World Series Game 7 – GO TO CONFESSION!

world-series-2016The Cleveland Indians have not won the World Series since 1948…. 68 years.

The Chicago Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908…. 108 years.

108: The number of stitches in a baseball.

Coincidence?

Ominous portent, if there ever was one.

One of these teams will lose Game 7 of the World Series … tonight.

This seems to me to be the sort of moment when the Lord, in His mercy, might choose to return… to prevent the agony.

Perhaps sometime around the 7th inning stretch.

So, GO TO CONFESSION!

UPDATE:

THAT was one heck of a game!

Who thought we would live to see…

AC000000

Check out St. John Cantius ringing their bells.  HERE

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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42 Comments

  1. wmeyer says:

    It seems altogether appropriate, given the state of things today, that a so momentous game should take place in this week.

  2. un-ionized says:

    If Cleveland loses I’m gonna hide under the bed. Maybe I better hide my blue car.

  3. JustaSinner says:

    Go INDIANS!!! Though I put down preseason wagers for the Cubs.

  4. TopSully says:

    If the Good Lord should return in the 7th inning stretch then he wouldn’t prevent the agony. He’d have to come before the end of the 5th if the Cubs are ahead and before the end of the top of the 5th if the Indians are ahead. Otherwise the game will be considered “regulation” and there will be a loser. Of course if it’s tied then all bets are off and the game will resume in heaven. After all it is the game God loves best.

  5. Bob B. says:

    Go Tribe!

  6. frodo says:

    If the cubs win, it will be historic. If they lose, all the Cubs fans in my family will be ridiculed for their unending Chicago hubris until my throat is sore.

  7. Lepidus says:

    And if you live in or near Chicago, you might want to take appropriate action anyway. I can see riot with either scenario.

  8. Kathleen10 says:

    This World Series has so much in common with American politics and Catholicism today, it’s completely extreme. Why is it that everything is so over the top. I miss boring. Can we have a little boring?

  9. un-ionized says:

    I have plenty of boring! I am delighted with my boring! I want to keep my boring!

  10. Dr. Edward Peters says:

    When it comes to urging confession, apparently any excuse will do. … Oh, wait. I guess that’s the point.

  11. The Masked Chicken says:

    If the Cubs defeat the Indians, tonight, the Cubs should go to confession for murdering the hopes of fans; likewise, should the Indians defeat the Cubs, the Indians should go.

    Oh, heck, just make the umpire a priest and they can both go.

    The Chicken

  12. I’ve been telling people for a while that it looks as though the Cubs will win the World Series before I get married. Maybe things aren’t that hopeless after all…

  13. Akita says:

    I’m for the Indians. Didn’t have a rationale as to why. As early as the second game I felt strongly that they be the victors. Blase Cardinal Cupich publicly supported the Cubs I heard the other day. Now I know why I am for the Indians.

  14. StabatMater says:

    CUBS WIIIIINNNNN!!!!!!!

  15. AnnTherese says:

    I knew with all those Cub fans in heaven– All Souls was the perfect day for the Cubs to win!!

  16. GrumpyYoungMan says:

    W

  17. bookworm says:

    I can’t think of a better day for the Cubs to win the Series (still can’t believe I said that!!) than All Souls Day, because the entire postseason run has been an occasion for Cubs fans to remember their departed loved ones, past players, and others who didn’t get to see this day, at least not in an earthly sense. No better day to get rid of a “curse” either!

  18. guans says:

    Ah Akita,
    Don’cha know: Cardinal George had the upper hand.

  19. Akita says:

    Thanks, guans. A comforting thought.

  20. Midwest St. Michael says:

    Oh cool!

    The Little Bears won. Good.

    Wonder of they will hibernate for another 108 years? (here’s hoping)

    MSM

  21. Chiara says:

    Congratulations, Cubs fans, from a very tired Cleveland fan. It was worth losing sleep on a work night to watch last night’s game.

    If we had to lose to someone, I’m glad it was the Cubs. They are humble from all these years of disappointment, like we are. There is something to be said for being a good loser and a good sport, and I think the fans from both teams share this.

    It is all the more joyful after waiting so long.

    And the homeless in Chicago will enjoy a wonderful feast courtesy of our good Bishop Lennon and the Cleveland Diocese since we lost the bet.

