The number 108 carries a lot of significance for the Cubs and might portend their victory,
Grant DePorter, who insists destiny and numerology will propel the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years, pointed his phone at the scoreboard behind the left-field wall at Wrigley Field, started recording and put his theory to test.
It was was Oct. 7, Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. Javier Baez, the Cubs’ second baseman, was at the plate facing Johnny Cueto, the Giants’ starting pitcher.
DePorter’s video showed Cueto’s pitch count — 107 at that point — just moments after DePorter predicted that Baez would hit a home run on pitch 108.
Baez then blasted the 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall to propel the Cubs to a 1-0 victory, jump-start the team’s postseason run and help cement DePorter’s soothsayer status.
“I think at that point a lot of people in Chicago became believers,” DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group that is named after the legendary Cubs announcer, said Monday while
sharing the video he said supports his claim that 108 is a magic number signaling the end of the Cubs’ 108-year World Series title drought. “I knew this was going to happen.”
All but shouting his claims on a bullhorn, DePorter said he is just as convinced the Cubs are 108 outs away from winning the World Series (Do the math: 27 outs per game multiplied by four victories needed to win it all).
More than four weeks before the Cubs clinched a spot in the World Series, which will start Tuesday in Cleveland against the Indians, DePorter posted online a list of supposed evidence linking the Cubs and 108 that includes:
There are 108 stitches on baseballs made by Spalding sporting goods. A.G. Spalding was the Cubs’ first manager (1876-77) and owner of the sporting goods company. His baseballs were used by the National League from the mid-1870s until 1977. Plus, Spalding ’s office was at 108 W. Madison in Chicago. The movies Taking Care of Business and Back to the Future,
Part II, both of which feature the Cubs winning the World Series, are each 108 minutes long.
The Ricketts family, the Cubs’ owners, made its fortune through TD Ameritrade, a finance company with headquarters located in Omaha at 108th Avenue.
DePorter said his research started in about 1987 when he was looking for old newspapers for the Harry Caray restaurants. He found a collection that included every paper from the five major Chicago dailies in 1908, according to DePorter, who said he set out to crack the code of the Cubs’ World Series drought.
One of the discoveries, he said, involved a curse put on the Cubs by the team’s then-owner, Charles Murphy. Cubs players refused to let Murphy join them at a celebratory dinner after they won the 1908 World Series and Murphy was forced out after the 1913 season, according to DePorter, who said Murphy and the number 13 are prominent in the Cubs’ World Series drought. He cited these examples:
In 1945, William Sianis and his infamous billy goat, named Murphy, that were denied entry into Wrigley Field are pictured standing next to turnstile No. 13.
In 1984, the Cubs were one victory away from reaching the World Series after winning the first two games of the National League Championship Series against the San Diego Padres. The best-of-five series then shifted to San Diego, where the Cubs lost three in a row — at Jack Murphy Stadium.
In 2015, the Cubs got swept in the NLCS by the Mets, whose second baseman homered in each of the four games. His name: Daniel Murphy.
DePorter collected the research in a book called Hoodoo, which was published in 2008 and focused largely on the power of 8. But after the Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 2008 season, DePorter said, he continued his research and uncovered the significance of 108, which he learned carries significance in astronomy, spirituality and religion.
Numerologist Hans Decoz looked at DePorter’s research and noted something else.
“The number 108 adds to 9, which has to do with completion,” Decoz said by email. “It is the number of finality — it’s over and done. It is also a global number — meaning it has a far reach. It’s a number that represents one for all and all for one. It is therefore one of the best numbers for any group endeavor.”
He said 1 and 8 in 108 are forceful numbers that support the 9.
“Considering that the 9 is carried by these forceful numbers is a very good omen,” he said. “I would say that taken together these numbers definitely point to a past dilemma being resolved, an obstacle overcome, a negative energy removed or neutralized.”
DePorter, who said he has been flooded by Cubs fans submitting evidence of 108 being linked to the team’s success, scarcely considers the significance of 9. Never mind the fact nine also happens to be the number of baseball players in a lineup.
“I’m sticking with 108,” he said. “I think it’s destiny at this point.”
“I think at that point a lot of people in Chicago became believers. I knew this was going to happen.” Grant DePorter, on the Cubs’ Javier Baez hitting a playoff home run Oct. 7 on the opposing pitcher’s 108th pitch of the game and the significance of the number in the team’s World Series run