What are your favorite unobvious Cub moments?

[rok]

I was at the game a couple seasons ago in late September where Z blanked the Pirates to get us closer to clinching the playoffs, when all of a sudden the entire crowd started tomahawk chopping and celebrating while the Braves beat up on the Brewers. We did this for several innings, every time the score was updated. I was sitting in the bleachers and it was awesome. One of the best game experiences ever. Something I'll never forget.

[bz]

<!--quoteo(post=24000:date=Mar 19 2009, 02:16 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Mar 19 2009, 02:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I was at the game a couple seasons ago in late September where Z blanked the Pirates to get us closer to clinching the playoffs, when all of a sudden the entire crowd started tomahawk chopping and celebrating while the Braves beat up on the Brewers. We did this for several innings, every time the score was updated. I was sitting in the bleachers and it was awesome. One of the best game experiences ever. Something I'll never forget.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I was at the game, perhaps with pcb. I remember doing that gay Braves chant and chopping my arm like a tomahawk. It was totally awesome. I was in the bleachers that game.

[Coldneck]

<!--quoteo(post=23878:date=Mar 18 2009, 05:33 PM:name=Jody)-->QUOTE (Jody @ Mar 18 2009, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I was at the Cub Cardinal game in St Louis when Neifi hit that grand slam in extra's. That one will always stick with me.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I was there for that to. A line drive down the RF line that barely made it over the fence.

[Coldneck]

I was at the first game after 9/11. Sammy hit a home run and grabbed an American Flag from first base coach Billy Williams and held it in the air as he rounded the bases. The entire crowd chanted USA. That was a special moment and I still remember it clearly to this day. I think we were playing the Astros.

[Andy]

Oh yeah. I was also at the Zambrano no-no in Milwaukee. That was cool.

[Coldneck]

<!--quoteo(post=24005:date=Mar 19 2009, 07:52 AM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Mar 19 2009, 07:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Oh yeah. I was also at the Zambrano no-no in Milwaukee. That was cool.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

No you weren't. You're making that up. Phan wasn't there either.

[Andy]

<!--quoteo(post=24006:date=Mar 19 2009, 06:53 AM:name=Coldneck)-->QUOTE (Coldneck @ Mar 19 2009, 06:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=24005:date=Mar 19 2009, 07:52 AM:name=Andy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Andy @ Mar 19 2009, 07:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Oh yeah. I was also at the Zambrano no-no in Milwaukee. That was cool.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

No you weren't. You're making that up. Phan wasn't there either.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Runnys either. Figment of our imagination.

[veryzer]

i was at the tuffy rhodes three home run game. john franco threw a ball to my wife. i tried to push her out of the way to catch it myself, but the throw was to far to her left. she caught it though and i could swear that they made eye contact.

[Tailgater]

<!--quoteo(post=24005:date=Mar 19 2009, 06:52 AM:name=Andy)-->QUOTE (Andy @ Mar 19 2009, 06:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Oh yeah. I was also at the Zambrano no-no in Milwaukee. That was cool.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

My brother in law called me that morning with tickets to that game but since it is so difficult to enjoy a game with our youngest daughter, and the fact that I had been to a few games already I declined the ticket to stay home with the little one. My wife and oldest daughter made the trip up north instead. Talk about regrets.

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

<!--quoteo(post=23837:date=Mar 18 2009, 03:15 PM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Mar 18 2009, 03:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->anyone remember candy maldonado trying to leg out an inside the park home run on one leg? he literally fell on his face a good 10 to 15 short of home and was tagged out easily.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This may merely be apocryphal, but friends and mine and I have for years impersonated Harry Caray saying with ginormous incredulity, "Candy Maldonado? Where'd they get this guy?" in regards to another Moldonado-dropped fly ball. My friend swears he heard Harry say it. Does anyone remember this?

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

The game that probably means more to me than most Cub fans was this Cubs/Reds game from 1979. I was about a week out from turning seven years old, and I was downstairs, by myself, up "late," glued to a game where the Cubs were getting mauled through six (7-0). I remember watching it in my yet-unspoiled naivete of young Cub fandom, believing they were still in the game. My faith was rewarded as the offense put together 10 runs over the last three innings, eventually winning 10-8.

What really made the game special was that after each half-inning, I ran upstairs to the front porch, where my dad was sitting and "chewing the fat" (I remember him using this term and me being awfully confused by it) with our next-door neighbor, and I would deliver an update. I remember my dad being amused by my courier work at first, but when the game got close, he was genuinely interested in my enthusiastic bulletins.

It's interesting to go back and check out the box score on Baseball Reference for this game now; according to the Win Probability Added stat they give, the Cubs had less than a 1% chance (it's listed as 0%) to win the game when they scored their first run with two outs in the 7th. It was truly a helluva comeback, made all the sweeter because I got to perform the important job of delivering the increasingly good news to my dad every half-inning.

