The mere mention of the Chicago Cubs winning the 2015 World Series back in 1989's classic Back to the Future II was meant to be a joke. After all, the Cubs haven't won the Fall Classic since 1908.
However, 26 years after the joke was made in the film ... it's not so funny anymore. That's because the Cubs are playing their National League Wild-Card playoff game on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
While a loss would send the Cubbies home, continuing their championship-less futility, a win would propel them to the National League Division Series and in serious contention for a World Series title.
Seeing the possibility, the Chicago Daily Herald reached out to Bob Gale, screenwriter of Back to the Future II, who weighed in on the Cubbies.
"Whether the Cubs make it or the Cubs don't make it, the joke will still be funny," Gale said. "And if the Cubs do make it, then I'm a visionary."
Ironically, if the Cubs win, they'll face the St. Louis Cardinals in the next round of the playoffs. The Cardinals are the team that Gale grew up loving and still roots for to this day.
Back to the Future II had Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly shocked to learn that the Cubs won the 2015 World Series in news that popped up on a holomax — which Gale says was supposed to be a combination of a hologram and IMAX — in the city's streets.
"Being a baseball fan, I thought, 'OK, let's come up with one of the most unlikely scenarios we can think of,'" Gale said. "Back in the day, seeing the movie with an audience, that always got a laugh."
It wouldn't be so funny if the Cubs defeat the Pirates on Wednesday night, eliminate Gale's Cardinals and go on to win the World Series, though.
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