Because, sadly, it's time to start thinking about that, if you're Cubs Nation. Again. As always. World without end, amen.
It's time to start thinking of this World Series not as the pinnacle, but as the next step to the pinnacle. Corey Kluber silenced the Lovables again last night, 7-2, and now it is the Indians, on the eve of Halloween, who are poised to exorcise all those stubborn old haunts.
A chance? Oh, sure, there's still a chance. It's possible Jon Lester returns to form tonight, and the Cubs torment Trevor Bauer again, and it goes back to Cleveland with the Indians leading 3-games-to-2. But waiting there will be Josh Tomlin in Game 6 and Kluber in Game 7, and a delirious fan base that has rarely seen anything but beige failure itself since Harry Truman was in the White House. Hard to see the Cubs winning twice there, given the circumstances.
And, of course, given that the meme of this Series is now set in stone.
It's the Indians' inexhaustible cache of arms vs. the Cubs potent-but-overeager sticks, and the arms have firmly established their dominance -- to such an extent that, when the Indians jumped out 3-1 last night, the reasonable and observant understood the issue had been decided. All that was left to do was pencil in the final score.
And so, Cleveland leads the Series 3-1. And if Indians fans have seen this sort of tease before, it doesn't feel the same this time. It would, after all, be weirdly appropriate for the Indians to win the Series by taking all three games in Wrigley; like the Cavs coming from 3-1 down against a team that won 73 games in the regular season, maybe it just takes something totally crazy to finally reverse the mojo.
And if that sounds as if the Blob is writing off the Northsiders ...
Well. You can thank me later if the miracle happens.
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