SB Nation User Blog: #1 iowan cubs fan

The Top 10 Cubs Games of 2009

#1 iowan cubs fan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:18:02 -0000

Now that the World Series is over (congratulations Yanks for the 27th time) and the MLB offseason officially begins exactly a month after the Cubs offseason began, I'm gonna go ahead and post my poll for the best Cubs games of 2009. There were actually some pretty good games to remember this year... along with the pretty bad ones as well. Sometimes it got to the point where to some of you, the best game (later in the year) was the game that didn't happen meaning the off-day in which we didn't have to see the Cubs load the bases with no outs and somehow not drive in a run. I think it was the comments from the "Come here and vent" post in mid-August is a good example of my last sentence.

With all that said the Cubs did finish five games above .500, something the Pirates would love to have happen to them. Plus, there's new light added for the 2010 campaign by the Ricketts family. I can't wait to see what kind of tricks Mr. Ricketts has up his sleeve. On a side note, I know this sounds kind of lame but I caught an episode of Roseanne the other night and there was a part where they looked into their family's future (remember these are the '90s) and one of the character's had a newspaper that read 2010 World Champion Cubs. I got a good laugh out of it but at the same time It kind of put a spark in me now that 2010 is a couple months away and, you never know.

I have tabulated the top 5 games of each month this season voted on by the bcb community and with that, I've put together a poll including those 5 games from each month of 2009. Vote for your favorite, and if yours isn't on the list, leave it in the comments.

Poll

What was your favorite Cubs game / moment of 2009?

Sat 4/11: Soriano's game winning HR in Milwaukee; Cubs win 6-5.

2 votes

Sun 4/12: Reed Johnson's 'The Catch II' to rob Prince Fielder's grand-slam; Cubs win 8-5.

14 votes

Mon 4/13: Ted Lilly's second career 1-hit masterpiece on the home opener vs. Rockies; Cubs win 4-0.

1 votes

Fri 4/17: Soriano caps a wild game with a go-ahead HR in 8th vs. Cards; Cubs win 8-7.

0 votes

Sat 4/18: Ramirez hits walk-off HR vs. Cards; Cubs win 7-5 in 11 innings.

4 votes

Fri 5/1: Theriot's grand slam. Cubs beat Marlins 8-6.

1 votes

Sun 5/3: Fergie and Maddux retire #31, DLee hits a grand slam, Cubs beat fish 6-4.

4 votes

Sat 5/16: Gregg blows the close, Soriano hits a walk-off single in 9th. Cubs beat Astros 5-4.

1 votes

Wed 5/27: Big Z takes out the gatorade machine and Cubs beat Pirates 5-2.

0 votes

Sat 5/30: Dempster is solid, Reed hits a bomb and Cubs beat LA 7-0.

1 votes

Tue 6/9: Fontenot homers on his 29th b-day, the Cubs get 16 hits, and win it 7-1 in Houston.

0 votes

Thu 6/18: Cubs rally in 8th vs. Sox and Soriano hits a 'duck-snort' walk-off to win 6-5.

3 votes

Fri 6/19: Cubs erase a 7 nothing deficit on Kerry Wood and DeRosa's homecoming to win 8-7 in 10 innings.

13 votes

Sat 6/20: Cubs win on a third straight walk-off in 13 innings 6-5.

1 votes

Sun 6/21: Randy Wells gets his first W and complete the sweep of the Indians, 6-2.

2 votes

Fri 7/3: Cubs win on Jake Fox's walk-off walk in 10 innings to beat Milwaukee 2-1.

2 votes

Sun 7/19: Cubs finish the 4-game swep of the Nats in dominating fashion 11-3.

1 votes

Sun 7/26: Cubs finish the sweep of the Reds 5-2 and for a short time move into first place.

1 votes

Mon 7/27: Soriano hits a walk-off grand slam to beat the Astros 5-1 in 13 innings.

9 votes

Wed 7/29: Cubs give Houston a problem 12-0.

0 votes

Sat 8/1: Cubs beat Marlins 9-8 in 10 innings.

