waxpaperbeercup

the perpetual disappointment that is a chicago cubs blog

Cubs clinchers: 1998

with 4 comments

Yeah, it was only the NL Wildcard. But Game 163 of 1998 might be the most memorable Cubs clincher of this generation. The reason for that of course was the circumstances.

The Cubs seemed to be eliminated a day earlier when they lost to the Astros 4-3 in Houston in 11 innings. Minutes after the Cubs loss, Neifi Perez hit a homerun for the Rockies against Robb Nen of the Giants, giving the Rockies a 9-8 win at Coors Field. This forced a one game playoff between the Cubs and Giants. Winner take all at Wrigley Field.

September 28, 1998 was a magical night at the old ballpark on Clark and Addison, it might have been the best atmosphere I have ever been a part of at the old ballpark.

Steve Trachsel and Gary Gaetti were the heroes that night. Matt Mieske delivered a key hit and Orlando Merced made a great catch up against the wall in foul territory. The Cubs would close it out when Shooter Beck got Joe Carter to pop up to Mark Grace. The 1998 Cubs were somehow going to the postseason.

Wrigley Field, Attendance: 39,556 Monday, September 28, 1998, 7:10
Time of Game: 3:41
Giants

3
89-74
Lost 2
2nd, 9½ GB
 
                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Giants          0  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  3    3  6  0
Cubs            0  0  0   0  2  2   0  1  X    5 10  0
W: Steve Trachsel (15-8), L: Mark Gardner (13-6), S: Rod Beck (51)
 Cubs

5
90-73
Won 1
2nd, 12½ GB

Batting Stats

San Francisco Giants         AB   R   H RBI   BB  SO    BA   OPS  Pit  Str   PO   A  Details
S Javier CF                   3   1   1   1    2   0  .290  .759   18    7    3   0
R Aurilia SS                  3   0   0   0    0   1  .266  .726   13    7    1   5
  S Dunston PH-SS             1   0   1   0    0   0  .222  .656    5    3    0   0
  E Burks PH                  0   0   0   0    1   0  .292  .861   10    6    0   0
  R Sanchez PR                0   0   0   0    0   0  .285  .686              0   0
B Bonds LF                    4   0   0   1    0   1  .303 1.047   20   14    3   0   SF
J Kent 2B                     4   0   0   1    0   0  .297  .914   16   10    3   4   HBP
J Carter RF                   4   0   0   0    1   1  .260  .765   28   16    2   0
J Snow 1B                     3   0   1   0    1   0  .248  .755    8    4    7   3   3B
C Hayes 3B                    3   0   0   0    1   0  .286  .770   18    9    1   0
  J Mesa P                    0   0   0   0    0   0                          0   0
B Johnson C                   2   0   0   0    0   1  .237  .706   10    7    2   0
  B Mayne PH-C                2   1   2   0    0   0  .273  .719    2    2    1   0
M Gardner P                   2   0   0   0    0   2  .164  .406   10    6    0   1
  R Rodriguez P               0   0   0   0    0   0  .167  .333              0   0
  J Johnstone P               0   0   0   0    0   0  .000  .000              0   0
  A Rios PH                   0   0   0   0    1   0  .571 2.129    8    4    0   0
  R Ortiz P                   0   0   0   0    0   0  .280  .733              1   0
  A Morman P                  0   0   0   0    0   0                          0   0
  B Mueller 3B                1   1   1   0    0   0  .294  .778    3    2    0   0
Totals                       32   3   6   0    7   6              169   97   24  13
Batting Events
3B: J Snow (1, off K Tapani).
SF: B Bonds (6, off T Mulholland).
HBP: J Kent (9, by S Trachsel).
TB: J Snow 3; B Mayne 2; S Dunston; S Javier; B Mueller.
RBI: J Kent (128); B Bonds (122); S Javier (49).
Team LOB: 11.
With RISP: 2 for 8.
Fielding Events
DP: 3. R Aurilia-J Kent-J Snow 2; J Snow-M Gardner-R Aurilia-J Snow.
Chicago Cubs                 AB   R   H RBI   BB  SO    BA   OPS  Pit  Str   PO   A  Details
L Johnson CF                  4   1   1   0    0   0  .280  .687   12   10    1   0
M Morandini 2B                4   0   1   0    0   1  .296  .765   18   12    3   1
S Sosa RF                     4   2   2   0    0   1  .308 1.024   15   10    5   0   GDP
M Grace 1B                    3   0   2   0    1   0  .309  .872   13    6    9   0   2B
H Rodriguez LF                2   1   1   0    0   0  .251  .864   10    5    1   0
  M Mieske PH-LF              1   0   1   2    0   0  .299  .775    2    2    0   0
  M Karchner P                0   0   0   0    0   0                          0   0
  F Heredia P                 0   0   0   0    0   0  .000  .000              0   0
  K Tapani P                  1   0   0   0    0   0  .133  .405    2    1    0   0
  T Mulholland P              0   0   0   0    0   0  .294  .780              0   0
  R Beck P                    0   0   0   0    0   0  .000  .000              0   0
G Gaetti 3B                   4   1   1   2    0   0  .281  .852   23   18    1   2   HR,2·GDP
T Houston C                   3   0   0   0    0   0  .255  .686   11    6    6   0
J Hernandez SS                2   0   1   0    1   1  .254  .782   15    6    0   3   SB
S Trachsel P                  1   0   0   0    0   0  .266  .697    5    3    0   1   SH
  O Merced LF                 1   0   0   0    0   0  .278  .749   17   13    1   0
Totals                       30   5  10   0    2   3              143   92   27   7
Batting Events
2B: M Grace (39, off J Mesa).
HR: G Gaetti (19, off M Gardner; 5th inn, 1 on, 0 outs to Deep LF).
SH: S Trachsel (9, off M Gardner).
TB: G Gaetti 4; M Grace 3; S Sosa 2; M Morandini; M Mieske; L Johnson; J Hernandez; H Rodriguez.
GIDP: G Gaetti 2 (12); S Sosa (20).
RBI: G Gaetti 2 (70); M Mieske 2 (12).
Team LOB: 4.
With RISP: 1 for 7.
Baserunning Events
SB: J Hernandez (4, 2nd base off R Ortiz/B Mayne).

