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Home , Don Cardwell, Jed Hoyer, Kyle Hendricks, National League Central

September 17, 2016

ESPNChicago.com sits in bleachers, wears comical disguise By Bradford Doolittle

CHICAGO -- While the Cubs' players and coaches were waiting until after Friday's game to celebrate the clinching of the NL Central, the front office decided to get started on the tomfoolery a little early.

About halfway through the afternoon contest against the , photos of team president Theo Epstein and general sitting in the bleachers began to circulate on social media.

Several photos of Epstein drew widespread attention, including one posted by the website BornOnThird.

Epstein was wearing a fake bushy mustache, not unlike the one famously worn by former manager Bobby Valentine during the 1999 season when he returned to the dugout after an ejection.

"We left after the bottom of the eighth and went down to the clubhouse. It was fun. It's great out there," Epstein said following the Cubs' 5-4 win.

"Normally we're in a suite and it's very standard type of deal, where we're watching the game and keeping an eye on things. To enjoy the real Wrigley Field and sit out there, feel the breeze, be among the fans, have a beer, it was wonderful. Even better than I thought it was going to be."

Questions abounded before the game about how the Cubs would pass the last two weeks of the season after clinching a postseason spot earlier than any time in franchise history.

"We've got a lot ahead of us. We really do," Epstein said Thursday before the Cubs' loss to the Brewers. "It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October."

Epstein, of course, is no stranger to disguises.

After resigning as GM of the Red Sox, he exited in a gorilla suit. He also was reportedly spotted at a Pearl Jam concert donning a mustache.

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ESPNChicago.com homer kicks off Cubs' party in style By Bradford Doolittle

CHICAGO -- The had every reason to mail it in Friday. But that's just not a trait this possibly historic team seems to possess.

Down two runs entering the ninth, the Cubs tied the score when pinch hitter beat out a single, diving into the first-base bag and driving in . struck out the side in the top of the 10th, thrilling the sellout crowd by touching 103 on the radar gun.

Then came the moment that set off the spree: Veteran catcher Miguel Montero lofted a homer into the left-field bleachers. The crowd exploded. His teammates stormed the field and mobbed him at home plate. The celebration was on.

"It's awesome," Russell said. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I think we drew it up perfectly. The stars aligned."

The party lasted over an hour, at least the part at the ballpark. It started on the field, with the mob around Montero at the plate, spilled into the Cubs' new clubhouse -- carefully sealed in plastic to minimize the damage -- and was accompanied by streams of beer and champagne, loud music, laughter and lots of hugs.

"The camaraderie, the chemistry, even hanging out outside the field, it's really a close bunch of guys," said. "It's a special group of guys. We have veteran leaders, and a lot of great young players who just put the work in. Humble guys, all they want to do is come to the ballpark and win."

Then the partiers headed back to the field to share the revelry with several hundred fans who stuck around behind the Cubs' dugout, and the families of the players and staff members. Everyone took part, yet they knew this was just an early step on what they hope will be a long journey.

"I think our mindset is good," Russell said. "We know we've got to keep pushing. This is only the beginning."

The Cubs clinched their first NL Central title since 2008 around midnight Thursday when the archrival St. Louis Cardinals lost in San Francisco. By then, the players, coaches and manager had exited the ballpark and gone their separate ways. They would celebrate with their fans after Friday's game, win or lose.

With the division crown in hand, Maddon played a bench-heavy lineup behind starter against the Brewers. Their state-of-the-art infield got the day off, replaced by Coghlan, Munenori Kawasaki, Javier Baez and Tommy La Stella. No Rizzo. No Bryant. And so on.

"It's been amazing," said catcher , nearing the end of his final regular season. "I pinch today and got a standing ovation. I had to compose myself in the box."

When the Brewers grabbed the lead on three homers, helped along by a signature stout wind blowing out at Wrigley, no one would have been too upset if the game had ended that way. This was a day about fun. Heck, members of the team's front office, including president Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, took the day off and sat in the bleachers. Epstein wore a gaudy black mustache as a kind of who-do-you-think-you're-fooling disguise before pictures of him began to circulate on social media. He just wanted to experience the "real Wrigley Field."

"It's really a privilege to be here," Maddon said. "It's different. Everybody should get this opportunity at some point in their big league career."

