Tomorrow will mark the 41st anniversary of game one of the 1984 National League Championship Series. In that postseason series, the Chicago Cubs went up 2-0, before ultimately falling 3-2 to the San Diego Padres. Up 1-0, from the 3-1 win in game one, the current Cubs could redeem the 1984 Cubs by eliminating the Padres here and now.
If not, the spirit of the 1984 Padres will live on, and they’ll force a winner-take-all game three.
And this rematch comes just a couple months after we lost Ryne “Ryno” Sandberg, the NL MVP that season and forever Cubs legend. Long time sports media guy Larry Hawley posted a great Instagram Reel on the 1984 Cubs, and the ’84 NLCS.
While that team didn’t close the deal, and some would say they even choked, there are still revered in that “almost men” kind of way.
It’s a somewhat unique phenomenon in sports, but there has been at least one other example in this same state.
Bruce Weber led the 2004-05 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team to a 37-2 record, a Final Four appearance, and a national runner-up finish.
In an interview with RG.org, Weber talked openly about how immensely popular his team of almost men were.
“Everyone loved them,” Weber said. “We went in elevators in hotels that were for the service people.
“We had to go underground; in elevators, movies, we had to sneak them in (otherwise they would have been mobbed by fans).
“They got a standing ovation at Northwestern in a movie theater. And then obviously, the ride back from Chicago, when we beat Arizona (in the instant classic Regional Final comeback that clinched a Final Four berth), people on the interstate, on the bridges.
“It was such a memorable time, and just amazing.”
The 1984 Cubs ended a 39-year postseason drought for the franchise, and that alone makes them legends. The ’84 NLCS was even the central focus to the plot of one episode of Punky Brewster.
Bet you didn’t remember that!
But if the Cubs close the deal later today, and redeem the 1984 Cubs loss to the Padres, it will mark just the third time, in their entire franchise history that they have clinched a playoff series at home.
Not just Wrigley, but in Chicago itself. The 2015 NLDS versus the St. Louis Cardinals and the 2016 NLCS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers are the other two.
Andrew Kittredge will get the spot start/opening role later today.
Kittredge (4-3, 3.40 ERA) will then soon give way to Shota Imanaga, who has been underperforming lately, and is a concern against San Diego’s lineup of right-handed heavy hitters.
The bigger issue might be the San Diego small ball though. If the Cubs can make this a slugfest, then it’s advantage North-Siders.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter