My Top 15 Favorite moments of the 2008 Cubs Season (so far)
Ever watch the TV Show Survivor? If you haven't, it jumped the shark years ago so there's no point in starting now. But if you have watched Survivor, I'm going to attempt to re-create a staple from their annual season finale. The season-reflection segment, except I'm going to try to do it without sitting on the edge of a cliff and staring off into the sunset. With the Cubs magic number down to two, it's time for a little reflection on what we've seen so far in this 2008 season. Here's my favorite moments (so far).
1. March 31: Opening Day, Kosuke Fukudome's game-tying homer in the 9th. Howry ended up blowing the game in extras, but Fukudome's homer was a coming out party for our Japanese import. He cooled off considerably the last few months, and Lou has been right to keep him out of the starting lineup lately. Give him the offseason to regroup and make him the everyday right fielder again next year.
2. April 25: Reed Johnson's catch. Another game the Cubs ultimately lost, but that's not the point. This catch is the play of the year. Excellent pickup by Hendry.
3. April 29: Cubs 19, Milwaukee 5. Warning: you're going to see a lot of Brewers games on this list. I don't know what it is about Milwaukee, but since they moved to our division, there's been a half-dozen classic battles every year. This particular game wasn't especially tight, but I was at Wrigley and had the best seats of my life. Right behind home plate, five rows up. Rookie-of-the-Year shoo-in Geovany Soto had a pair of homers and six RBIs in route to the slaughter. The six-spot in the 8th was just icing on the cake, and the fans went nuts.
4. May 18: Cubs complete 8-2 homestand, with Alfonso Soriano's blistering bat to thank. He won several of these games practically by himself.
5. May 30: The Cubs score nine unanswered runs against the Rockies, in a miraculous 10-9 comeback. Mark DeRosa supplied the heroics in route to his career year. Even on vacation, I had a Dwight Smith flashback during this one.
6. June 12: WGN Turn-back-the-clock day. Jim Edmonds, determined to prove me and the rest of the world wrong, hit a game-tying homer in the 9th. At this point it seemed the Cubs would never lose at home again. Also, Len Kasper's tribute to Jack Brickhouse on the home run call was excellent.
7. June 23: Cubs Sweep Sox. While we won't mention what happened on the South Side a week later, it's always a treat to sweep your city rivals. Aramis Ramirez was on nuclear fire in this series, with a game-tying homer in the 7th followed by a walk-off in the 9th on Friday.
8. July 9: Cubs acquire Harden. I was at Wrigley when I got a call from my friend telling me about the trade that announced to the world that the Cubs are for real this year. They acquired a true "Ace" from Oakland, and all of a sudden they have the best rotation in baseball. Oh, and they beat up on Dusty Baker's Reds that day, too. Nice.
9. July 15: The Cubs have seven representatives at the All-Star game in New York. Big Z goes two scoreless and Ryan Dempster strikes out the side in the 9th in the midst of his out-of-nowhere season. He's a legit Cy Young candidate. (Not the winner, but as of now he's gotta be 2nd or 3rd.)
10. July 28: Ted Lilly outduels CC Sabathia in one of the most exciting mid-season games I've ever seen. This was the start of a four-game sweep over Milwaukee, and the Cubs have never looked back.
11. August 15: Ward's bomb. I still can't believe it. August was a great month for the Cubs.
12. September 14: Zambrano's No-Hitter. Just what the doctor ordered. Z's healthy; Astros are cooled off; Slump: over.
13. September 16: Sabathia vs. Cubs, round 2. The Cubs didn't need this one as bad as Milwaukee did, but nevertheless this was another awesome game that I saw in person. Carlos Marmol was his usual wicked-good self, and Kerry Wood matched up with the mammoth-homering Prince Fielder for an epic at-bat in the top of the 9th. Cubs Win! Sabathia gets first loss. Go, Cubs, Go! Magic Number down to 4.
14. September 18: Today's comeback vs. Milwaukee. Down 6-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs staged a remarkable comeback - highlighted by Soto's 3-run game-tying bomb. Derrek Lee then followed with the game-winning knock in the 12th. It sure would be nice if he heated up for the playoffs. Magic Number? 2.
15. September 20: When they clinched the division, it sealed this team's fate as the best Cubs team of my lifetime. Will they win it all? Who knows, but they have as good a shot as anybody and so far its been one hell of a ride.