Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the golden era of Cubs baseball

There will never be a day where Chicago Cubs fans can’t look back at the team during its historic run and not feel a sense of nostalgia watching the endless stream of highlights. The Golden Era, as it has been dubbed, stretched from 2015 until eventually the core was broken up at the trade deadline this summer.

During that time, the Cubs enjoyed one of the most successful stints in franchise history. Over the course of those six years, Chicago reached the postseason five times, winning several individual accolades and awards in the process. Though ultimately cut shorter than most wanted, the odyssey the Chicago Cubs embarked upon was one for the history books.

After years of being touted the “Lovable Losers”, the franchise went in a new direction upon the hiring of new President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. Epstein, who had once worked his magic and brought a World Series title to Boston, was now in prime position to do the same for a storied franchise that hadn’t won a title in 108 years.

Along the way, there were ups and downs. Ultimately, fans across Chicago began to tune in every night to watch the Cubs play as a new optimism was growing due to a winning season and red hot ball club backed by the likes of soon to be All-Star and Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant. Though it’s hard to boil it down to such a confined list, we will do just that. Let’s a take a look at the top 5 moments from the Golden Era of Chicago Cubs baseball.

Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the Golden Era – #5: 2015 NLDS

In a year that surprised many, the Cubs made it all the way to the NLCS for the first time since 2003. On the regular season, the Cubs finished 97-65, good for a Wild Card spot in the National League. After facing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Game, the Cubs advanced to face the division rival St. Louis Cardinals.

With optimism brewing on the North Side after a big win in the Wild Card game, the Cubs fell to St. Louis in Game 1, losing in Busch Stadium 4-0 with Jon Lester taking the loss despite tossing a gem, giving up three earned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work, two of which came in the eighth inning. Game 1 was the last time the Cardinals got the best of the Cubs in the 2015 season.

In Game 2, the Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the first inning, scoring one run off a Matt Carpenter leadoff home run off Kyle Hendricks. It was at this point that the Cubs refused to go down easy, rallying for five runs in the second inning and another in the third. Hendricks gave up two more runs in the fifth, falling just short of eligibility for the win as Travis Wood would come in for relief. The Cubs evened the series at one game apiece.

Eventual National League Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta took the mound in Game 3, firing 5 2/3 innings and allowing four earned runs, also striking out nine Cardinals in the process. The story in this one was the long ball. The Cubs and Cardinals combined for eight home runs, six of which were hit by Cubs. The mark set a major league record for most home runs hit in one single game.

Game 4 is, even today, known as the Kyle Schwarber scoreboard game. In a game in which eight Chicago Cubs pitchers took the mound, the story was a go-ahead Anthony Rizzo home run in sixth and Schwarber’s seventh-inning insurance run bomb that landed near the Budweiser sign on top of the scoreboard in right field to put the Cardinals out of their misery for good. The Cubs’ Cinderella story continued and they advanced to the NLCS.

Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the Golden Era – #4: 2015 NL Wild Card

Prior to that historic 2015 NLDS win over St. Louis, they had to get there first. In doing so, it took a big win over the Pittsburgh Pirates to secure a spot in the 2015 NLDS. It’s not every day you see a 97-65 record only good for third place in a division, but that’s exactly where the Chicago Cubs found themselves that year behind the second-place Pirates (98-64) and division best St. Louis Cardinals (100-62).

After Jake Arrieta’s historic season and absolutely dominant second half to 2015, he took the mound in a winner-take-all game with a ticket to the NLDS on the line. Arrieta was in prime form. He pitched a complete game shutout, scattering five hits and fanning 11 in the process. Arrieta put the exclamation point on an already incredible year, sending the Cubs to face the division rival St. Louis Cardinals in a five-game set.

As for the offense, Dexter Fowler hit a home run but it was Kyle Schwarber who sent a mammoth two-run shot off Gerrit Cole deep into the night that didn’t land until splashing into the Allegheny River. With the win, the Cubs showed they were no longer a team to be looked at as an easy win. The Cubs were back and advancing to their first NLDS in seven years.

Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the Golden Era – #3: 2017 NLDS

Now, as defending World Series champions, the Cubs looked forward to the 2017 season and their quest to repeat. Fully seen as title contenders after winning a ring and appearing in two straight National League Championship Series, all eyes were on Chicago and there was no doubt they were planning to come back for more.

After finishing 2016 with a 103-59 record, the Cubs ended the regular season in 2017 with a mark of 92-70, which was still good for first place in a rather lackluster NL Central, as second place belonged to the Brewers with a record of just 86-76. The Cubs’ time to shine was once again amongst them as they took on a Bryce Harper-led Washington Nationals.