With the booze on ice and ready to go, the Cubs still grinded out at-bats in the ninth, loading the bases and tying the score. With this team, winning always comes before partying, and the Cubs were gunning for their 52nd win of the season at the Friendly Confines. And when it was done, with the hero being Montero, a beloved clubhouse presence who has struggled at the plate for most of the season, it only added to the jubilation.

"This team is marked by a very selfless, team-first attitude," Epstein said. "It was fitting to have lots of guys contribute. Not just the stars, but everyone contributed today in the comeback. Then the consummate team player, Miguel Montero, who has handled his up-and-down year so, so well, to walk us off and prompt the celebration, it was very apropos."

The Cubs still have work to do during the regular season. They need to clinch the NL's top seed. They need to get healthy -- outfielder left Friday's game because of a "tight right side" that wasn't believed to be anything serious. They need to get their rotation lined up. And they need to maintain their edge as they approach a postseason that will have an entire city on tenterhooks, when the Cubs try to end the most famous drought in sports.

But that will unfold over the next six weeks. Friday was about celebration and achievement, fun, camaraderie, fans and family. Tomorrow will come soon enough.

"We celebrate at the end of the day," Russell said. "The next day comes, you know it's back to business."

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ESPNChicago.com Don't expect Cubs to let up after clinching division title By Bradford Doolittle

CHICAGO -- Autumn is supposed to be the time for celebrations in . But the Chicago Cubs have been so hot this season, their first celebration happened in the summer.

The Cubs clinched the NL Central late Thursday when the St. Louis Cardinals lost in San Francisco. The players, coaches and manager Joe Maddon had already gone their separate ways, so the team plans to hold its official clinching shindig after Friday's game against Milwaukee. On Saturday, they begin a prolonged prep for the postseason.

The Cubs have held a healthy lead in the division all season and with a margin that had bulged to 17 games, clinching was a foregone conclusion. Yet there remained a sense of amazement in the clubhouse simply because of the calendar. Halfway through September, a week away from the official end of summer, and the Cubs are the NL Central champs.

"Being in this position is very interesting," Maddon said. "It's different for me, it's different for us [because of] the time of the year, Sept. 15."

The division title is the Cubs' first since 2008 and sixth since the divisions were created in 1969. On a franchise- history scale, it's a rare but not unheard of event. All but the youngest of their fans can recall the back-to-back division titles in 2007 and 2008. So while everyone is certainly upbeat about the first-place finish and the team's quest for its first 100-win season since 1935, the celebrations everyone really wants to see can't happen until October.

"It's not like navel-gazing time," team president Theo Epstein said. "We've got a lot ahead of us. We really do. It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October. I think we're rightfully proud of the regular season we've had and that's meaningful. It's never time to look back after that. After the regular season, it's time to play for what really matters. We're on top of that. That's what we're focused on."

The first and most tangible order of business for the Cubs is to wrap up the top overall seed on the NL side of the playoff bracket. They led the by six games entering Friday's game, giving them a magic number of 11 in that race. At stake is home-field advantage in a possible NLCS matchup and, given the Cubs' 50-22 home record, that's kind of important.

"Knowing where we're going to go, knowing we're going to have a brief period of off time to prepare [are the advantages of clinching early]," Cubs pitcher said. "Get guys to work on the side, guys to work on their defense if that's what they need to do. Get some extra hitting in. It just gives us a lot of options."

Next on the agenda will be to maximize the health of their players. The most obvious case here is reliever , who is nearing a return to active duty after rehabbing a knee injury. He worked a side bullpen session on Thursday and said afterward that he's feeling much better. Maddon says he'll get some game action by the season's end. As for everyone else, plan to see the Cubs balancing a liberal dose of player rest with a consistent effort to maintain their level of play.

"Resting guys that might have little dings, that would be No. 1 for me," Maddon said. "It would be specific guys to not play for a couple, three, four days. Beyond that, the bullpen, just to work them no more than two days in a row, probably. Overall, the concept I'd like to treat it like , regarding lineups and everything else that you do."

While Epstein wouldn't comment on the specifics of the Cubs' postseason roster, it's unlikely that anything outside the realm of player health will affect those decisions. Given the Cubs' organizational familiarity with the concept of sample size, they likely already have all the information they need, other than the key variable of knowing who they'll be playing.

Maddon will also need to line up his playoff rotation. As he balances dropping Mike Montgomery back into the bullpen and limiting pitch counts, he'll also have to put the in order with the playoff schedule in mind.

