He did the impossible. Twice.
Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein came to the team in 2011, just a few years after he had helped build the Red Sox roster that finally broke the Curse of the Whatever and won the team’s first World Series since 1918.
Now he was tasked with doing the same in Chicago, except this team he was handed an extra decade plus of failure, despair and incompetence — the Cubs hadn’t won a World Series since 1908.
He asked the Cubs for patience, saying that he had a plan, and making a promise that things would get better. Then he executed on that plan, and early on Thursday morning, after perhaps the greatest World Series Game 7 ever played, he came through on his promise. Cubs fans had waited 108 years, and they were finally world champions.
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Epstein’s ability to do this comes with a bit of luck — his 2004 Red Sox team had to battle back from three games to none down and his 2016 Cubs team from three to one. They got bounces. He got lucky with his draft picks, which no matter how well you scout players, can always go wrong. He got lucky with the group coming together in the right way, that perfect blend of personalities who refused to quit no matter what.
Sure, there was luck. But there also was a vision — Epstein saw a team and he made it. He built his lineup around a trio of young, patient power hitters (Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant), slick -ielding and precocious infielders (Javier Baez and Addison Russell) and surrounding them with a group of established veterans who had been there before (Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, David Ross.) He went out and spent big on two starters he trusted — Jon Lester and John Lackey — and a flame-throwing closer to put games away, Aroldis Chapman.
The team made sense. Every player was there for a reason. Epstein identified the young players he needed, went out and got the older ones that complimented them, and then hired one of the best managers in baseball to guide the team to a title. It worked exactly how he said it would.
EPA Photo
Because Epstein understands history, the fact that he was able to do this for the Red Sox and the Cubs makes this all mean so much more than, say, he’d done it for the Diamondbacks and Marlins. He stared history in the face, and he didn’t blink. He understood that baseball teams were baseball teams, and with a patient owner, the right economic resources and a plan, he could build a winning team.
And that’s the big secret to Epstein — he didn’t do the impossible. Not really. He did the extremely difficult, and he did it for two groups of fans who will worship him forever for it. His place in the Hall of Fame is secure.