0 votes

Sat 8/8: Cubs beat Rockies 6-5 at Colorado.

0 votes

Fri 8/14: Cubs beat Pirates 17-2 with a 10-run 2nd inning.

1 votes

Fri 8/28: Cubs beat Mets 5-2.

0 votes

Sat 8/29: Jake Fox comes through in the clutch and Cubs beat the Mets 11-4.

0 votes

Fri 9/11: Cubs beat the Reds 6-4.

0 votes

Sun 7/20: Cardinals sweep on a third straight walk-off... Jake Fox silences St.Louis in 11th inning in a 6-3 win.

0 votes

Thu 9/24: Cubs are one strike away from defeat, Jeff Baker comes through to give the Cubs a 3-2 win at San Francisco.

2 votes

Fri 9/25: Big Z shuts the Giants out 3-0 at San Francisco.

2 votes

Sat 10/3: Cubs get their final win of the season in a 5-0 shutout of the D-backs.

0 votes

65 votes | Poll has closed

The Best Cubs Game of September/Oct 2009

#1 iowan cubs fan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:58:50 -0000

Hey at least they finished five games above .500. The first winning season without a playoff appearance since 2004. Now we get to root for any team that faces the Cardinals. Who would have thought that a year removed from being swept by the Dodgers, we would be rooting for them to do the same thing to the Cardinals.

18 wins in the final 32 games. Ironically, the Cubs started winning when Soriano and ultimately Bradley went home. It just seems like the Cubs fans were always ahead of the curve at making decisions that should have been made a long time ago. Decisions such as moving Gregg out of the closers role, how many blown saves did Lou need to see before Marmol took over? I remember listening to SportsCentral on WGN radio in June/July listening to fans say move Soriano out of the leadoff spot, get Bradley out of there, etc. I'm not saying Lou did a bad job because there are so many things that just didn't go right this year. I'm not going to make a huge book about it right now because you know the rest.

Right now voting can be done for the final 18 wins of the year. After the conclusion of the World Series, I'll probably create a poll for the best Cubs games of 2009. Don't worry, I won't include all 83 wins in that poll.

Poll

What's your favorite Cubs game from September/Oct 2009?

Sept. 1: Cubs beat Astros 4-1.

0 votes

Sept. 2: Cubs shut the Astros out 2-0.

2 votes

Sept. 5: Cubs get first win at Citi Field 5-3.

0 votes

Sept. 7: Cubs beat Pirates on road 4-2.

0 votes

Sept. 8: Cubs beat Pirates 9-4.

0 votes

Sept. 9: Cubs sweep Pirates with an 8-5 win.

0 votes

Sept. 11: Bob Brenly mentions my name in the 5th inning and Cubs beat Cincinnati 6-4.

3 votes

Sept. 13: Cubs beat Reds 5-2.

0 votes

Sept. 14: Cubs shut the Brewers out 2-0.

2 votes

Sept. 15: Derrek Lee does his work in a 13-7 win vs. Brewers.

2 votes

Sept. 20: Cardinals sweep on a third straight walk-off... Jake Fox silences St. Louis in 11th inning in a 6-3 win.

6 votes

Sept. 21: Cubs win at Milwaukee 10-2.

0 votes

Sept. 22: Cubs win at Milwaukee 7-2.

0 votes

Sept. 24: Cubs are one strike away from defeat, Jeff Baker gets his fastball and gives the Cubs a 3-2 win at San Francisco.

25 votes

Sept. 25: Big Z shuts the Giants out 3-0.

13 votes

Sept. 26: Cubs win at San Francisco 6-2, then St. Louis clinches the Central.

1 votes

Sept. 29: Cubs shut out Pirates 6-0, Jason Kendall keeps the Cubs season alive, Rockies send the Cubs fate deep into the Rocky Mountain night.

2 votes

October 3: Cubs get their final win of the season in a 5-0 shutout of D-backs.