"You have to work backwards," Maddon said. "In other words, once you know that you're there, then you work from the first game of the playoffs backward. You begin with the end line in sight. That way it helps you prepare your work even better."

More than anything, though, the Cubs will have to take steps to ensure that their drama-free conclusion to the regular season doesn't take the edge off an amazing season. But nobody seems particularly worried that this is a roster that will become complacent. As Epstein pointed out, his team is hell-bent on achievement.

"If you look at it, every time we've had a chance to sort of reset and focus on a goal ... it's happened," Epstein said.

Examples? The Cubs set a goal of coming out of spring training strong and then started the season 25-6. Later, after a lag around midseason, they focused on starting strong in the second half. They've gone 40-18 since, never losing more than two games in a row.

"Getting the top overall seed and getting home-field advantage, those things are important to us, so we're going to keep playing," Epstein said. "Even if at some point we accomplish that, I still think this isn't the type of team that's just going to roll over and stagnate and get too rusty."

Don't expect the Cubs to let up, even with the NL Central in their proverbial hip pocket. Their eyes are on the bigger prizes, and they know that now is not the time to lose track of the processes that have already taken them so far.

"We've had a lead for a long time and we've been able to add on to that lead," Arrieta said. "So it's kind of like, 'Job well done, now let's move on to the next task.' Get on to that next challenge."

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ESPNChicago.com The week in interesting and unusual Cubs stats By Doug Kern, ESPN Stats & Information

It didn’t quite happen the way the Chicago Cubs wanted, but they clinched the Central title Thursday, backing into it despite their loss to Milwaukee. They had to wait 90 minutes until the St. Louis Cardinals also lost just before midnight. With the exception of the 1918 season, which was cut short by World War I and ended on Labor Day, Sept. 15 is the earliest date on which the Cubs have clinched either the division or the National League pennant since 1880. On Sept. 15 of that year, their 5-2 win at Cincinnati, coupled with a loss, put them 14 ahead in the wins column with 13 games to play.

Dexter Fowler started two of this week's games by touching third base; his triple on Friday went for naught after two succeeding batters struck out, but his Tuesday homer allowed him to continue and touch the plate as well. Fowler has 17 leadoff extra-base hits this season, one shy of Jean Segura for the major league lead and the most by a Cubs player since had 21 in 2007. Fowler, however, has varied his hits nicely. This week made him the first player in Cubs history with seven leadoff homers and two leadoff triples in one season. (Rick Monday was the last to have seasons with both achievements, but he had the homers in 1976 and the triples in 1973.)

Anthony Rizzo's two-homer game Wednesday was the 13th of his career, easily the most on the team since his debut in 2011 ( has seven). Rizzo already has the third-most multihomer games by a Cubs player of his age (27 years, 39 days as of Friday); Ron Santo had 14, and Rizzo would need two more before the regular season ends to tie Sammy Sosa's mark of 15.

Jon Lester had two scoreless outings since our last post, throwing seven innings on Friday and eight on Wednesday with only one walk between them. Although he hasn't won them all, that makes nine consecutive starts in which Lester has allowed two or fewer runs and issued two or fewer walks. He joins Jake Arrieta (nine games last year plus this year) as the only Cubs players in the live ball era to do that in nine straight starts; the last before them was Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1919.

As impressive as Lester's week was, Kyle Hendricks stole the show by taking a no-hit bid into the ninth inning Monday. The year's only no-hitter (so far) was by Arrieta in April. There's been only one season in major league history with multiple no-hitters, all by the same team. That was in 1904 by the Red Sox, then called the Boston Americans.

Jeremy Hazelbaker played spoiler, sending the third pitch of the ninth inning into the seats for the Cardinals' only hit. St. Louis has had two games in the live ball era in which its only hit was a homer; George Hendrick broke up Mario Soto's bid in the ninth inning at Cincinnati on May 12, 1984. As mentioned on the broadcast, the only Cubs pitcher to no-hit the Cardinals was on May 15, 1960. The best note that we didn't get to use: Hendricks and Cardwell share the same birthday, Dec. 7.

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CSNChicago.com Cubs Begin Postseason Celebration By Walking Off Brewers By Tony Andracki

One Cubs player already joked before Friday's game he would be wearing a dark shade of sunglasses in the clubhouse Saturday morning.

You better believe the Cubs are going to celebrate hard Friday night, especially after walking off the Brewers 5-4 in front of 40,823 fans at Wrigley Field.

