Flashback: Chicago Cubs, 1908 (and 1969)

When I was a kid, I lived in a Spring Training town in the southwest.  I have very clear memories of riding my bike home from school through a local park in early spring and seeing members of the Chicago Cubs working out. 

Spring Training wasn't the big deal back then that it is now. Local newspapers of the day carried stories of how nice it was that local children and families could see Major League Baseball players in action. One story, from 1969, interviewed several kids and their parents about the excitement of seeing Ernie Banks, "Mr. Cub," hit a home run, even though the Cubs ultimately lost the game.

Playing hard and well while still losing was something the Cubs seemed to be accustomed to, for so many years. I'd always wished that it would be the Chicago Cubs' turn to win the World Series. Now in 2016, all these years later, they have.

That made me want to look at newspaper clippings from 1908, to see what it was like the last time the Cubs won the World Series.  

The Rock Island (Illinois) Daily Union previewed the 1908 World Series with a list of the Cubs players, giving us some context for the iconic baseball saying "Tinker to Evers to Chance."

And when the Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers to take the Series, newspaper headlines read like something you might see today.