    It was a fabulous Series! Maybe next year for the Tribe! God bless all the fans from Cleveland and Chicago!

  22. JonPatrick says:

    It was a great series. I would have been happy if either team had won (being a Red Sox fan) but I can empathize with the Cubs since we overcame our curse in 2004. It was nice to have something positive to look forward to each night with the politics and the constant drip drip of revelations about political corruption, the turmoil in the Church, etc.

  23. comedyeye says:

    Goatbusters!!!!!!

  24. I love nail-biters! I am a Texas Rangers but was pulling for the Indians. Congrats to the Cubs!

  25. I am a Texas Rangers Fan, that should read.

  26. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Cleveland’s basketball team won its championship a short time ago and made a very big to-do over having come back from being behind three games to one – which is indeed an unusual circumstance. The baseball team took the same lead in the World Series only to fall short. A vivid example of hubris and the need for perseverance.

  27. LarryW2LJ says:

    Obviously the current crop of Tribe fans have either never heard of, or remembered to try the infamous “black cat in the dugout” play. Worked for us Mets fans in 1969!

    Seriously though – congrats to the Cubbies and their fans – and it’s refreshing to hear that their has been no wide scale destruction in Chicago. Shows that a team can win and their fans celebrate, civilly.

    Condolences to the Indians and their fans. Last year, I was in the same spot you are right now. It really hurts to have the visiting team celebrate on your turf – but time heals all wounds …….. and as the Brooklyn Dodger fans used to say. “Wait ’til next year!”

  28. Gus Barbarigo says:

    Yes, the Cubs winning is a sure sign of the Apocalypse.

  29. Chris Garton-Zavesky says:

    Congratulations to the Cubs, and to all their supporters in the Windy City and elsewhere.

    Now, since one team from Illinois has won, could a different team from Illinois lose?

  30. Ariseyedead says:

    The Chicago Cubs…the baseball team God loves best!

  31. Semper Gumby says:

    What a game. Someone once wrote that baseball is surely played in Heaven- there is no time limit, and the foul lines could conceivably extend into Eternity.

    Fr. Z, here is something I scribbled in February to pass a few hours during business travel. I put it away and, mercifully, forgot about it until a month ago. It was a joy today to write in that number “2016”. No irreverence or disdain of other baseball teams is intended, and condolences to the great Cleveland Indians, just a little fun here, Old Testament-style.

    __
    A cry to the Lord went up from the city of Chicago: “For years uncountable O Lord, our Chicago Cubs have been handled mercilessly by our enemies- both American League and National League. Wrigley Field is a wasteland, a vale of tears, a desolation filled with every sort of brigand and wildebeest. Look kindly on your children, O Lord, and grant us a World Series victory.”

    God replied in a voice that remarkably resembled Mel Brooks: “Quit your kvetching. Did I not provide you with deep-dish pizza and the Blues Brothers?”

    The people of Chicago clothed themselves in sackcloth and replied: “Lord, we like what you did there. But our men are bereft of hope, our women are filled with lamentations and forced to drive their offspring to soccer practice. Our children groan under the yoke of bondage of video games. Even worse O Lord, when our young men wear a Cubs T-shirt out in the vineyards the Brewerites of Milwaukee swoop down from their northern stronghold and carry off their maidens. Hear our cry O Lord, and save us from the depredations and torments of the Pirates of Pittsburgh. Deliver into our hands the Brewerites, the Cardinalites of St. Louis, and the New York Yankees, whose pitchers are surely the sons of Baal.”

    The people of Chicago fell on their faces in the dust and continued: “O Lord, are not our altars ad orientem? Are not our altar rails securely installed? Are not birettas distributed abundantly, yea, even unto every seminarian in the land? Look kindly on your city and your Cubs O Lord, and grant that our season extend unto early November.”

    And so it came to pass, in the year of our Lord 2016, an Angel was sent as a messenger to a meek and humble servant of God, Fr. Z. The Angel said: “Arise meek and humble servant, gird yourself with cassock, sandals, and Mystic Monk coffee, and travel unto the city of Chicago, for the Lord intends to deliver his people this year.”

    Now, Fr. Z was not one to argue with an Angel, but Fr. Z felt obligated to first briefly point out the fine qualities of the other teams in the NL Central.

