Chicago Cubs: Ranking the best moments of the 2016 season

In a year capped by a World Series championship, the Chicago Cubs put together countless memorable moments, ranging from walk-off wins to no-hitters.

When we all sit down and talk about the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 season, there’s one moment we’ll always remember. Kris Bryant coming in on a chopper, throwing across the diamond to Anthony Rizzo and ending American sports’ longest title drought.

The streets of Wrigleyville were teeming with exuberant fans, celebrating the long-awaited championship. Grown men sobbed in the middle of crowded bars. The championship parade ranked as one of the largest gatherings in the history of mankind.

That’s Cub.

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But long before the dust settled on one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history, this team was hard at work making memories. Walk-off home runs and Jake Arrieta‘s no-hitter highlighted the regular season wins.

Joe Maddon entered the season as reigning NL Manager of the Year – and he showed why throughout the grind of the 2016 campaign, as well. Arrieta carried his dominance from 2015 into last year, resulting in a historic run of starts at the Friendly Confines.

Addison Russell emerged as an elite talent on both sides of the diamond, finally stepping up his offensive skills to his elite glove work. Miguel Montero stepped up to deliver several game-winning blasts, despite serving in a reduced role for much of the year.

That’s not to mention the sheer dominance of Aroldis Chapman in the second half. Watching him blow hitters away with 103 mph heaters impressed, even after witnessing it for weeks on-end.

In all, the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 season was the stuff of legend; and with good reason. It left us with enough memories to last a lifetime – which is more than most Cubs fans ever got over the past century.

5) Jake Arrieta makes history in a rout of the Cincinnati Reds

After twirling his first career no-hitter in 2015 following several close calls, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta put on a pitching clinic in late April, making history in Cincinnati.

In an 18-0 win, the second-largest margin of victory in a no-hitter in baseball history, Arrieta added another line to his impressive resume. With his second no-no, both of which came on the road, he trails now only Nolan Ryan for most road no-hitters in a career (Ryan has three).

To make the night even more memorable, Kris Bryant smacked two home runs on the night to help pace the offense’s white-hot performance. Despite the offensive fireworks display, however, the night belonged to Arrieta.

“This is why he won the Cy Young last year,” Cubs catcher David Ross told MLB.com. “He’s got the capability of doing that every night. I think mentally he expects to do that. He’s not shocked when he does stuff like that, and rightfully so.”

On the year, Arrieta saw his numbers tail off a bit, still putting together an 18-win campaign capped off by several clutch postseason performances for the Chicago Cubs.

But, during the first couple of months, especially on that April night, there was no doubt in the baseball world. Jake Arrieta was the best pitcher in Major League Baseball – and on any given night, he might make history.

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Speaking as someone who sat in a box behind home plate for this 13-inning marathon, it’s by far the best game I’ve ever been to at Wrigley Field.

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With thousands of fans in the bleachers donning pink t-shirts, special pregame ceremonies dedicated to cancer survivors and mothers like – pink was the color of the day. Although, with how Jake Arrieta started the day off, blue seemed more likely in the early innings.

Chicago trailed 3-1 until plating two runs in the seventh, getting Arrieta off the hook for the loss. It soon became a war of attrition for both the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs as the bullpens thinned and the hours waned on.

Nationals reliever Blake Treinen delivered a 2-2 breaking pitch that hung up in the zone. Baez dropped the head of the bat, driving the ball into the left-field seats, sending those who stuck out the contest home in bliss.

“I was just trying to get on base and get a good pitch to hit. [Blake Treinen] was throwing hard, 97 [mph] with a sink. After the second strike, I just sat on the slider because they’ve been throwing it to me this series a lot. I was just looking for that pitch and he threw it in the center.”

For the Cubs, it represented the mantra Joe Maddon had been preaching since the start of the 2015 campaign; grinding wins out and picking each other up in the low spots. Giving up multiple runs was a low spot for Arrieta at that point, and the Cubs’ offense came to the rescue.

“To the last moment, everybody was there to win that game, and that’s a beautiful thing,” Maddon told MLB.com.

Buckle your seatbelt, Cubs fans

Leading the National League Division series two games-to-one, the Chicago Cubs entered Game 4 with high hopes. Giants left-hander Matt Moore had other plans.

The southpaw rolled through the Chicago Cubs’ lineup all night long, but after hitting 120 pitches after the eighth, manager Bruce Bochy opted to make a move for a reliever. Chicago trailed at that point 5-2.

Chicago Cubs

Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz had already begun talking about Jon Lester preparing for a win-or-go-home Game 5 start back at Wrigley Field when the magic began.

Kris Bryant led off the inning with a knock and a slumping Anthony Rizzo drew a walk to put two men on with nobody out.

Ben Zobrist, future World Series MVP, followed that with a two-bagger into the right-field corner, making it a 5-3 game.

Maddon then outmaneuvered Bochy in a pinch-hitter fiasco. After announcing Chris Coghlan, Maddon prompted the Giants to make a move to the lefty, Will Smith.

The Cubs’ skipper then tapped Willson Contreras to replace Coghlan. The Cubs’ rookie delivered, tying the game and silencing the AT&T Park crowd that had been raucous just moments earlier.

Jason Heyward laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over, but instead bunted the ball right back at the pitcher. Contreras was forced out at second while Heyward beat out an errant throw to first before advancing to second.

Javier Baez followed with a grounder up the middle that scored Heyward and turned the tide in favor of the Chicago Cubs. A perfect bottom of the ninth by Aroldis Chapman closed things out and sent Chicago to their second-straight National League Championship Series appearance.

The only way to summarize the team’s comeback win is simple.

“We never quit.”

“The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series!”

Ahead of Game 5 of the World Series, my brother-in-law and I decided we were going to watch at my house. I couldn’t bear the prospect of watching the Cleveland Indians win it all at Wrigley Field surrounded by people at a bar.

If this was the end, I wanted to meet it on my own terms, in my own house.

But that wasn’t to be. Chicago won at Wrigley, sending the series back to Cleveland. Being Cubs fans (and superstitious ones at that), we opted for not only the same viewing location for Game 6, but the same seating arrangement.

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It worked. Or, maybe the credit belongs to Jake Arrieta, who stepped up in a big way to lead the Cubs to that win.

Then, Game 7. For years, I’d always loved when series ran the course of seven games; it meant the season was that much longer. With my team in said situation, nervous doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings.

I let my hope build. I was certain they would pull it off. Then, Rajai Davis happened.

I’ve never felt so deflated and defeated in my life. I couldn’t talk. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just watched. And held my breath, waiting for the end. Then, the rain began.

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The rest is history.

Ben Zobrist comes through with the go-ahead RBI and Chapman induces the game-ending ground ball to give the Chicago Cubs their first World Series title since 1908. There will likely never be another moment in my life that feels like that night; and for that, I am eternally grateful.