Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs face World Series decider to end great sporting drought

Baseball is traditionally America's predominant sport. Credit: PA

When the 2016 baseball World Series is decided after Wednesday's seventh game, its outcome will bring an end to one of the two longest droughts in sport.

The Chicago Cubs have not won the Major League Baseball (MLB) title since 1908, some 108 years ago, while their opponents the Cleveland Indians have been without a World Series win since 1948. The series is tied at 3-3 with the final match set to captivate fans around the world.

CHICAGO CUBS

There remain only a handful of people on the planet who were alive when Frank Chance's Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers to a first World Series in 1908. Chicago has become a byword for extraordinary patience and frustration, even featuring in a joke in time-travel film 'Back to the Future Part II'. Before doing so this year, they had not even managed to win the National League pennant since 1945.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

A city which waited 52 years for sporting honours could now get a double dose of glory. The Cavaliers' comeback triumph in the NBA against Golden State Warriors in June was Cleveland's first success since the Browns won the 1964 NFL title and the Indians might deliver a first MLB championship since 1948. The hapless Browns, however, do not look like reaching the Super Bowl any time soon.