I've posted a few Cubs related blogs over the past half a year, but today is a special day. Today is the day the Cubs became the champions of the 2008 National League Central Division!
Let me explain to you all what this means to me, from a die-hard fan's perspective. I've seen (excluding today) three clinchers over the past twelve years. You always walk in with high expectations and two out of those three times we've been sorely disappointed (with the sole exception being 2003). That being said, this year is a lot different, for several reasons. We haven't won 93 games since 1989, and we still have nine more games to play. Realistically, we could pass the 1984 team's number of victories which was 96, and we haven't had more than 96 wins in a season since 1945.
This team is definitely special, but will that hold any water in the playoffs? Well, that's yet to be determined. It doesn't matter if we win 162 games this season, once you hit October baseball, it's a whole new season, in a sense. Everything changes, match-ups from the previous season don't seem to matter much anymore, and it's a wild rat race for the trophy in the end. Lord knows it isn't an easy one, either.
As I've stated, this is my fourth clincher in my lifetime, and the three prior ones ended in sore disappointment. But in fairness, allow me to reflect on the good times, when the clinch actually occurred, before we could eventually be let down in the October atmosphere. Whenever the Cubs could clinch in front of 40,000 faithful fans at Wrigley Field and in front of the eyes of millions of others, it's a special moment, one which right now, sorely deserves reflection.
Most people in my age group aren't going to remember 1998, but it was actually the first season I remember tremendously vividly (been a fan since '96, you do the math). Sammy Sosa in The Great Home Run Race against Mark McGwire, rookie Kerry Wood stunning the world with thirteen victories, nearly 11 strikeouts per start, and a magical 20 strikeout performance that May, and the little guys around them, like Hernandez, Morandini, Gaetti, Tapani, and co. getting the job done on a regular basis. It was a magical season indeed, one of my personal favorites to date.
So we take you to September 28, 1998. The Cubs were in the Wild Card hunt for a very long time, in a race with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Well, the Mets got knocked out that Saturday, and the Cubs and Giants lost on the final game that Sunday. So after a road trip from Houston's atrocious Astrodome, the Cubs hiked up to Wrigley for a night game that following Monday, winning the coin toss against the Giants of San Fran.
The Cubs and their faithful hadn't seen postseason baseball since 1989 against, ironically, the very same Giants. They didn't seem up to the task though. Henry Rodriguez was humorously showered with "O Henry!" candy bars in left field, which took the grounds crew over fifteen minutes to clean up before resuming play. Steve Trachsel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and Gary Gaetti hit, in my opinion, one of the most memorable home runs in Cubs history in the fifth inning giving us a 1-0 lead. Appropriately, the rare 163rd game of the season ended with astounding closer Rod Beck to get a pop-up to Cub legend Mark Grace at first base, and what do ya know? The Cubs were headed to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
Playoff Recap: The Cubs face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves, who won an incredible 106 games that season compared to our silly 90 wins. Well, that match-up really didn't disappoint baseball fans, as we were swept mercilously in three games, being outscored 15-4. Jim Riggleman didn't know how on earth to set up a postseason rotation or lineup because, well...he was an idiot. Not a proud series for Cub fans, though we did get nice pitching performances from Terry Mulholland and Kerry Wood.
After five dreadful years (excluding the impressive 2001 season, going a horrendous 199-287), we had a breath of fresh air. Dusty Baker, who originally took the Giants that previous season to the World Series, had been hired as the manager of the Cubs. 2003 was a great season, only stand-out performer being Mark Prior winning 18 games. Outside of him, it was a team effort. Guys like Karros, Grudzielanek, Ramirez, Alou, Lofton, Sosa, Wood, Zambrano, Clement, Guthrie, and Borowski held this team on their shoulders and took this team to their first division title since 1989 (note-Wild Cards do not constitute division titles).
Fast forward to September 27. 2003, just one day from marking five years since the Cubs clinched a playoff berth. The game on Friday the 26th got rained out, so the Cubs went into Saturday the 27th facing a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, in very chilly fall conditions at Wrigley Field. The team's magic number was two, and a loss by the Houston Astros that day would make it one, and the fans were absolutely pumped for this game.
Mark Prior was set to go looking for win number 18 in the first game. The Houston / Milwaukee Brewer game was going on at the same time, and I'll tell you, it was absolute insanity when Milwaukee scored four runs in an inning once the scoreboard workers changed it. Never in your life would you hear that park that loud for something seemingly so minimal. The Cubs won the first game 4-2, thanks to a homer by catcher Damian Miller which really helped out the offense. The second game was dark, storm clouds passing in and out, with Matt Clement facing the task of taking his team to the postseason (and looking for his 14th win). The game started off well, with Sosa hitting a first inning homer off Ryan Vogelsong and the team scoring five more runs in the second. The ninth came with the Cubs ahead, and Jose Hernandez from the 1998 team (now with Pittsburgh) grounded into a 6-4-3 double play ending the game in the very cloudy early evening of Wrigley Field. The mob scene in the streets, on the field, and in the stands was absolutely astounding, and seeing the team so happy after such a grueling season was truly magical.
