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The Oakland Telegraph
7 November 2028
Oakland fall just short as Cubs' 300 year wait for world title comes to an end
By Chick Argocubs, Michigan correspondent
It was billed as Oakland's league-leading defense against Chicago's league-leading offense. And after a momentous tussle, it was the Cubs and their offense who prevailed, winning the series 4-2 to take their first World Series crown since approximately the time dinosaurs ruled the earth. The A's failed to make it a sixth world championship under Paulie Beane's guidance, and settle for the American League title. The Cubs become the first National League winners of the fall classic since Atlanta in 2022.
Chicago's lineup set their stall out right from the start, larroping A's all-star ace Lucio Vargas for 6 runs in 5 innings in the opener at Wrigley Field. The A's struck back, edging the second game 8-7, but the Cubs won game three comfortably. Game Four was the critical one. Starting with Jon Dixon, the man who was much maligned pre-season but far exceeded expectations all year, ahead of Vargas, Oakland took an early 3-0 lead. But the Cubs' lineup dug in, chipping away at Dixon for a run apiece in the 6th and 8th. Closer Roy Ellis came in in the 9th to make the save, but he couldn't get the job done, giving up an RBI triple to last year's NL rookie of the year, catcher Bryan Walsh, and the game went to extra innings. The Cubs then slashed setup man Jose Duran for 2 runs in the top of the 12th, and the series stood at 3-1. Oakland comfortably thrashed a visibly nervous Cubs team 13-3 in the fifth game, so the teams headed back to Wrigley to finish the season. Roared on by a capacity crowd, Chicago's lineup regained their composure and last night secured a 5-3 win.
Oakland's GM Paulie Beane was in a surprisingly philosophical mood at his post-game press conference. "For me, this has been a successful season", he said unconvincingly. "You usually need a fair dose of luck to win the playoffs and we only really got a few droplets. Winning the division and being competitive in the postseason is my aim for every season, and we've silenced the doubters and done that. Anything beyond that is a bonus." He was pressed by reporters about why, if he was genuinely so pleased with his team and not disappointed with the season outcome, was there a skip outside the Coliseum full of what appeared to be various items of destroyed furniture, IT equipment, pot plants and window panes, together with any number of splintered baseball bats. Beane denied he had let his frustration get the better of him while watching the World Series, insisting that he had simply decided to redecorate the office suite in the building. When a reporter suggested that this didn't sound very plausible because sane people simply throw sheets over things when they're painting rather than throwing the entire contents of a room away, Beane declined to comment further.
So that's the 2028 season in the books. Our handful of long-time readers will know this newspaper can only be sporadically bothered to report on the comings and going in Oakland over the offseason, so we'll see you when we see you.
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