The Cubs were 9 games over .500 after their victory, and would be 13 games up and trailing eventual World Champs Pittsburgh by only 4 games on August 20th. Naturally, they went 13-28 the rest of the way (including a 9-22 September--remember doubleheaders?) to finish below .500 and deliver me the first in a long serious of disappointments.

But there's always <i>this</i> year.

[Tailgater]

I always remember watching a game on tv in my younger days against Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell was at the plate and I want to say Sutcliffe was pitching (can that be right?). Anyway, the pitch came WAY inside and high, Stargell ducked down from his crouch to have the ball hit off his bat and go sailing into the stands behind him. The funny thing was, from the angle of the camera and pitcher you couldn't see the bat and the ball looked like it hit him square in the ass and rocketed out of site. Sutcliffe started cracking up on the mound...he walked a fewe steps towards the plate to let Willie know what it looked like, and he started laughing too. It was so good that Sut had to step of the rubber to compose himself and just when he did, Stargell had to step out of the box. As good as the whole scene was, it was even better that Harry was calling the game, and he pretty much lost it too.


EDIT: I'm looking into this more, just realized it couldn't have been Sutcliffe.

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

<!--quoteo(post=23814:date=Mar 18 2009, 01:56 PM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Mar 18 2009, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->heres one off the top of my head:

in 1984 pete rose, then playing for the expos, hit a line shot up the middle in the ninth inning of a game that would have brought the expos back and given them the lead. but the shot hit lee smith on his ample ass and ricocheted into the air. shortstop dave owen caught it on the fly and doubled off the runner on first to preserve the victory and give big lee a most dubious of saves.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I remember this well. I refused to deliver my paper route (<i>The Hammond Times</i> was an afternoon paper) until the game ended. I was sweating the odds of at least the tying run on second coming in to score.

That makes two moments of Cub lore that Dave Owen contributed to.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=24037:date=Mar 19 2009, 10:52 AM:name=Tailgater)-->QUOTE (Tailgater @ Mar 19 2009, 10:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I always remember watching a game on tv in my younger days against Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell was at the plate and I want to say Sutcliffe was pitching (can that be right?). Anyway, the pitch came WAY inside and high, Stargell ducked down from his crouch to have the ball hit off his bat and go sailing into the stands behind him. The funny thing was, from the angle of the camera and pitcher you couldn't see the bat and the ball looked like it hit him square in the ass and rocketed out of site. Sutcliffe started cracking up on the mound...he walked a fewe steps towards the plate to let Willie know what it looked like, and he started laughing too. It was so good that Sut had to step of the rubber to compose himself and just when he did, Stargell had to step out of the box. As good as the whole scene was, it was even better that Harry was calling the game, and he pretty much lost it too.


EDIT: I'm looking into this more, just realized it couldn't have been Sutcliffe.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


i didn't see your edit at first, but yeah, it couldn't have been sutcliffe.

shawon dunston, one of my all time favorite players, made an unbelievable basket catch on a fairly deep pop up to left against the mets. he doubled off the runner at first to seal the victory against the mets in 1989. i'll never forget the way he pumped his fist. most people do it in an upward motion or a stright ahead motion, but he did it downward. years later i made a diving catch in leftfield for my softball team and when i jumped up, i pumped my fist in the exact same way.

[ruby23]

<!--quoteo(post=24056:date=Mar 19 2009, 12:43 PM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Mar 19 2009, 12:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=24037:date=Mar 19 2009, 10:52 AM:name=Tailgater)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tailgater @ Mar 19 2009, 10:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I always remember watching a game on tv in my younger days against Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell was at the plate and I want to say Sutcliffe was pitching (can that be right?). Anyway, the pitch came WAY inside and high, Stargell ducked down from his crouch to have the ball hit off his bat and go sailing into the stands behind him. The funny thing was, from the angle of the camera and pitcher you couldn't see the bat and the ball looked like it hit him square in the ass and rocketed out of site. Sutcliffe started cracking up on the mound...he walked a fewe steps towards the plate to let Willie know what it looked like, and he started laughing too. It was so good that Sut had to step of the rubber to compose himself and just when he did, Stargell had to step out of the box. As good as the whole scene was, it was even better that Harry was calling the game, and he pretty much lost it too.


EDIT: I'm looking into this more, just realized it couldn't have been Sutcliffe.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


i didn't see your edit at first, but yeah, it couldn't have been sutcliffe.

shawon dunston, one of my all time favorite players, made an unbelievable basket catch on a fairly deep pop up to left against the mets. he doubled off the runner at first to seal the victory against the mets in 1989. i'll never forget the way he pumped his fist. most people do it in an upward motion or a stright ahead motion, but he did it downward. years later i made a diving catch in leftfield for my softball team and when i jumped up, i pumped my fist in the exact same way.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A dive? Maybe a flop or a stumble, I just can't see you executing a dive, maybe you tripped?