3 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed

The Best Cubs Game of August 2009

#1 iowan cubs fan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:46:13 -0000

I haven't been this disappointed from a swoon month since the 7-22 month of May in 2006, probably because 2006 was the last time the Cubs didn't go to the playoffs and May 2006 was the month that sunk the Cubs that year for good, I hope the 11-17 August isn't the same.

August got off to a promising start with the Cubs coming off two 12 run wins against Houston and then winning a wild game in Florida 9-8 in 10 innings. After a roadtrip that ended in a mile-high thud the Cubs were hoping to get some momentum by taking on the world champion Phillies at home... only to get swept. Then the Cubs took their frustration out on the Pirates 17-2. Then the Cubs salvaged two possible sweeps on the West Coast for a 2-5 roadtrip.

Now our Cubbies look to take advantage of the sub-.500 teams most at home the rest of the way out. On the bright side the Cubs face Pittsburgh 7 more times.

Maybe I should create a poll for the worst Cubs game from August. But I won't because I'm trying to stay positive. Positiveness can start by not Booing Milton Bradley for getting out in his last AB to make it a 3 for 4 night. Constructive criticism may work better than just Booing. Stop Booing this isn't New York. If you are going to boo, don't show up at the ball game.

Poll

What is your favorite Cubs game from August?

Saturday 8/1 - Cubs beat Marlins 9-8 in 10 innings.

7 votes

Monday 8/3 - Cubs beat Reds 4-2.

2 votes

Tuesday 8/4 - Cubs beat Reds 6-3.

0 votes

Saturday 8/8 - Cubs beat Rockies 6-5.

3 votes

Friday 8/14 - Cubs beat Pirates 17-2.

25 votes

Saturday 8/15 - Cubs beat Pirates 3-1.

0 votes

Wednesday 8/19 - Cubs beat Padres 7-1.

0 votes

Sunday 8/23 - Cubs beat Dodgers 3-1.

1 votes

Wednesday 8/26 - Cubs beat Nationals 9-4.

0 votes

Friday 8/28 - Cubs beat Mets 5-2.

2 votes

Saturday 8/29 - Cubs beat Mets 11-4.

6 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed

The Best Cubs Games of July 2009

#1 iowan cubs fan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:36:30 -0000

The Hot Streak finally came! What an exciting month to be a Cubs fan. The Cubs won most of the games they had to win and beat the teams that they should beat e.g. Washington Nationals and the Dusty play of the Reds. It was especially fun for me because I attended two walk off Cubs wins, one being my first ever walk off home run I attended (I was the guy waving the W flag on a stick pointing to the camera during "Go Cubs Go") on July 27. I also caught my first bleacher home run which was Ludwick's 2nd home run in the nightcap of the Cubs-Cards doubleheader, and I threw the REAL ball back almost immediately and the reception was awesome.

The Cubs entered July two games under .500 in 4th place 4.5 games behind Milwaukee and finished 7games over .500 in 2nd place just a half game behind the Cardinals even after dealing with injury adversity. The Cubs got 18 wins in July so I'm dividing them by pre all-star break and post all-star break because the Cubs went 11-4 after the break through the end of July. Choose wisely and give me some recommendations please.

Poll

What's your favorite Cubs game from July?

a1 - 7/1: Cubs beat Pirates 4-1.

0 votes

a2- 7/2: Cubs beat Milwaukee 9-5.

0 votes

a3- 7/3: Cubs win on Jake Fox's walk-off walk in 10 innings to beat Milwaukee 2-1.

11 votes

a4 - 7/5: Ted Lilly shows TBS viewers why he's an all-star by beating the Brewers 8-2.

1 votes

a5 - Cubs beat Atlanta 4-2 on 70's night... no Tornado's on this 70's night.

1 votes

a6 - 7/11: Cubs beat the Cardinals 5-2.

1 votes

a7 - 7/12: Cubs win game one of the day-night DH vs. St.Louis 7-3.

1 votes

b1- 7/16: Cubs beat the Nats 6-2.

0 votes

b2 - 7/17: Cubs beat the Nats again 3-1.

