Agony & Ivy

Greatest Moments: No. 8, Game 163

(Editor's Note: Twenty-third in a series recalling the 30 greatest moments in Cubs history.)

The 1998 Cubs will never be mentioned when the greatest teams in franchise history are discussed.

102 Years and Counting... Why Us?

My grandfather turned 90 earlier this year.

Pops is no saint, but I have always been struck by his ability to make friends. It's a testament to his talent for relating to others that a week does not go by when somebody in our neighborhood asks me how he's doing or tells me a story about a good time they had with him.

But the fact that he has been a Cubs fan since at least the 1930s has to be penance for something. The man has been subjected to more bad baseball in his lifetime than anybody else I know and has not even enjoyed the experience of watching his favorite team play in the World Series since 1938. He was serving in the Pacific while the Cubs participated in the 1945 Fall Classic.

"Wait 'til next year!" my late grandmother would mutter whenever she'd hear a Cubs fan speak those words. "It's always wait 'til next year with those Cubs!"

Cubs Player Rankings

The improved play the Cubs demonstrated under interim manager Mike Quade during the season's final weeks (a 24-13 record) was encouraging but it doesn't change the fact that the 2010 season was an unmitigated disaster.

1989: Big First Inning Helps Cubs Top Giants

I was in a sour mood when I woke up on the morning of Oct. 5, 1989. I was still in distress over the Cubs' 11-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants the previous night in the opening game of the National League Championship Series. Coal gray skies and a steady rain did not help my frame of mind.

1998: Game 163

The 1998 Cubs will never be mentioned when the greatest teams in franchise history are discussed.

1989: Boys of Zimmer Clinch

The 2007 Cubs Convention at the Hilton Chicago featured a panel discussion of the 1989 NL East champion Cubs. The panel consisted of seven members of that team: Mike Bielecki, Doug Dascenzo, Mark Grace, Les Lancaster, Ryne Sandberg, Dwight Smith, and Jerome Walton. The quote that sticks with me from that discussion came from Grace.

"1989 was my favorite year in a Cubs uniform," said Grace, who that year as a 25-year-old led the team in RBI, played first base superbly, and went an incredible 11-for-17 with five extra-base hits in the North Siders' disappointing loss to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series.

1989: Dawson's Dash

The Cubs entered September of 1989 in first place, but I was still feeling insecure. I was hopeful that the North Siders could win the National League East but had a lingering feeling in the back of my mind that they would somehow blow it.

Castro A Hit, But Defense Needs Work

Starlin Castro, whose eighth inning RBI double snapped a scoreless tie in the Cubs' 4-0 victory at Washington on Wednesday, is now hitting .315 and is five plate appearances shy of qualifying for the National League batting championship.

A Herculean Relief Effort

It was great to see Scott Sanderson at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night as the guest conductor for "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Mr. Ricketts, Stay Out of the Clubhouse

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated arrived in the mailbox Wednesday and it included a short story about Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts.

Hawk Talk

In 1987, the final year of the Dallas Green regime and an exclusive day schedule at Wrigley Field, Andre Dawson treated Cubs fans to one of the greatest individual seasons in franchise history.

The [Friday] Sports Pages

It sucks getting old, but time marches on.

Some of my favorite Cubs teams were those of the late 80s. They included developing twenty-somethings like Greg Maddux, Jamie Moyer, Mark Grace, Rafael Palmeiro, Shawon Dunston, and Dave Martinez. I could relate to those guys. They were practically my age.

It came as somewhat of a shock when I came to the realization last night that the early 10s edition of the Cubs is closer in age to my graying self than my young co-worker who responded with a confused look when I started going into detail about the 1985 Bears season.

"Remember the game when the Fridge . . ."

"I don't," he interrupted. "I was only two."

And he was my boss.