Dexter Fowler no longer has unfinished business with Cubs

Dexter Fowler did what he set out to do.

In the press conference after he made his surprise return to the Cubs in spring training, Fowler said he came back because he had unfinished business to tend to.

If Cubs fans had a bad taste in their mouths after the way the 2015 season ended at the hands of the New York Mets power pitching, just imagine what it must've felt like for Fowler and the Cubs players who believed they were destined for glory.

In the first week of spring training, the news came out that Fowler — the catalyst setting the table at the top of a relentless Cubs lineup — was signing with the Baltimore Orioles.

Even guys in the Cubs clubhouse like Anthony Rizzo were texting Fowler congratulations on the new contract.

For nearly two days, Fowler didn't answer Rizzo or any of his former teammates.

Then he walked up the path at the Cubs spring training complex alongside Theo Epstein, creating a magical moment six weeks before the Cubs even played their first regular season game.

It was the moment that made Billy Williams believe the 2016 Cubs were destined for history.

Fowler met with the media after that awesome moment, unable to stop grinning from ear to ear, and explained how he turned down a multi-year deal to sign a one-year tender (with an option for 2017) because he had more he needed to accomplish with the Cubs.

Early Thursday morning in Cleveland, that business has now been completed.

Fowler was at the forefront, becoming the first player in baseball history to lead off a winner-take-all Game 7 with a home run, taking Indians ace Corey Kluber deep to center field to put these Cubs on a path toward immortality.

"It's a blessing," Fowler said. "It's a blessing, to say the least. We're World Champions. We're World Champions. It hadn't been done since 1908. We're excited to make history."

Throughout his sessions with the media in the Cubs' champagne- and beer-soaked clubhouse at Progressive Field in the wee hours of Thursday morning, Fowler kept saying that one line over and over again — "We're World Champions."

It was as if it hadn't yet set in for him.

Hell, it hadn't set in yet for reporters, either.

Before he disappeared back into the foray of celebration, Fowler had to drop the line just one more time.

"I don't know [what's next]," he said. "I'm gonna take this. I'm gonna sit down and take a deep breath and realize that we are the 2016 World Champions."