2008 Chicago Cubs season

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2008 Chicago Cubs
NL Central Champions
Cubs Win flag on pennant clinching day 2008.jpg
Cubs Win Flag flies over the scoreboard at Wrigley Field shortly after the Cubs clinched the NL Central on September 20, 2008.
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Tribune Company
General manager(s) Jim Hendry
Manager(s) Lou Piniella
Local television CSN Chicago
WGN America
WGN-TV
CSN Chicago Plus (CLTV)
WCIU-TV
(Len Kasper, Bob Brenly, Cory Provus)
Local radio WGN (AM) 720
(Pat Hughes, Ron Santo, Cory Provus)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
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The 2008 Chicago Cubs season was the 136th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 133rd in the National League and the 93rd at Wrigley Field. The season began at home on March 31 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs were champions of the National League Central Division for the second year in a row, accumulating 97 regular season wins—the most since 1945. It was the first time since 1908 that the Cubs made postseason appearances in consecutive seasons.[1]

At the All-Star break in July, the Cubs led the NL Central and were tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the best record in the major leagues.[2] They tied a National League record with eight players selected to the All-Star team.[3]

On September 20, the Cubs clinched the NL Central championship with a 5–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.[4] Despite their regular season success, the team did not advance past the first round of the playoffs; they were swept 3–0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

Lou Piniella, in his second year as the Cubs' manager, won the National League's Manager of the Year Award in 2008. In addition, catcher Geovany Soto won the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year Award.[1]

Regular season

Game log

2008 Game Log (97–64)
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement/Cancellation
Bold = Cubs team member

Season standings

With the magic number at 1, fans had their "Cubs Win" flags flying in Chicago.
The Cubs and fans celebrate the 2008 National League Central Division championship. A few Cubs Win flags are visible.

National League Central

NL Central		 W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 97 64 0.602 — 55–26 42–38
Milwaukee Brewers 90 72 0.556 7½ 49–32 41–40
Houston Astros 86 75 0.534 11 47–33 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 86 76 0.531 11½ 46–35 40–41
Cincinnati Reds 74 88 0.457 23½ 43–38 31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 67 95 0.414 30½ 39–42 28–53


Record vs. opponents

2008 National League Records

Source: [162]
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona – 3–5 2–4 2–4 15–3 2–7 4–2 8–10 2–5 3–3 3–4 4–3 10–8 11–7 3–4 4–2 6–9
Atlanta 5–3 – 0–6 3–3 4–3 10–8 3–3 4–2 3–6 11–7 4–14 2–5 5–1 2–5 2–5 6–12 8–7
Chicago 4–2 6–0 – 8–7 5–1 4–3 8–9 5–2 9–7 4–2 3–4 14–4 5–2 4–3 9–6 3–3 6–9
Cincinnati 4–2 3–3 7–8 – 1–5 6–2 3–12 1–7 10–8 3–4 3–5 6–9 4–3 5–1 5–10 4–3 9–6
Colorado 3–15 3–4 1–5 5–1 – 5–3 3–3 8–10 4–3 3–6 0–5 5–2 9–9 11–7 3–4 4–3 7–8
Florida 7–2 8–10 3–4 2–6 3–5 – 4–2 3–4 5–1 8–10 10–8 3–2 4–2 3–3 2–5 14–3 5–10
Houston 2–4 3–3 9–8 12–3 3–3 2–4 – 4–3 7–8 5–2 3–4 8–8 3–3 7–1 7–8 4–2 7–11
Los Angeles 10–8 2–4 2–5 7–1 10–8 4–3 3–4 – 4–2 3–4 4–4 5–2 11–7 9–9 2–4 3–3 5–10
Milwaukee 5–2 6–3 7–9 8–10 3–4 1–5 8–7 2–4 – 2–4 1–5 14–1 4–3 6–0 10–5 6–2 7–8
New York 3–3 7–11 2–4 4–3 6–3 10–8 2–5 4–3 4–2 – 11–7 4–3 2–5 5–1 4–3 12–6 9–6
Philadelphia 4–3 14–4 4–3 5–3 5–0 8–10 4–3 4–4 5–1 7–11 – 4–2 4–2 3–3 5–4 12–6 4–11
Pittsburgh 3–4 5–2 4–14 9–6 2–5 2–3 8–8 2–5 1–14 3–4 2–4 – 3–4 4–2 10–7 3–4 6–9
San Diego 8–10 1–5 2–5 3–4 9–9 2–4 3–3 7–11 3–4 5–2 2–4 4–3 – 5–13 1–6 5–1 3–15
San Francisco 7–11 5–2 3–4 1–5 7–11 3–3 1–7 9–9 0–6 1–5 3–3 2–4 13–5 – 4–3 7–0 6–12
St. Louis 4–3 5–2 6–9 10–5 4–3 5–2 8–7 4–2 5–10 3–4 4–5 7–10 6–1 3–4 – 5–1 7–8
Washington 2–4 12–6 3–3 3–4 3–4 3–14 2–4 3–3 2–6 6–12 6–12 4–3 1–5 0–7 1–5 – 8–10


