Or how about this. Do the Cubs win if Maddon pulls Chapman in the 9th with it tied. I think 99% of us would have and he stuck with him and got a 1-2-3.
Good question. Lots of guys were asked that question and as Ross said 'We'll never know'
That said, every guy said that Heyward gave some incredibly rah rah speech.
As others noted, the Cubs had Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo/Zobrist coming up so I think the timing of the lineup had more to do with it. If it happened between the 8th and 9th with the bottom of the order coming up, maybe no. Might be coincidence.
I think it really came down to David Crabapple - a 54 year old unemployed union plumber from Elmwood Park. He had his customary pre-game meal of Hamburger Helper with chocolate milk - which he did for every playoff game. If he didn't, they Cubs would have lost.
Zobrist's double was nice but I'll take some credit too
In a desperate act for game 5, I wore a shirt that my dad bought me from Wrigley Field our final time there, and the Cubs won. I wore it again in game 6 and my 8 month old neice spit up on it while I was holding her. But the Cubs won. Couldn't take any chances and I wore my puke stained shirt for game 7.
Would've been so much easier had I just used this strategy in game 1
Cubs have found a way to win all year, in all different situations. No matter how many what ifs and other scenarios you want to put out there, the answer is still going to be Yes, they would have won, because they've been doing it all year, and the odds are always in their favor until proven otherwise.