Pitcher Greg Maddux of the Chicago Cubs winds up for a pitch during the 1989 National League season. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
1989 was an unexpected season for the Cubs; coming off four bad years and 85 losses (and an 11-20 finish) in 1988, there's no way anyone would have thought the team would win the NL East in 1989.
But they got off to a decent start, and then moved into first place in late May. They battled the Mets, Expos and Cardinals through June and July and then took over the top spot to stay on August 7.
This game was at the tail end of a road trip, and featured some outstanding pitching.
Greg Maddux pitched his heart out tonight.
After Maddux threw 135 pitches (79 strikes) in 10 innings of work in a scoreless tie, the Cubs finally broke through for a run in the 10th. Honestly, it was kind of dull -- Gary Varsho led off the top of the 11th with a double. Damon Berryhill's fly ball to right advanced Varsho to third, and Lloyd McClendon hurt his former team by driving in the only run of the Cubs' 1-0 win over the Pirates with a sacrifice fly.
It was the Cubs' fourth win in a row, assuring them of a winning road trip (5-3 so far with one game to go), and they now lead the East by 2.5 games, since the Mets beat the Expos to drop Montreal into third place, three games back.
Give a little credit to the Pirates' Doug Drabek, who gave the Cubs just five hits (all singles) and three walks in nine scoreless innings before he was removed, having thrown 122 pitches (73 strikes).
But the story of the game was Maddux, whose record improved to 6-6 (despite a 2.91 ERA, the Cubs have scored just 49 runs in his 15 starts, 3.27 per start, and 15 of those runs were in the 15-3 win over the Mets on June 5). He allowed just six hits (five singles and a double) and issued four walks. In the bottom of the 10th, after Gary Redus had walked, he was sacrificed to second and stole third, putting the winning run 90 feet away with just one out. Maddux struck out Junior Ortiz for the second out, then issued two of those four walks intentionally (to R.J. Reynolds and Barry Bonds) before getting Jose Lind to ground to Vance Law to end the threat.
Mitch Williams, whose saves have often been way too exciting for my tastes, set the Pirates down 1-2-3 in the last of the 11th for his 18th save.
Oh, and did I mention Maddux at the bat? The Cubs had only eight hits all night. Maddux had three of them and is now hitting .303. Is there nothing he can't do?
0 recs | 20 comments
There would be no "World Series" earthquake
if anybody other than Mark Grace participated in the post-season. This Maddux guy was a bit of a downer too, I have to say…..
San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - January 22, 2012
I wonder...
How many more times are we going to see pitchers pitch more than 9 innings?
cj100683 - January 22, 2012
Stepping out of the 1989 mindset for a moment...
… only one Cubs pitcher threw more than nine innings in a game after this one.
Mike Bielecki threw the first 10 innings of a 16-inning Cubs win on May 22, 1990.
That was the game where Andre Dawson, who was on an unbelievable hot streak, got intentionally walked five times, including once with first base occupied.
Al Yellon - January 22, 2012
Only Maddux and English men go out in the mid-day sun...
eths - January 22, 2012
I remember Damon Berryhill one of those players you wonder what might have been without the injuries.
I also thought that he should marry Vida Blue’s sister so her name would be Blue Berryhill.
That was quite a summer for me. I worked 3 blocks from the park at the time from 6 am to noon so I saw almost all the home games.
puckishcubsfan - January 22, 2012
I used to see Vida Blue
everyday at school while he was waiting to pick up his grandchild. That was probably 1987-89ish (somewhere in there). I was only in elementary school then and didn’t really realize who he was other than a former big league player. I was much more interested in seeing Canseco or McGuire who lived in my town as well back then.
portlandcubfan - January 22, 2012
The '89 Cubs made geniuses out of those fans who used to say "It's the lights, stupid!"
Come to think of it, Dallas Green used to say something like that too, and ‘89 confirmed not only the value of night games to help the team compete on the field and at the gate: It also confirmed Green’s leadership in developing a farm system that produced Maddux, Dunston, Grace, Walton, Smith and Girardi, not to mention Moyer and Palmeiro, who had been traded to Texas for Wild Thing Mitch Williams.
Some of those names represented the first position players developed by the Cubs since the days of Santo, Williams, Brock, and Hubbs. Adding home-grown talent to a roster that also contained some of Green’s key trade acquisitions brought the Cubs an exciting half-pennant in the year of Popeye Zimmer’s Excellent Adventure as manager.
