{"id":102477,"date":"2025-10-03T23:28:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T23:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102477"},"modified":"2025-10-03T23:28:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T23:28:19","slug":"column-reminders-of-past-ws-help-fuel-the-chicago-cubs-in-a-special-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102477","title":{"rendered":"Column: Reminders of past W\u2019s help fuel the Chicago Cubs in a \u2018special\u2019 season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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.<\/p>\n

But when the spigot of W\u2019s got turned off, the music stopped, the lights were turned down and the golden era of Cubs baseball ended.<\/p>\n

By Cubs\u2019 standards, an eight-year drought between postseason wins is nothing, especially when compared with the 38-year drought that ended in the 1984 playoffs.<\/p>\n

But for Cubs Chairman Tom RIcketts and President Jed Hoyer, Thursday\u2019s wild-card series clincher over the San Diego Padres brought back some great memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were there, man,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cThis is like \u201916 in terms of the energy of the crowd. The fans are back into it, they\u2019re cheering, they\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for Chicago, and for the Cubs obviously. In \u201918 and \u201920 we didn\u2019t have good performances in the postseason. We scored four runs in four games (including Game 163 in 2018). We didn\u2019t score a lot more than that in this series, but our pitching was really good and our defense was great. It\u2019s awesome to be able to do that. It\u2019s been too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

All that matters is how they get the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not perfect, no team is,\u201d Hoerner said. \u201cA lot of things didn\u2019t go perfect today, but we scored enough runs to win the game and just continue to get 27 outs and play great defense. A\u00a0 special win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Column:
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)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What made this team special?<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really great blend, and I think that\u2019s one of the reasons we\u2019ve been so confident all year long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Column: Chicago Cubs survive tense elimination game, clearing their 1st playoff obstacle with flying colors<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bunch of amazing plays,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cMatt Shaw\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Column:
Cubs President Jed Hoyer celebrates on the field after the Game 3 win over the Padres in the NL wild-card series on Oct. 2, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cubs fans also played a part, getting involved in every pitch and getting the players to feel the energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to feed off the crowd and turn around every day for 81 days and actually see people\u2019s faces and see what they\u2019re feeling and hear what they\u2019re saying, I really do believe I have a relationship with every single one of them,\u201d Pete Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cSo it was only right that I shared that with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Counsell knows the Brewers feel like this is their year, and knocking off the Cubs would be a perfect scenario in their journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be fired up,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThey\u2019ve 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\u2019re rested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great atmosphere. It\u2019s Cubs-Brewers. That\u2019s going to be as good as it gets. It\u2019s always a great atmosphere when the two teams play each other. We\u2019ll try to get as many Cubs fans in there as we can. They won\u2019t like that, but it\u2019s going to be a fun atmosphere, I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

NL Division Series: Cubs vs. Brewers<\/h4>\n

Best-of-five | All games on TBS<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Game 1:<\/strong> 1:08 p.m. Saturday at Brewers<\/li>\n
  • Game 2:<\/strong> 8:08 p.m. Monday at Brewers<\/li>\n
  • Game 3:<\/strong> Wednesday at Wrigley Field<\/li>\n
  • Game 4:<\/strong> Thursday at Wrigley Field<\/li>\n
  • Game 5:<\/strong> Oct. 11 at Brewers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Games 4-5 if necessary; times for Games 3-5 to be determined<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Chicago Cubs ended a seven-year drought since their last postseason series victory, and it felt like old times at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":102478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[282,823,624,1600,66,1086,1168],"class_list":["post-102477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-michael-busch","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-wrigley-field"],"yoast_head":"\nColumn: Reminders of past W\u2019s help fuel the Chicago Cubs in a \u2018special\u2019 season - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102477\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Column: Reminders of past W\u2019s help fuel the Chicago Cubs in a \u2018special\u2019 season - 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