| 2016 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 25 – November 2 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Progressive Field (Cleveland) Wrigley Field (Chicago) | |||||||||
| MVP | Ben Zobrist (Chicago) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Chris Guccione, John Hirschbeck (crew chief), Sam Holbrook (Games 3–7), Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo, Larry Vanover (Games 1–2) and Joe West.[1] | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | Fox (English) Fox Deportes (Spanish) MLB International (English) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci (English) Carlos Álvarez, Duaner Sánchez, Karim García and Jaime Motta (Spanish) Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez (English) | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN (English) ESPN Deportes (Spanish) WTAM (CLE) WSCR (CHC) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Dan Shulman and Aaron Boone (ESPN) Eduardo Ortega, José Francisco Rivera, Renato Bermúdez and Orlando Hernández (ESPN Deportes) Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus (WTAM) Pat Hughes, Len Kasper, Ron Coomer, and Jim Deshaies (WSCR) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | Cleveland Indians over Toronto Blue Jays (4–1) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Chicago Cubs over Los Angeles Dodgers (4–2) | |||||||||
| World Series program | ||||||||||
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The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians, the first meeting of those franchises in postseason history. The series was played between October 25 and November 2 (although Game 7 ended slightly after 12:00 am local time on November 3). The Indians had home-field advantage because the AL had won the 2016 All-Star Game.[2][3][4] This was the final World Series to have home-field advantage determined by the All-Star Game results; since 2017, home-field advantage has been awarded to the team with the better record.
The Cubs defeated the Indians 4–3 to capture their first World Series championship since 1908, and their first while playing at Wrigley Field. The deciding seventh game, won by Chicago 8–7 in ten innings, was the fifth World Series Game 7 to go into extra innings, and the first since 1997 (which, coincidentally, the Indians also lost). It was also the first Game 7 to have a rain delay, which occurred as the 10th inning was about to start. The Cubs became the sixth team to come back from a 3–1 deficit to win a best-of-seven World Series.
The Cubs, playing in their 11th World Series overall and their first since 1945, won their third championship and first since 1908, ending the longest championship drought in North American professional sports history. It was the Indians' sixth appearance in the World Series and their first since 1997, with their last Series win having come in 1948. Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who had previously won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, fell short in his bid to become the third manager to win his first three trips to the Fall Classic, after Casey Stengel and Joe Torre.
The 2016 World Series was highly anticipated; the two teams entered their matchup as the two franchises with the longest World Series title droughts, a combined 176 seasons without a championship.[5] At the series' conclusion, numerous outlets listed Game 7 as an instant classic, and the entire Series as one of the greatest of all time.[6][7][8][9]
- ^ "2016 World Series Umpires Features Retiring Hirschbeck". Close Call Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
- ^ Blum, Ronald. "MVP Hosmer, Perez lift AL to All-Star win, Series home field". San Diego. Associated Press. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- ^ Newman, Mark (August 24, 2016). "To the races: MLB postseason schedule Announced". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ Normandin, Marc (August 23, 2016). "2016 MLB playoff schedule released". SBNation.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ^ Kepner, Tyler (October 25, 2016). "World Series Preview: For Cubs or Indians, Decades of Waiting Are Nearly Over". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Crupi, Anthony (November 3, 2016). "One for the Ages: Cubs-Tribe Thriller Is Most-Watched MLB Game in 25 Years". AdAge.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Patuto, Greg (November 7, 2016). "5 best moments from the 2016 World Series". FanSided.com. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Landers, Chris (September 28, 2018). "There have been 40 World Series Game 7s, and we ranked them all". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Keri, Jonah (October 24, 2017). "Ranking the 10 best World Series of all time before the Dodgers and Astros face off". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 27, 2020.