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CLEVELAND-- It was July 4, 2014. Most of baseball had checked out as the day games were coming to a close and there weren't many scheduled for the night, given the holiday schedule.

And then it broke. The rebuilding Cubs were sending starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the first-place Athletics. The Cubs' big prize coming back?

A 20-year-old shortstop in Double-A by the name of Addison Russell.

At the big-league level, the Cubs already had All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro and one of their top prospects was a shortstop named Javier Baez (ever heard of him?). Plus, the Cubs were overall stocked with position-player talent in the minors -- and some in the majors like Anthony Rizzo. Why were they trading pitching for this kid?

It seemed obvious to many, but there were still those misguided few screaming "too many shortstops" or "who is going to pitch?" as if shortstops can't move almost anywhere else on the diamond and pitchers can't be acquired in free agency by a team with deep pockets like the Cubs. The bottom line was the Cubs had an opposing executive wanting pitching and they had the chance to grab someone they believed could be special.

After the Cubs' Game 6 win over the Indians, 9-3, do those folks still have the same questions about that trade by Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer et al?

Addison Russell was huge for the Cubs in Game 6. USATSI

C'mon.

Russell is still only 22 years old, but he's special. That much has been on display several times this postseason with the bat in key moments and throughout the postseason with the glove. He had 21 homers and 95 RBI in the regular season and is a Gold Glove finalist.

He struggled mightily with the bat through the first half of October, going 1 for 24 until he busted loose in Game 4 of the NLCS. The Cubs were trailing the Dodgers two games to one in the series and had just scored a run to take a 1-0 lead. Russell came through with a huge two-run homer for some breathing room and the Cubs never looked back. Russell hit another big homer in Game 5, too.

Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night in Cleveland had Russell's thumbprints all over it.

There was the first inning when the Cubs had a 1-0 lead with two on and no out. It feels like an inning to regret to leave two men on. Russell came through with a high liner to right-center. Yes, he gets an assist from whatever happened to Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall in right center on the miscommunication, but he had to make the hard contact to be in that position. He ended up with two RBI and a double.

Next time up, Russell wasn't going to be saddled with any asterisks or talks of WELL ACTUALLY. He clubbed a monster grand slam.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was impressed with Russell's approach.

"The key to that at-bat was to not swing at the first two pitches," he said. "That's what we've been talking about the whole time. I mean, if you get over-eager right there, you're not going to put that sinker in play, it's a ground ball to third base, inning over, none of this happens. But he was patient enough to get a pitch that he could work work and that's what we're talking about with our young hitters. As they gain more experience, they'll be able to do those kind of things."

It bears repeating that Russell is just 22 years old. Kris Bryant mentioned it multiple times as he was praising him.

"I feel like that was the hit of the night there," Bryant said of the grand slam. "Anytime you can get four runs on one swing, that was huge. He's had a lot of big home runs this postseason and that might have been the biggest."

It was. It was also historic.

This was the first grand slam in Cubs' World Series history. It was the first grand slam against the Indians in World Series history. It was the first grand slam in the World Series since Paul Konerko pulled it off in Chicago in 2005 Game 2.

Russell had only one previous grand slam in his career (in July against the White Sox in Wrigley).

His six RBI are a matter of discussion, too. His regular season career-high is four. He had only driven in three runs in 13 regular-season games in his career. In fact, he's only had 36 multi-RBI games in his career (regular season). He doubled that in an elimination game on Tuesday.

Russell also made World Series history. He tied the all-time record for RBI in a World Series game. The only players previously with six RBI in a World Series game:

  • Albert Pujols, 2011 Game 3
  • Hideki Matsui, 2009 Game 6
  • Bobby Richardson, 1960 Game 3

Russell has now joined that list.

"That's pretty cool," he said in learning of tying the record. He wasn't satisfied, though. "Tomorrow there is obviously and opportunity to break that record."

Along with the aforementioned home runs in the NLCS, Russell has seemed to have a knack for the big blow this postseason. At such a young age, he doesn't cower in the face of huge moments.

"Honestly, it's been kind of throughout the whole year, being part of the Cubs," Russell said. "You're put in the limelight and early on you're forced to deliver whenever the game's kind of on the line. So having that practice throughout the whole season and then finally here comes the big moment in the postseason, in the World Series. It's just ... I wouldn't say it's bread and butter, but you definitely learn to control those feelings. So you're able to see the ball and able to think about pitch counts and all that stuff."

He also flashed the leather in Game 6, picking a Brandon Guyer grounder up the middle to get a force at second and quiet a modest Cleveland threat.

The postseason numbers overall aren't good for Russell, but the Cubs wouldn't be even close to this point without him. Again, his defense has been spectacular and he had timely home runs in three huge wins for the Cubs.

"Just watching him, he's unbelievable, man," said Bryant. "He's 22 years old. Gold Glove, hitting homers in the World Series. He's a pretty special player."

That's what Epstein and company must have seen back in 2014. The possibility that Russell would blossom into something special. Now the Cubs are one win away from their first World Series title since 1908. The dissenters on that trade have long been quiet, but in Game 6, they were summarily embarrassed by a future superstar.