5 Things You Need To Know About The 2017 World Series
The Rundown: Special Edition - 5 Things to Know About the World Series
The World Series begins tonight in Cleveland with the Chicago Cubs taking on the hometown Cleveland Indians. This series is a true battle of teams and cities who have been waiting a long time for a World Series title.
Batter up,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS- We will still have our regularly scheduled "Five Things to Know" tomorrow morning. Twice in one week - try to contain your excitement.
Five things to know about the world series
- This is a best-of-seven series that will start with Game One and Two in Cleveland, the next three in Chicago and the final two in Cleveland, if necessary. The Cubs represent the National League and the Cleveland Indians the American League. (Full schedule here).
- The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908 (108-year drought) and the Cleveland Indians since 1948 (68-year drought).
- Many consider the Cubs the best thing since sliced bread, although the last time the Cubs won the World Series sliced bread hadn’t even been invented. There were also only 46 states, the Titanic had not been built and the NFL (National Football League), NBA (National Basketball League) and the NHL (National Hockey League) did not exist.
- The Chicago Cubs had the best record in baseball this season but the Cleveland Indians have home-field advantage because the American League won the All-Star Game.
- Budweiser is the official beer of the MLB (Major League Baseball) postgame celebration, no other is beer allowed. Per MLB postgame celebration rules, only two bottles of champagne are permitted per player during locker room celebrations (which no one actually adheres to) and should be used mostly for spraying and not drinking. Blasphemy!
Overtime
- Both teams have their own hellion. One is Charlie Sheen and the other a goat. If you remember the movie Major League, Sheen played the “Wild Thing” who pitched for the Indians. Sheen offered to channel his old character and throw out the first pitch at one of the World Series games. The Indians declined saying "we’ve chosen people who actually played baseball." #winning. The Cubs story involves the curse of a goat. Yes, a smelly goat was the reason behind the curse on the team. To read the infamous billy goat story click here.
Sideline stat
- The team that hosts Game One has won the World Series 57% of the time.
Coaches’ corner
- While in Cleveland the two teams will play by American League rules using a designated hitter (that means pitchers don't bat - another player bats in their place). When the games are played in Chicago the teams will play by National League rules where the pitcher will hit. Pitchers dedicate so much time to practicing pitching that they're not known for being great batters. You can read more about the designated hitter here.