Column: Reminders of past W’s help fuel the Chicago Cubs in a ‘special’ season

The Chicago Cubs got used to clinching parties in the mid-2010s, and liked it so much they turned their new clubhouse into a pseudo nightclub so they could celebrate after regular-season wins.

But when the spigot of W’s got turned off, the music stopped, the lights were turned down and the golden era of Cubs baseball ended.

By Cubs’ standards, an eight-year drought between postseason wins is nothing, especially when compared with the 38-year drought that ended in the 1984 playoffs.

But for Cubs Chairman Tom RIcketts and President Jed Hoyer, Thursday’s wild-card series clincher over the San Diego Padres brought back some great memories.

“You were there, man,” Ricketts said. “This is like ’16 in terms of the energy of the crowd. The fans are back into it, they’re cheering, they’re standing and doing everything they can to support the team. On Tuesday, I felt like 39,000 people were protecting a one-run lead together, and tonight was a lot of that too.”

Hoyer won two rings in Boston and, of course, the 2016 ring as Cubs general manager. But he agreed that this one was special to him as the main architect of the 2025 team.

“It is for sure,” he said. “It’s important for Chicago, and for the Cubs obviously. In ’18 and ’20 we didn’t have good performances in the postseason. We scored four runs in four games (including Game 163 in 2018). We didn’t score a lot more than that in this series, but our pitching was really good and our defense was great. It’s awesome to be able to do that. It’s been too long.”

Almost all the players on the 2025 teams are relative newbies aside from Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner, and they remain the bridge from the Rizzo era to the modern Cubs. Whether this team is as talented as those years is irrelevant.

All that matters is how they get the win.

“We’re not perfect, no team is,” Hoerner said. “A lot of things didn’t go perfect today, but we scored enough runs to win the game and just continue to get 27 outs and play great defense. A special win.”

Column: Reminders of past W’s help fuel the Chicago Cubs in a ‘special’ season — Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong runs into place as the Cubs pose after their victory in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series against the Padres on Oct. 2, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

What made this team special?

“I think they have a good mix of guys, from the young guys that are just learning to the guys in their prime who are teaching the younger guys,” Ricketts said. “It’s a really great blend, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been so confident all year long.

“We had a five-game losing streak in September after we clinched, but other than that, we were very steady and consistent. Never got in too deep of a funk. Never got in big runs either, but that’s all part of making the team win. I give Jed credit for that and obviously Counsell and all the coaches that had everyone on the same page.”

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The bullpen crew seemingly was from the land of misfit toys, but they all did their part to make it a collective, even in the wild ending of Game 3. The defense was solid all season as well and stepped up at the end to get the Cubs into the National League Division Series, including the grounder from Jake Cronenworth that Matt Shaw scooped up and made a bullet throw to first.

“A bunch of amazing plays,” Hoyer said. “Matt Shaw’s play in the ninth, a sneaky but unbelievable play. He double clutched but he got him. Those are hard plays. I think the defense was the key to the series. It showed up. Craig said before the series that runs would be at a premium with their bullpen, and our run prevention was amazing.”

Cubs fans also played a part, getting involved in every pitch and getting the players to feel the energy.

“Being able to feed off the crowd and turn around every day for 81 days and actually see people’s faces and see what they’re feeling and hear what they’re saying, I really do believe I have a relationship with every single one of them,” Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “So it was only right that I shared that with them.”

Now it’s on to Milwaukee, where Brewers fans have spent years trying to think of ways to keep Cubs fans out of Miller Park, which is now called American Family Field. But Cubs fans will be buying tickets online and making the trip to try to turn it into Wrigley North.

Counsell knows the Brewers feel like this is their year, and knocking off the Cubs would be a perfect scenario in their journey.

“They’re going to be fired up,” Counsell said. “They’ve had the best team in baseball this year. They feel like they have a chance to play in the World Series with this team. So they’re rested.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s Cubs-Brewers. That’s going to be as good as it gets. It’s always a great atmosphere when the two teams play each other. We’ll try to get as many Cubs fans in there as we can. They won’t like that, but it’s going to be a fun atmosphere, I know that.”