"This was one of our goals and step to a bigger goal," David Ross said Friday morning after the Cubs officially claimed the Thursday night with a St. Louis Cardinals loss in San Francisco.

"Hopefully there's a lot more partying to do, especially here at Wrigley. But we're going to enjoy this. We'll enjoy ourselves tonight. Don't worry about that."

Friday marked exactly three weeks before the Cubs' first playoff game and manager Joe Maddon trotted out the "B squad" behind John Lackey with regulars , Kris Bryant, , , Addison Russell and getting the day off.

Albert Almora Jr. crushed a two-run homer and the Cubs mounted a ninth-inning comeback to send the game to extra innings, setting the stage for Miguel Montero's 10th inning homer into the left-field bleachers.

Still, the result on the field didn't matter much in the big picture, only ensuring the Cubs wouldn't spend a second straight season celebrating a playoff berth at Wrigley immediately following a loss.

The only possible worry for the Cubs was Jorge Soler forced to leave the game early with tightness in his right side.

Other than that, the Cubs are really just in wait-and-see mode, trying to keep everybody healthy and fresh over the next few weeks until they find out their opponent in the National League Divison Series.

"There's much more left for the team," Kyle Hendricks said. "There's always more for the team. This is only the first baby, baby step.

"We know where we want to go and it's a lot more than just the division."

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CSNChicago.com Five Breakthroughs That Pushed Cubs Toward NL Central Title By Patrick Mooney

The Cubs dreaded the idea of watching another coin flip and seeing an entire season come crashing down in a wild-card game, the way it did for the Pirates last year, when Jake Arrieta strutted around as the hottest pitcher on the planet and the blackout crowd at PNC Park fell silent.

So the Cubs went all-in after winning 97 games and two playoff rounds, with the Ricketts family and Theo Epstein’s front office betting almost $290 million on free agents and star manager Joe Maddon designing the bull’s-eye for 2016: “Embrace The Target.”

The Cubs projected: a Big Three at the front of their rotation (Arrieta, , John Lackey); an MVP candidate in the middle of their lineup (Anthony Rizzo); a multiplying effect on their lineup and defense (Ben Zobrist); a Gold Glove presence in right field (Jason Heyward); young talent bubbling up from the farm system (, Jr., Carl Edwards Jr.); and enough financial flexibility to make a trade-deadline splash (Aroldis Chapman).

But to clinch the National League Central by Sept. 15 — a division that featured the 100-win St. Louis Cardinals and the 98-win Pirates last season — the Cubs needed these five breakthroughs:

• Maybe we should have seen this coming, because since 2013 Kris Bryant has gone from the national college player of the year to the Arizona Fall League MVP to the consensus minor league player of the year to last season’s NL Rookie of the Year to now the NL MVP frontrunner.

As Rizzo said: “He’s won an award the last 15 years.”

But Bryant also led the NL with 199 last season, looking at times worn down, a little shaky at third base and like he had a few holes in his swing that could be exploited. The Cubs now have a superstar who is only 24 years old, on pace for 41 homers and 100-plus RBIs and an impact defender all over the field.

“When you really look at how young players perform, I know you guys probably roll your eyes when we said it wasn’t linear a million times,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “But you kind of talk about that in (terms of) ups and downs.

“These guys have made sort of a quantum leap from a year ago — Kris, most notably, by cutting his rate as much as he did. Obviously, he’s having an incredible season. But Addison (Russell), Kyle (Hendricks), Javy (Baez) — I’d like to think some of that is contagious.

“These guys see the progress other guys are making and it kind of pushes them along. But I also think it’s sort of the nature of really good young players that sometimes they can potentially make jumps that people didn’t expect.”

• Pushing Starlin Castro to second base and installing Russell at shortstop last August changed this team’s defensive identity and helped catapult the Cubs into late October. The Cubs now lead the majors in defensive efficiency, with Russell making highlight-reel plays look routine and diving and leaping his way into the Gold Glove conversation.

But becoming the first Cubs shortstop to reach 91 RBIs since Ernie Banks in 1960? And launching 20 homers during his age-22 season?

“I’m developing, man,” Russell said. “I’m just trying to stay the course. I talk about the progression of the day-to- day grind and trying to get better. Well, we’re starting to see some of the results of the progression.”

