record is a fallacy - unless you're only going back the last couple decades.  In fact, the Cubs' attendance numbers were not all that great until a few things happened:

1. They finally made the playoffs/won the division in 1984.  Big spike in yearly attendances from that season forward.
2. After not being in the playoffs for 39 years, the Cubs actually fielded competitive teams every so often from 1984 thru the present.  They made the playoffs in '83, '89, 98, '03, 08 , '15 and '16.  That's seven playoffs in roughly 30 years after ZERO in the previous 39 years.  And they occasionally fielded a non-playoff competitive team in other years.  There's was actual hope from year to year.
3. They hired an announcer that made it fun for kids/families to be at the ballpark.  Harry Caray made families want to sing during the 7th inning stretch.
4. They installed lights in 1988 which allowed for night games.  Fans didn't need to take off work just to see a game during the week.

I'm a huge Cubs fan and couldn't be happier for the franchise and their fans.  I didn't know that I would ever witness a World Series appearance, let a lone a World Series Championship.  It's similar to how I felt in 1996.  I suffered through a couple of decades of a once proud Packers franchise that was horribly run and would occasionally have a decent season (I just missed the glory years of the mid 60s).  But then a new management team took over (Harlan and Wolf), made some bold moves and created a model franchise that not only won multiple championships, but gave their fan base real hope every single season.

My two favorite teams are run wonderfully from a business standpoint, wonderfully run from a sports standpoint, have unbelievable ownership/management, are both stocked with an incredibly young core of fantastic players, have tremendous venues to play in, continue to make great improvements to their respective venues, have both won a Championship in my lifetime that I actually witnessed as a fan, and should have a real shot to contend and win another in the very near future.

I feel so lucky right now to be a lifelong Packers fan and Cubs fan!!!

That's like saying you love America and Communism.

Apple Pie and Borscht.  

Hot Dogs and Gulags.

Theo has certainly proven his worth but I think David Stearns is on the right track and he's cut from the same cloth.  In other words, I think Milwaukee will be fine.