NFL
By Jason Gulden
The Super Bowl was on Sunday, and following the game, there were only three words to utter. IT’S BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!!
Throughout my life, I have witnessed both great and not-so-great things from my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.
Even though I was born in 1984, when they clinched the East Division before falling to the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, I don’t remember any of that because I was only 6 months old.
So, my first real memory of the team came in 1989, when they once again won the East Division in the National League. That year, they took on the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. I witnessed a rookie, Mark Grace, make a name for himself when he went 11-17 with a .647 average. That would also be my first heartbreak as a Cubs fan, as they would fall to the Giants 4-1 in the series.
Following the 1989 season, the Cubs wouldn’t return to the playoffs until 1998, when they won the wild card after beating the San Francisco Giants in a one-game tiebreaker. That year had magic at Wrigley Field as it was the season following the death of Hall of Fame Broadcaster, Harry Carey, who passed away in February 1998.
1998 was also the Summer of the long Ball as we raced to 61* for home runs in a season. Mark McGwire would break it with 70, but another childhood favorite of mine, Sammy Sosa, hit 66 that season and would go on to win the National League MVP that year.
Earlier, in 1998, in only his 5th career start, Kerry Wood pitched the best game I have ever seen a Major League pitcher throw. On a cold May afternoon at Wrigley, he took the mound against the then National League team, the Houston Astros. This team was stacked with ball players. They had 2 MLB Hall of Famers, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, along with Moises Alou and Derek Bell.
According to his interview after the game, his bullpen session before the game wasn’t that great. His first pitch of the game, he hit home plate umpire Jerry Meals in the facemask with a fastball. He got things under control and then would go on and strike out 20 Houston Astros batters that game. He would tie the Major League record for strikeouts in a game and, at the time, would set the National League record.
In 2003, the Cubs were back in the playoffs and made a deep run before Steve Bartman crushed all Cubs hearts by interfering in a play near the stands. The Cubs would make it to the playoffs 3 more times before 2016, all ending in heartbreak.
2016 came around, and once again, we had hopes of a great season after making it to the National League Championship Series in 2015 before losing to the Mets. 3rd game of the season, the Cubs had to face adversity as Kyle Schwarber would tear his ACL and would be out for the season, as we thought. Cubs battled all season long, winning the division and beating the San Francisco Giants in the divisional round and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS and making it to the World Series for the first time since 1945.
With the National League still using the pitchers to hit when at home, when playing in an American League stadium, they would have to use a Designated Hitter. No better person to use in that spot than Kyle Schwarber, the Cubs activated him just for that, and he would hit 7-17 with a .412 average. Cubs would then do something that they haven’t done in 108 years, and that was to win the World Series.
In the next 9 years since that title, the Cubs would only make the playoffs 4 other times and only make it to the NLCS once in 2017 before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1.
Last season, the Cubs started well but then ran into a very hot Milwaukee Brewers team that didn’t seem to lose, and they finished 2nd in the division. The Cubs eventually lost to the Brewers in the National League Division Series 3-2.
With a very good young core in place, the Cubs had some decisions to make in the offseason. One big one was whether they would bring back Kyle Tucker to play right field this season. Kyle was looking for a big payday, and the Cubs weren’t willing to offer it, as Kyle Tucker would go to the dreaded Los Angeles Dodgers for 4 years and $221 million.
Another decision they needed to make was what to do with Shota Imanaga. Following a rough season, he couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark. The Cubs would decline his club option before offering him a qualifying offer. In case he left as a free agent, they would get a draft pick in return. Shota accepted the offer and returned to the team.
Another thing the Cubs needed to figure out with Shota back in the mix was who would fill out the rotation, with Justin Steele missing the start of the season as he comes back from injury. They had Jamisson Taillon, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd. That all changed when they made a trade with the Miami Marlins to acquire Edward Cabrera.
Now that the rotation was filled, it was time to figure out what was going on with the bullpen. After trading Andrew Kittledge back to Baltimore and losing Brad Keller to free agency, some big arms for us last year, the Cubs needed to make some moves to fill those holes. In the mix this year, we have right-hander Phil Maton and Left-hander Hoby Milner.
They join Daniel Palencia, who was named the closer for opening day by manager Craig Counsell on Wednesday, and Caleb Thielbar, who resigned with the team in the offseason. They join Ben Brown, Colin Rea, Porter Hodge, and Javier Assad in the pen for the Cubs this season.
With all the starters minus Kyle Tucker being back this season, the Cubs were looking to bring in one big bat, maybe to help the offense. They would do just that in January during the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears wildcard game in the NFL. In that game, the Bears were down 21-9 against their arch-rival. Once they announced they signed Alex Bregman to a 5-year, $175 million contract, the Bears would come back and beat the Packers 31-27. Alex will be the everyday 3rd baseman for the Cubs this year, and the youngster Matt Shaw will now be a utility player off the bench for the Cubs.
According to Fangraphs, the Cubs are expected to dominate the National League Central Division this season. With the 10-year anniversary of their recent World Series title, will this be another exciting summer at the corner of Addison and Clark and at the Friendly Confines? Like millions of other Cubs fans, I hope to be singing “Go, Cubs, Go” and flying the W flag all season long.
There is one thing I know for sure, and that’s BASEBALL SEASON IS BACK AT PITCHERS AND CATCHER REPORTED ON WEDNESDAY. BASEBALL IS BACK!!!!!
Talk to you soon, Cubs Fans. GO CUBS!!!!!
