When I teach meditation workshops, we often repeat chants, such as Sa Ta Na Ma (Birth, Life, Death, Rebirth) 108 times. The number is sacred in yoga philosophy and Hinduism. I wrote a blog post about the number here a few years back.
It also figures prominently in some astronomical calculations. For example, the diameter of the sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is 108 times the sun’s diameter. The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 238,800 miles, about 108 times the moon’s diameter.
Now comes the World Champion Cubs, who won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Baseball is a game of numbers so it’s not surprising that someone found this incredible cluster of 108s related to the Cubs. Thanks to Don Evon, who gathered this curious cluster.
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There are 108 stitches in a baseball, designed by the Cubs first manager and ace pitcher A.G. Spalding, whose Chicago office was originally located at 108 W. Madison Street.
• The left and right field corners at Wrigley Field — are 108 meters from home plate.
• The Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs, has located their main business — TD Ameritrade — on 108th street in Omaha, Nebraska.
• The number 108 is a sacred number in yoga. and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta does yoga 6 days a week.
• Cubs win the World Series in the 1990 J.J. Abrams film “Taking Care of Business,” which is 108 minutes long.
• Cubs win the World Series in the 1989 film “Back To The Future Part II,” which is 108 minutes long.
• On 10/8 in 1945 Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis, who placed a curse on the Cubs for not letting his goat enter Wrigley Field, sent Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley a telegram stating, “Who smells now?” after a Cubs loss.
• Wrigley Field was built on land that once housed a church and a seminary, and 108 is considered a holy number in many religions.
• The Emil Verban Society is named after a three-season player with the Cubs, whose batting average in his last season in 1950 with the team was only .108.
The last time the Cubs won a World Series game was 10/8 in 1945.
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Beyond the Cubs, beyond baseball, it could be that 108 is key to our being and our relationship to the cosmos. A quote from Manoj Chalam: “The ratio of 108 may be the key to finding planets hospitable to life outside of our solar system, just look toward this same size and distance relationship,” .
WOW! Awesome!
Interesting synchros, although Dad and I wanted Cleveland to win, as his family is from Ohio and, by longstanding tradition, are Cleveland Indians fans. I’m just glad the Indians didn’t give the game away, but fought tooth-and-nail to the very end. It really was anyone’s game in the 10th inning, and during the interim (and historically unprecedented in a World Series) rain delay, I remarked to Dad that it seemed like the universe was trying to decide which long-suffering team would win the game. Fate works in mysterious ways, and it was one hell of a great season! 🙂
Well said, Dale!