CHICAGO -- Kris Bryant says he gets chills every time the fans at Wrigley Field shower him with MVP! chants.The 24-year-old just doesnt show it -- a common trait among his young teammates. If anything can overwhelm these kid Cubbies, they havent faced it yet.Bryant was one of five players 24 or younger in the starting lineup for the Cubs during Game 6 of the NL Championship Series, and that group is showing maturity beyond its years. Keep this up, and they could give Chicago a party generations in the making.Bryant has already established himself as one of the games top power hitters. Javier Baez (23 years old) made one spectacular play after another in the infield while winning NLCS co-MVP. Addison Russell (22) is an All-Star shortstop with power and Gold Glove aspirations. Catcher Willson Contreras (24) and outfielder Albert Almora Jr. (22) are rookies getting at-bats with a heavy World Series favorite.And so the Cubs are seeking their first championship since 1908 fueled by players too young to remember the first time a Clinton vied for the U.S. presidency.Chicago beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS for its first pennant since 1945, and now faces the Cleveland Indians in the World Series with a chance to end the sports longest title drought.If Chicagos youngsters feel any jitters before Game 1 on Tuesday night in Cleveland, dont expect to see them.Our young players are playing like theyre 32-year-old veterans, 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta said. Its just fun to watch. I get to play one out of every five days, but to really see the way our guys go about taking care of business makes me really appreciate the guys Im able to play with.Bryant and the other burgeoning Cubs helped Chicago lead the majors with 103 wins in the regular season, and its been more of the same in October. After pulling out 14 victories in their final at-bat during the regular season, the Cubs did it twice against San Francisco in the NL Division Series, then rallied from a 2-1 series deficit to beat the Dodgers.Veterans like Jon Lester have done their part, but the younger players have had plenty of pivotal moments, too.None more so than Baez, a breakout star this postseason with his lightning-quick tags and preternatural decision making in the field.He shared NLCS MVP honors with Lester after leading the Cubs to their 17th pennant and is batting .342 this postseason. He hit a winning homer off Johnny Cueto in Game 1 of the NLDS against San Francisco, then had a go-ahead single in the series-clinching victory in Game 4. He had four doubles and five RBI in the NLCS, too.Baezs biggest moments, though, mostly came outside the batters box. He stole home during Chicagos win in Game 1 of the NLCS, turned a heads-up double play by letting a soft liner bounce in front of him with two on in Game 2, and made a fantastic barehanded scoop to rob Adrian Gonzalez of a hit in Game 5.Baez is doing all that after emerging as a super utility player for manager Joe Maddon this season. Baez cut down on his swing and hit .273 with 14 homers and 59 RBI in 142 games, and as important, he embraced a role shuffling between positions.This guy never faltered, Lester said. He accepted his role as being a bench player and kind of a platoon guy. Thats hard to do at 20 or whatever he is.Bryant is on the short list of NL MVP candidates after joining Rogers Hornsby (1929), Hack Wilson (1930) and Derrek Lee (2005) as the only players with the franchise to get at least 120 runs, 35 doubles, 39 homers and 100 RBI. Hes 13 for 39 with a homer and six RBI in the postseason.Russell is only starting to make an impact in October, busting a 1-for-24 slump by going 6 for 13 with two homers in the final three games of the NLCS. Contreras, meanwhile, hit his first career playoff homer against Clayton Kershaw in the series clincher.You should not change what youre doing regardless of the time of the year, Maddon said after Game 6. You want to come out in the middle of October and play the same game weve been playing all summer.The youngsters have given the Cubs a lot of good games so far. Four more, and as Maddon said, We can really have a party. Custom George Foster Jersey . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Custom Reds T-shirts . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. http://www.customredsjersey.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Joe Morgan Jersey Large .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Custom Ken Griffey Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Georgia Tech backup quarterback Matthew Jordan rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 30-20 upset of No. 18 Virginia Tech on Saturday.Jordan, who made his first career start in place of an injured Justin Thomas, helped make the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 3-4 ACC) bowl eligible. He repeatedly gashed the Hokies defense, carrying the ball 32 times and scoring on runs of 53 and 3 yards.Marcus Marshall added 143 yards rushing and a score for the Yellow Jackets, who rushed for 309 yards.Virginia Tech (7-3, 5-2, No. 14 CFP), which was looking to clinch the ACCs Coastal Division crown, played its worst game of the season. The Hokies turned the ball over four times, botched a short field-goal attempt, and had a terrible snap right before halftime that ultimately led to Jordans 3-yard touchdown run. That score gave them a 20-0 halftime lead.The Hokies Jerod Evans threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores -- the latter two coming with tthe game already decided.ddddddddddddHE TAKEAWAYGeorgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets defense gave up 636 yards of offense in a 48-20 loss at North Carolina a week ago, but the group held Virginia Tech to 437 yards and sacked Evans five times.Virginia Tech: The Hokies need to find their groove on offense. They only mustered a field goal in the second half against Duke a week ago and didnt score in the first half against Georgia Tech. The Hokies had 182 of their yards on their final two drives when trailing 30-7.UP NEXTGeorgia Tech: Returns home for the final home game of the season and takes on Virginia, the last-place team in the ACCs Coastal Division.Virginia Tech: Travels to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame in the first meeting between the two programs.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '
