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Keith Law, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Key factors to watch in World Series: Can Cubs lay off Miller's slider?

If you like your postseason series with a heavy dose of narrative, well, this is the championship match for you. The Chicago Cubs haven't won a World Series in a while. Neither have the Cleveland Indians. You might have heard these things.

But you also have the old Red Sox brain trust running the Cubs, and the manager who won two rings with Boston under that brain trust manning the other dugout. Both managers are brilliant and have shown a willingness to dispense with traditional relief roles when doing so increases their chances of winning a game. Both closers came in trades from the Yankees midseason. The Cubs' closer was accused of domestic violence in the offseason and served a month-long MLB suspension for it, but will anyone remember if he records the last out of the team's first championship in more than a century?

Here are some factors that could be major variables in determining which team ends its lengthy championship drought:

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