Playoff Recap: The Cubs, with 88 wins, were set to rematch against the Atlanta Braves, this time with 101 wins. The Cubs surprisingly took the series to all five games, and eventually clinched a spot in the second round against the Florida Marlins in the final game. The second round had an outstanding start, we went up 3-1 before losing three more games (going all seven that round) and eventually losing our World Series spot. And Game 6's clusterfuck wasn't Steve Bartman's fault. If Alex Gonzalez were any kind of a player he wouldn't have muffed up the double play and we'd have just been three outs away from our first World Series since 1945.
Three more dreadful seasons followed. 2004 we actually won more games (89, not drastic) but didn't make the playoffs because of petty clubhouse nonsense. 2005 had high expectations but we ended up four games under .500. 2006, well, don't get me started. But 2007 marked change. We hired one of my favorite managers of all-time, Lou Piniella, to take this team to a better direction. We signed Ted Lilly, Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa, among others, and really seemed like a possible contender.
So we have a miserable start to the season, including a dugout fight between Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano, but Lou Piniella's tantrum the day after with an umpire sparked inspiration into the team. We had an incredible month of June and a pretty good July, and by August we propelled to first place, after being in second by eight games at one point in the season. It was a fun ride to success, I must say.
So enter September 28, 2007. We got off a miserable sweep against the Marlins and went into Cincinnati with a very small lead in first place. The game started with a lead-off homer by Alfonso Soriano, followed by five more runs later in the game to win 6-0, but that wasn't the clincher yet. The Brewers still had a game in progress against the San Diego Padres, who were hungry for a playoff berth of their own. With the Cubs waiting in the Reds clubhouse, the Padres shut the Brewers out, and the Cubs were NL Central champs once again. Though based on a somewhat rocky season, postseason expectations couldn't be too high, at least for myself. So yes, the celebration was exciting, but quiet. We still had a long way to go.
Postseason Recap: The Cubs with only 87 wins faced off with the Arizona Diamondbacks who won 90. The series were basically shades of '98, just bad baseball, weak offense, subpar pitching. We weren't prepared, and while we weren't mis-matched against a team with 106 wins, it was still pretty disasterous.
Much like in 2004, there were high expectations for a follow-up. The cold winters of the offseason were unbearable for Cubs fans, including myself. The Cubs Convention filled the void for the twenty days before pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training. Lou Piniella and the players continued to state that there was "unfinished business" to take care of, and fans bought it.
And boy, they should be glad they did. The season started in April with the Cubs posting an outrageous record of 18-9. For much of the season, we were the hottest team in all of baseball, eventually with the most come from behind victories in the sport, as well as the second best home record and best overall record in Major League Baseball.
So we go into September 20, 2008 with 92 wins in the books, which is incredible because we hadn't even won more than 90 games since 1989 (93). With still nine games to go, the Cubs would face the rival St. Louis Cardinals, and after a miserable loss for the Milwaukee Brewers the night before, all the Cubs needed to do was win and they would clinch the NL Central for the third time in six years, something it took them 40 years to do before 1984. All started off well, with Alfonso Soriano driving in three on a triple in the second inning, and later Mark DeRosa driving in a run on a double and Ted Lilly bringing him home on a surprise suicide squeeze. The score would be 5-0 until the sixth, when Troy Glaus of the Cardinals hit a monsterous three run blast after the Cards had already scored one run, making the score now 5-4. The game remained that way until the bottom of the ninth, enter Kerry Wood. With two outs he faced the pesty Aaron Miles, who graciously popped up to Jim Edmonds in center, resulting in the Cubs' fourth playoff berth in ten years.
The celebration at Wrigley was something special yesterday. It was different from '03, the energy level was the same, but the reason for that was different. In '03 we snuck up on Houston and were a surprise champion. This season was different, we were a monster all season long and it was inevitable that we were going to clinch after taking a seven game lead in the middle of September. The fans were celebrating the magical season that was 2008, but it was VERY subdued in the clubhouse for awhile because everyone in the ballclub knows that there's much more baseball to be played. Sure, the players ran around and sprayed Champaigne into the stands, and celebrated hard like any team should. But still, there was the awareness to not assume we've "won" anything yet. And Lou Piniella is dead on for brainwashing that mentality into the players.
So now we have a week left to play baseball and work out the playoff roster. This is the earliest a Cubs team has clinched playoff berth since 1932. So we've got a ton of time to prepare for October baseball and right now I'm feeling comfortable. Throw us against a team like Philadelphia, I won't be so comfortable, hah.
Still, look at how awful two of the three postseason recaps were. Yet I'll always maintain positive memories of the season because the clincher essentially captures the true essence of the team in one game, one celebration. Whenever a team clinches a playoff berth, it's a special moment, especially when it's the Cubs. The city of Chicago lights up, hoping that maybe this time, we'll get it right.
Hey, who knows, this may be the year. But I'll never make that assumption until we actually win it all. I was there to witness 2003 fall apart right before my eyes, and since then, I'll never, ever be stupid enough to hold up an "It's Gonna Happen" sign, because until it does happen, it hasn't. That sounds like a really stupid remark but think about it. You can't jump to that conclusion until it's over, and it's far from that right now. If you expect it, your chances of getting let down are better than of them getting fulfilled.
Still, in the words of Eddie Vedder, "Someday we'll go all the way." The hope is ALWAYS there, and I'll always be saying "Believe in AC 00 00 00" until it happens.
-Zach
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