By all rights, Green should have been NL executive of the year. Unfortunately, he spent the season watching the Cubs from a distance, specifically from the Yankees dugout, where he served out most of ’89 managing for Steinbrenner. Late that year, after Dallas was quoted referring derisively to “Manager George”, he once again was out of a job, replaced by Bucky Dent.
ernaga - January 22, 2012
Right.
Because the lack of lights prevented the 1984 Cubs from winning 96 games with all home games in the afternoon.
Oh, wait. No, it didn’t.
Al Yellon - January 23, 2012
In '84, the 3:05 starts were the difference.
ernaga - January 23, 2012
Oh, come on.
I don’t specifically recall, but there couldn’t have been more than 10 of those.
Al Yellon - January 23, 2012
Of course the Cubs were among the best teams in baseball in both of those years...
…in which they lead the NL in regular season W-L.
But were talking about giving the team an edge here, or more to the point, removing the handicap of day games in 95+ heat the afternoon following a night game in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or St. Louis. Such seemingly incidental matters become important when the Cubs are good enough to compete with the best teams in the league.
That’s why an expanded night schedule will be imperative whenever the Epstein Five-Year Plan begins to show results. Hey, it’s always easy to overlook or deny cause and effect when objective proof is an impossibility.
Along those lines, imagine a scenario where, while adding two stories to the Captain Morgan Club to celebrate the 100th birthday of Weeghman Park, serious structural problems are discovered in the upper deck, necessitating a total rebuild of the grandstand while forcing the Cubs to play home games at the Cell for a year or two.
If the Cubs are competitive at that point, would anyone really be surprised if the team responded to this sudden disruption by having a good year, a multilevel playoff run, and at least an appearance in the World Series?
Although new surroundings often help a good team win, would a Cubs playoff run at the Cell have anything to do with the team being forced to abscond from the Friendly Confines? Nah.
ernaga - January 23, 2012
I have always felt that the "day game" thing is an excuse.
Theo’s already said he feels day baseball is just fine.
Incidentally, playing the schedule the way it is did not prevent the 2008 Cubs from winning 97 games and going 55-26 at home. Get good players and they’ll win whether the game is at noon, 7 pm or 6 am, not that they play any at that latter hour.
The only thing I think the Cubs should ask for, and the city should grant, is having the right, two or three times a year, to play Friday night home games coming off road trips.
The Cubs are not going to move out during renovations, period.
Al Yellon - January 23, 2012
What else can Epstein say for public consumption?
Like any Cubs executive from ‘81 to the present, he’s caught between promoting the “Wrigley Field” brand that is so important to the bottom line, while at the same time wrestling with the ghost of Phil Wrigley and the ballpark’s built-in handicaps that have been sustained by his successors, local politicians, and perhaps by MLB itself.
ernaga - January 23, 2012
No...
… Theo’s trying to take this home field and turn it into an advantage. Smart guy.
Al Yellon - January 23, 2012
If Theo Had His Way...
how many night home games would the Cubs play? 35? 40? 45? 50? I don’t think Theo wants to push for more night games now because he just got the job and doesn’t want to create ill will between him and the neighborhood. The number one reason that the Cubs haven’t won a NL pennant since 1945 is because of too much bad baseball. I believe the 1981 Cubs would have been lousy no matter what time of day they played.
Eventually, I see the Cubs getting the number of night home games up to 40. I don’t know when that will be, though.
memphiscub - January 23, 2012
Anachronism alert
These random recaps are great! They really bring back memories. However in this one you write, “Lloyd McClendon hurt his former team…” McClendon never played for the Pirates until 1990. The Cubs got him from the Reds.
Deren Kellogg - January 23, 2012
Hmmm.
You’re right. I had him so identified with the Pirates from his time playing and managing there, I forgot about that.
Al Yellon - January 23, 2012
McClendon
He hit a 3-run homer against Atlanta in May that really seemed to get the Cubs going in 1989. That platoon of McClendon and Dwight Smith worked well in 1989. It sure didn’t have the lasting power of the platoon of John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke with the Orioles. I can’t think of any platoon that lasted as long as that one.
memphiscub - January 23, 2012
Optimistic About the Future
Maddux is going to spend his entire career with the Cubs. I see Jerome Walton playing center for the Cubs for a long time to come. Mitch Williams is going to eventually find better control. I don’t know about you all, but after the Cubs win the World Series this season, the Northsiders are going to win two more in a row to make for a 3-peat. The Lakers didn’t do that in basketball.
memphiscub - January 23, 2012
Mommy, my little brother is crying too loud!!!!
That’s about all I can say, as I was four years old when this game was played and my younger brother was still in diapers.
Vermont Cubs Fan - January 24, 2012
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