Thanks for following tonight’s liveblog on this very bad night for Cubs fans.
There’s very little positive spin to put on this right now for Chicago. Even if they win tomorrow, they still have to then win two games in Cleveland and one of those against Corey Kluber.
But the Cubs won 103 games this year. Three more isn’t necessarily a huge ask. It just happens to be against a team as good as the Indians.
We’ll see you back here again tomorrow night for a possible championship by the Cleveland Indians. And the full report from tonight’s game can be read here:
Updated
Indians win Game 5! Take a 3-1 series lead.
Final: Indians 7-2 Cubs
Baez ground out and that’s that. A dominant performance by Cleveland puts them just a game away from the World Series title.
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 9th
Heyward pops up to Lindor in shallow left and we’re down to Chicago’s last out of Game 5.
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 9th
Russell singles. Why doesn’t Joe Maddon pinch hit Kyle Schwarber here for a 5-run home run? I’ve heard he’s just that good!
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 9th
Contreras grounds out to second with Dan Otero now on the mound for Cleveland. At least Contreras didn’t strike out for the fourth time tonight. Something to build on for Game 5!
E-mail from reader Mark Turner ...
I don’t begrudge the Indians for this but ... oh Cubs, why now? Why fall apart now? Why?
End of the top of the 9th inning: Indians 7-2 Cubs
Lindor singled to put two men on, but Rondon settled down to get the final two outs. We now go to the 9th and the Cubs need five runs or they’ll be one loss away from not winning the World Series again. Contreras, Russell and Heyward are due up. Contreras is 0-for-3 with 3 Ks tonight.
Indians 7-2 Cubs, top of the 9th inning
Rajai Davis flies out against Rondon, but then Kipnis reaches with a line drive to left.
Fun Fact: Kipnis’ home run earlier tonight is the first by an opposing player in the World Series at Wrigley Field since Babe Ruth in 1932.
E-mail from a reader:
So I’m still an Irish immigrant loving Baseball! Can I just say THANK YOU To the Cubs for giving the 7th inning stretch back to Take Me Out To The Ballgame! Instead it of God Save America. Great song that it is, but this is BASEBALL!!!!!!
End of the 8th inning: Indians 7-2 Cubs
Miller ends the inning by striking out Zobrist. His night is likely over at 27 pitches.
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 8th
Miller strikes out Rizzo with ease. Uh-oh. I think Fowler’s home run just made him angry.
Dexter Fowler’s homer run was the first run allowed by Andrew Miller in 24 1/3 career postseason innings.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) October 30, 2016
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 8th
Kris Bryant quickly grounds out and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game continues.
Dexer Fowler homers!
Indians 7-2 Cubs, bottom of the 8th
Fowler get a Miller slider across the plate and deposits it into the left-center bleachers. It probably will have no outcome on this came, but it might be big as far as giving the Cubs confidence against Miller later in the series.
Need the Cubs to come back from 3-1 so the sports world can correct itself by ruining 3-1 jokes for Cleveland.
— andré (@carIisIe) October 30, 2016
Bill Murray. Vince Vaughn. Ferris Bueller needs to sing tomorrow or we're all going home. pic.twitter.com/JyNXIwmq78
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) October 30, 2016
End of the top of the 8th inning: Indians 7-1 Cubs
Napoli drives one to deep left-center but it falls just short of the wall into Fowler’s glove. The Cubs have 6 outs left to score 6 runs.
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Indians 7-1 Cubs, top of the 8th inning
Two quick outs for Rondon and now Napoli is pinch-hitting.
Updated
Indians 7-1 Cubs, top of the 8th inning
Hector Rondon now in to pitch for the Cubs because why not at this point, right? Put Schwarber in to pitch. It doesn’t matter.
End of the 7th: Indians 7-1 Cubs
Andrew Miller gets three outs on 7 pitches. So maybe he won’t be too tired to pitch tomorrow night, huh?
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Indians 7-1 Cubs, bottom of the 7th
Andrew Miller is in for Cleveland and he gets Heyward to ground out weakly to second. Terry Francona is not messing around with this game.
