Len & Bob's baseball blog

It was a game in St. Louis in 1984, even before the Sandberg game. Leon Durham stole home and the Cubs won a close one. I think we went into first place - that really kicked off a greatest Cubs summer of my life.

Game 5 of the 1908 World Series.

Cubs 2
Tigers 0

CUBS WIN!! CUBS WIN!!!

other than the next game...i was at the game where sammy sosa tied and broke maris's record after mark mcgwire...and in extra innings mark grace hit a walk off homerun...the promotion for that day was the gracie beanie baby... and everybody in the bleachers threw thier gracie beanie babies onto the field

The best win for me was in 1988 at eight years old being at Wrigley with my Grandparents and the cubs won

my favorite cubs game was when mark prior beat greg maddux at Wrigley Field in the 2003 playoffs. i was with my dad and never heard a stadium rock so hard.

I was in the hospital starting to go into labor to have our twins. While we waited we watched the Cubs win on June 10, 2004!

August 2nd, 1997 Ryne Sandberg announced his retirement that morning. My Girlfriend and I flew to Chicago to surprise her for the game. Ryne was my all time favorite Cub. I proposed to my Girlfriend that day and we are still happily married 10 years later. btw, my first son's name (Ryan) (close enough)... Go Cubs!!!

My favorite is the only game that I have been fortunate enough to attend. It was in 2006 (not the greatest year for the Cubs obviously), but it was a Cardinals game at Wrigley in late July, and it was Greg Maddux's last win as a Cub. It was a 4-2 win, and Maddux was traded before his next start. There were other games that meant more to the Cubs, but it is a day that I will never forget (and a hot dog that will live in my memory forever)!!

I'm going to have to go with the Milwaukee game on June 29 last summer. A friend of mine and her daughter had died in a car accident the week before and the funeral was on June 28. I'd taken the 29th off to just stay home and relax and watch the Cubs, who looked like they were going to blow it, spotting the Brewers 5 runs.

But when Aramis came up in the 9th and we'd gotten to Cordero, I felt something was going to be different, that this could happen. Len's call on that home run made me cry and smile and feel happy for the first time in awhile. I still have it saved on my DVR.

So, personally? That was it no question. It's just a byproduct that that was the game that got us rolling last year.

Go Cubbies!

i was a watching the cubs game in my front room and my favorite player was up, Eric Karros, always coming through in the rights times... and he hit a three run home run over the left field wall taking Clemens out of the game along with his hopes of a 300th win.

For me it was Opening Day, 1969. I was in 8th grade. My brother was home from college and he asked my Mom is she and I would like to go to opening day with he and his best friend. It was kind of odd that he would ask that, but he did, and my mom took me out of school to go. Of course, Willie Smith hit that great home run to win the game in the 13th inning. But more importantly, my brother went back to college and was killed in a car accident a few weeks later. Now it is such a precious memory for me. Mary Bryant

Back in the 80's a game at Wrigley where the Cubs beat the Astros 22-14

Len I could not agree more that last season's win vs. Milwaukee was one of my top Cubs Victories. I hadn't even caught the first 8 1/2 innings, but I got back from work, and turned on the TV in the bottom of the 9th. I swear to you when Aramis connected, I jumped so high my head almost smashed the ceiling. A great memory I will never forget.

To me it was the double header win in 2003 to clinch the central.

I had just gotten out of the Marine Corps 2 weeks earlier and ended up going to Cin to watch a game and met Eddie Veder there. While talking with him about what I did in the Corps he gave me $100 to get a ticket for that gaem and met him in the Bleachers for that Saturday game and ended up watching the Cubs clinch.

In 2003 I was a junior playing baseball at Stetson University in Florida. One of my good friends on the team was from Atlanta and we drove up for game five of the NLDS against the Braves(the Cubs only playoff series win since 1945)and managed to sit in the Braves family section behind homeplate. We then drove back through the middle of the night in order to be back for practice the next morning.

Monday April 4th, 2005
Cubs @ Diamondbacks

Cubs Win 16-6.

Len and Bobs 1st regular season win together. Definately memorable!

The game that made me a die-hard Cubs fan was on August 1, 2002. The Cubs were losing 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth against the Padres and Trevor Hoffman was going for save 341 to tie Rollie Fingers. After the Padres put up a 5 spot in the top of the 8th I refused to leave and all of Wrigley was rewarded with a win when Alex Gonzalez hit a game winning 2 RBI double to blow the save for Hoffman and to prove that the Cubs never go down without a fight.

