paragraph_text: In 1902, Spalding, who by this time had revamped the roster to boast what would soon be one of the best teams of the early century, sold the club to Jim Hart. The franchise was nicknamed the Cubs by the Chicago Daily News in 1902, although not officially becoming the Chicago Cubs until the 1907 season. During this period, which has become known as baseball's dead-ball era, Cub infielders Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were made famous as a double-play combination by Franklin P. Adams' poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon. The poem first appeared in the July 18, 1910 edition of the New York Evening Mail. Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, Jack Taylor, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfiester, and Orval Overall were several key pitchers for the Cubs during this time period. With Chance acting as player-manager from 1905 to 1912, the Cubs won four pennants and two World Series titles over a five-year span. Although they fell to the "Hitless Wonders" White Sox in the 1906 World Series, the Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best winning percentage (.763) in Major League history. With mostly the same roster, Chicago won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first Major League club to play three times in the Fall Classic and the first to win it twice. However, the Cubs have not won a World Series since; this remains the longest championship drought in North American professional sports.

paragraph_text: One of the most successful franchises in baseball history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships, the second-most in Major League Baseball (behind the New York Yankees) and the most in the National League. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history. In addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, qualifying them to play in a forerunner of the World Series. They tied in 1885 and won outright in 1886, both times against Chicago, in the first meetings of the Cardinals -- Cubs rivalry that continues to this day.

paragraph_text: The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team based on the South Side of Chicago. They are one of eight charter members of the American League, having played in Chicago since the inaugural 1901 season. They have won six American League pennants and three World Series titles, most recently in 2005. Despite long periods of mediocrity, the White Sox have among the most unusual, challenging, and celebrated histories of any Major League franchise.

paragraph_text: The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908, and have not appeared in the Fall Classic since 1945, although between their postseason appearance in 1984 and their most recent in 2015, they have made the postseason seven times. 107 seasons is the longest championship drought in all four of the major North American professional sports leagues, which also includes the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). In fact, the Cubs' last World Series title occurred before those other three leagues even existed, and even the Cubs' last World Series appearance predates the founding of the NBA. The much publicized drought was concurrent to championship droughts by the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox, who both had over 80 years between championships. It is this unfortunate distinction that has led to the club often being known as "The Lovable Losers." The team was one win away from breaking what is often called the "Curse of the Billy Goat" in 1984 and 2003 (Steve Bartman incident), but was unable get the victory that would send it to the World Series.

paragraph_text: Stephen Robert Gajkowski (born December 30, 1969) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during one season at the major league level for the Seattle Mariners. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 18th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft. Gajkowski played his first professional season with their Rookie league Burlington Indians in 1990, and his last season with the Oakland Athletics' Double-A Midland RockHounds and Triple-A Sacramento River Cats in 2000.

paragraph_text: James Howard Sundberg (born May 18, 1951) is an American former professional baseball catcher known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era. He played for a number of Major League teams, most significantly the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, with whom he won a World Series. He batted and threw right-handed.

paragraph_text: The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for only one season in 1884. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Chicago moved to Pittsburgh in late August, and four teams folded during the season and were replaced.

paragraph_text: The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians, the first meeting of those franchises in postseason history. The series was played between October 25 and November 3. The Indians had home - field advantage because the AL had won the 2016 All - Star Game. It was also the last World Series to have home - field advantage determined by the All - Star Game results; since 2017, home - field advantage is awarded to the team with the better record.

paragraph_text: Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most of his career as a relief pitcher and served as the Yankees' closer for 17 seasons. A thirteen-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, he is MLB's career leader in saves (652) and games finished (952). Rivera won five American League (AL) Rolaids Relief Man Awards and three Delivery Man of the Year Awards, and he finished in the top three in voting for the AL Cy Young Award four times. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its class of 2019 in his first year of eligibility, and was the first player ever to be elected unanimously by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).

paragraph_text: The 1903 World Series was the first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball. It matched the Boston Americans of the American League against the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League in a best - of - nine series, with Boston prevailing five games to three, winning the last four.

paragraph_text: "Baseball's Sad Lexicon," also known as "Tinker to Evers to Chance" after its refrain, is a 1910 baseball poem by Franklin Pierce Adams. The poem is presented as a single, rueful stanza from the point of view of a New York Giants fan seeing the talented Chicago Cubs infield of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance complete a double play. The trio began playing together with the Cubs in 1902, and formed a double play combination that lasted through April 1912. The Cubs won the pennant four times between 1906 and 1910, often defeating the Giants en route to the World Series.

