The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. After waiting nearly 40,000 days, it took all seven games of the series, plus one additional extra inning.
“It happened. It happened. Chicago, it happened,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said following the final out. “We did it. We’re world champions.”
A three-run bottom of the eighth inning on two outs by the home team Cleveland Indians evened the score 6-6 going into the ninth. After a scoreless inning, a 17-minute rain delay allowed the teams to calm their emotions.
“It’s the best rain delay of all-time,” Rizzo said.
Outfielder Jason Heyward called a meeting during the stoppage and told his teammates to regroup and forget about the eighth inning. The Cubs would score two in the top of the 10th to make history and end the franchise’s supposed curse.
Even the president got in on the congratulations. The Chicagoan tweeted, “It happened. That’s change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave?”
Vegas Upset
Though the Cubs were the MLB preseason favorites to win the World Series, it was still seemingly unfathomable for Chicago to be hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy this fall. But thousands of fans took 4-1 odds on the Cubbies last February, and today they’re being awarded for taking the risk.
Oddsmakers in Vegas said earlier this year that more preseason bets were placed on Chicago than any other team. And in the World Series, sports bettors took the Cubs by a margin of 2-1 over the Indians.
“We took quite a bit of money on the cubs,” Boyd Gaming sportsbook director Bob Succi told ABC News.
Casino operators believe the 2016 World Series might go down as the most bet-on series in the history of baseball.
Sports Betting Wins
Nevada sportsbooks are counting their losses today, but more could be on the way if Congress decides to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). According to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind, 48 percent of US adults favor legalizing sports betting, compared to just 38 percent opposed.
PASPA grandfathered in Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana, as the states were offering some form of sports betting when the statute was passed in 1992. However, only Nevada continues to take advantage of its exemption.
“With the World Series almost behind us, and the NFL and NBA seasons underway, Americans will be doing a lot of betting. Many would enjoy the opportunity to wager in places other than office pools and among friends,” PublicMind’s Krista Jenkins said in press release.
Should PASPA be repealed and states granted the right to offer sports betting, Nevada sportsbooks would likely see their total wins decline.
New Jersey would presumably act quickly to bring sports gambling to its residents. The Garden State is currently petitioning the US Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that blocked the state from authorizing sports betting.