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5 million revel in celebration at 'Cubstock 2016'

By The Sports Xchange
Large crowds waiting for the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs to arrive for the celebration rally at the Grant Park on November 4, 2016 in Chicago. The Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI
1 of 3 | Large crowds waiting for the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs to arrive for the celebration rally at the Grant Park on November 4, 2016 in Chicago. The Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI | License Photo

The parade 108 years in the making captivated Chicago on Friday as an estimated 5 million fans turned out during a celebration ceremony for the Cubs' World Series triumph over the Cleveland Indians.

The victory lap for the ages meandered for seven miles through a city still somewhat shellshocked that the Cubs are champions for the first time since 1908.

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The motorcade of double-decker buses left Wrigley Field shortly before 11 a.m. CT and rolled through downtown before eventually reaching mammoth Grant Park. Manager Joe Maddon captured the feeling at the ensuing rally by yelling out to the throngs of fans.

"Welcome to Cubstock 2016," Maddon roared. "You guys are the best. Congratulations."

President of baseball operations Theo Epstein, the architect of the team, was serenaded with chants of "Theo! Theo! Theo!" while the buses rolled down city streets.

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Epstein noted the dedication of Cubs' fans when he spoke at Grant Park.

"Thank you to the fans, 108 years, ridiculous, 108 years of support, patience and love for this team waiting for what happened two nights ago in Cleveland," Epstein said. "I've been here for five years in particular and we've asked a lot of you and put you through a lot over the last five years."

Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo had been sitting on a piece of history since Wednesday's final out of the 8-7, 10-inning victory in Cleveland. Upon catching the final out, he put the valuable ball in his back pocket.

During Friday's rally, he turned it over to owner Tom Ricketts.

"I got a text message from a friend yesterday that there is a piece of history that is going upwards of $3 million and that's the last out of the World Series -- the baseball," Rizzo said. "Mike Montgomery's first professional save ever in his life was Game 7 of the World Series for us to win it.

"And everyone came here to do one thing and that was to win the World Series and the man who really made that happen is our owner Tom Ricketts and he sacrificed everything for the Chicago Cubs and for this city and it only feels right for me to hand this ball over to Mr. Ricketts because this is part of history forever."

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Rizzo cited the longstanding history of the Cubs and said the 2016 championship also belongs to former stars like the deceased Ernie Banks and Ron Santo as well as Billy Williams, who was part of the parade.

World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, who delivered the winning hit in Game 7, was holding his hardware and amazed at the wild scene.

"Wow, this is unbelievable. I can't believe this," Zobrist said. "I'm holding this thing. This game makes a lot of individual awards but this is definitely a team award. This is a team full of MVPs and we're in the city of MVPs."

Backup catcher and huge fan favorite David Ross took a selfie with teammates with the large throng of fans in the background.

The really ended with players and fans singing a hearty rendition of "Go Cubs Go."

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