Leicester City vs Chicago Cubs - Which is the biggest achievement?

RedPed

Whatabouter.
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As I don't really follow Baseball, it's only now that I get the reference to the Cubs or 'Cubbies' as mentioned in the Back to the Future film.

But which is the biggest achievement; Leicester City winning the Premier League or Chicago Cubs winning the World Series?? I don't know how big the Cubs are and where they rank in the baseball world.

The Leicester City story seems so fantastic when you consider where they were the year before and the disparity between them and the 'big clubs' that they managed to overcome that season but I'm not so enlightened about the Cubs.
 
Cubs were world series favorites right from the start of the season and had a pretty high payroll combined with a stellar roster. I don't think people were willing to back Leicester even until the final 10 or so games. Aside from the romance of the Cubs winning it after 108 years ranking higher for sentimental reasons, Leicester's achievement should be rated higher given how small their economic strength is compared to the rest of the league and the fact that it was only their second season since making it back to the PL.
 
Chicago because they won a world series. Leicester only won a domestic league.
 
Know nothing about baseball but last season they almost made it to the World Series. Think the Leicester story is more impressive considering where they were the year before.
 
Leicester. I thought the Cubbies would eventually win a World Series, although maybe not in my lifetime. I never dreamed Leicester would win the Prem.

By the way Lem8ish, kiss my arse.
 
Leicester by a mile. The equivalent really can't be made in American sports as all the clubs are in a closed league structure so there can be no club that is relegated then rises back up to win the league in a few years time. The best example would be in 1991 when both Atlanta and Minnesota (in MLB) went from last to first to win their respective division and eventually met in the championship series (World Series) with the Twins winning.

If comparing payroll (i.e. Leicester versus mega clubs) there have been MLB clubs like the Athletics and Rays that have made it far into the playoffs but ultimately lost out. The year the Rays played in the Series (2008) I believe their entire payroll was less than the Phillies top four salaried players combined, something like that.
 
MrMarcello said:
Leicester by a mile. The equivalent really can't be made in American sports as all the clubs are in a closed league structure so there can be no club that is relegated then rises back up to win the league in a few years time. The best example would be in 1991 when both Atlanta and Minnesota (in MLB) went from last to first to win their respective division and eventually met in the championship series (World Series) with the Twins winning.
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Yeah forgot about the whole closed league, franchise, 30-odd team thing. It really has to be Leicester City.
 
Leicester obviously.....5000/1 is surely a record for a champion

lets face it - baseball is a jumped up game of rounders anyway

fridayfishing
 
Was thinking of a few quick turnarounds and recalled the 1999 St Louis Rams went from last to Super Bowl champs riding the arm of a player that had thrown eleven career passes and inherited the starting position after the starter crocked his knee in preseason and missed the season.

There have been some college Cinderella stories like unranked NC State in 1983 and Butler's run to the title game in 2010 (as regional 5th seed) and 2011 (as regional 8th seed) with the former nearly winning the title on a desperation heave that bounced off the rim. This would have been the greatest play in the history of college basketball had it gone in.

 
What were the odds on them winning? That should give you an idea of who pulled off the bigger achievement.
 
Leicester, hands down. They had never won the top flight and were competing against 92 professional clubs in England. Cubs were thereabouts for a couple of years, had a high payroll including the highest paid pitcher, and had no thread of relegation (they were not playing AAA 2 seasons before, like Leicester in the Championship).
 
Who would win in a football /baseball hybrid match?
 
Not even close. The only reason the Cubs are being talked about this much was because of some curse, you'll have to look it up. They have a very strong team and consistently make the playoffs, came very close to winning it last season and fulfilling the Back to the Future prophecy. I wouldn't consider it a fairy tale like Leicester's, although the atmosphere for game 7 was truly amazing and very memorable.
 
Leicester were massive underdogs the entire year. The Cubs were just a shit team for a long time, though they came close to winning a few times. Leicester may also never win the PL again in the near future but the Cubs should be right up there in the next few years.
 
Is the Cubs winning more like the Cleveland Browns winning the superb owl?
 
Hard to say. It's called the World Series because the best players in the world are in the league. Can't say the same about EPL.

Will say Leicester winning the league was more of a longshot.
 
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Leicester City. Leicester City were almost regulated the season before. The Cubs story is so amazing because of the absurdly long drought. But, coming into the season everyone knew they had a strong squad and were one of the favorites for the World Series.
 
The Memphis Grizzlies winning the NBA championship would match it
 
Yeah, Cubs have a huge following. I go to Dodger games and when the Cubs are in town, a good portion of the crowd supports the other side (not that you'd be able to tell with both teams being in the same colors). I would argue that during the PL season teams can have dips in form without affecting their season because it averages out whereas in MLB, if your team form suffers during the playoffs, it could possibly write off your entire season.
 
The least favourite MLB team could win the World Series in any given year and it still wouldn't match Leicester. Literally don't think I've ever seen anyone at 1000+ in Baseball to open the season, forget chances of 5000.
 
Zen said:
The least favourite MLB team could win the World Series in any given year and it still wouldn't match Leicester. Literally don't think I've ever seen anyone at 1000+ in Baseball to open the season, forget chances of 5000.
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It would have to be something like the Cleveland Browns making the playoffs this year and winning it all.
 
Zen said:
The least favourite MLB team could win the World Series in any given year and it still wouldn't match Leicester. Literally don't think I've ever seen anyone at 1000+ in Baseball to open the season, forget chances of 5000.
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http://www.oddsshark.com/mlb/mlb-odds-world-series-futures

2017 WORLD SERIES ODDS
  • Los Angeles Angels +5000
  • Colorado Rockies +6600
  • Tampa Bay Rays +6600
  • Milwaukee Brewers +7500
  • Oakland Athletics +7500
  • Arizona Diamondbacks +10000
  • Atlanta Braves +10000
  • Cincinnati Reds +10000
  • Minnesota Twins +10000
  • Philadelphia Phillies +10000
  • San Diego Padres +10000
Click to expand...
 
Just so you know, Leicester in those odds were +500000

So yeah.
 
If the Cubs went on to win the SuperBowl next year it might compare with Leicester winning the premier league.
 
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