• When pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, a reasonable expectation for Hendricks would be the Dartmouth College graduate maxing out as a fifth starter on a playoff contender, carving out a long, productive career in the big leagues and transitioning into a khakis-and-polo-shirt job in a front office somewhere.

But Hendricks is stronger — mentally and physically – and way more athletic than he’s given credit for, putting up a Award-type-of-season (15-7, major-league-leading 2.03 ERA) that even he never saw coming this year.

“It’s just how well he executes a game plan,” Lester said. “His recall is unbelievable. It’s fun to watch, just because he’s so different than anybody else. You don’t worry about the radar gun or anything like that. He really has a good idea of how to set guys up and finish them.”

• After Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks and each made at least 31 starts last year, the Cubs took out all these insurance policies with swingmen and Triple-A depth guys, convinced they wouldn’t stay so healthy and be that lucky again.

Well, those four starters — plus Lackey — have all made between 26 and 29 starts already and can now save some bullets for the Big Boy Games. The Cubs lead the majors with a 2.89 rotation ERA, another tribute to the organization’s pitching infrastructure and coaches like , and , as well as Maddon’s Geek Department.

• The Cubs have 93 wins and a 17-game lead over the Cardinals with getting four at-bats before undergoing season-ending knee surgery. Heyward (.618 OPS) is having the worst offensive year of his career — and one of the worst offensive seasons in the majors in 2016. Jorge Soler has essentially played a half-season, showing off his natural power (12 homers) without ripping off the injury-prone label.

The outfield mix would have looked so much different if the qualifying offer didn’t have such a chilling effect on Dexter Fowler’s market, leaving the leadoff guy still unsigned in spring training. A shocking one-year, $13 million deal came together in late February, with Fowler (.385 on-base percentage) returning to be an offensive catalyst, play center and earn his first All-Star selection.

“It was very fortuitous,” Maddon said. “I cannot even imagine us being in this position right now without him.”

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CSNChicago.com Cubs Celebrate Division Title In Style: 'Champagne Is The Best Smell In Baseball' By Tony Andracki

Miguel Montero stood on the table in the middle of the Cubs' state-of-the-art clubhouse, spread his arms wide and tilted his head toward the ceiling.

As Carl Edwards Jr. jumped around waving a "W" flag like a cape, a group of Cubs players blasted Montero with beer, champagne or whatever they had lying around.

It was the perfect image to capture the Cubs' celebration Friday evening, less than an hour after Montero had walked the Cubs off with a into the left-field bleachers.

The win itself didn't really matter much, as the Cubs were ready to pop bottles and make some memories no matter what the outcome of Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It's just that Montero's shot ensured there was nothing that could possibly damper the main event.

"Champagne is the best smell in baseball," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. "It never gets old. Even though we've been kind of expecting this for a little bit now, it still makes you sit back, reflect on all the people who've contributed, how happy this makes everybody and the opportunity this gives us to go do something even more special.

"Take today and celebrate this, recognize this and tomorrow morning, move forward. Very focused on our next steps."

To a man, the Cubs still can't really find the words to sum up clinching the National League Central with more than two weeks left in the regular season.

Of course, you can't blame them. It's hard for anybody to wrap their heads around the fact the Cubs have 94 wins on Sept. 16.

"The early aspect of it is pretty unusual," Epstein said. "I haven't really processed that part of it, but it's great. Definitely better early than late. It's a reflection of how hard these guys grinded and how focused they stayed even when we had the big league.

"I mean, a 17.5-game lead, it's ridiculous. I've never been a part of something like that. So hats off to the boys and Joe [Maddon] and the staff for keeping the pedal down even when they didn't have to. It was great."

Here are the sights and sounds from the Cubs' celebration Friday, the first of what they hope will be several big parties this fall.

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CSNChicago.com Disguised Theo Epstein Sits With Jed Hoyer In Wrigley Field Bleachers To Celebrate Cubs Clinch By Tony Andracki

Theo Epstein has graduated from gorilla costumes to a fake goatee and a Cubs hat.

Epstein - who once left Fenway Park in a gorilla costume in late October to avoid being seen by the media - appeared to be spending Friday afternoon sitting in the front row of the Wrigley Field bleachers along with Cubs GM Jed Hoyer and a few other front office members, celebrating the Cubs' National League Central title.

Of course, Twitter captured the images.

Epstein explained the excursion into the bleachers:

"Just enjoy the real Wrigley Field - sit out there, feel the breeze and be amongst the fans, have a beer," he said. "It was wonderful, even better than I thought it would be. I haven't done that since 1997 at Wrigley.

