The Cubs, the Mets and that 'Back to the Future II' prediction for 2015
Still image of the movie Back to the Future II from YouTube. A Cubs World Series championship would make one imagined element of this movie a reality. Credit: YouTube
The Mets will be standing in the way of history in the NLCS as they try to derail the Cubs, who are seeking their first pennant in 70 years and their first World Series triumph in 107.
But they also will be trying to alter the future.
As fans of the Cubs and of pop culture have known since 1989, when the movie "Back to the Future Part II" was released, this is the Cubbies' year at last.
So it was foretold when its signature, souped-up DeLorean landed in the strange new world of Oct. 21, 2015, just in time for a "Sports Flash" update projected onto a building:
"Cubs Win World Series, Sweep Miami," the bulletin read, and later, "Way to Go, Cubbies!"
This news naturally baffled Michael J. Fox's character, Marty McFly, not so much because the Cubs won -- they did win 93 games in 1989 before losing to the Giants in the NLCS -- but because of their opponent.
"Against Miami?" Marty asks an old man.
"Yeah, it's something, huh, who would have thought?" the man says. "Hundred-to-one shot. I wish I could go back to the beginning of the season and put some money on the Cubs." (In reality, the Cubs were far less of a long shot than that in the actual April of 2015.)
To which Marty says, "No, I just mean: Miami?"
The Marlins did not join the majors until 1993, they were not called "Miami" until 2012 and they play in the National League, thus making it impossible for them to face the Cubs in the World Series. (Although they did break the Cubs' hearts in the Steve Bartman NLCS of 2003.)
They also are, well, the Marlins. Their logo as depicted in the film is a bat-swinging alligator.
But still . . . when the 2015 season began, many saw the scene as a hopeful sign for the Cubbies, and here we are.
World Series were staged earlier in 1989 than they are now, so the timing is a bit off. But if the Cubs were to sweep the Mets, they would win Game 4 on . . . Oct. 21, 2015. Hmm.
(Then again, one could argue the 2015 World Series depicted in the movie ended on the night of Oct. 20, because the "Sports Flash" is seen in daylight after Marty lands at 4:29 p.m. Pacific Time. Unless the idea was that in the future, World Series games would be back to late afternoon Eastern Time starts. Nah, that's too implausible!)
Not surprisingly, writer/director Robert Zemeckis grew up in Chicago -- although as a White Sox fan on the South Side.
Bob Gale, who wrote the film with Zemeckis, grew up a fan of the Cardinals, the team the Cubs ousted to get this far.
Asked earlier this month about the Cubs-win scene, Gale told the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper: "Being a baseball fan, I thought, 'OK, let's come up with one of the most unlikely scenarios we can think of. Back in the day, seeing the movie with an audience, that always got a laugh."
The film -- which although released in 1989 is set largely in 1985 -- accurately anticipated some other elements of life in 2015, including the aforementioned video news flash.
Other things were not quite right, most notably the hoverboards and flying cars -- a vision futurists have had, and gotten wrong, since before cars were invented.
Maybe that will come by 2045. If the Mets have anything to say about it, that might be the Cubs' next chance to win it all.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
