Cubby-Blue

Cubs Clinch.

It's sideways in St. Louis.
Last night, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 5-1, clinched the Central and, among other things, posed for their team photo on the mound in Busch Stadium.
I've been at Wrigley for a couple of these kinds of things, and I can tell you it's not any fun when you're one of the fans sitting there watching the other team celebrate.
Speaking of which, Joe Maddon's quote in yesterday's Trib is something to live by:


That's a good way to live, isn't it?
Michael Wacha shut the Cubs down for the first 6 innings, and I gotta say I was having a hard time sitting still.
Nerves.
But then... the glorious 7th.
Rizzo and Zobrist get back to back singles.
Nobody out and you can feel the good thing is about to happen when Addison Russell hits one barely fair but very over the fence.
Cubs 3 Cards 1 and nobody out.
Then Baez and Heyward each double, Baez scores.
Cubs 4 Cards 1 and nobody out.
Rivera walks and Pat Hughes says, "Apparently Matheny is going to leave Wacha in for another batter."
Tommy LaStella doubles in Heyward.
Cubs 5 Cards 1 and nobody out except you and me who are out of our minds.
And it turned out the 5 runs were plenty.
The other thing was.. when LaStella hit, he hit for John Lackey.
Which meant Lackey wasn't coming out for the 7th.
And he was just plain excellent in this, perhaps the last regular season start of his career which started back when Addison Russell was 8 years old, 2002.
Jon Lester gave a heartfelt and moving toast to his friend in the champagne-ey locker room celebration after.

Because the Cubs had never won a World Series in my lifetime, I NEVER realized how difficult it is to get back to the playoffs the following year.
I mean, I should have been able to look at the Blackhawks and make the mental leap.
Anyway, it turns out that it really REALLY is.
This from ESPN: "The Cubs are the first defending World Series champion to win their division the next season since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies and the first defending champion to reach the playoffs the next season since the Cardinals won the wild card in 2012."
And no Cubs team has reached the playoff 3 years in a row since our old friend 1908 (and the two preceding years).

Anyway, I'm gonna hold off on the who's gonna make the playoff roster stuff for a bit.
Today's a day to do what Joe said: C E L E B R A T E   A C H I E V E M E N T.
Realize how precious this team is and how lucky we are to be here when it's happening.
A month ago I think everyone was sort of like.. yeah, they'll probably make it to the playoffs but once they get there... everybody else is soooo good.
Today I don't think there's anybody in either league who wants to play the Cubs.
Because they're so damn good.

September 27th. The day the Cubs clinched in 2003.

Until 2015, the 2003 season (despite the weird ending) was the best year I'd ever experienced as a Cub Fan.
Yeah, '84 and '89 were amazing, but it wasn't until 2003 that I really, REALLY thought the Cubs had an actual chance.
It was so different when the Cubs got Dusty Baker.
I know all the guff he's taken since and the handling of pitchers and all that, but until Dusty came I'd never heard of any big name players saying "Hey, I'd like to be a Chicago Cub."
Which is what happened when they hired him, I just can't remember who the players were.

Anyway, 2003.
Lots of stuff happened that year and just very quickly...
If you recall, Corey Patterson was actually having a pretty good year when he got injured.
That was early July and it kinda wrecked everything.
At the All Star break the Cubs were 47-47.
But at the end of the month they traded Jose Hernandez and a couple other guys for Kenny Lofton and this guy Aramiz Ramirez, and the team got better.
So much better that they went 41-27 in the second half and made a kind of famous (or infamous, however you wanna think of it) playoff run.

Started when they clinched.
14 years ago today, during a double header vs the Pirates, and I was there.
With my kids.
7 year old Wyatt and 8 year old Emily.

What happened was my wife was out of town visiting with her sister, and I'd gotten the DDB seats for Saturday's game from our creative boss boss (and HUGE Cub fan), Bob Scarpelli.
But that was earlier in the week, and nobody knew there'd be a rainout on Friday that would set up the double header AND the possibility of The Clinch.
Jerk side of me suddenly had second thoughts about taking the kids, but luckily Dad side won.

