Five years in the making, 'The Plan' ends Cubs drought

The Chicago Cubs' dramatic ending of a 108-year World Series drought was not merely a case of baseball's "Loveable Losers" finally catching a break but the result of a patient strategy five years in the making. "The Plan", as it became known by Cubs fans forced to sit through a 100-loss season as recently as four years ago, was hatched when Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein was appointed President of Baseball Operations in 2011. Epstein, the Yale graduate who at the age of 28 broke the Red Sox's decades-long World Series curse, sought to "define a Cubs way of playing the game." On Wednesday, the "Cubs Way" delivered the moment generations had longed for with a thrilling 8-7 series-deciding win over the Cleveland Indians.

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