It began with a YouTube clip that someone dropped on reddit and from there it moved across the internet. It was not a short reel. It was the full broadcast of the intense Cubs vs Indians 2016 Game Seven. Every pitch in Cleveland. Every look at the Cubs dugout. People kept saying the same thing. A fan said “I did not even like baseball but this kept me to the last out.” That is what a real game does. It pulls in people who were only scrolling and makes them stay. This night had a wait of 108 years on one side and a loud home crowd on the other, so every single pitch felt big. It is not a surprise that people in 2025 still replay it and fight over the same 3 moments.
Fowler fired first and Chicago kept punching
The first inning told everyone this was not going to be slow. Dexter Fowler stayed patient, got a pitch over the plate and sent it to center to make it 1 to 0 for the Cubs. It was the first time any hitter opened a World Series Game Seven with a home run and it set the tone for what followed in Cubs vs Indians 2016 Game Seven.
Cleveland did not stay down. Carlos Santana drove in the tie in the third to make it 1 to 1 and Progressive Field woke up again. From that point every frame felt heavy. Chicago tried to pull away. Willson Contreras banged a ball off the wall for a run. Javier Baez lifted a drive to right.
Then the old catcher David Ross, playing his final game, hit a home run to center and people on the internet still love that swing because it looked written for him. That made it 6 to 3 and it reminded everyone that Chicago had leaned on Aroldis Chapman a lot in the series which would matter later in the context of the Cubs vs Indians 2016 Game Seven.
“This game made me love baseball again.” A fan said it while watching the clip.
Rajai Davis tied it the rain cleared it and the Cubs finished it
Cleveland needed one huge swing and it came in the eighth inning. Brandon Guyer doubled off Chapman to cut it to 6 to 4. Rajai Davis came up with 1 on and fouled off pitch after pitch. Chapman kept throwing hard. Davis finally turned on a fastball and kept it fair just inside the left field pole. The score became 6 to 6 and the whole park jumped. That home run is still one of the most replayed moments from the entire series on social media. Another fan commented “I yelled like it was live again.”
Then the rain came. It looked small on television but it gave Chicago the pause it needed. Jason Heyward pulled everyone into the weight room and reminded them who they were and how far they had come. Players later said that talk settled the dugout and gave them their breath back. When play started again the Cubs looked sharp. Kyle Schwarber singled. Albert Almora Jr ran smart. Ben Zobrist shot a double down the line to put Chicago back in front. Miguel Montero added one more for a little air. Cleveland still scored once in the bottom half and kept everyone on edge but when Kris Bryant fielded the last ground ball and fired to Anthony Rizzo the 108 year wait was over and the internet got the perfect finish to the legendary Cubs vs Indians 2016 Game Seven that it keeps watching in 2025
I bounce between stadium seats and window seats, chasing games and new places. Sports fuel my heart, travel clears my head, and every trip ends with a story worth sharing.