After winning Game 1, Chicago blew a lead in Game 2, allowing five runs in the eighth inning before coming back to take Game 3 and, thus, a 2-1 series lead. With one win to go, the Nationals used a little trickery and mystery as to who their starting pitcher would be as Game 4 was initially postponed, and thus gave pitchers an extra day of rest. In the end, it was Stephen Strasburg that came in, fanning 12 Cubs over seven shutout innings. The Nationals tied up the series for a pivotal win-or-go-home Game 5.

In a Kyle Hendricks-Gio Gonzalez matchup, these two pitchers were far from either side of the decision. A back and forth see-saw affair ultimately came down to the ninth inning and an exhausted Wade Davis looking for a seven-out save, recording his third save of the series in the process which tied a record. The final batter, Bryce Harper, struck out swinging and the Cubs advanced to their third NLCS appearance in as many years.

Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the Golden Era – #2: Cubs Win the Pennant

After the Cubs returned to the NLCS for a second straight year, armed with more experience, they were poised to not let history repeat itself after being swept in the 2015 NLCS by the New York Mets. It was a red hot season for the Cubs as they finished the year with a 103-59 record, the first time the club recorded at least 100 wins since 1935.

After blowing past the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS, the Cubs went on to face a 91-win Dodgers team that was also very much on the rise, on the brink of their first of four NLCS appearances in a five-year stretch. The Cubs took Game 1 in Wrigley Field with Jon Lester twirling a gem featuring six innings of one-run ball.

Of course, game one wasn’t remembered for the pitching. After a gut-wrenching eighth-inning, game-tying single from Adrian Gonzalez, unlikely hero Miguel Montero stepped to plate in the bottom of the inning with the bases loaded. In one of the most memorable moments in Cubs history, Montero uncorked a monster grand slam that recorded one of the loudest celebratory crowd reactions in Wrigley Field history, giving Chicago an 8-4 lead in the process.

Before anyone could even stop celebrating, Dexter Fowler followed up with a solo shot of his own and the Cubs slammed the door in the ninth inning to take a 1-0 series lead.

With Los Angeles taking the next two and the series lead in the process, that old familiar feeling of “here we go again” came creeping back up. However, these Cubs would not be denied. They secured wins in Games 4 and 5, swinging the series back in Chicago’s favor, 3-2.

Chicago tattooed Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 6 at Wrigley, turning a double play to close it out in the ninth and clinch its first pennant since 1945. And, just like that, the Cubs were headed to the World Series to take on the Cleveland Indians.

Chicago Cubs: Top 5 moments of the Golden Era – #1: 2016 World Series

After dismantling the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, there was only one thing left to do. Win the whole thing. Though this time there was no memorable moment for the Wrigleyville faithful as the Cubs fell flat in Game 1, getting blanked, 6-0. Though quickly bouncing back to tie the series thanks to a dominant Jake Arrieta performance and heading back to Chicago, the Cubs would again get shutout in Game 3 to fall behind two games to one in the best-of-seven.

Though there was concern as the Cubs once again found themselves in a 2-1 hole on the road, they reached Game 4, which felt like a must-win game for Chicago. You don’t come back from down 3-1 often, especially in a World Series under insurmountable pressure. Again, the Cubs bats just wouldn’t wake up, and they fell to Cleveland 7-2 with an incredible uphill battle staring them right in the face.

In Chicago for Game 5 and down three games to one and their backs to the wall, this team refused to go down without a fight. A fourth-inning leadoff home run by Kris Bryant was just the antidote to an ailing Cubs offense, and the team rallied for three runs in the inning. Backed by a fantastic performance by Lester and closer Aroldis Chapman, the Cubs were back in business and needed just two more wins. The series then shifted back to Cleveland for Game 6 and a potential Game 7.

Of all these contests, Game 6 was easily the most fun for Cubs fans. The offense came roaring to life behind that year’s NL MVP in Bryant, who sent a towering shot to left-center in the first. He was followed by Addison Russell’s two-run double, opening the flood gates. In the third, the Chicago shortstop blasted a grand slam to make it 7-0.

As historic as Russell’s grand slam was, being that it was the first World Series slam since 2005 and only the 19th in history, more historic was Arrieta’s second win of the series, only the second time it’s been done by a Cub and the first since Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown in 1908.

In Game 7, Dexter Fowler led off with a huge solo shot against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber. Javier Baez and David Ross also added solo home runs of their own in the contest. It felt like Chicago was on cruise control – that is, until things came to a screeching halt in the eighth when Rajai Davis took Chapman deep to tie the game.

But, as we all know now, after a 17-minute rain delay, Schwarber scored on a double by Ben Zobrist. Montero, the hero from Game 1 of the NLCS, followed up with an RBI single of his own, scoring Rizzo in the process. Carl Edwards Jr. came in for the bottom of the tenth, recording two outs but then allowing a pair of baserunners and a run, pulling the Indians within one, 8-7.

Mike Montgomery came on and recorded a ground ball that Kris Bryant  fired to Anthony Rizzo for the third and final out. The Cubs finally won it all, breaking the longest championship drought in the history of American sports.