McClelland and Stewart Limited - A season for the ages: how the 2016 Chicago Cubs brought a World Series championship to the north side

Copyright 2016 by Al Yellon

Foreword copyright 2016 by Pat Hughes

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau and Brian Peterson

Cover photo credit: Associated Press

ISBN 978-1-68358-115-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68358-116-1

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

This is for everyone who has ever loved the Cubs but
did not make it to this day.
We, the living, carry your torch and celebrate for you
and with you in spirit.
Go Cubs!

Foreword

T he Chicago Cubs came into the 2016 season with very high hopes. Not only was that fueled by the 2015 postseason run, but during the 201516 offseason the Cubs front office made great strides toward fortifying the ballclub, signing Ben Zobrist, John Lackey, and Jason Heyward, all three of whom played roles in the success of this 2016 team. They surely would have been a solid contender even without those three guys, and the emergence of young players such as Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, Carl Edwards Jr., and the real blossoming of Addison Russell at shortstop are among the reasons this team was so dominant early in the season.

Al Yellons book takes you on the ride from spring training through the end of the World Series, detailing this glorious year, and here are some of my favorite moments from the 2016 season.

First, the amazing start of 256thats winning 80 percent of your games! Starting that way gives you even higher hopes. They were winning the Series on the road: sweeping the Pirates at PNC Park, and winning at home: sweeping the Nationals at Wrigley Field, culminated with Javier Baez extra-inning walk-off home run.

You do those things and you start thinking: This really is a special team!

The struggles the Cubs had in late June and early July are just part of the game, part of the daily grind. Pitchers arent going to have their best stuff every day and theyre going to struggle at times. But I knew this team was too good to play that way for too long. And they beat the Pirates at PNC Park to right the ship just before the All-Star break.

Right after that break is when the Cubs really begin to hit their stride with great pitching, great fielding, and clutch hittingAnthony Rizzo had a big three-run double against Will Smith in Milwaukee in late July.

If there was a signature game that represented a major turning point from where the Cubs were a very good team to potentially a great team, it came on a magical Sunday night, July 31 at Wrigley against Seattle. The Cubs fell behind 60 early. They were still down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth when they rallied to tie the game and in extra innings, Jon Lester laid down a safety squeeze bunt driving in Jason Heyward with the winning run. For me, that would be the most exciting moment in a season full of exciting moments. After the game, Joe Maddon said thats the kind of a win where you can really propel your team to greater heights.

Joe wasnt kiddingthat win began an 11-game winning streak for the Cubs. They were never seriously threatened by anybody in the division thereafter. They waltzed to the division title, clinching with more than two weeks to go, eliminating the Cardinals from the race. And everyone knew the Cubs were going to be ready for the postseason.

They beat the Giants in a classic in the opener: Javier Baezs solo home run in the eighth inning settled a pitchers duel between Jon Lester and Johnny Cueto, and then there was the miraculous four-run rally in the ninth inning in Game 4 in San Francisco that gave the ballclub the Division Series victory.

Then it was onto take on the Dodgers and you knew that would be tough as they have the best pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, who beat the Cubs in Game 2 to even the series.

After a Game 3 loss at Dodger Stadium, the Cubs came roaring back on home runs by Addison Russell in Games 4 and 5 and then in Game 6, an absolute masterpiece by Kyle Hendricks. The young right-hander outpitched Kershaw and the Cubs offense provided plenty of support.

It was one of the greatest moments in Cubs history when Yasiel Puig bounced to short which turned into a 643 game-ending and series-clinching double play, one of the most exciting moments Ive ever experienced.

When Puig hit into that double play, it was the thrill of a lifetime for me as the Cubs broadcaster to be able to finally say: The Cubs are going to the World Series! The Cubs win the pennant! Those were words Id been aching to say for 21 seasons, and I thought about all of the great Cubs, particularly Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, and my dear friend Ron Santo, who would have loved to have been there. I was thrilled with the fact that Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins were there along with Kerry Wood, Bobby Dernier, and Gary Matthews. I thought of others like Randy Hundley, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, Kenny Holtzman, and all the Cubs of yesteryear. I was thrilled that those men were still very much alive and could experience that.

And I thought about the Cubs longtime TV broadcasters Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse. And before me in the radio booth, people like Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Jack Quinlan, all of whom would have loved to be there for that moment. It was a very emotional time and it was extremely excitingthe Cubs winning the pennant for the first time since 1945 and then it was on to the World Series.

The Cubs felt very good about themselves after winning the pennant. Onto Game 1 in Cleveland, where the Cubs faced Corey Kluber who proved to be mysterious and difficult to hit. The Cubs got shut out and surprisingly, Indians catcher Roberto Perez, of all people, hit two home runs.

The next night, however, the Cubs offense awoke and they were able to beat the Tribe in Cleveland to even up the Series at one victory apiece.

The Cubs knew then they could come home to Wrigley Field with a chance to possibly win the World Series without having to go back to the airport. However, that feeling quickly was dismissed because they lost the first home World Series game at Wrigley since 1945, 10.

The next day, the Cubs felt a disaster was possibly right around the corner as they lost, 72, and now, all of a sudden, the Cubs are on the brink of elimination after this magical season where they had won 103 games.

Only five teams had ever come back from trailing three games to one to win the World Series and only three had done it by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road, which the Cubs wouldve had to do.

Game 5 represented a turnaround. National League MVP candidate Kris Bryant homered as part of a three-run inning and the Cubs would not trail for the remainder of the series. Jon Lester pitched great ball and Aroldis Chapman closed out the game as the Cubs stayed alive with a 32 win.