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End of the top of the 7th inning: Cubs 7-1 Indians
Vince Vaughn is now signing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. This is legitimately depressing and I have no rooting interest.
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That's unfortunate. pic.twitter.com/4r7AkEo02q
— Matt Sebek (@MattSebek) October 30, 2016
If the Cubs lose and give Miller the night off -- making him available freely in G5 and G6 at least -- it's a disaster.
— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) October 30, 2016
Indians 7-1 Cubs, top of the 7th inning
Lindor gets retired, but Santana then lines one into left-center for a single. Cleveland is red hot and the Cubs don’t even get to hope they’ll cool off with a travel day. Game 5 is tomorrow night.
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3-run home run by Jason Kipnis
Indians 7-1 Cubs, top of the 7th
Kipnis hits one on a line into the right-center seats for a three-run home run and there is still no one out. Every time you think Wrigley can’t get quieter, it does.
Indians 4-1 Cubs, top of the 7th
First and third now with nobody out after Grimm hits David is in the elbow. Grimm is getting pulled now for Travis Wood. Kipnis to the plate.
Updated
Indians 4-1 Cubs, top of the 7th
Crisp is quickly down to third after Grimm throws a wild pitch with Rajai Davis up. No out. Man on third. Men and women at Wrigley field very sad.
Updated
Indians 4-1 Cubs, top of the 7th
Coco Crisp, pinch-hitting for Corey Kluber, opens with a double to center that just gets under the glove of a diving Fowler.
Updated
This one gets all the z-scores, @enosarris pic.twitter.com/R3IOe4qrCB
— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber is 1st pitcher in MLB history with 35+ K and sub-1.00 ERA in his first 5 career postseason games.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 30, 2016
End of the 6th: Indians 4-1 Cubs
Kluber gets Russell to ground out to third and he’s through six and still dominant. Bryant and Fowler are currently slated to bat again in the 8th, but that could be it.
Updated
Indians 4-1 Cubs, bottom of the 6th
Contreras strikes out for the third time tonight, this time on a bad pitch. I mean, Cleveland could go to Miller. But Kluber is still doing pretty well.
Updated
Indians 4-1 Cubs, bottom of the 6th
Zobrist flies out, leaving Rizzo at first. And now Andrew Miller is warming up for Cleveland. If Wrigley still had all its games in the daytime, a dark cloud would now be positioning itself over the stadium.
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Indians 4-1 Cubs, bottom of the 6th
Rizzo leads off the inning by doubling on the first pitch. It kind of disappointed the crowd, though, because it looked like a home run off the bat before crashing into the top of the ivy in left-center.
Updated
End of the top of the 6th inning: Indians 4-1 Cubs
Justin Grimm comes in to pitch for Chicago and gets Guyer on a strike out. Cubs will lead off their half with the middle of the order and time running out in Game 4.
Tickets for this game were around $1,000 just to get in. So the silence of Wrigley Field is: a) concern they’ll never see a World Series title in their lifetimes; b) concern they emptied out their checking accounts for crushing sadness.
Indians 4-1 Cubs, top of the 6th inning
Montgomery walks Perez and that will force him out of the game. We have a pitching change and 41,000 depressed Cubs fans.
Updated
Cleveland adds to its lead on a sac fly RBI by Chisenhall
Indians 4-1 Cubs, top of the 6th inning
Chisenhall hits a long fly ball to center, allowing Lindor to tag and score. Wrigley is about as quiet as the White Sox stadium is right now.
Two away. Perez up. Ramirez still on first.
Updated
Here’s Santana’s rip:
SLAP SLAP https://t.co/pEWjs7eycJ
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 30, 2016
Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 6th
Ramirez ground back to Montgomery. He is able to get the runner at second, but Ramirez beats the throw to first. First and third now with one away. Joe Maddon is now out to the mound to talk strategy. I assume. Maybe he has a recipe he wants to share. No way to know because he’s not mic’d up.
Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 6th
Santana rips a line drive back to the mound that tears Montgomery’s glove off. Montgomery tracks the ball down but is unable to get him at first. Two on, nobody out. Wrigley is silent. Jose Ramirez at the plate.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 6th
Mike Montgomery in for Lackey and he opens by walking Lindor. Just what a manager never wants for a reliever.
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We're (keeping tabs and) holding it down for you in #TheLand, @indians. #RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/U2ZPRn07Va
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 30, 2016
End of the 5th inning: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Bryant quickly grounds out to end the inning. He probably wants to make up for his error-fest, but his bat isn’t working tonight either. Kluber at just 72 pitchers through 5 innings.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 5th inning
The Wrigley Field crowd comes to its feet after Fowler gives one a ride, but it lands short of the track into Chisenhall’s glove. To quote Major League: “Too high.”
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Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 5th inning
Chris Coghlan pinch hits for Lackey and flies out to left center. Davis and Naquin almost collide ... but Davis puts it away without incident.
End of the top of the 5th: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Lackey get Rajai Davis and Kipnis to ground out to short on back-to-back pitches and the Indians are quickly retired. Lackey is due up this inning so Maddon has a decision to make. He’ll likely pull his pitcher because Chicago needs runs and his running out of time ... but Lackey’s last two innings were his best of the night.
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Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 5th inning
Lackey gets Kluber to strike out and a big cheer goes up from the Wrigley crowd. I honestly can’t tell if it was a bit sarcastic or not.
Updated
2015 Baez has showed up this World Series
— Admiral Buzzkill (@TheOriginalBull) October 30, 2016
Whoever told Javy Baez this World Series was being played in 2014 is a dick
— Kevin McCaffrey (@KevinMcCaff) October 30, 2016
I’m going to assume 2013 Baez would be the absolute worst.
End of the 4th inning: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Baez strikes out in a depressing sequel for Cubs fans of last night’s 9th inning.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 4th
Jason Heyward ripped a line drive by Lindor to reach. He now has 2 hits tonight. That was unexpected!
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Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 4th
Contreras and Russell get out to open the Cubs half. Fox is starting to go to the Sad Faces in the Crowd camera schtick.
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End of the top of the 4th inning: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Naquin is retired and Lackey has his best inning of the night. Cleveland will lead off with Kluber the next time they’re up, though. DANGER.
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Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 4th
Chisenhall leads off with an out on a high fly to right. Yes, Lackey is still pitching. (He better be, since he batted last inning. Joe Maddon would really be losing it.)
And there’s another quick out on a grounder by Perez. Two away with Lackey holding steady at 70 pitches.
Updated
If you want a fun diversion during this game, follow @2008Philz. It’s a Twitter account dedicated to the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies and he’s currently live-blogging the 2008 Series in real time. #WeirdTwitter
Base hit up the middle for Pedro Feliz!!!!!!
— 2008 Phillies (@2008Philz) October 30, 2016
Phillies lead the Rays 4-3. pic.twitter.com/ex2JI39vy4
End of the 3rd inning: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Zobrist Ks on a breaking ball. Great battle. Great battle won by Kluber.
Updated
Update: Ben Zobrist is currently fouling off infinity pitches. It’s a 1-2 count somehow still.
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 3rd
Kluber hits Rizzo with a pitch to put two on with two outs. Considering Rizzo’s ability to launch baseballs over the fence, that may not actually have been a negative outcome for Cleveland. Zobrist now up.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 3rd
Kris Bryant works a walk on a 3-2 pitch ... a 3-2 pitch that looked like a strike. But it wasn’t called a strike, so no matter. Bryant on first and now Rizzo is up. The Cubs have at least a little something going here.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 3rd
Two quick outs now after Fowler ground out to first. Kluber is settling in. Wrigley is unsettled.
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First baseman to hit HR at Wrigley Field in World Series game:
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 30, 2016
Carlos Santana
Lou Gehrig (1932)
Jimmie Foxx (1929)
Indians 3-1 Cubs, bottom of the 3rd
Lackey leads off the Cubs half of the inning by striking out looking. Well, he’s no Corey Kluber.
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End of the top of the 3rd inning: Indians 3-1 Cubs
Great job battling by Lackey, as he ends the inning getting Santana to ground into a double play. He may have earned himself another inning.