On August 19, 1969, Ken Holtzman pitched his first no-hitter at Wrigley Field. I was ten years old and my brother was 8. This was only the second Cubs game that either of us attended. We have attended hundreds of memorable games since then, but we still agree that this one was the most special.

For me, the biggest win i've ever seen the Cubs have is the 1998 cubs win in the one game playoff with the giants to decide who got the wild card. I was only 11 years old at the time and was at the game. Definitely the most memorable cubs experience for me to this point in my life. Truly an amazing game.

Last year's August 2nd game against the Phillies. Matt Murton scored on a 9th inning wild pitch by Brett Myers, and the Cubs won the game 5-4. I can replay the call as Len said it. "The Cubs win...The first place Cubs win!" That highlight gives me chills everytime I see it.

My most memorable game of the 100's I have attended in person was August 8, 1988 (8-8-88). I was a season ticket holder and this was the first night game ever at Wrigley field. Fours of us got a Limo and special t-shirts made to celebrate this great event. The only problem was that the game started on time but was RAINED OUT before it was an official game. As a season ticket holder, I was also at the game the following evening for the first officially completed night game. Arguements continue as to which day was the first night game. However the arguement ever ends, I don't care, I was at both games, hahaha !!!

Bob Sheler
South Bend, Indiana

April 16th 2003
Cubs 9 Reds 8
won of the hottest april days I can remember. the game time temp was 86 degrees. 8 Hr's were hit in the game with Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou going back to back in the Bottom of the ninth to win it. Dusty got Tossed and so did the Nachos I had in my hand. Right on to the warning track in center. Sorry about that grounds crew.....
go cubs!!!!

I'm only 20 and have been lucky enough to see a buzzer beater in the NCAA tourney and overtime wins in college football. But nothing compares to seeing Aramis Rameriz hitting the walk-off homerun against the Brewers last June. My brother's and I wanted to take our mom to her first game at Wrigley Field. We couldn't get tickets for that Saturday game (which was a brewer's blowout win) but it worked out for the better providing us a moment we wouldn't trade for the world. The atmosphere at that game was incredible. Can't wait to go to some games this summer. GO CUBS!!!

For me, the best moment and game was back in 2003. I was thirteen years old, and I went to the Cubs Central Division Clincher. I've been a cubs fan my whole life, but it wasn't until that game that I was a true cubs fan. Before that game, I had never really paid any attention to pennant races, so it was all new to me. I remember afterwards, my dad and I didn't leave the ballpark for a long time. At one point, a cub (I think it was Kyle Farnsworth) came up to celebrate with some of the remaining fans. It was one of the best games I have ever been to and I will always rememeber it.

The Sandberg game, no doubt about it. A great game by a great player that played the game right. My daughter Addison was born on May 23rd of last year. Just seemed to work out that way. Thanks for playing Ryne!

Houston at Cubs - Wrigley Pilgrimage 6/24/2004. After years of watching from CA, it was my first time to Wrigley. It was everything you could ask for...Loved it so much we now have a brick (paver) to commemorate our "Wrigley Baptism"

The first-ever Cubs/Sox interleague game at Wrigley in Spring 1998. It was a Friday 2:20 start, and my high school let out early that day (2:50) so my best friend and I ran to the El and got to our seats in the fourth inning.

Aside from being a special 'first' of a game, we also saw a classic contest. A Sox hit got stuck in the ivy to save a tie for the Cubs late in the game (everyone said the recently deceased Harry Caray's ghost held it in) and Brant Brown hit a dramatic 11th-inning walk-off homer.

This was a season that was already feeling special, and that ended in the Cubs' first playoff appearance in my memory. I'll never forget it.

I was at the Sandberg game. I was at the first night game. But for me, the biggest was Milt Pappas' no-hitter. I was about 12, and I kept running into the living room to give my family updates. Finally, we get to the bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, and a PERFECT GAME on the line. He works Larry Stahl 3-2 ... then walks him. So close. Soooo close.

My clearest memory is that Arne Harris didn't use the center field camera in the ninth inning -- I guess he didn't want anyone second guessing the umpires on any borderline pitches.

My most memorable Cubs victory was not due to the outstanding play on the field, but by my family who I attended the game with. I don't remember any particularly outstanding plays on the field but an opportunity to attend the game with my father and 4 brothers created memories I'm sure are mirrored by millions of Cub fans who have supported our favorites for 10,000 victories.

It would have be Kerry Wood's 20 k game. It was really special for me because at that time I was going through a lot of personal trials in my life and didn't feel like there was a lot of hope left. After that game it felt like there is always hope. Look how that year ended.

