| 2016 Chicago Cubs | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Series Champion National League Champion National League Central Division Champion | ||
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| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field | |
| City | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Record | 103–58 (.640) | |
| Divisional place | 1st | |
| Owners | Thomas S. Ricketts, Laura Ricketts, Pete Ricketts, Todd Ricketts, Joe Ricketts | |
| President of baseball operations | Theo Epstein | |
| General managers | Jed Hoyer | |
| Managers | Joe Maddon | |
| Television | WGN-TV CSN Chicago CSN Chicago Plus WLS-TV WPWR-TV (Len Kasper, Jim Deshaies) | |
| Radio | WSCR (AM) Chicago Cubs Radio Network (Pat Hughes, Ron Coomer, Mark Grote) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |
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The 2016 Chicago Cubs season was the 145th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 141st in the National League and the Cubs' 101st season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were managed by Joe Maddon in his second year as Cubs manager, and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of the National League Central.
They began the season on April 4, 2016 at the Los Angeles Angels and finished the regular season on October 2, 2016 at the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs finished with the best record in Major League Baseball at 103–58 (and 1 tie), and won their first National League Central title since the 2008 season, winning by 17½ games. The team also reached the 100-win mark for the first time since 1935 and won 103 total games, the most wins for the franchise since 1910.
The Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS and returned to the NLCS for the second year in a row, where they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in seven games in the World Series, their first appearance since the 1945 World Series and first win since the 1908 World Series. In the World Series, the Cubs came back from a three-games-to-one deficit, winning the final three games. The last time a team came back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 1985. The Cubs were also the first team to win Games 6 and 7 on the road in a World Series since the Pittsburgh Pirates did it against the Baltimore Orioles in 1979. The World Series victory put an end to the so-called Curse of the Billy Goat and the longest World Series championship drought in history.