Most Memorable Cubs Games You've Attended

[David]

Got this idea from the discussion going on in the top 108 moments thread.

 

Trying to come up with any that are remotely noteworthy.

 

1998 - Sunday, September 13, 1998 vs. Brewers

 

Went to this game with my dad when I was 15. Sammy hit 61 and 62. Grace hit a walkoff.

 

2002 - Wednesday, May 22, 2002 vs. Pirates

 

Mark Prior's debut, and he did OK. 6 innings, 2 ER, 10K, 2BB. Second best seats I've had to any Cubs game. Lloyd McClendon was salty afterwards.

 

2003 - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 vs. Cardinals Game 2

 

2nd game of the double header. The only game in this series they lost. They were robbed by a bad fair/foul call on what would've been a big double down the LF line by Alou.

 

2003 - Wednesday, September 3, 2003 vs. Cardinals

 

I'm going to go ahead and admit that I left this one early. Walked out literally the second JD Drew hit a grand slam to put the Cards up 6-0. Heard the insane comeback on the radio and saw the very end on my TV. Still kicking myself, but as you'll see later, I apparently didn't learn my lesson.

 

2003 - Wednesday, September 24, 2003 vs. Reds

 

The Sean Estes game. Decided the night before and drove out after class in the morning with a buddy. Almost decided not to when I realized Estes was starting. Drove back the same night in a crazy ass downpour and had about 2 hours to put a speech together for class and delivered it at 8 AM.

 

2003 - Sunday, October 5, 2003 @ Braves

 

Cubs first postseason series win in 8 million years. One of my favorite memories as a Cubs fan. Drove down with my parents and stayed at my aunt's house in Atlanta. Went with my dad and cousin. Just a really cool night and a memory I'll always cherish.

 

I remember being so conflicted at what to root for on Saturday during the drive. I just wanted a series win, but I badly wanted to attend a deciding game, too.

 

2007 - Saturday, October 6, 2007 vs. Diamondbacks

 

I guess I'm just including postseason games by default, but BLECH. horsefeathering Chris Young happened before I finished getting my ass in my seat.

 

2008 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 @ Brewers

 

Basically, I'm including this because it was when we took control of the division and completed this awesome sweep. It also happened to be one of Edmonds's 2 HR games, of which I believe I was at every one.

 

2008 - Thursday, September 18, 2008 vs. Brewers

 

Remember when I said I didn't learn my lesson? Yeah. Well. About that. Cubs were down 6 to 2 with 1 out in the 9th. Me and my buddy decided to run out early to beat the crowd to the train. Almost immediately hear a huge roar from the crowd...then another a little later when Geovany Soto hits a 2 run game tying HR. Watched the extra innings from my couch.

 

2015 - Friday, April 17, 2015 vs. Padres

 

The Kris Bryant debut. Played hooky from work. It was not pretty, but things turned out OK.

 

2015 - Friday, May 15, 2015 vs. Pirates

 

The Polanco game. Pretty much all that needs to be said.

 

2015 - Monday, October 12, 2015 vs. Cardinals

 

Pure dongeriffic glory in this game, even though the lasting memories of this series would come the next day (I was not there).

 

2016 - Friday, October 7, 2016 vs. Giants

 

Javy and Jon took care of business. I still don't know how that was only a basket shot.

 

2016 - Saturday, October 22, 2016 vs. Dodgers

 

Favorite game I've ever attended. Pounced on Kershaw and easily clinched the NL Championship.

 

2016 - Sunday, October 30, 2016 vs. Indians

 

Ridiculously nervous. Chapman was lights out. Hope was back alive.

[Banedon]

I was at the game where Bill Mueller destroyed his knee.

 

My brother was at Kerry Wood's 20k game.

[David]

I was at the game where Bill Mueller destroyed his knee.

 

My brother was at Kerry Wood's 20k game.

 

so was everybody, amirite?

 

jk, but yeah i was at school. i remember coming home and having my dad flip on the tv for literally the final pitch.

[Brian707]

My first game ever, I was 6 years old Jody Davis hit a grand slam off the Cardinals. 6-12-83. It was a pretty shitty Cubs team in 1983 but it was most memorable for me because it was my first time at Wrigley, we sat two rows behind the Cards dugout and my brother and I each got a ball from one of the Cardinals coaches. I was hooked on the Cubs forever after that day.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/?date=1983-06-12

[Brian707]

My brother was at Kerry Wood's 20k game.

 

 

Friend of mine called me up last minute, asked if I wanted to go to that game but I declined because the weather was shitty :banghead:

[David]

My first game ever, I was 6 years old Jody Davis hit a grand slam off the Cardinals. 6-12-83. It was a pretty horsefeathers Cubs team in 1983 but it was most memorable for me because it was my first time at Wrigley, we sat two rows behind the Cards dugout and my brother and I each got a ball from one of the Cardinals coaches. I was hooked on the Cubs forever after that day.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/?date=1983-06-12

 

I have no idea when it was, but I think it might've been 1996. Mike Perez signed my Cubs Quarterly magazine and Turk Wendell tossed me some gum. If I wasn't already in for life, I was after that.