0 votes

b3 - 7/18: Nats show why they lose all the time and error their way to a Cubs 6-5 win.

2 votes

b4 - Cubs finish the 4-game sweep of the Nats in dominating fashion 11-3.

3 votes

b5 - 7/22: Cubs salvage a possibe sweep by the Phillies 10-5 without a home run.

0 votes

b6 - 7/24: Cubs beat the Dusty Reds 8-5.

1 votes

b7 - 7/25: Cubs beat the Dusty Reds again 5-3.

0 votes

b8 - 7/26: Cubs finish the sweep of the Dusty Reds 5-2 and move into 1st place.

5 votes

b9 - 7/27: Soriano hits a walk-off grand slam to beat the Astros 5-1 in 13 innings.

42 votes

b10 - 7/29: "The Houston Slaughter- Act I" Cubs give Houston a problem 12-0.

11 votes

b11 - 7/30: "The Houston Slaughter- Act II" Cubs leave Houston with a problem 12-3.

3 votes

82 votes | Poll has closed

The Top 5 Cubs Games of June

#1 iowan cubs fan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:40:04 -0000

The month of June provided us with plenty of extra Cubs baseball with 21 combined extra innings. If you take out the one rain out that has yet to be made up, that's still 12 extra innings! But maybe all those extra innings wore out the Cubs' bats because of the four times the Cubs were shutout which ultimately resulted in an 11-14 month of June which brings the Cubs to 36-38 for a 4th place spot trailing by 4.5 games... only 4.5 games, the Cubs are still in this thing! The Cubs have their work cut out for them as they go up agianst 1st place Milwaukee and 2nd place St.Louis both in 4-game sets at home.

This month I'm trying something new. Since I rank my personal favorite games by how much I get worn out by excitement after the game is done, I put the 11 wins in an A, B, C categorial order. Category A involves the four walk-off wins. Category B involves the two extra-inning wins on the road and two close games the Cubs won on the road. Category C involves three wins that were sort of ho-hum wins, not that any Cubs win should be labeled as a ho-hum win especially when they're as scarce as they've been lately. Plus, I wanted to not only get every win on the poll, but make it easier to decide by breaking it down into sort of a "seeded" positioning.

Can't wait to see how this poll plays out. Leave comments and good discussions as you usually do.

Poll

What was your favorite Cubs game from June 2009?

A1 - 6/14: Cubs win 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Theriot to prevent the sweep by Minnesota and Joe Mauer. Oh yeah, Cubs players don't need to buy tickets to get their fans to show on the road.

2 votes

A2 - 6/18: A dead Cubs offense comes alive with a 4-run rally vs the Sux in the 8th and Soriano caps it in the 9th with a "duck-snort" to walk it off 6-5.

27 votes

A3 - 6/19: The Cubs' magic continues against the Indians on Kerry Wood's and now Cardinal Mark DeRosa's reunion to Wrigley with another 4 run 8th inning and a D-Lee HR in the 9th to erase a 7 nothing deficit. Cubs win 8-7 in 10 innings.

49 votes

A4 - 6/20: Cleveland's Valbuena's two HR game isn't enough to beat the Cubs on a third straight walk-off win in 13 innings 6-5.

3 votes

B1 - 6/3: Hoffpauir's pinch-hit RBI in the 11th gives the Cubs a 3-2 win in Atlanta.

0 votes

B2 - 6/5: They're singin' Go Z Go! Big Z remains calm, hits a homer and does it all in a 2-1 win in Cincinnati.

0 votes

B3 - 6/7: Theriot hits his 1st road HR, the Cubs bullpen is outstanding in extras, and Soriano's last HR in June wins it for the Cubs 6-3 in 14 innings in Cincinnati.

0 votes

B4 - 6/26: Fox and Soto deliver with home run's and Gregg actually doesn't blow a save to win it 5-4 on the South-Side.

1 votes

C1 - 6/9: Fontenot homers on his 29th b-day, the Cubs get 16 hits, and win it 7-1 in Houston.