Updated
Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 3rd inning
Lackey comes back by striking out Santana. Lindor remains at first, one out.
Mike Montgomery is now warming up for Chicago, so Lackey’s time is looking short.
Updated
Indians score again on a single to center by Lindor
Indians 3-1 Cubs, top of the 3rd inning
After being down 0-2, Lindor lines a breaking ball into centerfield to plate Kipnis. Lackey is now at 59 pitches. Worse than that: his pitches aren’t too good, regardless of their quantity.
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Indians 2-1 Cubs, top of the 3rd inning
Lackey, at 51 pitches through two innings after that disastrous second, gives up a double into the right corner to Kipnis to open the third. Uh-oh.
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Interesting.
Joe Maddon keeps doing things he didn't do in the regular season. He issued five intentional walks all season to... https://t.co/8hzkMA4RGr
— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) October 30, 2016
Joe Maddon keeps doing things he didn’t do in the regular season. He issued five intentional walks all season to the No. 8 hitter, but four of those came when the Cubs were trailing, all in the fifth or later. The other came with a two-run lead in the second and runners on second and third.
Dance with the girl or boy who brung ya, etc.
End of the 2nd inning: Indians 2-1 Cubs
Annnnnnnd ... yes. Baez was out, it’s confirmed on replay. We go to the top of the 3rd. Kipnis, Lindor, Santana due up for Cleveland. No Kluber, though, so the Cubs might be okay.
Indians 2-1 Cubs, bottom of the 2nd
Looks like the inning is over after Baez hits into a double play. They called him safe at first, but he’s clearly out on review.
Indians 2-1 Cubs, bottom of the 2nd
Heyward single to right for Chicago. That feels more unlikely than Kluber reaching base, to be honest.
Indians 2-1 Cubs, bottom of the 2nd
Addison Russell lines out to right on an 0-2 count. One away.
It's okay Cubs, John Lackey is well known for his ability to keep his composure when his fielders screw up during his starts. @DJGalloEtc
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) October 30, 2016
E-mail from a reader:
So I’m an Irish immigrant and for some reason love Baseball! As much as I would love to see the Cubs win, I am still smarting from that bullshit “purchased” World Series in ‘97. What a really great team the Indians were, with the best SS-2nd Base combination ever, Vizquel-Alomar. So I’m rooting for the Indians.
I think there are a lot of people rooting for Cleveland, though. And not just people in St. Louis.
End of the top of the 1st inning: Indians 2-0 Cubs
Rajai Davis gets out to end the inning, but that went very badly for Chicago. Anytime you intentionally walk someone to get to an American League pitcher in the World Series ... and then than pitcher brings in a run, you’ve hit a bit of a pothole. Everything Terry Francona is doing is working. Not so for Joe Maddon at this point.
Indians score on a single by ... pitcher Corey Kluber! (Actually, they're ruling it an error on Bryant now.)
Indians 2-1 Cubs, top of the 2nd inning
Well, that backfied. Kluber battled Lackey, including ripping a ball just foul of the third base bag, and then on a full count, he hit one softly down the line and beat the throw.
Corey Kluber hit .250 this year, which is a better average than Kyle Schwarber has in his career. #FunWithStats
— DJ Gallo (@DJGalloEtc) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber is no automatic out. Did have an XBH this year. And if last night's game had gone extras, he was the Indians' next pinch hitter
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 30, 2016
Updated
Cubs 1-1 Indians, top of the 2nd inning
Perez ground back to the pitcher, but Chisenhall was running and he makes it into second without a throw. Man on second with two out and now the Cubs are walking Naquin to get to Kluber. Kind of a win for the Indians either way because now -- assuming Kluber doesn’t get a hit -- Cleveland will start the third with the top of the lineup.
Cubs 1-1 Indians, top of the 2nd inning
After Lackey got Ramirez to ground out, Chisenhall reaches first on an error by Kris Bryant. He picked the ball cleanly but then threw the ball way over Rizzo’s head. Man on first and one out, one run in.
Tie game! Carlos Santana launches one to right for a home run!
