The Cubs have had their share of setbacks in trying to recapture their World Series form. I knew right away, my arm in spring training wasn’t where it was the previous year,” Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery said Monday. For that matter, it’s been five years since a defending World Series champion, the 2011-12 St. Louis Cardinals, even made the playoffs at all the following season. While the Cubs’ 2016 season, in hindsight, looks like one long, magical march to 103 regular-season wins and the cathartic World Series title, it was not always so. The 2000 Yankees – the last team to successfully defend a World Series title – backed into the playoffs with 13 losses in their final 15 games, then found their way again in October.

Source: Washington Post June 27, 2017 14:26 UTC