WRIGLEYVILLE — Remember when you promised yourself you'd be happy forever if the Cubs could just win the World Series last year?
It's time to lean on that memory now that the Los Angeles Dodgers ended the Cubs' hopes of repeating as World Series champions.
The Dodgers celebrated on the Wrigley Field infield Thursday night after pummeling the Cubs 11-1 in the game and 4-1 in the series. The Dodgers will now face either the New York Yankees or the Houston Astros in the World Series.
The Cubs, who stormed to the World Series in 2016 after more than a century of futility, head into the offseason. They won the National League Central title and squeaked past the Washington Nationals in the first round of the playoffs, but couldn't turn back the Dodgers, the National League's best team for most of the season.
"Obviously it's not good, but I'm a baseball fan, so I have to appreciate the fact that the Dodgers made it," said longtime fan Eddie Padilla, who came out to Wrigleyville to watch Game 5.
"I think it was a good season they had. Unfortunately I don't think the pitching was where it should have been. You could also tell it just wasn't the same vibe you felt last year."
Kyle Clapper, another lifelong fan, put the loss in perspective.
"I think everybody thought that maybe magic would strike twice, and it didn't," he said. "If the Cubs are in the NLCS, as a lifelong Cubs fan, that's amazing. But after last year, you knew that there was a little bit more that was there that just didn't happen this year. ...
"It's part of being a Cubs fan. You take the good with the bad, and lately it's been a lot of good."
The Cubs and Wrigley Field are 95 percent owned by an entity controlled by a trust established for the benefit of the family of Joe Ricketts, owner and CEO of DNAinfo.com. Joe Ricketts has no direct involvement in the management of the iconic team.
