In what was likely Jake Arrieta’s final start as a Cub, he managed to stave off elimination for one more day. It was a fitting sendoff for a guy whose last four years have rivaled Greg Maddux’s best four years with the Cubs. Without Javier Baez’s pair of dingers and leaping catch on an errant […]
Tag: Postseason
NLCS Game Three Recap: Dodgers 6, Cubs 1
The thought going into tonight’s game was if the Cubs could win, they’d be right where they were a year ago: down two games to one after getting their offense shut down by elite Dodger pitching. There was reason to be confident in the Cubs’ chances of taking game three. They had home-field advantage, and […]
Lineups and Postseason Success
The Chicago Cubs have played some of their best baseball of the season over the last two weeks, and with only 10 games left before the postseason, there may not have not been a better time. During these final two weeks before the playoffs come, it may be a good time to figure out what […]
Cubs 2016 Playoff Retrospective – World Series Edition
Now that the 2017 Cubs Convention has concluded, the last remaining stepping stone towards the day when pitchers and catchers report has been reached, and countdowns to 2017 Spring Training will soon start appearing on your local nightly news stations. But before we turn the page on the Cubs 2016 championship season (just kidding that […]
Emotional Moments: Pennant-Winning Edition
On Tuesday, we relived the drama and joy of the Cubs’ NLDS victory over the odious San Francisco Giants. Perhaps you need more joy today. I can’t think of a better way than to recount our collective ecstasy brought upon by the Chicago Cubs’ pennant-winning series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, so I’m going to […]
Jason Heyward’s Unquestionable Leadership
When it comes to legendary moments in Cubs history, Jason Heyward’s World Series Game 7 speech will go down as the single greatest rain delay performance of all time. This is hardly a controversial position–although I should probably apologize for inspiring the string of profanity just heard by anyone within listening range of Gary Pressy. […]
The Rajai Davis HR, Emotions, and Objectivity
Emotions are a very subjective thing—we all experience them in our own unique way. It’s hard to describe a collective emotion when things happen to a large group of people. Some people cry, others smile, and some just sit there dumbly. As someone who writes about baseball, it’s very hard to separate your emotions from […]
Playoff Prospectus: The Highlight Reel: World Series Game 7
This piece, written by Baseball Prospectus’s Ashley Varela, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the postseason, “Playoff Prospectus”. One hundred and eight years after the Cubs last held the title of World Champions, 212 days after the first pitch of the 2016 season, and 26 days after the Cubs took the postseason […]
Playoff Prospectus: Assessing the Managers’ Moves in Game 7
This piece, written by Baseball Prospectus’s Matthew Trueblood, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the postseason, “Playoff Prospectus”. There’s real freedom in a Game 7. A manager has just one imperative: win this game. Even in a Game 6, a skipper will draw criticism (and perhaps do genuine damage) if he makes […]
Playoff Prospectus: After 108 Years, Cubs Win the Marathon and the Sprint
This piece, written by Baseball Prospectus’s Editor-in-Chief Aaron Gleeman, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the postseason, “Playoff Prospectus”. Baseball’s regular season is often described as a marathon. Six months of nearly uninterrupted, daily competition during which a single win or loss–or even a few of them consecutively–barely registers as noteworthy within […]