Black cats, goats and Steve Bartman can stand in the way of the Chicago Cubs magical season, if Nate Silver and his renowned website, FiveThirtyEight.com have anything to say about it.
Fresh off of an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2016 National League Championship Series, the 103-win Chicago Cubs are one step closer their long overdue date with returning to the World Series.
With a 3-2 series lead and Game 6 back home in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, the Cubs have a golden chance to advance to their first World Series since 1945, where they would lose to the Detroit Tigers in seven games.
With the American League champion Cleveland Indians lying in wait, FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Cubs the best chance to win the 2016 World Series at 51 percent, followed by the Indians at 39 percent and the Los Angeles Dodgers at ten percent.
Prior to their Game 5 win, the Indians were the favorites at 41 percent, followed by the Cubs at 38 percent and the Dodgers at 21 percent.
Led by a potent offense featuring Anthony Rizzo, NL MVP candidate Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and a solid pitching staff led by Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, 2016 just might be the year for the long-suffering Cubs.
0-5 all-time when up 3-2 in the NLCS, is this the year that Chicago finally exorcises it’s past demons in closing the deal?
If the odds given by FiveThirtyEight.com are any indication, then maybe—just maybe—this may be the year that the Cubs storied curse is finally lifted on the North Side.