Manfred: Cubs ‘huge piece of postseason success’

CHICAGO — Outside Bloomingdale’s on North Michigan Avenue, three flags were fluttering in a gentle breeze on Thursday afternoon.

The United States flag had one staff to itself. The other was shared by the city of Chicago’s flag and one carrying the familiar big blue W, like the one that flies atop the Wrigley Field scoreboard whenever the Cubs win.

That flag is everywhere you look in Chicago these days — pasted onto the windows of high-rise buildings or flying from the antennas of cars. The symbol itself is in broader circulation, adorning baseball caps or the knit stocking caps that will be worn through the winter.

It’s not clear when the celebration of the Cubs’ World Series victory will end, but it’s safe to say it’s not happening any time soon.

Major League Baseball’s owners were treated to a first-hand experience of the city’s giddiness during their quarterly business meetings at the Drake Hotel, which ended on Thursday.

In another era, this gathering could have been filled with anxiety and crisis planning, as baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1. But there have been no signs that the labor peace that was instilled under Bud Selig more than two decades ago won’t continue in the first negotiation since Rob Manfred moved from chief labor officer to Commissioner.

These days, the sport has too much going for it, including a championship team 108 years in the makings.

The Cubs’ crazy ride through the postseason began with a ninth-inning rally in San Francisco to avoid playing a deciding game against the Giants, who had won their past 11 postseason rounds, including three World Series. Then Chicago roared back from consecutive losses to beat Los Angeles in a six-game National League Championship Series and from a 3-1 deficit to beat Cleveland in the World …

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