Oh by the way Len and Bob after that game I was standing down behind home plate and yelled up to you in the booth even. I'm sure you don't remember but thanks for acknowledging me...listening to you guys doing games is great. Keep up the great work.

The day was October 2 1984. NLCS game 1. My parents were in the hospital ready to have me. The doctors were gathered down the hall and my father looked out of the delivery room to see what the hold up was and heard, "Cubs win lets go have a baby!" The doctor came to the delivery room shortly after and I was born. Cubs won 13-0 over the Padres.

Wow, you guys call an awesome game. Being sick today sucks, but your making the day better. My my memory was October 5th, 1989. I was 11 and lived in Dixon, IL. My dad drove us to Wrigley for the playoff game against the Giants. I was a huge Cub fan and Mark Grace fan. Coming to Chicago was a huge treat and then Mark Grace having 3 hits and 4 RBI's was even bigger. What a great game that was. The Cub's posted 6 in the first and never looked back. I was sad they didn't win the series, but that day still reigns very special in my mind. 1989 was a great year, lets hope this year will be better.

Thanks Guys!!!

My father brought me to the very first night game, on August 8, 1988. Unfortunatley the game was rained out, but I fell in love with the Cubs right then and there. Also, I remember a Cubs player sliding across the tarp in the pouring rain. Do you know who that was? I have been trying to figure that out for years.

May favorite win was on the day I was born.June 3rd 1987 the cubs and astros combined to hit a 3 grandslam game in which the cubbies beat houston 22-7

The 10,000th win. Who else can say their team has 10,000 wins besides the Giants.

The 1998 play-in game against San Fran was without a doubt the most important game of the dismal 1990s, and my favorite, for the Cubs. It put the team on the map once again and led the team into the 2000s with some hope. Two words, one name...Gary Gaetti, enough said.

All Cubs wins are my favorite, but we should remember the greatest save by Rick Monday--I believe it was on April 25, 1976, when he ran away with the American flag.

Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game May 6, 1998. I had received 4 free tickets when working at a country club as a tip. The tix were 4 rows behind home plate and the scouts were behind us with the radar guns. Weather was a little overcast and it sprinkled, but it was the most dominant game by a pitcher I had ever personally seen. Amazing seats, amazing game, amazing experience.

As one of a very few Cubs fans in Olney (ALL-KNEE), Illinois - home of the white squirrels - any game where the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals is a favorite (until the next time)!

Len,

The most memorable game for my husband and I was last year's win against the Phillies on Mother's Day (May 13th). My husband's Mom had suddenly passed away just 11 weeks before Mother's Day and this was the first time that my husband couldn't call his Mom on this day. The entire Baldwin family, being from Danville, IL, are die-hard Cub fans. We watched this game on WGN and were so happy that the Cubs were able to pull out a win in the 9th...it brought a special comfort to my husband and that is the most memorable Cub game to me!

I was ten years old(summer of '77). It was my first Cubs game. I went with my Dad and my Little League team....It was a Saturday game and it was also a nationally Televised "Game of the Week."....The visiting team was the LA Dodgers and the pitcher that day was a very hot rookie pitcher named Fernando Valenzuela!....The Cubs knocked him out of the game around the 5th inning and went on to win!!....What a first Cubs game!!!

June 29, 2007 (my birthday) Aramis Ramirez hits a home run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game!! GO CUBS GO!

I'll have to say that the Cubs game that stands out the most to me was the game in May of 2003 (either the 18th or 19th) when Alex Gonzalez hit his second walk off homerun of the year. There is nothing I love more than watching the Cubs beat the Cardinals in dramatic fashion. I can't remember leaving Wrigley as happy as I did that day. I had an ear to ear smile plastered on my face for the entire "L" ride home.

Also, as a side note, a friend of mine was sitting with her family in the what was then the family section, where A-Gonz hit the drive. The ball bounced off the fence and broke my friend's dad's nose!

My favorite game would have to be Kerry Wood's strikeout game.

My first date with my husband was in the bleachers of Wrigley Field on Friday, April 23, 2004.

During the 8th inning I was sharing nachos with a guy behind us and he asked if my boyfriend minded that I was talking with him. I replied "he isn't my boyfriend, but if was smart he would be!"

The Cubs beat the Mets 3-1 Maddux struck out 8 in 7 innings and Alou hit a 2 run shot!

The rest is history. We were married last September.