"We made a deal that we would do it the day after we clinched the division. Behave ourselves, but also enjoy everything that Wrigley has to offer; see it from a different perspective. I personally think it made me a better executive, so have to try it again."

Good for them. They deserve a little celebration, admiring the team they built on the field before October hits.

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CSNChicago.com With Division Clinched, Cubs Begin Working Backward From Game 1 Of NLDS By JJ Stankevitz

The Cubs can now say they’re on the clock to figure out their playoff starting rotation.

That’s where the focus can shift to on and Addison after the St. Louis Cardinals’ loss to the Thursday night clinched the Cubs’ first National League Central championship since 2008. By virtue of their 93-53 record, which entered Friday six games better than the next-best NL team in the Washington Nationals, the Cubs now have a three-week window to get players rested and re-work their rotation for the five-game National League Division Series, which begins Oct. 7.

Manager Joe Maddon will take his cues from spring training over the next three weeks with that postseason curtain-lifter in mind.

“You gotta work backwards,” Maddon said. “In other words, once you’re able to officially say that you’re there, then you work from the first game of the playoffs backward. You begin with the end line in sight, and that way it helps you prepare your work even better.

“Any time I’ve ever done spring trainings, when I was the coordinator, you always work from the end to the beginning and that would be the other part of it, to try to manipulate the work in a manner that satisfies everybody, gets everybody rest, but you have to understand what you have to do on that first game of the playoffs, so it has to work backward.”

Maddon said a few players will get three or four days off in a row to focus on resting and healing some of the normal bumps and bruises that come with the grind of a 162-game season. Relievers won’t pitch more than two days in a row, too.

The Cubs made some noise earlier this week when they re-worked their starting rotation to obvstentively put left- hander Jon Lester in line to start Game 1 of the NLDS, though president of baseball operations Theo Epstein cautioned that the club hasn’t made any concrete plans this early into the process.

“It’s just something that you talk about behind closed doors,” Epstein said, “and more generally the farther out that you are, and then more specifically when you get close, and then ultimately make a final determination. But it has to do with how the guys are pitching, and then also matchups and extrapolating the schedule out a little bit.

“So, yeah, look, those are good conversations to have, because it means we’re getting ready to play a playoff series. And that’s what it’s all about.”

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Chicago Tribune Kyle Hendricks took unconventional path to become Cubs' unlikely ace By David Haugh

On the campus of Dartmouth College, bookish pitcher Kyle Hendricks fit in so well with the rest of the Ivy Leaguers in his freshman class that baseball coach caught himself making a mistake he often sees others make.

"People make assumptions about Ivy League schools that, because they're elite academic institutions, they don't take their sports that seriously," Whalen recalled over the phone. "And one of the first times I met Kyle, I asked him one question: 'How important is baseball to you?' "

It seemed like a fair question at the time.

North Siders have come to know Hendricks as baseball Everyman pitching like nobody expected for the Cubs this unforgettable season, confusing hitters with a crafty changeup and insinuating himself into the debate over who is the ace of the best team in the majors.

But Whalen can be forgiven for initially wondering about baseball's role in Hendricks' future back when he majored in economics at Dartmouth after achieving a 4.0 grade-point average at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, Calif. Math always came easier than baseball for Hendricks, a studious natural athlete who learned well enough from his father, John, a golf pro, to once stay stroke for stroke at an event with pro golfer Rory Sabbatini as a teenager.

Showing maturity impossible to measure with sabermetrics, Hendricks safely chose the collegiate route in 2008 over the circuitous path offered by the Angels when they drafted him in the 39th round. Tall and lean with dark hair parted perfectly to the side, Hendricks the matriculating Dartmouth freshman looked more like Joe College than anybody's image of a future Cy Young Award candidate — looks that can be deceiving.

"He answered my question by looking me right in the eyes, in a relaxed way, but he had that look and said, 'Coach, baseball is the most important thing to me,' " Whalen said. "You could tell he meant it. There was no false bravado, trying to make me think it was more important than it was. He comes across a humble, understated young man — and he is.