I had a long talk with the kids.
Seriously, I couldn't expect them to sit through a double header.
We agreed that we'd get there in the middle of game one and leave after the stretch in game two, and I got the 4th ticket to my buddy Sutter.
I really did have this speech with the kids:

At the beginning of the day, the Cubs were in first with an 86-73 record, but the Astros were right behind at 86-74.
Because we arrived late for the first game, I couldn't park where I normally did and we ended up parking on Clark next to the Salt and Pepper.
The Cubs beat the Pirates 4-2 in game 1.
Duh, Mark Prior was on the mound.
No homers, but Sammy Sosa, Mark Grudzielanek, crazy 1st baseman Randall Simon and catcher Damian Miller all drove in runs. 
Looking at the scoreboard (no big screens back then, remember), we could see that the last place Brewers were beating the Astros.
Everything was falling into place.
Which is what happened.
The Astros lost 2-5.
And the Cubs?
They were up 6-zip and Matt Clement had he game in hand.
I was feeling pretty good even though we had to leave.
But when we got to the car, it was blocked in.
No freaking way - WE LEFT THE GAME BUT GOT STUCK HERE!?
Anyway, I put the kids in the car and put on a "Harriet the Spy" book on tape.
(It was cool out so no I didn't cook the children, in fact they were thrilled.)
I walked out into the middle of the closed off Clark Street and heard a gigantic roar.
They clinched!
Tons of the happiest Cub Fans came pouring out of the park, and...
It had been cloudy all day long and from where I was standing in the middle of the street, just as the Wrigley sign flashed "2003 NL Champions", the sun broke through and it's rays hit the sign full on.
So glorious!

In the car on the way home, I was so excited I yelled out, "IT'S THE GREATEST DAY EVER!"
Which is when Emily said, "What about the days we were born, dad?"
"Yeah, dad," said Wyatt.

It's funny because I thought it was me giving them the special memory, when it turns out it was those two who gave it to me.

Okay the Cubs had a weird outing yesterday with Jake having a big hiccup but the bats keeping it interesting as the Cubs lose 7-8.
How about we clinch this thing today, guys?

Cubs pick off the first one. Cubs 10, Cardinals 2.

It was 4 zip before the first Cardinal got up to bat.
Luke Weaver came into the game pretty hot with a September ERA of 1.52.
But then the Cubs ruined him.
3 innings pitched, 8 runs, 2 homers and 2 doubles... that can't help an ERA, bud.


This was just what the Cubs needed - a laugher.
Complete with Addison Russell leaping into a Cardinal fan's nachos, and coming back with a fresh tray of them the next inning and a selfie with Addy to boot (here, if you haven't seen it yet).
And if you think that's entertainment, he also went the opposite way with the clutch 2-out double with the bases loaded in the first.
Oh yeah, I remember that Addy.
The one with the RBIs.
Then Jason Heyward's tip of the cap to the local crowd came next, with a double to knock in Addy.
Homers came from Kris Bryant (his 29th WOOOOO) and Javy Baez (his 23rd WOOOOO).
And next is the continuing evolution of Jon Lester's season.
He did a very well.
6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 4 Ks and a couple BBs.
Did he turn a corner?
I don't know - he looks to me like he's working reeeeeaaaaaaal slow, but maybe my brain is concentrating too hard on what might be wrong.
Can't argue with his numbers from the game - that's what he does.

So this "what's the playoff rotation going to be" is a huge conversation that's gonna keep growing louder til you and I will be sick of it, but there you go.
For the rest of the season, I read somewhere everybody's gonna keep their place in the rotation, so we'll see which pitcher does what.
The REALLY GOOD REALLY AMAZING news is they all seem to be hitting their stride right when it matters most.

Lastly, Javier Baez fouled one off his knee and everybody ran to go throw up because he was writhing like his leg came off.
So the other good news is it's just a big bruise.
I bet he doesn't start tonight though.

Okay another Cubs Cards night.
Can't wait.

Hey Cubs, how 'bout picking off these next 4 games?

Man, how about Jose Quintana?
A complete game shutout vs this year's arch enemy in the final game of the best series we saw all year.
Plus this (you should absolutely follow Mr. Kamka, btw):


Total unicorn performance. 
And today we're all looking ahead to the playoffs and what is the rotation gonna be?
Unlike who opens the season, the guy who opens the playoffs actually matters.
Maddon called out Kyle Hendricks this morning.
But then he also called out just about everybody else, too.
Including the guy we'll see open this 4-game Cardinal series in St. Louis, Jon Lester.
And the reason for Lester is his past performance, experience in playoffs, and... he's Jon Lester.
But I kinda think Joe's gonna go hot hand.
If Lester does well tonight, that'll go a long way towards who starts when.
If it were up to me, I'd pick Hendricks or Arrieta or Quintana or Lester.
Wouldn't you?
Ahhh, but that's all in the distant future.
The immediate future happens in St. Louis tonight, where you better believe that just like when the Bears are out of it, beating Green Bay saves jobs and makes it all better.
So expect another big series, because they're up against it.
The Cards just lost 2 of 3 to the Pirates, which I thought impossible but whatever.
Maybe they were looking ahead.

