2016 World Series

The **2016 World Series** was the 112th edition of the World Series, the championship round of Major League Baseball. It was played between the Chicago Cubs of the National League and the Cleveland Indians of the American League. Both were seeking to end their own long-standing droughts, as the Indians hadn't won a World Series title since 1948, and the Cubs had the longest drought in American sports history, as they hadn't won it since 1908. The Cubs defeated the Indians in seven games after trailing in the series three games to one, to win their first World Series title in 108 years. It has been called one of the best World Series of all time.

## Games

The Indians took the first game with a 6-0 victory, in which Indians' starter Corey Kluber pitched six plus shutout innings. The Cubs evened the series, winning 5-1. And then the series shifted to Wrigley field for the next three games. The Indians took a three games to one series lead after winning games 4 and 5 by respective scores of 1-0 and 7-2. The Cubs, however, sent the series back to Cleveland, winning game 5 by a score of 3-2. Game 5 was notable for Aroldis Chapman pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the save. The Cubs would then force Game 7 with a 9-3 blowout win in Game 6.

Game 7 would go down as a classic, with comparisons to 1960, 1991, and 2001 regarding the game's intensity. Dexter Fowler led off the game with a home run. But the Indians would tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. The Cubs then jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but then a David Ross error followed by a wild pitch allowed the Indians to cut the lead to 5-3. Ross, however, hit a home run in the top of the sixth inning to make it 6-3 Cubs. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Brandon Guyer cut the lead to 6-4 with a run-scoring double. And then Rajai Davis tied the game at 6-6 with a two-run home run. After nine innings, there was a rain delay which lasted for 17 minutes before play resumed. In the top of the tenth, the Cubs broke the tie with RBI hits from Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero, making the score 8-6. In the bottom of the inning, Carl Edward Jr. retired the first two but then walked Guyer and allowed an RBI single from Davis, making the score 8-7. Mike Montgomery then retired Michael Martinez for the final out. The Cubs thereby won the Series, ending their 108-year championship drought.

## Infobox (baseball championship series)

- **country**: World
- **year**: 2016
- **image**: Wrigley field.jpg
- **caption**: Wrigley Field celebrating the Chicago Cubs winning the series
- **champion**: 2016 Chicago Cubs season, Chicago Cubs (4)
- **champion manager**: Joe Maddon
- **champion games**: 103–58, , GA:
- **runnerup**: 2016 Cleveland Indians season, Cleveland Indians (3)
- **runnerup manager**: Terry Francona
- **runnerup games**: 94–67, , GA: 8
- **date**: October 25 – November 2
- **venue**: Progressive Field (Cleveland)
Wrigley Field (Chicago)
- **mvp**: Ben Zobrist (Chicago)
- **television**: MLB on Fox, Fox (English)
Fox Deportes (Spanish)
MLB International (English)
- **announcers**: Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci (English)
Carlos Álvarez, Duaner Sánchez, Karim García and Jaime Motta (Spanish)
Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez (English)
- **radio network**: Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio, ESPN (English)
ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
WTAM (CLE)
WSCR (CHC)
- **radio announcers**: Dan Shulman and Aaron Boone (ESPN)
Eduardo Ortega, José Francisco Rivera, Renato Bermúdez and Orlando Hernández (ESPN Deportes)
Tom Hamilton (sportscaster), Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus (WTAM)
Pat Hughes (sportscaster), Pat Hughes, Len Kasper, Ron Coomer, and Jim Deshaies (WSCR)
- **umpires**: Chris Guccione (umpire), Chris Guccione, John Hirschbeck (crew chief), Sam Holbrook (Games 3–7), Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo (umpire), Tony Randazzo, Larry Vanover (Games 1–2) and Joe West (umpire), Joe West.
- **alcs**: 2016 Cleveland Indians season, Cleveland Indians over 2016 Toronto Blue Jays season, Toronto Blue Jays (4–1)
- **nlcs**: 2016 Chicago Cubs season, Chicago Cubs over 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Los Angeles Dodgers (4–2)