The Cubs go home for the winter with a bad taste in their mouths for the 108th time in the last 109 years.
But such is the nature of professional sports, where only one team and its fanbase gets to experience euphoria on the final day of the season.
The Cubs didn't play as well as they would've liked in the 2017 postseason, something they readily admit.
But the numbers behind the October run are pretty astounding.
Here are some of the most eye-popping stats from this fall, courtesy of NBC Sports Chicago stat guru Chris Kamka:
—The Cubs had the second-lowest batting average (.156) of any team in a best-of-7 League Championship Series.
The only team lower is the Houston Astros through five games, hitting .147 entering play Friday night against the New York Yankees.
MLB
The next lowest batting averages in a best-of-7 LCS:
.157 - 2012 Yankees
.164 - 2015 Cubs
.168 - 2016 Indians
—The Cubs also had the lowest batting average in a single postseason in baseball history among teams who have played at least eight postseason games.
And it's not a particularly close margin:
.168 - 2017 Cubs
.188 - 2012 Yankees
.198 - 1974 A's (won World Series with no LDS)
.204 - 2015 Cubs
.207 - 1973 A's (won World Series with no LDS)
—2017 was an interesting year when it came to home runs for the Cubs.
In the regular season, the Cubs were 77-37 (.675 winning percentage) when hitting at least one homer and just 15-33 (.313 winning percentage) when not homering.
But in the postseason, that script was completely flipped.
The Cubs were only 1-5 (.167) in October when homering and 3-1 when going homerless.
—The offensive issues go far beyond just homers for the Cubs.
They scored nine runs in that epic Game 5 of the NLDS but scored just eight runs as a whole in the NLCS.
What's even crazier — all nine runs in Game 5 came without benefit of a homer. Every NLCS run the Cubs plated was off a longball as they went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
And then there's this:
—The difference in offensive execution in the NLCS can be summed up just by looking at the strikeout-to-walk ratio of each team.
The Cubs struck out 53 times in the five games compared to only five walks.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, struck out just 41 times with a whopping 28 walks.
—A huge reason for the Cubs' downfall was the disappearance of Bryzzo in the NLCS.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo combined for a .135/.179/.216 slash line with one walk and one hit by pitch. Their only run and RBI combined came on Bryant's homer in Game 5 Thursday when the Cubs were already down 9-0.
—Here's how each spot in the Cubs order fared in the postseason:
1. 4-for-36 (.111 AVG)
2. 7-for-38 (.184)
3. 7-for-38 (.184)
4. 5-for-33 (.152)
5. 10-for-37 (.270)
6. 7-for-33 (.212)
7. 5-for-30 (.167)
8. 0-for-31 (.000)
9. 6-for-28 (.214)
Total: 51-for-304 (.168)
—In the Cubs' defense, they were going up against an elite starting staff led by Clayton Kershaw (whom they faced twice) and a bullpen that ranks among the best in baseball history.
The Dodgers had the second-best bullpen WHIP in an LCS in baseball history, coming in at 0.294 in 17 innings pitched.
The only team better? The 2005 White Sox bullpen, though they only had to get two outs in that ALCS.
The 2016 Blue Jays bullpen came close, posting a 0.553 WHIP in 12.2 innings against the Indians last fall.