Cubs 1-1 Indians, top of the 2nd inning
Santana’s first hit of the World Series lands in the rightfield bleachers. And a raucous Wrigley crowd suddenly goes quiet.
Cubs are 8-1 when they score at least 1 run this postseason.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 30, 2016
End of the 1st: Cubs 1-0 Indians
After Rizzo stole second, Contreras struck out on a 2-2 pitch. The Cubs would have loved more -- you’re welcome for the great analysis -- but considering Lackey’s recent struggles and getting shutout last night, their 1st inning is ideal.
Teams scoring first are 14-0 in the postseason since the start of both ALCS and NLCS and including the WS.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) October 30, 2016
Sent by reader Mark Turner ... 19 minutes ago.
Rizzo three hits, three RBIs, three runs.
No more Cubs pain. Please.
Off to a good start!
Cubs 1-0 Indians, bottom of the 1st
Zobrist hit one on the nose to center ... but the wind knocked it down just short of the track. Two outs. The Cubs are on Kluber so far.
Cubs score on a single to center by Rizzo.
Cubs 1-0 Indians, bottom of the 1st
Anthony Rizzo knocks an 0-1 pitch up the middle to plate Fowler. He’s been huge since starting the postseason in a slump.
The previous pitch he ripped down the foul line, but it was just foul.
Updated
Cubs 0-0 Indians, bottom of the 1st
Kris Bryant skies a pop fly to shortstop, one out. He wasn’t happy at contact and clearly thought he should have done more with it. Fowler remains at second with one away.
From reader James Waldron:
My wife is a Chicagoan, and I a Yorkshireman. She’s adopted Middlesbrough as her football team and I’ve taken to backing the Cubs. Both were founded in 1876, both plucky with little history of recent success and since we’ve been together their fortunes have seemed tied. Boro were promoted this year and won earlier today. Surely an omen for the Cubs!
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Cubs 0-0 Indians, bottom of the 1st
Dexter Fowler opens the night for Chicago’s hitters with a double on a 1-2 pitch that he punched out to left. Rajai Davis almost got to it, but came up about an inch short on a full-speed dive.
If Davis couldn’t get it, not too many other fielders would have because he’s one of the fastest players in baseball.
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A pretty good example of how Cleveland sports have changed:
LeBron finishes at the rack! 💪👀 https://t.co/mbYvmRL171
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 30, 2016
End of the top of the 1st inning: Cubs 0-0 Indians
Lackey gets Lindor swinging, too, and he’s through the first inning with two Ks and one bit of light contact on just 16 pitches. As good of a 1st inning as the Cubs could have hoped for from their struggling pitcher.
Cubs 0-0 Indians, top of the 1st
Lackey gets Kipnis swinging on a pitch in the dirt and there are two down with the dangerous Lindor at-bat.
The wind at Wrigley is blowing in tonight so runs may be hard to come by (again).
Cubs 0-0 Indians, top of the 1st
Davis grounds out weakly to Kris Bryant at third and we’re off. The Wrigley Field crowd is very loud. There’s no hangover from last night. (Well, no figurative hangover, at least.)
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First pitch!
John Lackey leads off with a ball to Rajai Davis. Time to panic, Chicago!
Not a bad list to be on:
Only four pitchers in MLB history have had a lower ERA over their first four career postseason starts than Corey Kluber pic.twitter.com/jZwiDyOJzW
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 29, 2016
Really, any time you’re on a list with someone named Blue Moon Odom, you’re doing well.
Best #WorldSeries sign on a stick. pic.twitter.com/UY5CWqmU55
— Andy Nesbitt (@anezbitt) October 29, 2016
An email from reader Paul Szabo:
I was born in Cleveland and lived there most of my life. It’s so easy to root for a winning team; try cheering for a “loser” city for fifty years straight without a title. No more. It’s respect time. I LOVE IT!
And another from reader Peter Gray:
Cubs Score
That’s it. That’s what was in his subject line and there was no note. I think that it’s a prediction after the Cubs got shutout last night?