[Banedon]

I was at the game where Bill Mueller destroyed his knee.

 

My brother was at Kerry Wood's 20k game.

 

so was everybody, amirite?

 

jk, but yeah i was at school. i remember coming home and having my dad flip on the tv for literally the final pitch.

 

My brother had a "study day" off at college before finals, and rather than study he and friends were sitting in the bleacher at Wrigley. Like you, I caught the end of it on TV.

[OleMissCub]

Not sure what year it was, maybe 2010 or something like that, but it was freezing cold and Aramis CRUSHED a walk off homer in extra innings.

 

found it: May 17th, 2010 against the Rockies. Aramis hit a walk off in the 11th.

[UMFan83]

I'll do good and bad because bad games are memorable too for a different reason

 

1997 - June 18 at White Sox (First Cubs/Sox interleague series)

Only cool because it was the rubber game of the first ever Cubs/White Sox interleague series. Was actually a bore, Wilson Alvarez threw a complete game in under 2 hours and the Sox won 3-0

 

1998 - September 12 vs. Milwaukee (Sammy hits 60th, Cubs come back from down 10-2)

Of course David has to (name of our [expletive] president) me by going to the next game where Sammy made history, but this was still an amazing game. Sammy hits 60, Cubs come back from down 10-2 to win it with 5 in the 9th, the game winning HR being a 3 run shot from Orlando Merced. That was the first series in MLB history that both teams scored 10+ runs in all 3 games of the series. I also learned from sitting in the bleachers that Mike Morgan is a horsefeathering piece of horsefeathers, so that was cool.

 

2003 - August 22 at Arizona (Z screwed out of no-no)

I was still living on the east coast in 2003, so this was the only game I attended that year when I was visiting family in AZ. Sammy and Aramis homered in the game but the real story was Z. He was cruising taking a no hitter into the 8th inning. With 2 outs Shea Hillenbrand hit a dribbler down the 3B line. Can't remember if Z fielded it or ARam, but either way it was fielded and Shea was thrown out by a step. Only the ump didn't think so and called him safe. Replays showed he was out. Z got the next 3 batters out (which would have been the 3 outs in the 9th) before giving up a hit with 2 outs in 9th. Thought I missed my best chance ever to see a no hitter live and definitely my only chance to see Z throw one

 

2004 - September 30 vs. Reds (Prior 16 Ks)

Yeah this was one of losses from the season ending free fall but I note it because Prior pitched maybe his best game in the majors, throwing 113 pitches in 9 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk and striking out 16. Unfortunately 1 of those 3 hits was a HR to Austin Kearns. Cubs had one of those infuriating games where they had 13 baserunners and loaded the bases 3 different times and only scored 1 run (on a solo HR by Sammy)

 

2005 - June 10 vs. Boston (First CHC-BOS game)

Back when interleague series were cool, this was the first Cubs vs. Red Sox regular season matchup. Burnitz homered twice, Greg Maddux homered, Ortiz had 2 for the Red Sox, one of which landed on Sheffield but the Cubs killed them 14-6

 

2007 - August 5 vs. NY Mets (Glavine 300th)

Not much to say on this one, it was Sunday Night Baseball and the game was mostly a bore other than the milestone

 

2007 - NLDS Game 3 vs. Arizona

Only relevant because it was a playoff game, Rich Hill gave up a HR on the first pitch of the game and the Cubs were eliminated.

 

2008 - Sept 14 @ Houston (in Milwaukee - Z no-no)

I went to a lot of regular season games in 08, I'll just focus on this one. This was already going to be a cool quirky game because of the circumstances but it turned out to be memorable. Finally got my Z no-no!

 

2008 NLDS G1 vs. LAD

Sucked, I felt the Wrigley death rattle for the first time after the Loney Grand Slam.

 

Then nothing much of consequence happened until

 

2016 NLDS G1 vs. SFG

Nervous going in, cocky leaving the park. Finally saw a Cubs playoff victory in person after 3 tries.

 

2017 April 10 vs. LAD

Going to see the home opener after a WS title.

 

Not as cool as some of you [expletive] that went to much more important games last year but w/e

[David]

I glossed over 2009-2014 and forgot that I was also at Rizzo's debut against the Mets.

[Post Count Padder]

I wouldn't say any were memorable because of anything that happened during them, but of all the games I've been to, the ones I remember most:

 

- My first ever Cubs game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200107040.shtml

It was not a good game, they lost a low-scoring affair to Glendon Rusch. It was also most notable for being my only game at Shea, which sucked and there were constantly planes flying overhead. Also there was an old lady Mets fan with a real thick Long Island accent who freaked the eff out when Desi Relaford came up to bat and kept calling him "My Desi."