Our groomsmen even bought us a brick outside of Wrigley Field:
"Worst Brick Yet
Matt and Michelle
Married 9/8/07"

It was the day after Memorial Day 2002. It was the only time I have ever been to Chicago and Wrigley(loved it). The Cubs were playing the Cards on a beautiful day. We were flying our of O'Hare late in the afternoon for home. The game was a great one, Sammie was in right, Puljos dropped a ball in left as those of us in the bleachers sarcastically chanted "MVP,MVP!" After which he was quickly moved to first. The game went into extra innings we had to leave in the 10th so we didn't miss our flight. We go to the airport and we were checking our bags. The Cubbies come to bat in the 12th and Sosa hits a two run shot to win the game. We were watching and celebrating with the skycaps at their shed. It was a great.

I was born in 1984 and have seen plenty of those Cubs highlights. What a year! The 10,000 win will hold special meaning since my son was born on this day (5:13 am). We brought him home an hour ago with only three minutes to spare before his first cubs game.
Go Cubs Lets get a W !!!

The most memorable game for me came in 1989, the first year that I was really interested in baseball. I was 12 and the Cubs were in contention for the National League East pennant. The Cubs were down 9 to 0 and the Cubs came back to win that game in dramatic fashion 10-9 in 10 innings. That is when my love affair started and I have remained in love ever since! Through good and bad, they will always be my heart. Keep up the good work Len & Bob!

Kerry Wood's record game for strike outs in May 1998. It made the whole game so exciting!

April 2, 1998 was a special win for me. I had just gotten to work in the early aternoon when my wife called and her water had broke. I went and got her and we got to the hospital in good shape. All of a sudden I had the whole day off and had to sit in a hospital room with a TV. Luckily, a Cubs game was just starting and it was one of the best games I have ever seen. If I remember correctly, the Cubs had a come from behind victory over the Florida Marlins. By the end of the game, my wife was quite heavily into labor but I kept one eye on the Cubbies, she's also a big fan so I kept her posted! My beautiful daughter was born a few hours later so it was just a great day all around!

1950..I was a 12 year old from NE Indiana seeing his first Cub game in the bleachers. My hero was Hank Sauer. Hank hit a home run that landed 10 feet from me. A Chicago local gave me the ball because he knew I was a Sauer fan. Wrigley will always be special to me....See Y'all in August.
Bob in Texas

Most memorable game has to be the 11-10 win in extra innings against Milwaukee in September 1998. Mark Grace hit a walk off homer to win it and Sosa hit homers 61 and 62.

Just Like BB Said my Fav. is the last win:o) Hello From LaSalle Illinois

On May 22nd 1990 Andre Dawson was intentionally walked 5 times by the Reds breaking the major league record. Happy to say I was there, Cubs won in 16 innings!

For me it would be May 11, 2000 when Glenallen Hill hit a homerun on the rooftop of the apartments across Waveland Ave. It was amazing to see a ball go that far and I believe the Cubs also won 6-5 against the Brewers.

Im 26 and have been going to Cubs games all my life. For me personally I can remember one game that hooked me and turned me into the fan I am today. It was about 10yrs ago and was a night game. The Cubs were down late in the game when Sosa came up and hit a HR. The stadium went nuts. The Bleacher Bums covered the warning track with garbage forcing the umps to pause the game while the ground crew cleaned the field. The very next batter was Herny Rodriguez and of course Back to Back Jacks. The Bums covered the warning track with Oh Henry bars. I have never seen fans so electric, Wrigley was rockin. Over the years players and coaches have changed but the fans and the stadium will always keep the organization strong.

Drew

Since you mentioned it -- I would have to say it 'was' the 'one game playoff' in '98. The big home-run race between Macguire and Sosa Made that year special enough, but personally -- I raced up to Wrigley Field from Berwyn to take part in the celebration after that game which the late Rod Beck closed. I parked my '82 Impala along side the ballpark on Waveland, bought a pennant, and after being turned down by Trachsel and Morandini, had it autographed by Terry Mullholland. I was upset to watch them lose straight games to Atlanta afterwards, but making the playoffs at all that year was a nice tribute to Harry Carey --who made me the devoted Cubs fan I am today.

My now wife, then girlfriend and I were able to get standing room only tickets to the 1998 game when Sammy Sosa tied Roger Maris' single season home run record and then broke it. My wife was hungry so I walked down into the tunnel to buy her a Hebrew National. As I was in line I heard a roar and realized that I had just missed Sammy's 61st tying the record. At that point I thought the relationship was over, but luckily for us and our two kids, Sammy broke the record later on in the game with his second home run of the day, thus saving our relationship. We've been going to Wrigley together ever since and just took my four year old, Jack, to his first game last year.