Rally songs

In 2007, Ernie Banks had requested that Evanston, Illinois native Eddie Vedder write the Cubs a song, and in August 2008 Vedder recorded "All the Way", which was released on September 18, 2008.[5] During the season, a new version of "Go, Cubs, Go" was recorded and released by the Manic Sewing Circle,[6] although the original 1984 Steve Goodman version became the official Cubs victory song.[7]

Playoffs

NLDS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

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Main article: 2008 National League Division Series

The Chicago Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs after Los Angeles won the series, 3-0.

Game 1, October 1

Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 1 7 8 1
Chicago 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 1
WP: Derek Lowe (1–0)   LP: Ryan Dempster (0–1)
Home runs:
LAD: James Loney (1), Manny Ramírez (1), Russell Martin (1)
CHC: Mark DeRosa (1)
Attendance: 42,099

Game 2, October 2

Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 5 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 10 12 0
Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 8 4
WP: Chad Billingsley (1–0)   LP: Carlos Zambrano (0–1)
Home runs:
LAD: Manny Ramírez (2)
CHC: None
Attendance: 42,136

Game 3, October 4

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 1
Los Angeles 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 3 6 0
WP: Hiroki Kuroda (1–0)   LP: Rich Harden (0–1)   Sv: Jonathan Broxton (1)
Home runs:
CHC: None
LAD: None
Attendance: 56,000

After losing Game 3 to the Dodgers, the Cubs lost nine consecutive post-season games, dating back to the 2003 NLCS before winning the 2015 National League wild card game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Roster

2008 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaching Staff

Player stats

Stats updated as of August 6, 2008

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Alfonso Soriano 65 273 81 .297 20 52
Ryan Theriot 105 416 131 .315 1 31
Derrek Lee 112 458 135 .295 17 69
Aramis Ramírez 107 400 110 .275 19 75
Geovany Soto 105 374 104 .278 17 62
Kosuke Fukudome 108 387 106 .274 8 41
Mark DeRosa 107 364 100 .275 21 58
Reed Johnson 75 240 71 .296 6 41
Jim Edmonds 80 252 61 .242 13 42
Daryle Ward 59 65 15 .231 2 9
Mike Fontenot 85 173 50 .289 8 30
Ronny Cedeño 69 153 43 .281 2 22
Henry Blanco 38 79 23 .291 2 6
Félix Pie 30 63 14 .222 1 7
Matt Murton 19 40 10 .250 0 6
Eric Patterson 13 38 9 .237 1 7

