Recent Playoff Games: Rank 'em!

[Rob]

2016: WS Game 7 @ Indians - Perhaps the single most fascinating game in MLB history. The two teams with the longest active Championship droughts in a winner-take-all game that went back and forth all game, and ultimately required extra innings to sort out.

 

2016: NLCS Game 1 v Dodgers - Dodgers score 2 to tie the game in the 8th. Cubs take the lead on Miguel Montero's pinch hit grand slam after Joe Blanton throws him the same meatball twice. Go on to win 8-4.

 

2017: NLDS Game 5 @ Nationals - A terrible, but entertaining game. Hendricks gets beat on early, and Maddon doesn't trust his pen. After the Cubs rally against Scherzer by utlilizing RBI strikeouts and catcher's interference, Wade Davis holds on to get a 7 out save.

 

2016: NLDS Game 4 @ Giants - Cubs trailing 2-5 in the 9th inning. Cubs rally to score 4 in the 9th and hold on to defeat the Giants and advance to the Championship Series.

 

2015: Wild Card @ Pirates - Arrieta pitches a complete game shutout with 11 K's and ends the Cubs 9 game postseason losing streak. Cubs win 4-0.

 

2016: NLCS Game 6 v Dodgers - Hendricks absolutely shuts down the Dodgers. Meanwhile, the Cubs get to Kershaw and punctuate it with Rizzo's HR to put the Cubs up 5-0. Cubs win and advance to their first World Series since 1945.

 

2016: NLDS Game 1 v Giants - Cueto and Lester square off in a crazy pitcher's duel. In the 8th inning, Javier Baez manages to knock one through the wind and the Cubs win 1-0 to take an early lead in the series.

 

2016: WS Game 5 v Indians - Facing elimination, the Cubs go up in the 4th inning. Maddon uses Chapman to get an 8 out save, protecting a slim 3-2 lead. Cubs stay alive.

 

2015: NLDS Game 4 v Cardinals - The Cubs knock out John Lackey early. We win the series and knock the Cardinals out 6-4 while playing in front of the Wrigley faithful.

 

2017: NLDS Game 3 v Nationals - Scherzer and Quintana both pitch extremely well. But then Dusty did Dusty things with the bullpen. Almora ties it up in the 7th, Rizzo bloops one to give the Cubs a lead in the 8th, and we hold on.

[davell]

I put mine in the Game Thread, but I'll put them here too.....

 

1. Game 7

2. Game 4 Giants

3. Game 5 Nats

4. Game 1 Giants

5. Game 1 Dodgers

 

If I go further....

 

6. WC Game Pirates

7. Game 4 Cards

8. Game 6 Dodgers

9. Game 5 Indians

10. Game 4 Dodgers

 

A few comments.....I honestly was scared to death of the Giants last year, so those games stood out to me a ton. The WC game was nerve wracking, but I did think we'd win it. I kind of thought if we'd win game 5, we'd definitely take game 6 and push a game 7 against the Indians. Game 4 against the Dodgers scared me, because we were down 2-1 at the time. That scared me, but once it started, I was fine.

[Cubswin11]

http://gif-finder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/George-Costanza-Its-not-a-lie.gif

[badger]

How horsefeathering awesome is it that we can do this?

[biittner77]

How much was last night's game helped by the fact that Dusty Baker kept slamming his hands in disgust at their bad luck?

[jersey cubs fan]

I put mine in the Game Thread, but I'll put them here too.....

 

1. Game 7

2. Game 4 Giants

3. Game 5 Nats

4. Game 1 Giants

5. Game 1 Dodgers

 

If I go further....

 

6. WC Game Pirates

7. Game 4 Cards

8. Game 6 Dodgers

9. Game 5 Indians

10. Game 4 Dodgers

 

A few comments.....I honestly was scared to death of the Giants last year, so those games stood out to me a ton. The WC game was nerve wracking, but I did think we'd win it. I kind of thought if we'd win game 5, we'd definitely take game 6 and push a game 7 against the Indians. Game 4 against the Dodgers scared me, because we were down 2-1 at the time. That scared me, but once it started, I was fine.

are you ranking based o how scared you were?

[Derwood]

I wish I had this level of detailed memory on a game to game basis.

[mul21]

No Braves game 5 2003?

[Tim]

I had an awful lot of fun during the 7 hr game against the cards

[Hunter]

1. Game 7 Indians - duh

2. Game 5 Indians - because I was there

3. Game 6 Dodgers - Watching Kershaw's heart get ripped out

4. Game 1 Dodgers - My goodness that Miggy Grand Slam, really wish I could have been at Wrigley for that

5. NL Wild Card Pirates - Beginning of awesomeness

6. Game 3 Cardinals NLDS - we won game 2, but this was the game we just stepped on them and haven't looked back

7. Game 4 San Francisco - such tears

[jersey cubs fan]

No Braves game 5 2003?

Near my top, but not recent. They've just played so many since then.

[Fro]

How much was last night's game helped by the fact that Dusty Baker kept slamming his hands in disgust at their bad luck?

 

That's literally one reason why we won the game.

 

The Scherzer inning reminded me of the Bartman game and how Dusty was just disgusted and never did anything to calm his team down (and in fact, made things worse).

[Brian]

Game 7 WS '16

Game 6 NLCS '16

Game 5 WS '16

Game 5 NLDS '17

 

that would probably change if asked to do it in an hour.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

this team has played so many that it's hard for me to remember them all

 

never thought I'd say that...

[Hunter]

How much was last night's game helped by the fact that Dusty Baker kept slamming his hands in disgust at their bad luck?

 

That's literally one reason why we won the game.

 

The Scherzer inning reminded me of the Bartman game and how Dusty was just disgusted and never did anything to calm his team down (and in fact, made things worse).

