Selasa, 11 Oktober 2016

Postseason highlight and heartache: 2015 Chicago Cubs - ESPN

As the Chicago Cubs[1] were being swept by the New York Mets[2] last season in the National League Championship Series, Jed Hoyer was hoping the Cubs would grab momentum, get back to playing well and take a game in the series.

"We never had a lead in the series," said Hoyer, the Cubs' executive vice president and general manager. "They just kind of throttled us from the beginning to the end."

Every year the Cubs make the postseason -- it's be en 108 years since they last won a World Series in 1908, in case you haven't heard -- their most awful moments are revisited. From "The curse of the Billy Goat[3]" from the 1945 World Series to the 1984 National League Division Series against the Padres to the 2003 National League Championship Series in which the Cubs were five outs from the World Series, the heartaches are replayed, rewritten and relived. Every. Single. Year.

Meanwhile, down Interstate 55 four hours south of Chicago, the St. Louis Cardinals[4] have won 11 World Series championships and have had 28 playoff appearances since 1908. Including 2015 and beginning with their World Series win in 2011[5], the Cardinals were in the postseason five consecutive years.

"One of the greatest rivalries in sports: Cubs and Cardinals," said Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Fame second baseman who in 1984 led the Cubs to their first postseason appearance since 1945.

Every year before he left spring training, Sandberg remembers, he looked through the Cubs' schedule for o ne thing: He wanted to know when the Cubs played the Cardinals.

"No matter what the standings were or how the teams were playing, it just had a totally different feel to it," said Sandberg, who is now involved with the Cubs as a team ambassador. "During my years, there was an added excitement. It started with the atmosphere of the fans, even before the first pitch and all the way through the game."

You can imagine the anticipation when the two teams met in the NLDS in 2015. The Cardinals won 100 games and finished first in the National League Central. The Cubs won 97 games, arrived in the postseason (ahead of their rebuilding schedule), won the wild-card game against the Pirates and found themselves playing in their first NLDS since 2008.

"To see the Cubs in the postseason last year was somewhat of a pleasant surprise because of all the young players that they were counting on," Sandberg said. "The quality of play, along with the combination of excitement and having fun and playing the game the right way as a team was very evident."

As the Cardinals and Cubs faced each other for the first time in the playoffs, a win in the National League Division Series would not only say a lot about the Cubs' future but could also change the course of the history between the two teams.

Highlight: Cubs defeat Cardinals 3-1 in 2015 NLDS

Jed Hoyer: "Last year was interesting because ... at the end of the year, we played really well against the Cardinals. So I think there was a confidence level that we could compete with them because we hadn't earlier in the year, but we kind of turned the page in the second half of the year. ... I think we had high expectations for the Cardinals series, which was really based on August and September."

Brandon Moss[6] (Cardinals first baseman, 2015-present): "Both teams had an incredible year. It was one of those things, I think I expected it to go to the last game. I don't t hink we all expected it to go only four games. I think everybody knew it was going to be a battle. It's two teams that are really familiar with each other. The Cubs had been playing unbelievable baseball down the stretch. The season is built for teams that get hot."

Jon Lester[7] (Cubs starting pitcher, 2015-present): "When you get in the postseason, everybody, their eyes are on the World Series. So I think that was our expectation going in: to get to that final spot."

Anthony Rizzo[8] (Cubs first baseman, 2012-present): "We were expecting to win. ... Then again, it's the playoffs, so you don't know what to expect. We lost the first game."

The Cardinals' John Lackey, who signed with the Cubs before the 2016 season[9], shut down the Cubs on two hits in 7 1/3 innings as the Cardinals cruised to a 4-0 Game 1 win.

Randal Grichuk[10] (Cardinals outfielder, 2014-16): "I think going into [Game 2], I felt like we had the upper hand, like we were going to take that game from them. Unfortunately, they evened the series."

Kyle Hendricks[11] (Cubs starting pitcher, 2014-present): "The day that I pitched was the easiest because nobody bothers you. Nobody is talking to you. I came in [for Game 2], got in my bubble and started getting into my routine, and I felt good. I felt pretty calm. You get the normal anxiety getting ready for the moment to go out there, but once you start warming up and once you take the mound, you feel the energy in the stadium."

After one batter, it appeared that Hendricks and the Cubs would be in for another long day, as Matt Carpenter[12] homered to lead off the game.

Kyle Hendricks: "It was a terrible pitch. I left a two-seam up in the middle. I just told myself, 'Obviously, that was a bad pitch. If you're going to make bad pitches, you are going to give up hits like that. So you better lock it in. Just start focusing.' I told myself, 'OK, let's get the sinker down, get the changeup working.' From there, I just really tried to focus on the bottom of the zone. I felt mentally OK, but obviously, the adrenaline is going to do something extra to you. So once I started getting the ball under the zone, it all started coming back."

In the top of the second inning, the Cubs executed two successful safety squeeze bunts[13]. With one out, Miguel Montero[14] was on first, and Austin Jackson[15] -- who reached second on a throwing error by Kolten Wong[16] -- then stole third. With runners on the corners, Kyle Hendricks came to the plate.

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