3 votes

C2 - 6/21: Randy Wells FINALLY gets a victory, Soto homers and win the only non-walk off win at home in June to complete the sweep of the Indians.

3 votes

C3 - 6/29: Harden excapes multiple jams, Theriot homers, and the Cubs get the "Pittsburgh Mojo" going for a 3-1 victory.

0 votes

88 votes | Poll has closed

The Top 5 Cubs Games of May

#1 iowan cubs fan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:30:12 -0000

The month of May was so inconsistent that the Cubs were once a half game out of 1st place. Then they went on an 8 game losing streak to bring them to a 4th place slot at the end of the month trailing Milwaukee by 4.5 games. On a positive note, the Cubs went 15-12 in May as opposed to 10-11 in April (25-24 overall). Hey, I'd like it to be much better right now but there's still plenty of time left and, it could easily be a lot worse.

There isn't any game that stands out to me as a shoe-in for the best game for May so i'll just include all 15 wins in the poll and let the Cubs nation vote amongst themselves.

Poll

You decide. What was your favorite Cubs win in May?

5/1 - Theriot's grand slam. Cubs beat Marlins 8 to 6.

14 votes

5/2 - Theriot hits... another HR. Cubs beat Marlins 6 to 1.

1 votes

5/3 - Fergie and Maddux retire #31, DLee hits a grand slam, cubs beat fish 6 to 4.

7 votes

5/4 - Theriot hits... another HR, Dempster K's 7. Giants lose 4 to 2.

0 votes

5/6 - Reed hits a 3-run triple, ARam goes yard. Cubs win 6 to 3 in Houston.

0 votes

5/7 - Soriano hits 2 HR's. Cubs beat Astros 8 to 5 in Houston.

0 votes

5/10 - Cubs beat Brewers in a nail biter 4 to 2 to prevent the sweep in Milwaukee.

2 votes

5/12 - Bradley hits a Sosa-like HR, Bobby Scales hits his first HR. Cubs beat Padres 6 to 2.

7 votes

5/13 - Theriot hits... another HR, Soto finally HR's. Rian shortened win 6 to 4 vs. Padres.

1 votes

5/14 - Cubs score 11 and complete sweep of Padres 11 to 3.

3 votes

5/16 - Gregg blows the close, Soriano hits a walk-off single in 9th. Cubs beat Astros 5 to 4.

7 votes

5/26 - What can I say, Cubs end 8 game losing streak 6 to 1 in rain-shortened affair with Pirates.

7 votes

5/27 - Big Z does his best Lou impression (it'll be called Gatorade Z-Factor now) and Cubs beat Pirates 5 to 2.

11 votes

5/29 - Cubs win a close one 2 to 1 vs Dodgers.

3 votes

5/30 - Dempster is solid, Reed hits a bomb and Cubs beat LA 7 to 0.

12 votes

75 votes | Poll has closed

cubs bobbleheads

#1 iowan cubs fan — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:18:21 -0000

Last tuesday I got my Ernie Banks bobblehead doll and it was beautiful. I think those commemorative giveaways at wrigley are the best giveaways. The bobbleheads this year are Cubs legends from their MVP years. I am disapointed that there's no Ron Santo bobblehead (or Greg Maddux hence the last of the retired Cub jersey). It's probably because Santo was never the MVP.

I was thinking, next year they should giveaway Cubs broadcasters bobbleheads to make up for the absence of a Ron Santo bobblehead doll for this year. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a harry caray bobblehead in the mold of him singing the seventh inning stretch? Or Jack Brickhouse with the hey hey literature at the base of the bobblehead. Think about it, Ron Santo with a mohawk bobblehead, Pat Hughes, Len Casper, or Bob Brenly.

Maybe our sportsnation can persuade the people that schedule the promotions every year at Wrigley Field to give out Cubs broadcasters past and present (now that I say past I realized I forgot Chip Caray and Steve Stone or for that case Wayne Larrivee) bobblehead dolls. What do you think?