Pitching Stats

San Francisco Giants          IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   BF  Pit-Str  Ct·Sw·Lk   GB·FB·LD· ?   GmSc  IR-IS   LevI    WPA
M Gardner, L (13-6)            5.1   6   4   4    1   2   1   4.33   21   73-46   21· 6·19    6·12· 4· 0     41    -     0.92  -0.03
R Rodriguez                    0     1   0   0    1   0   0   3.70    2    7-3     1· 0· 2    0· 1· 1· 0          2-2    1.25  -0.08
J Johnstone                    0.2   0   0   0    0   0   0   3.07    1    4-3     2· 1· 0    1· 0· 0· 0          2-0    0.39   0.03
R Ortiz                        0.2   1   0   0    0   0   0   4.99    3   18-11    7· 2· 2    3· 0· 0· 0          0-0    0.14   0.00
A Morman                       0.2   0   0   0    0   1   0   5.28    2    8-6     3· 1· 2    0· 1· 0· 0          1-0    0.14   0.01
J Mesa                         0.2   2   1   1    0   0   0   4.57    4   18-12    9· 1· 2    1· 3· 1· 0          0-0    0.08  -0.01
Totals                         8    10   5   5    2   3   1          33  128-81   43·11·27   11·17· 6· 0          5-2
R Rodriguez faced 2 batters in the 6th inning.
Chicago Cubs                  IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   BF  Pit-Str  Ct·Sw·Lk   GB·FB·LD· ?   GmSc  IR-IS   LevI    WPA
S Trachsel, W (15-8)           6.1   1   0   0    6   6   0   4.46   27  121-66   39· 7·20    4·10· 4· 0     71    -     1.05   0.32
M Karchner, H (10)             0.1   1   0   0    0   0   0   5.15    2    9-5     4· 0· 1    1· 1· 0· 0          2-0    1.29   0.01
F Heredia, H (17)              0.1   0   0   0    0   0   0   5.06    1    3-2     1· 0· 1    1· 0· 0· 0          3-0    2.15   0.06
K Tapani                       1     3   2   2    0   0   0   4.85    6   13-10    7· 0· 3    5· 1· 0· 0          0-0    0.34  -0.01
T Mulholland                   0.1   1   1   1    1   0   0   2.89    3   14-9     6· 1· 2    0· 2· 2· 0          2-2    1.84  -0.05
R Beck, S (51)                 0.2   0   0   0    0   0   0   3.02    2    9-5     4· 0· 1    1· 1· 0· 0          2-1    1.79   0.09
Totals                         9     6   3   3    7   6   0          41  169-97   61· 8·28   12·15· 6· 0          9-3
K Tapani faced 2 batters in the 9th inning.
Balks: None.
WP: J Mesa (10).
HBP: S Trachsel (8; J Kent).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.

Other Info

Umpires: HP – Bruce Froemming, 1B – Steve Rippley, 2B – Gary Darling, 3B – Mike Winters.
Time of Game: 3:41.
Attendance: 39,556.
Field Condition: Dry.
Start Time Weather: 70° F, Wind 15mph in from Rightfield, Overcast, No Precipitation.

Written by wpbc

September 28, 2009 at 2:45 am

Posted in chicago cubs

Tagged with , ,

«
»

4 Responses

Subscribe to comments with RSS.

  1. I was there that night. Those were the most expensive upper deck seats ever, but it was worth it.

    Bill Pearch

    September 28, 2009 at 5:13 am

  2. What a fun night that was Bill. I really enjoyed it. I can still see gaetti’s homerun from my spot in SRO. What fun, what fun!

    wpbc

    September 28, 2009 at 9:30 am

  3. I was there as well. Moments after the game was announced, my roommate and I ran four blocks down Addison to the park for tickets. People were darting out of their houses the whole way to join us. It was like a Depression-era run on the bank.

    We ended up in standing room on the first-base side, by the ramp underneath the skyboxes, where we had the added bonus of watching Bill Murray and Michael Jordan walk in and out.

    It was a glorious night, and I wept in joy at its conclusion. I attended the one home playoff game shortly thereafter, which ended up a cold and wet disappointment. But I’ll always have game 163.

    Matt Herlihy

    October 20, 2009 at 8:10 pm

  4. yeah, the playoff game against the braves was a letdown after the one game playoff.

    wpbc

    October 21, 2009 at 8:13 am


Leave a Reply