CHICAGO _ Anthony Rizzo threw his glove, pumped his fist and leaped into the arms of Travis Wood.
Aroldis Chapman waved a "W" flag. Cubs players formed a blue mound of joy on the pitcher's mound Saturday night at Wrigley Field after their 5-0 victory over the Dodgers clinched the National League pennant for the first time since 1945.
Next year really is here, North Siders. Yes, it's really gonna happen.
The reaction at the old ballpark was visceral, the elation indescribable and the relief undeniable as a crowd of 42,386 euphoric fans unleashed 71 years' worth of frustration and disappointment.
Exuberance began replacing the anxiety the minute the Cubs jumped to a 2-0 first-inning lead, a belief that buried any lingering fears locally. This wasn't a dream but reality the rest of baseball better get used to. The Cubs have won the pennant. The Cubs have won the pennant.
The last time the Cubs went to the World Series, the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, but now the National League runners-up return home to Los Angeles, the answer to a trivia question.
All eyes were on Wrigley to see an elite pitcher at his best with the stakes high, and Kyle Hendricks delivered. With history calling, Hendricks answered, giving up two hits in 72/3 innings, while Cubs hitters KO'd Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Hendricks was so good that manager Joe Maddon heard boos when he went to the mound to replace him in the seventh _ just five outs from the World Series. Yes, five outs. But this time Chapman did the job. So did the Cubs offense.
Against the best pitcher on the planet, the Cubs were out of this world, jumping on the lefty for three runs in the first two innings. Dexter Fowler lightened the burden immediately, lashing a leadoff double off Kershaw. Fowler scored on a single by Kris Bryant, who later crossed the plate on a Ben Zobrist sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead that felt commanding.
Almost eerily, the Cubs scored two runs in the first and one in the second just as they did in the decisive Game 5 against the Padres in 1984. They also led the Marlins 3-0 in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS at the start of the eighth inning. But the Cubs would not blow this three-run lead, not this team. A Willson Contreras solo home run in the fourth padded the cushion, and Anthony Rizzo's 393-foot blast in the fifth made it downright comfortable.
The "Kersh" was busted after five innings and 93 pitches. The Cubs were on their way to the World Series. This is Chicago, a sports city whose memory makes elephants envious. No matter what Kershaw accomplishes in a Hall of Fame career, he always will be remembered here as the guy the Cubs beat in a pennant-clinching Game 6. The standing ovation for Andre Ethier, announced as the pinch hitter for Kershaw in the fifth, confirmed how special this performance was. How special this night always will be in Cubs lore.
This was for the 1969 Cubs, Leon Durham in 1984, Steve Bartman in 2003 or any other goat blamed for past choke jobs, even for that cursed creature that belonged to Billy Sianis. This was for Ernie and Ronnie, Ryno and Hawk and Billy, and all the great Cubs who never got the chance to play in the Fall Classic.
This was for the die-hard fans who felt tears welling in their eyes during the final out, the ones who showed so much persistence and passion, faith and fanaticism. This was for those who never thought they would live long enough to see the Cubs play in the World Series again, and for those who lost years of their lives watching them try.
With five players in Saturday's starting lineup 24 or younger, these Cubs probably are too young to appreciate the significance of taking this team to the World Series and too good to think it will be the last time with this core. The Theo Epstein Plan came together. The patience paid off. Next year is here, finally, thanks to guys Chicago has gotten to know by their first names or nicknames: Theo and Jed and an extraordinary Joe leading the way for KB and Rizz, Zo and Addy, Javy and Dex, Jake, Jon and Grandpa Rossy.
In and around the ballpark, the charged atmosphere in the hours leading up to the first pitch, at the very least, matched the feeling around the United Center on June 15, 2015, before the Blackhawks clinched the Stanley Cup championship on home ice for the first time in 77 years. Some would say exceeded it.
Parking spots on Grace Street were going for $80. One ticket broker who refused to give his name claimed to have just sold an upper-deck seat for $2,000. The bars were crowded and creative homemade signs were everywhere, carrying messages such as "CLAYTON: PLEASE TRY TO SUCK" and "WE AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GOATS." Every statue around the ballpark _ Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Harry Caray _ was dressed for the occasion in a Cubs uniform. A bridal party stopped, emerged from a limousine and took pictures in front of the sculptures.
A man wearing a one-piece Cubs pajama outfit rode by a bicycle. "Oh, my god, I love your onesie," the bride yelled.
As the Dodgers team bus slowly pulled into the narrow team entrance, Cubs fans closed in to offer the coldest of welcomes.
"Not today, y'all," a fan in a Bryant jersey yelled as the door opened.
Not today indeed.
Tom Ricketts bought the Cubs in 2009 with the promise of doing something he had never seen since the day he started cheering from the bleachers years ago: leading an organization that marketed failure into a World Series. Ricketts endured fighting the rooftop owners for a view of a team so historically bad, we could barely stand to watch, yet here the Cubs are seven years later, and nobody can look away, a baseball beauty to behold.
Remember the Cubs won 12 more regular-season games than the Dodgers. The last time the Cubs trailed in a game was the end of Game 3. The Cubs fell victim to two outstanding pitching performances in the NLCS but were clearly the better team. This was their night. This just could be their year.
The weight is lifted. The wait is over, at last.
