The Cubs at Wrigley 100 Years
Part III: The Games
Obviously when a team has been
around since the 19th Century and has played 100 years in one ball
park, there will be a slew of memorable games. For the third part of our Cubs
at Wrigley series, we will look at five memorable games of the past 40 years.
These aren’t necessarily the biggest wins, or the most exciting games but
rather five games that any Cubs’ fan who witnessed them will always remember.
Enjoy.
May 17, 1979
Cubs vs Philadelphia Phillies
“Slugfest at Wrigley”
This was a wild and wacky affair
(love that term) in which the Phillies defeated the Cubs by a score of 23-22.
This game was featured back in May on one of my “This Day In Baseball History”
posts which you can read here.
Briefly, this was a game whose
score would be more reminiscent of a Bear/Eagles games. The teams combined for
45 runs, 50 hits and used a total of 11 pitchers. The Cubs rallied from behind
to tie the score at 22 in the eighth inning, only for the Phils to re-take the
lead in the top of the tenth on a Mike Schmidt solo home run.
This game can be seen in its
entire on YouTube by clicking here.
October 2, 1984
Cubs vs San Diego Padres
NLCS Game 1
The Cubs were in the postseason
for the first time since 1948, having won their first National League East
title since divisional play started in 1969. Their opponent from the West
Division was the San Diego Padres led by Steve Garvey, Graig Nettles and Tony
Gwynn.
Rick Sutcliffe started on the
hill for the Cubs while the Padres countered with Eric Show. The Cubs wasted no
time giving the Chicago fans something to cheer about when they struck for two
in the bottom of the first on home runs by leadoff man Bob Dernier, and Gary
Matthews. Three more runs would follow in the third, the first on a solo home
run by Sutcliffe. An RBI single by Leon Durham and a sac fly by Keith Moreland
would bring in the other scores.
But it was a six-run fifth that
put the game out of reach, hi-lighted by Matthews’ second homer of the game,
this time a three-run shot. An RBI single by Jody Davis, a run-scoring ground
out by Larry Bowa and an RBI single by Ryne Sandberg would make the score 11-0.
Two more runs would score in the
sixth to make the final score 13-0. Sutcliffe pitched seven shut out innings
for the victory while also picking up a single to go with his home run.
May 6, 1998
Cubs vs Houston Astros
Kerry K’s 20
There was a time (very briefly)
that Kerry Wood looked like he was going to be a dominant pitcher for years to
come. Unfortunately, injuries would slow down his career significantly and he
never lived up to the hype. But for one day at Wrigley, he was the best pitcher
in the world as he tied Roger Clemens’ MLB record for most strike outs in a
game with 20.
Wood struck out the first five
batters he faced, and only surrendered one hit all game to the Astros hitters,
that being of the infield variety in the top of the third to Ricky Gutierrez.
For the game, Wood pitched all nine innings and didn’t walk a batter as the
Cubs won the game by a 2-0 score.
September 13, 1998
Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers
Slammin’ Sammy passes Maris
This was an amazing comeback by
the Cubs in their pursuit of a postseason berth, that also featured two home
runs by Cubs’ right fielder Sammy Sosa in his chase of the single-season home
run record. While Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals had already broken
Roger Maris’ record a few days earlier, Sosa still had a chance to catch Big
Mac. He entered the game with 60 home runs, one behind Maris.
After falling behind 2-0, the
Cubs exploded for six runs in the third inning. After Milwaukee scored another run
in the fourth, Sosa stepped to the plate with a runner on in the fifth and
blasted a pitch from Brewer reliever Bronswell Patrick over the ivy in left for
a two-run shot, tying Maris and giving the Cubs a 10-3 lead.
Unfortunately, the Chicago
pitchers were having an off-day and the Brewers were able to plate a run in the
sixth, one in the seventh, four in the eighth and another one in the ninth to
head to the bottom of the ninth with a 10-8 lead.
With one out, Sosa faced Brewer
pitcher Eric Plunk and deposited the fourth pitch of the at-bat over the wall
in left, passing Maris and closing the gap to Milwaukee to one. The game would
be tied two batters later when Gary Gaetti singled in Jason Maxwell. Off to
extra innings.
In the bottom of the tenth, with
two out and Sosa in the on-deck circle, Cubs’ first baseman Mark Grace would
end the game with a home run of his own, giving Chicago a much-needed walk-off
victory and a one-game lead in the Wild Card chase.
October 13, 2015
Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals
NLDS Game 4
Since they won the World Series
in 1908, the Cubs had played in only 14 postseason series. Of those 14, they
had only won one and they won the clinching game on the road. That means
Wrigley Field had never seen its home team clinch a postseason series. Until
2015. The Cubs entered the game with a two games to one lead and had Jason
Hammel on the mound against John Lackey of the Cards.
St. Louis jumped on Hammel for
two runs in the first but the Cubs quickly came back with four of their own in
the second, thanks to Hammel’s RBI single and a three-run home run off the bat
of substitute shortstop Javier Baez.
But the Cards would fight back
and eventually tie the score in the sixth. The tie wouldn’t last long because
in the bottom of the inning, first baseman Anthony Rizzo would blast a solo
shot to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Third baseman Kyle Schwarber would hit
another solo homer in the seventh to up the lead to 6-4 and the Cards never
dented the plate again.
The Cubs had finally clinched a
postseason series at Wrigley.
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