Okay, besides Quintana's amazing day, Anthony Rizzo (EDIT - THIS NEXT PART IS ALL OLD NEWS. Rizzo actually knocked in his 109th RBI yesterday with the 8th inning 2-run double. Thanks Kevin!)  knocked in his 94th run - 6 more and he'll have at least 100 RBIs for each of the last 3 years. 
He also extended his errorless streak to 110 games, only 16 behind the Cubs' all-time mark for a first baseman.
Held by Ernie Banks.
Oh Em Gee.

Lastly, I can hopefully figure out a way to animate those Cardinals in the shooting gallery to fall over.
And the Cubs clinch in St. Louis.
Go Cubs.

Cubs 3, Brewers 4. Shows how slippery a W can be.

Owww.
OWWWWWWWWW.
Taking the lead in the 8th, getting tied in the 9th, taking the lead in the 10th, and then losing in the bottom... just owwww.
But I'll tell you what.
The save streak Wade Davis had going is the kind of thing that turns into a weight that gets heavier and heavier as the season goes along.
To have it break now is way better than a save situation in the playoffs.
And if you want to look for something positive in that loss, well the bats were pretty resilient and came up big when they had to.
Of course they can do better, but that was pretty damned good.
The other ones were pitching.
Kyle Hendricks is just so much fun to watch. I can't predict his pitches, but he hits his spots way more than he doesn't, so you can sort of watch him think as he goes along. 
You can also see he's totally got his confidence working and I'd be happy to see him start any game.
Any game.
And by that I mean game one of the I just got so far ahead of everything I'll shut up right now.
But you know what I mean.
And speaking of confidence, the 4 outs and 3 Ks thrown by Justin Wilson were EXACTLY what that guy needs.
I know everybody groans when he comes in, but if the Cubs are gonna go deep they need that guy to figure it out.

Okay so 2 blown saves and a tough loss.
Today's going to be harder with 11-3 Chase Anderson on the mound for Milwaukee.
He's only given up 4 runs in September with an ERA of 1.66 (2.74 for 2017).
But also he's gone 5.1, 5, 5.1 and 6 innings in his Sept starts, so if the Cubs can get to the Brewer pen relatively early then... awesome.

Cubs 5, Brewers 4. Chicago smells blood.

All year long there were many times when it seemed like the Baseball Gods were against the Cubs.
Sometimes when I think oh man the Cubs are soooo good, but then they don't do so good... I can't help but go with the Gods as the reason.
These last couple games have proved the opposite, because it seems like the Cubs are getting the breaks.
(Maybe I'm actually referring to the Replay Gods but whatever, I'll sure take it.)
I did this John Lackey gif to put up just before yesterday's game, and yeah - just like whenever I do something like that I end up jinxing whoever I'm trying to uplift.
Because we weren't far into the game before Ryan Braun knocked in Neil Walker.
And the next inning the Brewers go back to back homers with Len saying something like, "...needs to try and regain his composure."
But the Cubs come back with a couple, and in the 5th Jon Jay has the 10-fouls-in-a-row at bat that ends up as a single and the world's longest beginning of the end for a pitcher, Milwaukee's Brandon Woodruff.
Before that inning's over, the Cubs are up 4-3 and Lackey's leash got so short Maddon pulled him after one single in the bottom.
Brian Duensing came in and, while he did give up a couple doubles back to back (and the tying run), you know not much bad will happen with him on the mound.
Which is where he stayed til handing it off to Rondon who handed it off to Montgomery who handed it off to Carl Edwards who finished the game, giving Wade Davis a day off.
Montgomery and Edwards went 2 innings apiece, gave up nothin'.
The Brewers tried the same 2-inning thing with Corey Knebel and his 1.60 ERA, but in the top of the 10th he ran outta gas with a BB to Kris Bryant, a single to Rizzo, and a gifted BB to Zobrist to load the bases which set up the dramatic walk to Tommy LaStella that won the game.
If you saw the interview with LaStella after the game, you'd think he was a seasoned starter just doing his job and totally used to the on-field interview of the game's impact star.

Anyway, how awesome.
Two absolutely killer games to keep the Brewers so far at bay they dropped to third behind the Cards.
And now two to go.

Go Cubs.