CLEVELAND -- The Chicago Cubs have put their first pennant in 71 years behind them and are preparing for one final goal: a World Series title. Though the Cubs haven’t won a championship in 108 years, they employ several players who have, starting with their co-MVP of the NLCS, Jon Lester.
“We’re not done yet,” Lester declared as the Cubs celebrated their NLCS victory on the field Saturday night. “We still have a long way to go.”
Lester is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three World Series starts, all with the Boston Red Sox. He has won two rings, as has John Lackey, while David Ross has earned one. Those three players were all on the 2013 champion Red Sox. Also, Ben Zobrist won it just last season with the Kansas City Royals, so the Cubs have some World Series experience.
“There’s nothing like a World Series,” Lester said. “It’s different, but this team has accomplished so much. I’m not worried.”
Asked if the young players on the Cubs can handle the moment after making a “statement” in the NLCS, Lester didn’t hesitate.
“They’ve been making a statement all year,” he said. “I don’t expect that to change over the next few games.”
So what of the young Cubs? They’ve come a long way, but as Lester pointed out, the World Series is different.
“We know how to handle stuff now,” rookie Willson Contreras said. “Like Joe [Maddon] says, we stay in the moment and slow things down.”
The Cubs' veterans all expressed an initial surprise regarding the mental makeup of the young Cubs, though that has long been retired. Lester is no longer shocked when a 22-year-old Addison Russell seizes the moment, breaks out of his slump, and helps win a couple of playoff games. Or when 23-year-old Javier Baez takes over a game with his bat and his glove. It has become the norm, which is scary in its own way.
“I’ve been saying it for a while now,” Lester said. “These guys know how to process the moment. I don’t know if that’s Joe or just what they’re made of, but we’re here because they’ve been doing it all year.”
And the youth on the team know what’s at stake now. One 71-year-old drought is over but another long one still exists.
“I can’t wait,” Russell said, holding his baby on the field on Saturday. “The fans have been with us the whole time. We know what it means to them. It means the same to us.”
Lester made a point of reminding everyone how quickly things can change in the postseason, while Maddon has preached being ready for a "bad moment" and then getting by it. The Cubs did have their moment in the last round, when they were shut out in back-to-back games and fell behind in the series.
“Three games ago, we were the worst best team in baseball,” Lester said, only half-joking.
That seems like a lifetime ago as the Cubs outscored the Los Angeles Dodgers 23-6 in the final 24 innings of their series. The best team in baseball arrived just in time to advance to the World Series. Can they pick up where they left off, beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday night? We’re about to find out.
“Hopefully these [young players] can enjoy the moment because you never know when you’ll get back,” Lester said. “It’s the World Series.”