CHICAGO -- Invited to a party where they were supposed to be consumed whole, the Los Angeles Dodgers nearly put together an uprising to spoil the festivities. As it turned out, their resistance only added to the excitement for their hosts this week.

The Chicago Cubs held a party 108 years in the making, raising a championship banner for the first time in over a century. Wrigley Field is 102 years old, so it had never played host to a celebration like the one held here Monday night.

The Dodgers’ role? Somebody had to play the foil, and the schedule makers chose a not-so-random matchup between the Cubs and Dodgers, a rematch of last season’s National League Championship Series.

“Last year they were the best team, they were the best team from start to finish, so this is a part of the process,” manager Dave Roberts said. “[It’s] closure for them, and for us to be here, I don’t think it motivates or there is any kind of disdain -- it’s just all part of it. And after that, we’re here to win a baseball game.”

Asked if being at the ceremony was closure for the Dodgers as well, Roberts sounded as if the club had already moved on from its season-ending loss in Game 6 of the NLCS.

“We’re focused on this season,” Roberts said. “It was a great season. It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but for us, yeah, there’s closure.”

The Dodgers could have conceded their role in Monday’s proceedings, but instead they fought gamely until the end. They had a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the seventh inning but failed to score, and pushed across the tying run in the eighth on an error.

The Cubs then ended a marathon evening of well over five hours in a fashion befitting their curse-busting ways. In the ninth inning, Anthony Rizzo, the longest-tenured member of the Cubs, poked a game-winning single to the opposite field against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, and the Cubs celebrated anew.

A rain delay at the outset ended up creating some awkward moments. Some Dodgers noted that the Cubs filled the time by showing an abbreviated version of that NLCS Game 6 on the stadium's video screen. And while it wasn’t exactly like inviting an ex to your wedding, there was a bit of “Look what you’re missing out on” thrown into the fray.

Plus, the live feed of "Dancing with the Stars" was piped into the stadium to fill the last remnants of the delay. Fans roared and Cubs players cheered as former backup catcher David Ross strutted and swayed to the music with his Viennese waltz.

“There was [a lot to take in], but that is something you have to move past and be ready for, and you still have to come out and play,” Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager said.

The Dodgers know the simple answer to avoiding it next time is to win their own NL crown and World Series. Then they can take back the remote control.

“You have to treat it like a playoff atmosphere,” Jansen said shortly after his high cutter was flipped down the left-field line by Rizzo. “You play here to make it back again to the playoffs. Even if it’s Game 8 of the season, you’re still going to try and go out there and win every game you can.”

By the time October rolls around, both of these clubs will likely have a different feel about them. But the current series will be a measuring stick for now, and if the first game is any indication, the Cubs and Dodgers look closely matched again.

“I think every team is good,” Roberts said. “There are a lot of good teams out there. I think you can look in the National League, and there are a lot of good teams. But this is a [Cubs] team that brought their core, their nucleus, back, outside of a few players. So right now they are the reigning champions.”

Outside of the game, the Dodgers made sure to not make the Cubs’ celebration about them. They toed the chalk in pregame ceremonies and listened to Cubs outfielder Ben Zobrist’s wife, Julianna, sing “God Bless America.” Some Dodgers even watched from the dugout as the Cubs ran four flags up the new flagpoles.

Even former Cubs star Rick Monday, now an announcer for the Dodgers, backed into the shadows. Some Cubs players said they won last year’s title for everybody who ever put on the team’s uniform, but his move suggested they didn’t have to be so generous.

“It doesn’t fulfill anything for me; I was here for five years,” Monday said. “This is their celebration. They earned it. It is their celebration. Now go forward with it.”

He then raised his own fist, knuckles pointing out.

“No, I wear this every day, the ring from [the Dodgers’ championship in] '81, because it reminds me of my teammates, the coaches, the front office and the fans,” Monday said.

Some 36 years later, the ring looks small compared to the one encrusted with 108 diamonds that the Cubs' players will receive Wednesday. It will be another celebration for the Dodgers to endure, but by now, they know the routine.

“I’ve always said, if you’re going to be in a city when it wins a championship, it would be Chicago, if you can get there,” Monday said. “They happened to get there, and this place went nuts.”