Allgemeines » That said, this series may have been le

One way to realize just how long its been since the Chicago Cubs last reached the World Series is to look at how much the game has changed since then, on and off the field.The Cubs are making their first appearance since 1945 and chasing their first title since 1908.Some of the ways the game has changed since the Cubs lost Game 7 to the Detroit Tigers some 71 years ago:INTEGRATION: Jackie Robinson became the first black player to reach the major leagues in 1947, two years after the Cubs last World Series appearance. Baseball has turned into a virtual melting pot in the seven decades since. The Cubs roster includes players from Cuba (reliever Aroldis Chapman and outfielder Jorge Soler), along with Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as well as the United States.EXPANSION: There were 16 teams in the majors in 1945, including two in St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago, and three in New York. The total is up to 30 now.GO WEST: There were no major league franchises west of St. Louis in 1945. The Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New York Giants headed to San Francisco in 1958. In 1969, the Seattle Pilots showed up -- they went 64-98 in their first year, then became the Milwaukee Brewers.DIVISIONAL PLAY: There were no divisions in 1945, just eight teams in both the American League and National League. They split into East and West divisions in 1969. Then a Central was created in 1994, with the Cubs shifting from the NL East to the NL Central.PLAYOFFS PLUS: Extra teams and divisions resulted in expanded playoffs. The League Championship Series began in 1969, the Division Series started in 1995 and a one-game wild-card playoff came in 2012. A longer postseason pushed the World Series deep into October and beyond. If the Cubs and Cleveland go the distance this year, Game 7 would be on Nov. 2.FREE AGENCY: When Phil Cavarretta and Peanuts Lowrey helped lead the Cubs to the 1945 Series, they were bound to the team until they were traded or released. Curt Flood tested baseballs reserve clause in the early 1970s and took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, helping pave the way for players to move around as free agents. Jon Lester, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist are among the players the Cubs acquired this way.DESIGNATED HITTER: The designated hitter joined the American League lineup in 1973. The DH debate is still hot, with the leagues playing by different rules. When this years World Series opens at the AL park, both teams will use the DH; when the Cubs host, the pitchers will hit.LIGHTS AT WRIGLEY: The Cubs were the last team in the majors to play only day games. That changed when lights were installed at Wrigley Field in 1988. The games there have always been played outdoors on green grass, never under a dome or on artificial turf, trends that became popular starting with the Astrodome in the mid-1960s. Air Max 97 Plus Solde Homme .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Basket Air Max 270 Pas Cher Femme . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. http://www.outletairmaxpascher.fr/fausse-vapormax-noir.html . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Fausse Air Max Pas Cher . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. Air Max 90 Homme Soldes . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Day 2 of the ELeague Counter-Strike: Global Offensive quarterfinals looked intriguing on paper and delivered in the entertainment department. The matchups: mousesports against Astralis and Virtus.pro against Ninjas in Pyjamas.Mouseports (mouz) struggles are well-known to CS:GO fans. From its best player Nikola NiKo Kova?s frustrations over poor results to the teams lack of cohesion and teamwork, mouz had been a squad on the downslide. The teams upset victory against Astralis 2-0 here showed it has overcome many of these issues. It was fully a team effort, but more importantly, it cleanly executed pre-planned strategies to deal with Astralis tactics. Mouz victory on dust2 was especially impressive as the team won aim duels, flanked the right sites, and correctly used its resources to buy time and space.That said, this series may have been less about mouz resurgence and more about Astralis questionable play. This usually-consistent lineup made so many fundamental mistakes that it was difficult to identify whether or not this wass the same team that placed third at MLG Columbus.dddddddddddd Its errors were numerous: missed calls, impatience through smokes, a lack of coverage for refrags, and a general lack of direction on both attack and defense.In Virtus.pro (VP) vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP), VP lived up to its solid reputation as a champion team and took the series 2-0. VP looked like its old Virtus Plow self on both NiPs map choice (dust2) and its own (Cobblestone). Filip NEO Kubski was in vintage form. He dropped 29 kills on map one, including the game-clinching frag, and was the ace for his team. NiP needed both Christopher GeT_RiGhT Alesund and Patrik f0rest Lindberg to step up, and it just didnt happen. VP stumbled several times throughout the set, but regained control every time by winning the necessary clutch, anti-eco, and gun rounds. Even with its occasional goofy antics, it was an academic exercise for the Poles. ' ' '