Been a life-long fan, but the wildcats game was a great memory.

The champagne being shot into the bleachers by the players. What a great thing for the players to share their moment with the fans that love them by coming back out to the field.

Hail, Gary Gaetti!!

July 30th, 2006.

In row 1 to watch the Cubs sweep the Cards in 4 games for the first time since 1972, most exciting Wrigley experience of my life.

August 8th, 1988 was the day that I was born and also the first night game played at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were ahead of the Phillies 3-1 before the game was called for rain.

GO CUBS!!!

June 29, 2007 was the night of my now husband and my rehearsal dinner for our wedding. We didn't get to see the game, but when we got back to the hotel, we turned on ESPN so we could see the highlights (we knew the cubs won) and saw Ramirez hit the two-out, two-run homer in the 9th, or the highlight of it anyway to give the Cubs the win. That's probably the most memorable and greatest win for us. It was the last thing we got to do together before being separated for our wedding day activities.

April 18, 2008 - our 50th wedding anniversary. Cubs beat the Pirates 3-2. It was our first visit to Wrigley! It was a great day!!
Bill and Sarah Stone
Saulsbury, Tn.

It was September 2nd of the brutal 2003 season(we all know how that ended). I skipped school and football practice to go to my first Cubs game. In the heat of a division race, the northsiders had to play the red birds in a doubleheader. I was there to watch the first leg which went 15 innings and ended with a Sosa 2-run walk off blast over the left field bleachers. The Wrigley faithful were going insane. I have been hooked ever since.

It was the last game of the season in 1998 and I was watching on WGN. Immediately after the cubs lost I turned the channel and saw a ball in flight that looked like it had a chance to leave the park. Rockies defeated the Giants with a walk off home run that sent the cubs to a one game playoff with the Giants. Right then my parents and I decided to drive to Chicago from Peru, Indiana to see the one game playoff. It turned out to be the loudest and most exciting game Ive ever been to. Cubs win! and then get swept by the braves in four. I went with my parents, Ed and MaryJo Holdren (lifetime cub fans) Im watching the game now with my one year old son Brayden. (Born a Cubs fan!)

To me, the biggest Cub victory of all time was a 7-6 win over the Cardinals on April 22,1950. That was the win that made me a Cub fan at the age of nine. The importance of the win: it gave the Cubs a 3-0 season record. They were then rained out for six straight days, leaving them in first place for another week and convincing an impressionable kid that they had championship caliber. Of course, the rains stopped eventually and the Cubs began a slide that landed then in seventh place. But it was already too late!

The 6-0 comeback vs. the Cardinals in that 5-game series in September 2003. I still remember it like it was yesterday:

Edmonds jacks a salami in the top of the 5th, Cards up 6-0, I rip off my Cubs shirt and burn it.

Bottom of the 6th, Sosa doubles, Alou singles him in, Ramirez goes yard, now 6-3

Top of the 7th, Cards get a run, now up 7-3

Ditka sings the stretch, bottom of the 7th, Sosa singles, Alou goes yard, Gonzo goes yard, it's now 7-6

Bottom 8, Womack singles, Lofton sacrifices him to 2nd, The G-Man triples him in to tie it. After Sosa fails to drive him in, Alou singles him in, Cubs lead 8-7.

Borowski closes it out in the 9th, Cubs win 8-7. Best game I ever saw

Listening to the radio broadcast of the opening ceremonies for the first night game was truly memorable. I was eleven and sitting in the backseat of the family station wagon waiting in the Fannie Mae parking lot at the Mt Prospect train station for my dad to come home from work. We listened to a lot of Cubs games as a family, but I still remember the ceremonial countdown and switching on of lights that evening coming through the car radio.

Len: I became a Cubs fan in 1971. My sister turned on the t.v. to find something to watch. She turned on a Cubs' game and fell in love with Joe Pepitone. She was 11. I fell in love with Ron Santo. I was 16. We spend many summer days at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, I haven't been back since 1979, when I moved away from home. But I watched as many games that I could over the years. I have even watched the Cubs a few times in Spring training here in Arizona.
Go Cubs!

The most important Cubs' game to me was my first. I remember my dad let me take the day off school when i was six to go to a day game in 1998. Steve Trachsel pitched, and the air show was going on. The Blue Angels flew over the stadium several times shaking the whole park. Trachsel lost his composure and got rocked...the Cubbies lost, but it was still the best game of my life. I have been a die hard fan ever since.