The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will meet tomorrow in a World Series matchup that nobody thought possible. If it weren’t actually happening, I would have thought it unthinkable. The Cubs and Indians are both tortured franchises upon whom the baseball gods have picked for nigh on a century.

However, one is in for redemption in 2016, and for whichever one it is, that redemption will be all the sweeter having overcome a mountain of injuries, most notably the loss of an All-Star left fielder… The Indians and Cubs both lost their left fielders in April. Every team deals with injuries, but both these guys were absolute mainstay studs. Overcoming those losses to reach the World Series was extremely impressive.

For Cleveland, Michael Brantley received MVP votes in each of the last two years and was worth something like 10 WAR over that same timeframe. He was a top 10 outfielder in all of baseball, but played just 11 games for the Indians this season while battling shoulder problems. Meanwhile, the Cubs lost Kyle Schwarber to an “multiple-CL” injury just two games into the 2016 season. Last year, as a 22 year old, Schwarber looked every bit the part of a young Prince Fielder. He combined a solid regular season with an other-worldly postseason (5 HRs in 9 games) to lay the foundation for a solid career.

So how did they do it? How did both teams lose one of their best players and then bowl through the playoffs to reach the World Series?

To continue reading about how the Cubs and Indians overcame adversity to reach the World Series, please visit Off the Bench.