paragraph_text: Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 -- June 16, 2014), nicknamed ``Mr. Padre '', was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 20 seasons (1982 -- 2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left - handed hitting Gwynn won eight batting titles in his career, tied for the most in National League (NL) history. He is considered one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He had a. 338 career batting average, never hitting below. 309 in any full season. Gwynn was a 15 - time All - Star, recognized for his skills both on offense and defense with seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. He was the rare player in his era that stayed with a single team his entire career, and he played in the only two World Series appearances in San Diego's franchise history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility.

paragraph_text: The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series. The 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116 -- 36 and posting a modern - era record winning percentage of. 763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox (``The Hitless Wonders '') by four games to two. The Cubs won back - to - back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first major league team to play in three consecutive World Series, and the first to win it twice. Most recently, the Cubs won the 2016 National League Championship Series and 2016 World Series, which ended a 71 - year National League pennant drought and a 108 - year World Series championship drought, both of which are record droughts in Major League Baseball. The 108 - year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of divisional play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season.

paragraph_text: The Cubs defeated the Indians when they won 4 games to 3 to win their first World Series since 1908. Game 7, an 8 -- 7 victory in extra innings, marked the fifth time that a Game 7 had gone past nine innings and the first since 1997 (which, coincidentally, also featured the Indians). It was also the first to have a rain delay which occurred as the tenth inning was about to start. The Cubs became the sixth team to come back from a 3 - 1 deficit to win a best - of - seven World Series, following the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1958 New York Yankees, the 1968 Detroit Tigers, the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, and the 1985 Kansas City Royals. This was the second time and the first since 1948 where the World Series score was even.

paragraph_text: The Little League Baseball World Series is an annual baseball tournament in the eastern United States for children aged 10 to 12 years old. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the World Series in Major League Baseball. The Series was first held 71 years ago in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. (Although the postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, the Series itself is played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport.)

paragraph_text: The Major League Baseball (MLB) season schedule consists of 162 games for each of the 30 teams in the American League (AL) and National League (NL), played over approximately six months -- a total of 2,430 games, plus the postseason. The regular season runs from late March / early April to late September / early October, followed by the postseason which can run to early November. The season begins with the official Opening Day, and, as of 2018, runs 261⁄2 weeks through the last Sunday of September or first Sunday of October. One or more International Opener games may be scheduled outside the United States before the official Opening Day. It is possible for a given team to play a maximum of 20 games in the postseason in a given year, provided the team is a wild card and advances to each of the Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series with each series going the distance (5 games in the Division Series, 7 games each in the League Championship Series / World Series).

paragraph_text: The Major League Baseball (MLB) season schedule consists of 162 games for each of the 30 teams in the American League (AL) and National League (NL), played over approximately six months -- a total of 2,430 games, plus the postseason. The regular season typically runs from early April to late September, followed by the postseason in October. The season begins with the official Opening Day and runs 26 weeks through the last Sunday of September or first Sunday of October. One or more International Opener games may be scheduled outside the United States before the official Opening Day. It is possible for a given team to play a maximum of 20 games in the postseason in a given year, provided the team is a wild card and advances to each of the Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series with each series going the distance (5 games in the Division Series, 7 games in the League Championship Series / World Series).

paragraph_text: The 2016 -- 17 World Rugby Sevens Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was the 18th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999 -- 2000. South Africa won the Series with a comfortable 28 - point margin over England; South Africa won five of the ten tournaments.

paragraph_text: Following the '69 season, the club posted winning records for the next few seasons, but no playoff action. After the core players of those teams started to move on, the 70s got worse for the team, and they became known as "The Loveable Losers." In 1977, the team found some life, but ultimately experienced one of its biggest collapses. The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47–22, boasting an 8 1⁄2 game NL East lead, as they were led by Bobby Murcer (27 Hr/89 RBI), and Rick Reuschel (20–10). However, the Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over .500, but they swooned late in the season, going 20–40 after July 31. The Cubs finished in 4th place at 81–81, while Philadelphia surged, finishing with 101 wins. The following two seasons also saw the Cubs get off to a fast start, as the team rallied to over 10 games above .500 well into both seasons, only to again wear down and play poorly later on, and ultimately settling back to mediocrity. This trait became known as the "June Swoon." Again, the Cubs' unusually high number of day games is often pointed to as one reason for the team's inconsistent late season play.

paragraph_text: The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians, the first meeting of those franchises in postseason history. The series was played between October 25 and November 2. The Indians had home - field advantage because the AL had won the 2016 All - Star Game. It was also the last World Series to have home - field advantage determined by the All - Star Game results; since 2017, home - field advantage is awarded to the team with the better record.

Question: What is often pointed to as the one reason for the inconsistent late season play of the team who won last year's World Series?
Answer: unusually high number of day games