"But make no mistake, Kyle's confident and competitive. And after he answered, I remember saying to myself, 'I think we have a keeper here.' "

Nine months later, Hendricks proved Whalen right. Dartmouth stood one win from its first Ivy League championship in 22 years and called on Hendricks, who threw seven shutout innings in a 10-0 victory. Whalen, the son of longtime Pirates scout Chick Whalen, always told recruits major-league teams will find talent no matter where they attended school. Hendricks, whose childhood dream of attending Stanford died when the Cardinal recruited a staff of power arms, offered Whalen evidence immediately by outthinking hitters more than overpowering them for the Big Green.

"Baseball always has been what I wanted to try to do with my life, and going to Dartmouth was part of that decision," Hendricks, 26, said in the Cubs dugout. "All Coach Whalen said was, 'You don't have a spot and you'll have to work like everybody else.' I always respected that.''

When Hendricks found out last October he was pitching Game 2 in St. Louis in the National League Division Series, he invited Whalen. Hours after Hendricks' one-hit performance against the Cardinals on Monday, his finest major- league start, he texted his college coach to arrange a conversation.

You might say Hendricks knows how to finish pitches.

"One of the most loyal kids I've ever had," Whalen said. "He's comfortable with who he is. I don't think he has a chip on his shoulder about his lack of velocity. Everybody talks about the lack of velocity, but all I know is every time I see him pitch, the ball is not put on the barrel."

'He won't throw that here'

Clyde Wright warned Rod Carew, the Hall of Fame hitter, what was coming. Wright, an Angels pitcher from 1966 to '73 who runs a pitching school in Southern California, and Carew, a family friend who once gave Kyle bunting tips, were regulars at high school games Hendricks pitched.

"One day, Kyle had a kid 3-2 with the bases loaded and I said, 'Rod, watch him throw this curveball,' " Wright, 75, recalled over the phone. "Rod said, 'He won't throw that here.' I knew he would because I had told Kyle not to be afraid to throw any pitch in any situation. And he just froze the kid at the plate. Rod was like, 'Wow.' "

Hendricks began working with Wright — and wowing him — when he was 11. The longer Wright sat on a bucket catching Hendricks' pitches, the more he sensed something special about this particular Little Leaguer.

"He had extremely big hands and fingers and good mechanics already," Wright said. "I told him: 'You know what you're doing. Listen to me and we might make something ... and if you don't listen, I'm going to kick your ass.' He just looked at me like, what in the world is that old man doing?"

Reminded of that encounter, Hendricks laughed. The two used to spend so much time together that Wright's wife kidded him he paid more attention to Hendricks than his own son, Jaret, a former Indians pitcher. Hendricks cherishes the memories.

"He's a big character, and every pitch I'd throw he'd be yelling something back at me in that Tennessee accent," Hendricks said. "I was a quiet kid. It was me and him ... and he'd tell me what to do. He opened me up and we became pretty close. The biggest thing was he taught me how to throw a curveball so when I was at the right age, I'd know how to throw a healthy one."

As a high school pitcher under Wright's direction, Hendricks added a changeup. His repertoire made him more of a pitcher than a thrower, making Wright wary whether pro scouts eventually would see what he saw in the right- hander.

"I thought he had the capability to pitch in the big leagues, but the big thing against him was he didn't throw that hard, so we were just hoping somebody would give him a chance," Wright said. "I think he's thrown the same speed the last six, seven years."

That Hendricks became one of baseball's top pitchers without a fastball that travels faster than 91 mph makes his ascent even more impressive. The further his career goes, the more his mind races back to where he first believed all of this was possible.

"I had decent mechanics, but (Wright) taught me all the basic checkpoints and the right sensations and feelings, with body control," Hendricks said. "That's the foundation of where I became a pitcher."

'Be a jerk on the mound'

On that foundation, Hendricks began to build a warehouse of information gleaned from everybody he encountered on his way to becoming the unlikeliest of aces.

Hendricks' dad, John, for example, taught him a changeup in the side yard one night after a rough high school outing. The array of strong influences ranges from Whalen and Wright to Brad Holman, Hendricks' pitching coach at Class A Myrtle Beach in the Rangers organization, and Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio.

Then there was Scott Budner, a pitching coach whose input over a three-year period from 2009 to 2011 improved Hendricks' changeup and, just as significantly, altered his makeup.

"I taught him how to be a bastard on the mound and have an attitude," Budner said.

One night in 2009, Budner went to watch Hendricks pitch for Dartmouth. A well-traveled pitching coach for several organizations, Budner was working at the time evaluating pitchers for West Coast Sports Management in Pasadena, Calif. He liked everything he saw in Hendricks.

