It was the ultimate dramatic pause in the telling of a story, perhaps a final wink and nod from the baseball gods before fortune really turned for the Cubs. The Cubs and the Indians had combined this year to play more than 400 games, including spring training, and with the score tied after nine innings in the final game of the World Series, they were forced to take a break. The delay lasted only 17 minutes, not much longer than the time it took to unroll the tarp and then roll it back up. The clock approached midnight when the rain began. But after we had that meeting, I knew we were going to win.
I thought about all the people in Chicago and how much this meant to them. Says Rizzo, “All game long I was burning nervous energy. “Right then I thought, We’re winning this f- game.” From my -position I can see it: the sacrifice the scouts make when they drive the extra miles to get that last look at a player, the minor league coaches putting in extra hours, the big league coaches crushing video, the players working on their weaknesses, picking their teammates up. “That’s something that made this organization what it is now. “It reminded me of how much I admired them and how tough they are, how connected they’ve stayed with each other, and the great things human beings can accomplish when they set out to achieve for other people, not for themselves.
While Epstein met again with Maddon during the rain delay, his phone buzzed with a text.