{"id":92765,"date":"2024-12-27T22:24:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=92765"},"modified":"2024-12-27T22:25:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:25:42","slug":"cubs-2016-world-series-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/27\/cubs-2016-world-series-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back at the Cubs’ 2016 Championship Eight Years On"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship, 108 years after their last one, ended the longest title drought in American sports history. The seven-game series victory over the then-Cleveland Indians broke the curse and even let a certain guy named Bartman off the hook<\/a>. Names like Bryant, Rizzo, Schwarber, B\u00e1ez, Lester, Arrieta, and Chapman will live on in fans’ hearts for years to come. Looking back at the team that won it all offers some interesting takeaways that Cubs fans might keep in mind as the Cubs try to get back to the postseason.<\/p>\n

Five Takeaways From the Cubs’ 2016 Championship Team<\/h2>\n

Good Players Need to Be Great, Great Players Need to Be Superstars<\/h3>\n

An Offense That Struck Early and A Stellar Defensive Core<\/h4>\n

The Cubs won 103 games during the 2016 regular season, many of them by lopsided scores. Their lead-off man and center fielder Dexter Fowler<\/a> often set the table for a lineup that tended to score runs early in games. Fowler had one of his best years as a pro, slashing .276\/.393\/.447 with 79 walks against just 124 strikeouts in 456 at-bats.<\/p>\n

He was part of a staunch middle infield along with shortstop Addison Russell<\/a> and second baseman Javier B\u00e1ez<\/a>. Russell was another good player who had a great year with 21 home runs and 95 RBI and made the NL All-Star team. Meanwhile, B\u00e1ez, “El Mago” as he’s called, performed feats never before seen on a baseball diamond.<\/p>\n