Decade of sports: Cubs winning 2016 World Series was best moment of the 2010s

They still leave Budweiser cans and bottles at Harry Caray’s gravesite, roses at Ernie Banks’ tombstone, and tears seeing the Ivy at Wrigley Field.

They remember the moment late in the night on Nov. 2, 2016, the one that will be cherished forever. First baseman Anthony Rizzo caught a slipping Kris Bryant’s throw for the final out, clinching an 8-7, 10-inning win in Game 7 of the World Series.

The out that ended the Chicago Cubs’ epic 108-year title drought.

Oh, sure, the Cubs winning the World Series was the greatest moment in baseball this past decade, but for Cubs fans, it’s like saying Ryne Sandberg was just a second baseman.

They’ll tell you that night was the greatest moment in the past century, going back to 1908, if you will.

It was the night their heartbreak ended, when they could stop saying, “Wait til Next Year,’ when they could finally pronounce themselves as the greatest team in baseball.

When a 35-year-old man collapsed at Harry Caray’s restaurant on Kinzie Street that evening, going into the fetal position, it epitomized the way every Cubs’ fan felt beating the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series.

“Why not, it was the biggest moment in sports history in the world,’’ says Grant DePorter, CEO of the Harry Caray restaurant group, who watched the game with 87-year-old Dutchie, Caray’s wife.

“And that’s an understatement.’’

The Cubs had some special teams over the years. They were in the World Series in 1945. They had a great team in ’69, only to collapse down the stretch. They had a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five playoff series against the San Diego Padres in ’84, only to lose the next three games. They were up 3-1 against the Florida Marlins in the 2003 NLCS, with aces Mark Prior and Kerry Wood on the mound in Games 6 and 7, only to wind up making Steve Bartman a household name.

It was always something, whether black cats or billy goats or foul balls into the stands would happen along the way, continuing the curse.

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“It was such a relief,’’ Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said. “Really, you think about the Cubs as a member of your family. Like all members of your family, you love them, but sometimes they let you down. And they might let you down for 108 years in a row. And we did.’’

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