Well, they did it. It took 108 years, but they did it. The Cubs have won the World Series. We haven’t fully taken it on board yet. Probably you haven’t, either.
We’ll be telling our great-grandchildren about this day. Those who made the journey to Cleveland will be talking about it forever. “I was there.” Those used ticket stubs, selfies and match programs will be collectors’ items.
The temptation is to pick out names. Ben Zobrist. Miguel Montero. Mike Montgomery. And, of course, Joe Madden and Theo Epstein.
But, really, that would be wrong. This World Series wasn’t won by individuals. It was a team that did it. A team victory.
Humankind has always known the value of team play and team spirit. Aesop, who died in Greece nearly 2,600 years ago, said, “In union there is strength.” Alexander the Great, who hailed from the same neck of the woods, had similar ideas 200 years later: “Remember: upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.” More recently, the immortal Babe Ruth said, “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”
And that’s what happened in Chicago this season. A bunch of guys gave everything they had, not for individual glory but for the sake of the team.
We’re not going to horn in on the Cubs’ success. Yes, at Climate Control Services we, too, know all about team play and getting the job done by working together – but today is a day for the Chicago Cubs and their family of fans. We’ll leave you with one more quote – this time from a country where baseball isn’t even played. Danny Blanchflower, a one-time Northern Ireland soccer international, said, “The game is about glory. It’s about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
Too true. And there may well have been some heart seizures last night – but we can say with certainty that no-one died of boredom.
