Jackson Free Press

Somebody is going to break a championship drought this year in the MLB playoffs. Every team left hasn’t won a title in 20 or more years.

The Cleveland Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948. That is a drought of 68 years, but the Indians did reach the World Series in 1954, 1995 and 1997. Cleveland’s only other World Series win came in 1920.

In 1954, the New York Giants swept the Indians, winning the title. The Atlanta Braves won their only title during their 1990s dominance of the National League, but sputtered in the World Series against Cleveland. The Indians’ last World Series loss came in 1997 when the Florida Marlins, now the Miami Marlins, won the championship.

Cleveland dispatched the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 in the American League Championship Series and reached this year’s World Series. This is just the sixth AL pennant the Indians have won as a franchise.

Toronto’s title drought will now stretch to 24 years when next season starts. The Blue Jays won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993.

Title droughts are also part of the National League Championship Series. The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied 2-2 in their best of seven series.

It now comes down to which team can win two out of three games to face Cleveland. Both the Cubs and Dodgers are currently in title droughts.

Los Angeles hasn’t won the World Series since 1988, when the team defeated the Oakland Athletics. That World Series is memorable for the Dodgers Kirk Gibson limping around the bases after hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and winning game one.

That 1988 World Series is also known for the Los Angeles pitcher Orel Hershiser’s pitching dominance. In game five of the series, Hershiser pitched a complete game that finished off the A’s for the title.

But it has been 28 years since that World Series win, and the Dodgers haven’t won or even been back to a Fall Classic. Los Angeles is looking for its 22nd NL pennant and a possible seventh World Series win.

Nearly everyone knows that Chicago hasn’t won a World Series since 1908. The Cubs only have two World Series titles won back-to-back in 1907 and 1908. That is a drought of 108 years.

And the “lovable loser” Cubs haven’t been to a World Series since 1945. That’s 71 years since they even reached the World Series.

Chicago is looking for its 17th pennant and possible third World Series win. This could be the year that everything lines up for this “cursed” franchise.

More than likely, most fans, both casual and hardcore, would love to see the Indians and the Cubs in the World Series—two tortured franchises with heart-breaking losses in the postseason that can lead to years of therapy for any fan.

Who fans will root for is interesting in and of itself. Cleveland just won a title when LeBron James took the Cavaliers to a title this past summer.

The Browns still stink, but the city of Cleveland has a title. Does the 68 years the Indians have suffered between titles mean more than the Cavaliers’ title? Social media would be a litmus of what fans think.

The Cubs haven’t won a title in more than a century, but the rest of the four major Chicago sports teams have won a title since 1908. In 1985, the Bears won the Super Bowl. The Bulls won their last title in 1998, the White Sox won their last in 2005, and the Blackhawks won their last in 2015.

That’s hardly a city suffering sports disappointment. The worst part for Cubs fans has been watching White Sox fans celebrating winning titles.

Dodger fans will want their team to win a title, but the rest of the country would love to eat up a Cubs against Indians World Series.