The Chicago Cubs could reach the World Series for the first time since 1945 (that’s 71 years if you’re counting) with a win Saturday over the Los Angeles Dodgers:
National League Championship Series Game 6: Cubs lead Dodgers, 3-2
The pitching matchup Saturday is a rematch of Game 2 of the series, won by the Dodgers, 1-0:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
In Game 2, both pitchers did well, with Kershaw pitching seven scoreless innings and Hendricks allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings—a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez, the only scoring in the game.
If the Dodgers win Game 6, they tie the series, 3-3, and Game 7 happens Sunday in Chicago. If the Cubs win, they win the series and face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series beginning Tuesday in Cleveland.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Factoid—The Cubs hold the record for the longest streak between World Series championships. It is 108 years and counting since their 1908 win.
In 1945, the last time the Cubs made the World Series, they had the longest streak of any team since winning their last World Series. At the time, they had not won a World Series in the 37 years since they won in 1908. However, in 1945, three franchises had yet to earn their first World Series title:
- The St. Louis Browns, franchise begun in 1901, won their first title in 1966 as the Baltimore Orioles.
- The Philadelphia Phillies, franchise begun in 1883, won their first title in 1980.
- The Brooklyn Dodgers, franchise begun in 1884, won their first title in 1955. They are now the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cubs have been the longest-suffering team between World Series championships since 1922. That year, the New York Giants won the World Series for the first time since 1905, ending the then longest drought between championships of 17 years. The Cubs’ 14-year drought then became the longest and has grown each year for the past 94 years.
The Cubs franchise began in 1876 and has won two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908. They made it to seven World Series between 1910 and 1945—including four from 1929 to 1939—losing all of them.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.