2011 – Brian Bogusevic belts a walk-off grand slam that stuns Chicago, 6-5, to snap a seven-game losing skid. Carlos Marmol is the victim. It’s just the second big league homer for Bogusevic, making Aneury Rodriguez a winning pitcher for the first time in his major league career.
Former major league third baseman Ron Santo dies in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer and diabetes. The 70 year-old, considered one of the best players in Cubs history, rejoined the team in 1990 as the team’s WGN radio announcer, enamoring his listeners with his devotion to the lovable losers and gaining their admiration for his continued failure to gain induction into the Hall of Fame, an honor he will receive posthumously in 2012.
On May 7, 2010 Starlin Castro, the first major leaguer to be born in the 1990’s, becomes the sixth Cub in franchise history to hit a home run in his first big league at bat, hitting a 3 run homerun off Homer Bailey in Chicago’s 14-7 win over Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park. He…
Jason Heyward, the Minor League Player of the Year last year, starts his major league career with fireworks, connecting for a three-run home run off Carlos Zambrano in the 1st inning in front of 60 friends and family members at Turner Field as Atlanta cruises to a 16 – 5 win over the Cubs.
Former pitching great Greg Maddux, who started his major league career with the Cubs in 1986, is returning to the team as an assistant to general manager Jim Hendry. A sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, the 355-game winner’s duties will include assisting the major league and minor league coaching staffs at spring training, evaluating talent, and developing minor league players.
The Cubs suspend Milton Bradley for the rest of the year, a day after the turbulent outfielder criticizes the team in a newspaper interview, citing there wasn’t a “positive environment” in the organization, and he could see why the club hasn’t won a championship in the last century. The decision whether Chicago brings back the 32 year-old, who still has two years remaining on a $30 million, three-year contract he signed as a free agent last offseason, will be general manager Jim Hendry’s call, according to manager Lou Piniella.
According to reports, a preliminary agreement has been reached between the Cubs and free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley on a $30 million, three-year deal. The switch-hitting All-Star, who batted .321 and led the American League with a .436 on-base percentage, will fill the team’s need for a left-handed presence in the middle of the lineup.
With a 5-4 win over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, the Cubs clinch their second straight National League Central Division championship. The victory marks the first time the club will appear in consecutive postseasons since the 1906-08 teams played in the World Series.
On June 21, 2008 In a match-up of two first-place Chicago teams, the Cubs top the Sox in interleague play. In a 9-run 4th, the Cubs gets 4 homers – a three-run shot by Aramis Ramirez, one blast by Mike Fontenot and two by Jim Edmonds.
The Arizona Diamondbacks complete a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS with a 5 – 1 victory in Wrigley Field. Chris Young hits the first pitch of the game for a home run and Livan Hernandez picks up the win.