CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs on Saturday unveiled Champions Gate in front of Wrigley Field as part of the 10-year anniversary observance of their 2016 World Series championship, the franchise’s first title in 108 years.
The archway features plaques commemorating the three championship seasons in franchise history: 1907, 1908 and 2016. Members of the 2016 club participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, including World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, team leader Anthony Rizzo and former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta.
Before the ribbon cutting, Rizzo and former manager Joe Maddon addressed the assembled crowd. Players and coaches from the 2016 team were introduced to an excited audience. Sitting with the group were Theo Epstein, owner Tom Ricketts and current president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer.
Epstein, described in the event materials as the architect of the team, summarized the reunion weekend, saying, “It’s been a blast. It’s crazy how the old feelings just come back right away. It’s a special group. What they mean to each other lives on.” Epstein, who stepped down after the 2020 season, joked that he “wouldn’t [have] left voluntarily” had the club not broken its century-long drought.
The Cubs’ 2016 season included a 25-6 start and culminated with a seven-game World Series victory over Cleveland. Epstein said that after the team returned from Cleveland he briefly wondered if the accomplishment was another dream, but acknowledged that it was real: “Of course, it wasn’t.”