    And so it came to pass that Fr. Z journeyed to the city of Chicago. Upon his arrival the multitudes gathered, yea, from the farthest villages of Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties they gathered. Fr. Z held up his Lewis&Short Latin dictionary in one hand, his Bill James Baseball Abstract in the other, and exclaimed: “My clownish friends: Go to Confession!”

    And behold! There was a great uproar throughout the land. Every Home Depot Emporium between Calumet City and Mt. Prospect was sacked for it’s plywood and drywall. After confession booths were built and all were reconciled, the Lord addressed his people:

    “Your enemy’s pitches will be delivered unto the sweet spot on your bats. Your pitches will be true to the edge of the strike zone. Your concession-stand hotdogs will be most savory.”

    And so it came to pass in the year of our Lord 2016 the Cubs swept all before them and left many an opponent’s dugout a smoking ruin. In early November the mighty Cubs stood alone on the field, the National and American Leagues prostrate before them. There was peace throughout the land, and a choir of children sang the mighty Cubs to sleep each night.

    God looked down at his handiwork, leaned back on His throne, smiled, nudged Jesus, and said: “That oughta hold ’em awhile.”

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  32. djc says:

    This Indian fan is entirely bummed out but at least we have the Cav’s.

    Who knows, maybe someday we’ll even get an NFL team……

  33. Y2Y says:

    I have it on good authority from an inside source that the Bauer Sporting Goods company has recently received an order for several billion sticks, helmets and pairs of skates from a gentleman named Beelzebub.

  34. Semper Gumby says:

    That St. John Cantius video is great, and there is a W flag flying from an upper window. By the way Fr. Z, maybe it’s my computer but there is nothing clickable just above that video. My guess it leads to Cubs swag or a photo of Benedict XVI wearing a Cubs cap.

    A colleague has informed me that the Chicago newspapers are beside themselves. Fun facts: the last Cubs World Series title was two weeks after the first Model T rolled off the assembly line. And Mark Twain was still alive.

  35. un-ionized says:

    Y2y, you are so funny!

  36. Thom says:

    Speaking of 108…. they won in the 10th with 8 runs. Spooky!

  37. Semper Gumby says:

    Fr. Z: Ok, AC000000, got it. And I have been informed by my colleague that for forgetting the meaning of this venerable cipher I am buying the burgers tonight. (Yep, we’re at a sports bar, refusing to let go of last night’s game. And my response that I had never seen the AC code zeroed out was rightly judged as ridiculous.)

    Eamus Catuli

  38. Y2Y says:

    “Who knows, maybe someday we’ll even get an NFL team……”

    Chris Berman said it best when reflecting on the fact that Cleveland and Chicago were facing each other in this year’s World Series: “does a football team have to be ritually sacrificed in order for that city’s baseball team to succeed?”

  39. Matilda P says:

    The really fun thing about St John Cantius was that apparently (I couldn’t be there, but I got the mailing-list update) the very excellent young adult group was watching a live-stream of the game, fortified by wine and cheese, graced by the presence of Bishop Perry, joined by the Canons and seminarians, right after assisting at a Requiem mass with Mozart’s Requiem. Talk about an embarrassment of riches!

  40. Matt Robare says:

    There was an article in the Register the other day about the Cubs’ Chaplain.

  41. Semper Gumby says:

    comedyeye wrote: “Goatbusters!!!!” How sweet it is.

    Matilda P: Thanks for the comment, sounds like a great time at St. John Cantius, and their Mozart’s Requiem gave us an idea. Baseball highlight videos tend to have an annoying electric guitar and drum soundtrack. For our little Highlights of the 2016 Season video, we’re going to do something different. In April the Cubs blossomed to a 24-6 record, that calls for Vivaldi’s Rite of Spring. Mid-season plenty of Mozart and some Bach. (I find Javier Baez making the tag at second then pirouetting to avoid the sliding opponent and still making the throw to first to complete the double play a very moving experience. But that’s just me.) Then for the triumphant Game 7, 10th inning, the Triumphant March from Verdi’s Aida. Over the top? Sure!

    Matt Robare: Thanks for the article reminder, I forgot to get to that one.

  42. TomG says:

    I’ve been a baseball fan for 65 years and I never knew about the 108 stitches. Goosebumps!

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