The two oldest and two most iconic ballparks in the National League will be on display during the 2016 National League Championship Series, beginning with the Chicago Cubs hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 on Saturday night at Wrigley Field.
The NLCS will be televised by Fox Sports 1, with Joe Buck on play-by-play for the 8:08 p.m. ET start in Game 1, alongside analyst John Smoltz and reporter Ken Rosenthal.
Wrigley Field opened way back in 1914, and is currently in its 103rd year of existence. The Cubs’ World Series drought dates back even farther, them having last won it all in 1908, but this year’s version seem intent on ending that.
The 103-win Cubs won the NL Central going away, then dispatched the San Francisco Giants in four games in the NLDS. Manager Joe Maddon is back in the NLCS for a second straight season in his second year with the team, and is aware of the drought.
“I would not want to go into a season having zero expectations and zero pressure applied to you because you're going to finish fourth or fifth in a division. I mean, that's a bad way to live,” Maddon said during his press conference on Friday. “So, I wanted our guys to understand that those words are going to be applied to us on an annual basis and you need to embrace them. That was the embrace the target concept.”
The Dodgers won the NL West with a 91-71 record, and beat the Washington Nationals in a thrilling five-game NLDS. The middle three games of the NLCS, if necessary, will be played at Dodger Stadium, which was opened in 1962.
Jon Lester starts for the Cubs in the series opener, just as he did in the NLDS against San Francisco. Kenta Maeda will start on Saturday night for the Dodgers.
NLCS Game 1 info
When: 8:08 p.m. ET
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago
TV: Fox Sports 1
Streaming: Fox Sports Go app or Postseason.tv
Radio: ESPN Radio