More than a century of lament died for the Chicago Cubs on a ground ball. Given the moment, it was an anticlimactic ending.

After a 108-year narrative that cast them as perennial losers, they took this one with an 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians that took 10 innings and one monumental collapse before it was over. History will say the Cubs hero is Ben Zobrist, best known as a utility player, who hit the 10th-inning double that ended generations of heartbreak.

In the stands, thousands of Cubs fans hugged and wept and waved white flags with the team’s iconic blue “W” signifying a victory. And yet as they celebrated their team’s monumental comeback from 3-1 down in this series, they had the unsettling task of doing so in front of the Indians fans who have endured their own drought – their last World Series title was back in 1948. They also had to know just how close their Cubs had come to writing yet another painful chapter in an inglorious history.

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They won this title after Aroldis Chapman, the relief pitcher brought in at midseason to make sure this truly would be “The Year”, gave up a game-tying home run to Cleveland’s Rajai Davis just four outs from the title. Perhaps that made the victory even more satisfying. The franchise that has failed so many times, living a silly curse named for a billy goat, whose enduring image had been the fan who supposedly cost them a trip to the World Series in 2003, won even after their most reliable pitcher had failed.

“Do you believe in miracles?” read one fan’s sign after the game. Later, in the clubhouse, as champagne flew around him, Cubs shortstop Addison Russell smiled. “This team thrives on being able to communicate with the fans and the community,” he said. “I’m just glad that today is the day.”

The elusive championship was far from easy. For much of the night the Cubs controlled the game. Their first batter, Dexter Fowler, hit a home run just four pitches into the game and they built up a 5-1 lead through the first five innings.

But they couldn’t hold it. All night, Cubs manager Joe Maddon had tried to maneuver his pitchers through more outs than they could probably give. He got four strong innings from starter Kyle Hendricks but went to his most dependable postseason pitcher Jon Lester with two outs in the fifth, despite the fact Lester had started and won Game 5 just three days before. At first it looked like a dreadful decision. Lester, unaccustomed to coming into the middle innings of games, threw a wild pitch with runners on second and third. The ball bounded so far away both runners scored, making the score 5-3.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Andrew Miller reacts after giving up a home run to David Ross during the sixth inning. Photograph: Matt Slocum/AP

But then Lester got through the sixth and the seventh and even managed two outs in the eighth before Jose Ramirez hit a single and Maddon called for his closer, Chapman. The moment was too much for Chapman who had thrown 2 2/3 innings on Sunday and another 1 1/3 innings on Tuesday. His fastball, nearly always over 100mph, was in the high 90s and that little difference made him easier to hit.

As the crowd mocked him with a sing-song “Chaaaapmannnnn,” he gave up a double to Brandon Guyer to score Ramirez making the score 6-4, bringing up Davis who fouled off four times before getting one last fastball over the plate.

When Davis sent that pitch high toward the left field corner the roar inside this stadium was incredible. Indians fans bellowed into the night, throwing shirts and hats and empty bottles into the air. Fireworks exploded behind the center field stands. The Indians, left for dead, had found a miraculous life.

Suddenly this was a new game. The crowd was alive. The roar continued into the ninth. Then came the rain.

The first shower was small, a short burst that didn’t delay the game, but a bigger squall arrived at the end of the ninth. It sent the groundskeepers running onto the field.

The Cubs called a players-only meeting in a gym next to their clubhouse. The purpose was to support Chapman, but also to rally the players after they had lost a lead that had once seemed insurmountable. Pitcher Jake Arrieta spoke passionately as did others. At times it was emotional. Several players cried.

“Grown men talking about stuff doesn’t happen,” Russell said. “And for it to happen in the World Series...”

He shook his head.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A fan react after the Cubs won Game 7. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Pitcher Mike Montgomery, who would get the final out for the Cubs and place himself in history, missed the meeting. He had been in the bullpen and the clubhouse was a long walk for him. But when he finally arrived in the room he was startled to see the players shouting and screaming: “We got this!”

“I thought everyone would be all down,” Montgomery said.

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When the 10th inning began 17 minutes later, the Cubs were unstoppable. They scored two runs on three hits, the biggest being Zobrist’s go-ahead double. The Cubs fans who waited an extra 90 minutes to celebrate a title they were on the verge of winning in the eighth howled with joy. Cleveland scored a final run but couldn’t muster any more. The little grounder, picked up by Bryant, was the Indians’ final gasp.

The Cubs celebrated hard, jumping around on the field and then whooping in the clubhouse. More than an hour after the game’s end, some 3,000 Chicago fans remained in the stands as several of the players and team executives came out onto the field to wave to them. A steady rain had developing, pummeling the grass and turning the basepaths into mud. The Cubs danced in the dirt. They didn’t care. This kind of thing only happens once every 108 years

Outside the streets were silent. A clock above the left-field stands said it was 2.15am and the calendar of Indians’ misery had just turned from 68 years to 69.

• This article was amended on 4 November 2016. An earlier version said that the Cleveland Indians’ last appearance in the World Series was in 1948. That was the last time they won the championship.

