CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs — in the final years of the 105-year rebuilding plan the franchise set in action after losing the 1910 World Series — are starting to reap the benefits of their patience.

By winning the National League wildcard game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and knocking off the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS, the Cubs are nearing their first World Series championship since 1908 — a title that team management didn’t target until 2015 at the earliest after dismantling the Series-losing squad of 1910 in favor of a ten-decade rebuilding plan.

“Honestly, any success we have in the postseason this year is a bonus,” sadi team president Theo Epstein. “At this point in our rebuilding plan we just want to show improvement from year to year. We really don’t want to get ahead of the program.”

The organization is right on track for being a serious contender in baseball for years to come, just as the rebuilding plan that has been kept under lock and key in Cubs offices since it was drawn up in 1910 designed.

“By this time in the process we wanted to be a competitive team, an above .500 team, with designs on putting it all together for a series title run in 2018 for the 110-year anniversary of our last championship club,” said Epstein. “What we’re doing right now shows we’re actually a bit ahead of schedule. I hope we don’t mess up the plan.”

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During the Cubs rebuilding, the New York Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, the Cardinals 11, the Giants seven and the Dodgers six. Even the Red Sox have won seven and the White Sox two.

“Those teams have never had to start from square one as we did in 1910,” said Epstein. “That’s the difference between us and them. Sure, it would have been nice to go for broke and try to win a championship here or there, but we wanted to do this right way.”

If the 105-year plan pans out, the Cubs expect it to be a model for all future rebuilding plans by struggling baseball franchises.

“You can’t just hope to fix things like your minor league system or your starting rotation overnight,” said Epstein. “Stuff like that takes time. We just hope this plan pans out before 2018. If not, we’ll go back to the drawing board and look at winning another Series early in the 22nd Century.