Poll

Which Cubs broadcaster bobblehead would you be most excited to get?

Chip Caray

1 votes

Steve Stone

5 votes

Harry Caray

44 votes

Wayne Larrivee (really, you would?)

2 votes

Jack Brickhouse

14 votes

Ron Santo

29 votes

Pat Hughes

7 votes

Len Casper

1 votes

Bob Brenly

4 votes

107 votes | Poll has closed

Top 5 Cubs Games of April '09

#1 iowan cubs fan — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:17:18 -0000

Which game stands out to you the most? Was it Soriano's game winning homer in Milwaukee? Or was it Reed Johnson's "The Catch II" to sit Prince Fielder down? Was it Ted Lilly's second 1-hit masterpiece on opening day? Did Alfonso Soriano's go-ahead homer vs. the Cardinals win you over? Or was it Aramis Ramirez hitting the walk-off shot the next day do it. Or was it something else???

Choose wisely and leave comments please.

Poll

What is your favorite Cubs game from April?

Saturday 11: 6 to 5 win at Milwaukee

15 votes

Sunday 12: 8 to 5 win at Milwaukee

11 votes

Monday 13: 4 to 0 win on home opener

6 votes

Friday 17: 8 to 7 win vs. Cardinals

10 votes

Saturday 18: 7 to 5 win vs. Cardinals

26 votes

Another game mentioned in the comments.

3 votes

71 votes | Poll has closed

A video montage of the Chicago Cubs in the 2008 season played along with Def Leppard's Animal. I...

#1 iowan cubs fan — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:40:38 -0000

A video montage of the Chicago Cubs in the 2008
season played along with Def Leppard's Animal. I chose
Animal because it's my favorite song of all time. The song also has an uplifting effect, going to Wrigley Field
has an uplifting effect.
The video and the editing isn't the best but I still put it together just the way I wanted to.

The theme of this video isn't highlighting the top plays and games from 2008, it highlights the moms and dads
spending a day or night at Wrigley with their sons and daughters. It also highlights of the usual activity
that occurs in and around the ballpark before, during, and after the game. Altogether the video enshrines
the experience fans get from the ballpark. Enshrining the experience of buying a program, the foam finger,
the food, the Harry Caray statue, the promotional event handed out at the gate, watching batting practice, finding your seat seeing the Cubs win, so on and so forth. Tell me what you think!

forgive Bartman, win playoff games?

#1 iowan cubs fan — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:17:36 -0000

I was just watching last year's NLDS game 2 to remind myself of what the Cubs are trying to avoid doing again, if you know what I mean. There was a play during the 6th inning where I think it was Blake DeWitt hit a pop fly down the left field line which bounced bounced off the crushed brick before Soriano could field it, and the ball bounced out of play, right into the infamous area known as the Bartman area of the seats.

I attended this game and when that play happened, I heard someone blurt out the phrase "Bartman!!" Can't some people just forgive and forget? I have. But have you? My point is, the Cubs have lost nine straight playoff games, eight straight since the Bartman incident. But it seems like every one of those last eight losses have been a one sided affair. There's a trend in all these loses, Cubs shutdown, the opponent scores a bunch of unanswered runs, and it's de-ja-vu agony all over again for the Cubs.

I try not to be supersticious (if I spelled that right) but then again, I'm a Cubs fan and I want to see the Cubs win in the playoffs just as much as the next Cubs fan. Maybe, if Cubs nation as a whole could do something "spiritual" ...if you will, to forgive Bartman (blowing up the Bartman ball and then serving it as cuisine didn't work), maybe that will put a positive spin on the Cubs in the playoffs, maybe not, but what have we got to lose?

Think about it now..... any thoughts, comments? Agree, disagree? Hopefully I won't have to be defending myself from nasty hateful comments but who cares, I do all I can to treat people the way I want to be treated, expect the same in return but oh well, bash away.

Poll

Have YOU forgiven Bartman? A simple "yes" or "no" will do.

yes

119 votes

no

27 votes

146 votes | Poll has closed