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
José Ascanio
0
0
7.94
6
0
0
5.2
5
5
4
3
Neal Cotts
0
2
4.29
50
0
0
35.2
17
17
13
43
Ryan Dempster
17
6
2.96
33
33
0
206.2
75
68
76
187
Scott Eyre
2
0
7.15
19
0
0
11.1
9
9
4
14
Chad Fox
0
1
5.40
3
0
0
3.1
2
2
3
1
Sean Gallagher
3
4
4.45
12
10
0
58.2
31
29
22
49
Chad Gaudin
4
2
6.26
24
0
0
27.1
20
19
10
27
Rich Harden
5
1
1.77
12
12
0
71.0
15
14
30
89
Kevin Hart
2
2
6.51
21
0
0
27.2
24
20
18
23
Rich Hill
1
0
4.12
5
5
0
19.2
9
9
18
15
Bob Howry
7
5
5.35
72
0
1
70.2
44
42
13
59
Jon Lieber
2
3
4.05
26
1
0
46.2
24
21
6
27
Ted Lilly
17
9
4.09
34
34
0
204.2
97
93
64
184
Carlos Mármol
2
4
2.68
82
0
7
87.1
30
26
41
114
Jason Marquis
11
9
4.53
29
28
0
167.0
88
84
70
91
Sean Marshall
3
5
3.86
34
7
1
65.1
29
28
23
58
Carmen Pignatiello
0
0
13.50
2
0
0
0.2
1
1
2
0
Jeff Samardzija
1
0
2.28
26
0
1
27.2
7
7
15
25
Kerry Wood
5
4
3.26
65
0
34
66.1
25
24
18
84
Michael Wuertz
1
1
3.63
45
0
0
44.2
23
18
20
30
Carlos Zambrano
14
6
3.91
30
30
0
188.2
88
82
72
130
Totals
97
64
3.87
161
161
44
1450.2
669
624
548
1264

2007 post-season changes

Trades

November 12, 2007
 To Detroit Tigers
Jacque Jones		 To Chicago Cubs
Omar Infante
November 13, 2007
 To Minnesota Twins
Craig Monroe		 To Chicago Cubs
Clay Rapada
December 4, 2007
 To Atlanta Braves
Will Ohman
Omar Infante		 To Chicago Cubs
José Ascanio
December 6, 2007
 To Tampa Bay Rays
Cash considerations		 To Chicago Cubs
Tim Lahey
January 5, 2008
 To New York Mets
Ángel Pagán		 To Chicago Cubs
Ryan Meyers
Corey Coles
July 8, 2008
 To Oakland Athletics
Sean Gallagher
Matt Murton
Eric Patterson
Josh Donaldson		 To Chicago Cubs
Rich Harden
Chad Gaudin

Free agent acquisitions

Player Former team Contract Terms
Kosuke Fukudome Chunichi Dragons 4 years, $48 million
Jon Lieber Philadelphia Phillies 1 year, $3.5 million
Reed Johnson Toronto Blue Jays 1 year, $1.3 million
Jim Edmonds San Diego Padres 1 year, $280,000

Players lost to free agency

Player New team
Jason Kendall Milwaukee Brewers
Cliff Floyd Tampa Bay Rays
Mark Prior San Diego Padres
Steve Trachsel Baltimore Orioles
Wade Miller Toronto Blue Jays

Other news

  • On November 20, 2007, John McDonough stepped down as team president to join the Chicago Blackhawks.[8]
  • On April 23, 2008, the Chicago Cubs recorded their 10,000th victory in franchise history with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over the Colorado Rockies. They were just the second team to complete this feat behind the San Francisco Giants.
  • On September 14, 2008 Carlos Zambrano threw the first no-hitter for the Cubs since Milt Pappas threw his on September 2, 1972. Zambrano threw the no-hitter against the Houston Astros in a game played at Miller Park in Milwaukee. It was the first no-hitter recorded at a neutral site in baseball history. The game was moved due to the damage Hurricane Ike caused.

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Cubs Pacific Coast League Pat Listach
AA Tennessee Smokies Southern League Buddy Bailey
A Daytona Cubs Florida State League Jody Davis
A Peoria Chiefs Midwest League Ryne Sandberg
Short-Season A Boise Hawks Northwest League Tom Beyers
Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League Franklin Font

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Daytona

References

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  8. ↑ The Official Site of The Chicago Cubs: News: McDonough steps down as president

External links

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