Cubs open Champions Gate as 2016 heroes return to Wrigley
Chicago marked the 10-year anniversary season of its 2016 title with a new Wrigley Field archway honoring the franchise’s three championships.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
The Chicago Cubs put a new landmark in front of Wrigley Field on Saturday, unveiling Champions Gate as the franchise marked the 10-year anniversary season of its 2016 World Series win, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported.
The archway honors the Cubs’ three championship years with plaques for 1907, 1908 and 2016, according to ESPN. The 2016 title was the club’s first in 108 years, ending one of baseball’s most famous waits.
Wrigley Field’s official account on X posted photos of the new entrance and wrote, “Without further ado, Champions Gate.” The post showed the archway outside the ballpark as the club turned reunion weekend into a permanent piece of stadium scenery.
The ribbon cutting brought back several faces from the 2016 team, according to ESPN, including World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo and former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta. ESPN reported that Rizzo and former manager Joe Maddon addressed the crowd before the ribbon was cut.
The reunion also included Theo Epstein, the former Cubs executive who helped build the championship roster. Epstein sat with owner Tom Ricketts and current president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer as players and coaches from the 2016 club were introduced, ESPN reported.
Epstein described the weekend as a rush of old emotions.
“It's been a blast,” Epstein said, according to ESPN. “It's crazy how the old feelings just come back right away. It's a special group. What they mean to each other lives on.”
That 2016 team grabbed Chicago early, racing to a 25-6 start, according to ESPN, before closing the year by beating Cleveland in a seven-game World Series. The championship remains one of the defining moments in modern Cubs history, and Saturday’s ceremony brought many of the central figures back to the ballpark where the run became a citywide obsession.
Epstein, who left his Cubs role after the 2020 season, was asked whether he would still be with the organization if the team had not ended the drought.
“I wouldn't [have] left voluntarily,” he joked, according to ESPN.
He also recalled a recurring dream from before the title, saying he used to imagine the Cubs had won it all, only to wake up and realize the job was still unfinished. Epstein told ESPN that changed after the team returned from Cleveland on Nov. 3, 2016.
“After we got back from Cleveland, I woke up with that same feeling, 'Oh, we did it.' But then I was like, 'Is this a dream again?' Of course, it wasn't.”
With Champions Gate now standing outside Wrigley, the Cubs have added a front-door tribute to the seasons that ended with a trophy, especially the one that turned 108 years of waiting into one unforgettable November night.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.