John Lackey has proven himself as a big-game pitcher throughout his career ... but he has struggled in the postseason of late.
Corey Kluber has been dominant of late ... but he is pitching on just three days of rest.
There’s no way to know what’s going to happen. That’s what makes sports fun. And that’s definitely how you get a Cubs-Indians World Series.
If the Baseball Hall of Fame keeps Alex Rodriguez out as a player, I will laugh when they are forced to put him in as a broadcaster one day.
I think this means the Cubs should want to bring the DH to the National League so they can DH for their rightfielders:
#Cubs right fielders this postseason: 5-for-46 with 1 RBI. Pitchers are 4-for-22 with 6 RBI
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) October 29, 2016
Here is Chicago’s lineup for tonight:
1 - Fowler - CF
2 - Bryant - 3B
3 - Rizzo - 1B
4 - Zobrist - LF
5 - Contreras - C
6 - Russell - SS
7 - Heyward - RF
8 - Baez - 2B
9 - Lackey - P
Here is Cleveland’s lineup for tonight:
1 - Davis - LF
2 - Kipnis - 2B
3 - Lindor - SS
4 - Santana - 1B
5 - Ramirez - 3B
6 - Chisenhall - RF
7 - Perez - C
8 - Naquin - CF
9 - Kluber - P
In case you forgot how @CKluber's last start went ...https://t.co/jwvwHu4tWc #WorldSeries pres. by @TMobile https://t.co/bHSdUwGBc5
— MLB (@MLB) October 29, 2016
Please feel free to participate in tonight’s festivities.
You can e-mail me commentary and questions at: dj.gallo.casual@theguardian.com. Or tweet me the same at @DJGalloEtc.
Welcome to the liveblog of Game 4 of the World Series!
I also handled the liveblog of Game 2 and before that affair started I wrote:
At risk of sounding like those who wrote Chicago off after they fell behind 2-1 to the Dodgers in the NLCS, the Cubs will be in some serious trouble if they lose tonight. Cleveland has already announced that Corey Kluber will start Game 4 ... and then presumably Game 7 ... meaning the Cubs will have to beat him at least once if they fall down 2-0. There’s a lot for Cubs fans to worry about and that’s without wondering if they’ll ever see a championship in their lifetimes.
Well, here we are again. The Cubs didn’t lose Game 2, but they did lose Game 3 and we’re right back in the panic zone now for Cubs fans. Kluber is pitching and the Cubs will likely need to beat him at least once to win a World Series.
But let’s not always focus on Cubs fans. Cleveland is just two wins away from the city’s second championship in less than five months. Either way, this World Series is a ton of fun because we’re going to get an outcome we’ll never forget.
DJ will be here shortly. In the meantime, read how the World Series is trumping the election in Chicago and Cleveland:
Cleveland, for a few golden hours, also felt like something of an antidote to, or at least a refuge from, arguably the most divisive and poisonous presidential election campaign ever. It is oddly reassuring to discover that there is still a place in the US not transfixed by Clinton’s reckless emails or Trump’s 3am tweets. Here sports comes first, politics nowhere. A baseball cap is still a baseball cap, not a marketing prop for making America great again.
Thom Majka, a sales rep who keeps his Indians cap on through every game for good luck, said: “These fans couldn’t care less about the election. Every day it gets nastier and uglier, not even talking about the issues. It’s a breath of fresh air to have something as easy as playing a baseball game. It’s like taking a shower: you’re all cleaned up.”
The Democratic and Republican nominees have historically high unpopularity ratings. Their contest has been extraordinary rancorous, including a tense debatein which Clinton castigated Trump over allegations of sexual assault and Trump threatened to jail his opponent. The blowhard billionaire’s appeal to authoritarianism and cries of rigging have led some to fear an existential threat to the republic.
But baseball, as American as jazz, as regular as the seasons, goes on. It is the most storied and soulful of US sports. It survived the second world war when Franklin D Roosevelt declared: “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.” After reaching the World Series at last, Cubs manager Joe Maddon watched the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams and wept. While pro football is by far more popular, baseball is cultural bedrock, a social safety valve for a fractured nation.
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