Most of the commemorations of the Cubs’ 2016 season focus on November 2, the date the team ended a 108-year World Series drought in Cleveland. (Of course, I’ll cover that here too, a bit more than a week from now.)
But a drought nearly as significant ended on this date five years ago today, October 22, 2016, when the Cubs defeated the Dodgers before a raucous crowd at Wrigley Field to win the National League pennant for the first time in 71 years.
The Cubs had come from a 2-1 NLCS deficit — and being shut out in back-to-back-games — to take a 3-2 lead by winning the last two games at Dodger Stadium.