Cubs Win: The Editors Who Said Yes

A tribute to the Politico editors who gave me 36 hours to see Game 7.

I’m Darren Samuelsohn, and this is love, journalism.

Happy World Series! It’s been a decade since the Chicago Cubs won their first championship in 108 years. I was there. Here’s my story.

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It’s one thing to be a politics reporter running toward Election Day. It’s another thing to be a politics reporter running when your baseball team is in the postseason.

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs were a good team and I feared what would happen as the finish line approached for the sports and campaign seasons.

This is where good editors stepped into the picture.

A lot of things in life are more important than work, including seeing in person my beloved baseball team trying to win its first championship in 108 years.

The soaked author soaks in a few final moments before heading back to Washington after Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Election coverage waited. (Photo taken by a stranger).

I’ve loved the Cubs since before I could write, and I’ve witnessed enough heartbreak. Any sports fan understands what it means to win a championship.

When your work is at its peak, it can become all-consuming.

A decade ago, the Cubs were also all-consuming in a way that helped me as a journalist to get through the presidential campaign. It had been one hell of a run, and I was still emotionally bruised from having to fact check a debate when one of our players hit one of the largest, longest home runs in the history of baseball.

(One of the better parts of being a politics writer is how I can exaggerate the daylights out of sports writing as a fan.)

Curse? I haven’t heard of any stinking curse. A Cubs fan behind home plate at Progressive Field after the final out of Game 7. (Photo by Darren Samuelsohn)

This is a tribute to those editors at Politico. They ran a publication dedicated to American politics and its influence around the world. And yet those editors were also fans of the Yankees, the Brewers, the Pirates, and many more teams. They understood that to turn a reporter away as the whole team is racing toward the finish line is something the reporter might regret, 10 years later, when they’re trying to come up with a good theme for an essay to run on the anniversary of the championship.

Some things, like a bar mitzvah, a wedding, a funeral, Game 7, you don’t miss.

The Politico newsroom in Rosslyn, Virginia, as the 2016 election season reached its end. (Photo by Darren Samuelsohn)

Hope you enjoy this special presentation of love, journalism. We’ll be taking an intermission as the fall sports and election seasons reach their peak.

Now, please enjoy me making a fool out of myself in Cleveland. And remember when you’re cheering the final out to stop and shake hands with the other team’s fans. Also: “Who lost a Cubs hat?” #30#

Thanks for reading love, journalism! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Episode 8: ‘F- that. We needed the Cubs.’

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