Chicago Cubs: Iconic Aramis Ramirez walk-off still amazing 13 years later

For awhile, the Aramis Ramirez walk-off shot in 2007 was ‘the’ win for the Cubs.

June 29, 2007. Wrigley Field was jam-packed to see the Chicago Cubs take on the first place Milwaukee Brewers. The North Siders had won six in a row and were right around the .500 mark, while the Brewers had a 7 1/2 game lead in the NL Central. It was a pretty crucial game considering Chicago was slowly creeping back into the race while the Brewers were looking to keep a sizable lead.

It looked like the Brewers were going to push their lead in the division further when the Brewers tagged Rich Hill for five runs in the first. They held a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Three more outs for the Cubs offense to work with against Brewers All-Star closer Fancisco Cordero. With runners on the corners and one out, Derrek Lee hit a sac fly to deep right to make it a one-run game with two outs. Up came Aramis Ramirez.

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You know the rest. First pitch, driven deep left center, Cubs win.

"“There’s a drive, deep left center! Cubs Win! They win it! Ramirez, two run shot! Oh baby! Can you believe it? Unbelievable!…” -Cubs television play-by-play man, Len Kasper"

41,909 spectators at Wrigley went absolutely nuts as Ramirez rounded the bases and met his leaping teammates at home. Many would say this is the moment the tables had officially turned in the eventual division-winning 2007 Cubs favor. Even today, after 13 years, this win still is a much talked about moment for the franchise and its fans.

Why after 13 years this moment is still significant for Cubs fans

That win against the Brewers will be talked about for a long time, even after the Cubs had won multiple playoff series, a pennant and a World Series since. In terms of epic comeback wins that made a season-lasting impact, that game on June 29, 2007 was “the” win for the Cubs. It was arguably the most epic regular season win of the 2000s.

Remember what it was like back then. At that point, it was nearly a decade before the club would reach their ultimate goal in 2016. At the time, Chicago had been to the postseason just four times since 1945 with only three total division titles. They came off a dreadful 2006 season and were approaching the 100-year mark of their last World Series victory in 1908. Having a win like this propel them to the postseason, a place they rarely made it to, was huge. Cubs fans were used to experiencing these types of soul-crushing losses against them.

Until the team started contending again in 2015, moments like the Ramirez walkoff were reminisced about by fans because it was one of the last epic moments for the Cubs before their playoff drought from 2009-2014. It really puts things into perspective. We look back to simply remember how fun it was at the time, and then also realize that moments like that in the regular season was as good as it got for fans.

No World Series or pennant wins to reminisce about, so the Ramirez walk-off was one of the top glory moments for the franchise. Times have really changed.

Sometimes that day felt like ages ago, while other times it feels like just yesterday. 2007 is one of those years that just feels like a few years ago, but is now over a decade in the past. One thing is certain, that 2007 team has not been forgotten.