 

It was something to be on the other side this time.

[Andy]

Ranking just on pure thrill-ride - I have to omit NLDS Game 1 last year because I missed most of it due to work and didn't experience it in the moment.

 

1 - Game 7. Will never be topped because of the historical stakes. If this were ranked purely on between the lines, I think last night would be #1.

2 - 2016 WS Game 5. No one is ever going to remember Chapman's 8-out save as much as they should because he's a garbage human, but in the moment it was unbelievable to watch. Bryant's HR gave me hope we could complete the comeback. The quintessential nail-biter. ("You should stop, it's a bad habit" - Len)

3 - Last night. Just a freaking weird game in all respects. Wade's 7-out save might have actually been crazier than Chapman's 8-out save because of how gassed he was.

4 - 2016 NLCS Game 1. For the most pessimistic of us, we really needed that Montero slam to excise thoughts of the NLCS going as it had in 2015.

5 - 2016 NLDS Game 4. Ranked a little lower just because it was LDS and we had another game, but man was that a comeback.

6 - Game 3 of this series. This really was a nutso series.

 

I just ranked six amazing playoff wins (seven, really, if you added in NLDS Game 1 last year) and none of them even came from the glorious 2015 series against STL, nor our first pennant-clincher in 71 years. What an age we live in, guys.

[davell]

I put mine in the Game Thread, but I'll put them here too.....

 

1. Game 7

2. Game 4 Giants

3. Game 5 Nats

4. Game 1 Giants

5. Game 1 Dodgers

 

If I go further....

 

6. WC Game Pirates

7. Game 4 Cards

8. Game 6 Dodgers

9. Game 5 Indians

10. Game 4 Dodgers

 

A few comments.....I honestly was scared to death of the Giants last year, so those games stood out to me a ton. The WC game was nerve wracking, but I did think we'd win it. I kind of thought if we'd win game 5, we'd definitely take game 6 and push a game 7 against the Indians. Game 4 against the Dodgers scared me, because we were down 2-1 at the time. That scared me, but once it started, I was fine.

are you ranking based o how scared you were?

 

Ugh, my 6-10 probably did get ranked that way. In terms of game quality, I'd move 9 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8, 8 to 9, and throw Game 3 Nats in at 10.

[Anomalied]

How horsefeathering awesome is it that we can do this?

Very. The first post in this thread almost reads like a fan fiction of the future written back in the dark ages of pre-Theo. But all of it actually happened in real life.

[CubInOK]

How horsefeathering awesome is it that we can do this?

Very. The first post in this thread almost reads like a fan fiction of the future written back in the dark ages of pre-Theo. But all of it actually happened in real life.

This could just as easily be fan-fiction from like 2012 when everyone here was pining over our prospects.

[We Got The Whole 9]

WS G5 is probably getting underrated

 

We scored all of our runs in the 4th inning and every batter after the 6th had a chance to tie the game. That was horsefeathering excruciating.

[Hunter]

WS G5 is probably getting underrated

 

We scored all of our runs in the 4th inning and every batter after the 6th had a chance to tie the game. That was horsefeathering excruciating.

 

I wasn't sure we would win the series, but I knew we would win the game. The Heyward wall climb, the Bryant HR, the Ross/Rizzo bobble, everything was going our way.

[mul21]

WS G5 is probably getting underrated

 

We scored all of our runs in the 4th inning and every batter after the 6th had a chance to tie the game. That was horsefeathering excruciating.

 

That was a helluva game to watch in person. The tension was so thick and got worse with every pitch Chapman threw.

[javy knows my name]

Best playoff games I've seen in person because I'm an horsefeathers like that

 

2016 NLCS Game 6 - Everyone in the stadium knew the game was over by the 4th and so it was literally just a celebration for 5 innings. After the game, we snuck down behind the dugout and got a selfie with Contreras.

 

2016 WS Game 5 - This game was way more enjoyable than it should have been, considering how close it stayed. Everyone just seemed to be extremely confident we weren't going home that day. I've since re-watched and I was more for that than I remember being that day.

 

2016 NLCS Game 1 - Miggy's homer was the most electrifying moment of my entire 31 years. I thought the stadium was going to crumble under us.

 

2017 NLDS Game 3 - It was an absolutely beautiful day for baseball in mid-October, and my first playoff game in the bleachers. Almora's RBI single was frickin awesome, but I had no idea about Rizzo's RESPECT ME until the next day.

 

2016 NLDS Game 1 - This was an INCREDIBLY tense game. It was a really well-played one, and Javy's homer was so, so great but I was sure we were going to lose it up until then.

[Bull]

No Braves game 5 2003?

 

Game 2 1998

[soccer10k]

Game 7 WS '16

Game 6 NLCS '16

Game 5 WS '16

Game 5 NLDS '17

 

that would probably change if asked to do it in an hour.

 

Yeah, World Series Game 7 is first by a mile. But after that, I'd come up with a different list every time. I tried ranking the games and whatever game I put 9th or 10th, I can't believe I put it that low. Like Game 2 against St. Louis was just the first win in the series. We'd just watched Lackey shut us down the night before and then Carpenter homers in the bottom of the first. But then we put a five spot up in the top of the second on a single, groundout, walk, bunt, bunt, IF single, homer as the Cards threw the ball all over the place. And it's way far down the list. But just getting that one against St. Louis knowing we had Jake on the mound for Game 3 (even though he didn't pitch all that well) gave us all the confidence.

 

Rob listed 10 games that are super memorable. And that list didn't even include Game 3 vs. St. Louis (6 dongs) or Game 6 vs. Cleveland (they gift us a couple runs before the Addi slam all but guarantees Game 7).