In 1945, the Chicago Cubs had a bust-out year in which they racked up the best record in baseball with a stalwart .636 winning percentage and were heavily favored in the World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

These were strange years for baseball and would remain so until the following campaign when the sport’s wartime servicemen — with the likes of Ted Williams and Stan Musial among them — made their way home to retake their places in a boy’s game most famously played by men.

With the start of the baseball playoffs, I’ve had occasion to think about this Cubs team of late. The latest edition of the North Side squad has left seemingly little in doubt since the spring. They looked like a team that was bound for October, where legit damage could be done. Would the glorious fires of 2016 b

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