 

 

- My second game, and only one at the Vet, which also sucked: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200207170.shtml

It was an outing for my family because it was the day before my birthday. It was notable for Todd Hundley hitting a home run right after I got done telling my dad how much he sucked and I hated him. We showed up early for batting practice and I caught a foul ball off Sosa's bat (and I still have it somewhere). Also Carlos Zambrano nearly threw me a ball when I screamed at him that it was my birthday but then a bunch of drunk Phillies fans started screaming it was their birthday too and he walked away.

 

 

- My first (and, so far, only) game at Wrigley: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201308010.shtml

Went with my now-wife on a trip to Chicago. Drank Old Style, sat in the bleachers, heckled the hell out of Chris Capuano as he stretched in the outfield because why not. Also dude a few rows in front of us brought a sign that said Junior Lake for ROY and kept booing Puig and then later Puig hit a home run right at him (though Lake did hit 2 out that day, to be fair).

 

 

- First time I saw the Cubs win in person: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI201308070.shtml

Donnie frickin Murphy of all people hit 2 HR that day, including the game-winner in the 9th and my friends and I were on the CSN broadcast (they were glum and my arms are in the air in celebration). Also we saw the very brief Thomas Neal experiment end when he ran into a wall and left the game, never to be seen again.

 

 

- Got a glance at the eventual WS winners: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI201606060.shtml

Went with my friend's British fiance, who is a Cubs fan because they were always "rubbish". Lester was lights out and I nearly fainted from shock when Heyward hit a home run. Then Grimm came in and nearly blew it.

[David]

I'll do good and bad because bad games are memorable too for a different reason

 

Not as cool as some of you [expletive] that went to much more important games last year but w/e

 

 

we have some overlap haha

 

your 98 brewers game was cooler even if it wasn't 61 and 62.

[WoodRules]

My most memorable was my first trip to Wrigley, late '93, Randy Myers poster day. He blew the save and the fans in the bleachers tossed all of their posters onto the field. Good times.

[Andy]

Walk-off wild pitch vs. Philly on 8/2/07, putting us into first place for the first time since winning the division in 2003. Most of the bleachers refused to leave until they changed the NL Central flags to put us above Milwaukee.

 

Cubs clinch NL Central in Cincinnati on 9/28/07. I decided that afternoon to drive from school at Ball State to Cincinnati. I couldn't get anyone to come with me, so I just went myself. I still had a blast. I actually had my hands on Derrek Lee's home run ball when it bounced into my row, but someone else had gotten there first and outfought me for it.

 

Soriano's walk-off grand slam vs. Houston on 7/27/09. It was awesome.

 

Arrieta beats the White Sox by himself on 7/12/15. He tossed a complete game two-hitter and hit a home run in the game. It also ended something like a seven-game personal losing streak for me at Wrigley. Not technically the birth of Arrieta as utter badass, because he was already in the midst of his season-ending dominance, but certainly the day I was convinced of it.

 

We come within a lost fly ball in the sun of a no-hitter vs. LA, 5/30/16. Hammel left with cramps, but Travis Wood came to the rescue and LA's only hit was on a ball Ben Zobrist lost in the sun in RF. This was also technically my son's first game, albeit still inside my wife. Someday he'll actually be there consciously.

 

The Brian Matusz/Travis Wood in LF/Jon Lester walk-off bunt game vs. Seattle on 7/31/16. We were so excited to see Hendricks pitch and they decided to bring up Matusz for no good reason. I was so damn bitter for about six innings until the Cubs started actually coming back. Probably beginning to end the wildest game I've been to.

 

There was a game vs. Atlanta in 2014 where Edwin Jackson pitched that was only memorable because me and my friends spent the whole game bitching about how terrible he was. A friend of mine said Chris Johnson had 'zero power' and then he hit two HRs, and I essentially called Jackson serving up a HR to Mike Minor right before it happened.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I go so infrequently that I haven't seen many memorable moments from the Cubs. but my favorite memory from the stands was probably around 2010 in the shade behind home plate in April with the wind howling in. I couldn't feel my face or move my arms to drink my beer. but there was a guy near us who was easily in his early 60s with his mid-20s Peruvian house boy, I imagine, so I was mildly entertained. it hits like the 7th inning and suddenly old creeper outs himself as an Astros fan, but he didn't seem to know any of the players or anything about baseball really. Geoff Blum comes up, and he starts yelling "go Jeff". I casually and discreetly let him know this guy actually pronounces it like it's spelled, with a hard G. "it's Scandinavian" I told him. so the old dude is standing for a solid 5 minutes standing and clapping and screaming out "LET'S GO GEE-OFF!"

