The waiting, the agony, and the blasted curse is finally over for Chicago fans. It's happened.
The Cubs are World Series champions.
The Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 Wednesday and claimed a World Series title for their stubbornly optimistic fans who, for more than a hundred years, battled through heartbreak, curses and disappointment to proclaim, "next year" would be the one.
On Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs declared 2016 was it.
But it was not without agony. Cubs fans would have to wait for a rain delay and extra innings to have their win.
Cleveland tried to fight back what would be a historic come-back after the Cubs crawled out of a 3-1 series deficit, grabbing back-to-back wins to tie the series and force one last game in Cleveland.
Twice the Indians were able to tie it all up, including a clutch two-run homer in the eighth that sent the game into extra innings.
It wasn't until the 10th inning that the Cubs were able to claim the win, with Ben Zobrist hitting a double and Miguel Montero with a single RBI hits to pull them ahead at 8-7.
In front of tens of thousands of Indians fans, the Indians were unable to hold off the Cubs and win one more game for the World Series trophy.
With a strong bullpen that shut out the Cubs twice, the Indians had taken an early command of the series with a 3-1 lead.
But the Cubs weren't giving up without a fight. Not this year.
Chicago clawed their way back from the brink with two straight wins to tie the series, forcing Cleveland into a nail-biting Game 7.
And despite having struggled most of the series at the plate against the Indians' pitchers, the Cubs were able to push five runs across the plate in five innings Wednesday night. Dexter Fowler fired the first shot of the night for the Cubs — a blast up center field that gave the Cubs the early lead with a solo homerun.
The Indians were quick to tie it up in the third inning, however, when first baseman Carlos Santana brought Coco Crisp in from third base with an RBI single.
The answer from Chicago came in the fourth inning when Addison Russell sacrificed to shallow center field and Kris Bryant raced down the third base line, just sliding underneath the Cleveland catcher and the tag to score.
A double bounced off the wall by Wilson Contreras stretched the Cubs' lead to 3-1 in the same inning.
The Cubs scored another two runs in the fifth, including an RBI double hit by Anthony Rizzo down the right field line that brought Bryant across home again, putting them up 5-1.
But what Chicago was trying to accomplish would not be an easy task.
Despite going into the postseason with 103 wins under their belt, no Cubs team in more than a century had been able to win it all. And in the 113-year history of the World Series, only five teams before the Cubs have come back from a 3-1 deficit.
Cleveland would make sure it would be a matchup until the last out.
The Indians were able to squeeze in another two runs with a wild pitch in front of the plate that went past the Cubs' catcher.
With only one game left, both teams also reached into their bullpen early in the fifth inning. It would not, however, keep the scoreboard still.
David Ross hit a homer up center field in the sixth, putting the score at 6-3.
Cleveland struck back in the bottom of the eighth with Brandon Guyer, who hit a double between center and right field, cutting down the Cubs' lead within two runs.
Then with two outs in the eighth, Rajai Davis hit a two-run homer down left field that tied the game 6-6 and sent Progressive Field shaking with thousands of cheering Cleveland fans.
The Cubs rallied back in the 10th after a brief rain delay. It wasn't a game-winning homerun, but hits that pushed runners around the bases a two run lead of 8-6.
For the first time ever, the Wrigley Field marquee reads: "World Series Champions."
Cleveland was able to score one more run, but that would be the end of the Indians' bid for the title.
More than 300 miles away, the marquee outside Wrigley Field flashed "World Series Champions" for the first time.
That's how the curse was lifted.
