Chicago Cubs: My favorite memory vs. every National League team

Chicago Cubs: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Cubs and Diamondbacks had met once in the postseason, in 2007, when Arizona had little trouble putting away the Cubs in a three-game sweep of the NLDS. Beyond that, there aren’t many games that stand out as memorable between the two teams. Here are a few candidates for most memorable Cubs moment:

• May 12, 1998: Mark Grace became the first player ever to hit a home run into the swimming pool of what is now Chase Field. (It was the Diamondbacks’ inaugural season.) Grace also took a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth, the difference in a 7-6 Cubs win.
• July 27, 1998: During his memorable 1998 home run chase, Sammy Sosa hit two home runs, including his first career grand slam, and accounted for all six runs scored as the Cubs beat the Diamondbacks in Arizona, 6-2. Sosa’s second career grand slam would come the very next day in a Cubs loss.
• August 1, 2003: The newly-acquired Aramis Ramirez hit a walk-off single in the 14th inning as the Cubs beat the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, 4-3. Both teams had scored two runs in the 11th.
• May 9-11, 2008: The Cubs swept all three games from the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. The middle game of the series took place during my college commencement ceremony.
• September 4-6, 2015: The Cubs swept all three games from the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field (again). The middle game was another brilliant Jake Arrieta performance.
• July 26, 2018: Down 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, David Bote hit a two-run homer at Wrigley Field, followed by a walk-off homer from Anthony Rizzo.

This is a difficult decision, but I’m going to go with the 2018 game. I almost picked 2003, but in the end, back-to-back home runs to end a game are tough to beat.