 

I like to imagine that he's talking to somebody somewhere about me. my only hope is that he speaks fondly

[UMFan83]

Walk-off wild pitch vs. Philly on 8/2/07, putting us into first place for the first time since winning the division in 2003. Most of the bleachers refused to leave until they changed the NL Central flags to put us above Milwaukee.

 

I remember that one. Len's call was "CUBS WIN! The FIRST PLACE Cubs win"

[17 Seconds]

2003 nlcs game 4. cubs fans wouldn't even leave the park. it was basically a celebration for winning the pennant.

[David]

2003 nlcs game 4. cubs fans wouldn't even leave the park. it was basically a celebration for winning the pennant.

 

that game was so great.

[Brian]

Walk-off wild pitch vs. Philly on 8/2/07, putting us into first place for the first time since winning the division in 2003. Most of the bleachers refused to leave until they changed the NL Central flags to put us above Milwaukee.

 

I was at that one too.

 

I also witnessed a Darwin Barney walk off home run in deep in the rebuild. That's got to be something.

 

Oh, also very early 2004 season double header started by Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Fall '03 I was living in Chicago for the first time for school, and by the time tickets for '04 season rolled around we were still so hyped on the Cubs and how great they were going to be that year that me and a friend bought a ton of tickets, first being a random April day game. The day before it was really crappy and rainy, and we were hoping for a rain-out and double header for us. Well it happened, it was definitely Prior's first start of the year after the Achilles thing, and it may have been Woody's too. It was freezing cold and windy, Wood got knocked around pretty much right away so the guys next to us got up and said good luck guys and skipped out on about 16 innings of baseball. Prior was awesome and salvaged the day.

 

edit - scratch some of that... i got nostalgic and looked for the box scores. It was 2005.

 

edit 2 - lol classic mid '00s Cubs baseball

 

This lineup lost 8-3

 

CPatt

Neifi

Nomar

Aramis

Burnitz

DLee

Hollandsworth

Barrett

Wood

 

This lineup won 8-3

 

Hairston

Neifi

CPatt

DLee

Burnitz

Dubois

Macias

Blanco

Prior

[bcl412]

um, game 4 of the 2003 nlds and.....I saw Big Z hit his first homer I guess...I have never seen anything too notable and I hate all of you that have.

[Cubswin11]

Definitely Game 5 of the World Series this year for me. Other games that stand out are I remember going to a game in 98' in the bleachers when I was 12ish and Sammy hit a meaningful HR during the game that went right over my head (I want to say it was his 60th or multi HR game or maybe the single season Cub record or something), also I was at the day game that was the 4th game of the series against the Brewers in 2008 when we kicked the horsefeathers out of them for 4 straight days and effectively crushed their souls, that was fun.

 

EDIT: Looking at David's initial post it was that September game he's talking about with Sammy's 61st and 62nd.

[David]

Definitely Game 5 of the World Series this year for me. Other games that stand out are I remember going to a game in 98' in the bleachers when I was 12ish and Sammy hit a meaningful HR during the game that went right over my head (I want to say it was his 60th or multi HR game or maybe the single season Cub record or something), also I was at the day game that was the 4th game of the series against the Brewers in 2008 when we kicked the horsefeathers out of them for 4 straight days and effectively crushed their souls, that was fun.

 

EDIT: Looking at David's initial post it was that September game he's talking about with Sammy's 61st and 62nd.

 

100% overlap nice haha

[javy knows my name]

Mongo game

 

Z no-hitter

 

Castro had two walk-offs in like a week in early 2015 and I was at both of those

 

2015 NLCS game 3 - This game was rough. I didn't even go to game 4 despite having tickets

2016 NLDS game 1

2016 NLDS game 2

2016 NLCS game 1 - Montero's homer is the most awesome sports moment I've ever experienced, period

2016 NLCS game 2

2016 NLCS game 6 - This is the best game I've ever been to. We played so well, teabagged Kershaw, and the game was so out of reach that we basically celebrated a pennant win for 6 innings

2016 WS game 4

2016 WS game 5

 

Fun fact, this year between me and my ticket partner in LA, we went to every single playoff game, home and away, except NLDS games 3 and 4, WS games 1-3 (sold 3) and game 6. He personally went to every single game of the Dodgers series and flew out to Cleveland for game 7.

[Sammy Sofa]

I was there for the Jeff Gordon "Wrigley Stadium" debacle.

[NOLA]

Nothing too exciting for me, but then I haven't been to that many games.

 

May 25-26, 2001

Back to back one-hitters for Kerry and Jon Lieber.

 

Other than that, it was much heralded Lance Dickson's debut where he left with an injury after a few innings. I did get Shawon Dunston's autograph in 1988 before a game.