Well, almost everything.

"The game I saw, he never pitched inside or challenged hitters, so I told him bluntly that he was a nice kid but needed to push a different button out there to be effective and be a jerk on the mound," said Budner, now a coach with the Angels' Double-A affiliate in Little Rock, Ark. "I challenged his manhood, and his mama didn't like me much for that ... but she likes me now."

Besides advising Hendricks to sharpen an edge, Budner adjusted the grip on a changeup that eventually became his most effective pitch. A four-seamer that cuts slightly and works best against right-handed hitters was born. The two-seamer that fades against lefties came later. They complement a curveball mixed in with the sneaky-fast fastball.

Remember when Cubs manager Joe Maddon said about the 6-foot-3, 190-pound mound magician: "Put the radar gun in your back pocket and look at what he's doing"? Budner echoed that advice for appreciating Hendricks.

"I hope everybody sees how Kyle does it," Budner said. "It's the beautiful essence of pitching. He repeats his pitches and stays within himself, not worried about all those (speed) guns. He makes it about the art of pitching. I hope someday kids growing up see it's not just about power and pitching 97 (mph). I'd never put anybody in Greg 's class. But Kyle is pitching like that right now."

Budner paused to chuckle.

"Sorry," he said. "I still kind of giggle when I watch on TV and see him use that changeup and know I had a little to do with it."

'I'd like to have that one back'

Rest assured Rangers general manager doesn't giggle watching Hendricks pitch. Gag, maybe. But Daniels still can smile about the part he played in Hendricks' progress.

On July 31, 2012, hours before the trade deadline, Daniels included Hendricks as the secondary piece with third- base prospect in a deal with the Cubs for 35-year-old pitcher . Dempster disappointed the Rangers in 12 starts, and the trade remains among Daniels' worst. Hendricks, an eighth-round draft pick of the Rangers in 2011, looks like one of the smartest acquisitions of the Theo Epstein regime.

"He was a tough guy to put in the deal, and I'd like to have that one back," Daniels said in a phone interview. "Obviously I did not see this coming at this level, or we wouldn't have traded Kyle. The thing that always stood out about Kyle was (he was) very intelligent, always had ability to make pitches, got better at each level, was able to take instruction. Everybody's favorite. Credit to the Cubs for maximizing his ability."

Credit also goes to Hendricks, who focused on the Cubs wanting him more than the Rangers considering him expendable. His ego is even smaller than his earned-run average — the lowest in major-league baseball at 2.03.

"I've always been pretty low-key and always known this is what I want to do with my life, but it's nothing too exquisite or special to me necessarily," Hendricks said. "I just feel very happy and fortunate to be in this situation, trust me."

Daniels has made enough good trades to know even the best GMs make bad ones. He recalled the relaxed side of Hendricks coming out while charting pitches as they sat next to each other at a Class A game in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"He didn't have quite the same eye of the tiger, and that was a really relaxed conversation that stands out to me," said Daniels, who got to know Hendricks' parents, John and Ann Marie, described affectionately by her son as "a loud, Southern lady" from New Orleans.

"They're really fun people, really down-to-earth folks who loved the game, and you can tell a lot about someone from their parents," Daniels said. "I genuinely root for the guy."

Every day, more baseball fans in Chicago can relate.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs not sorry for merrymaking ways By Paul Skrbina

Addison Russell was first with the head-first dive, into first base with one out in the ninth inning Friday.

Without Russell’s hustle, which allowed the tying run to score against the Brewers, there may not have been a second, more memorable head-first dive – Miguel Montero’s belly flop into home plate after he floated around the bases thanks to his walkoff home run in the 10th inning of the Cubs’ 5-4 victory.

That latter dive upped the ante on a preplanned, delayed celebration of the Cubs’ clinching of the National League Central, which was complete before Friday began. And Russell, the slick-fielding shortstop whose bat has wielded 92 RBIs, not to mention 20 home runs, defied anyone to take umbrage with the Cubs’ merrymaking ways.

It has been, after all, the Cubs’ way all the way.

“We celebrate every single win with water and all that stuff,” the beer-soaked Russell said from a beer-soaked clubhouse. “We all jump around. We take that to heart. We work hard. We celebrate at the end of the day.”

Maybe not with champagne, but that wasn’t Russell’s point.

A 162-game schedule is grueling. The postseason is unpredictable.

The Cubs, the team that brought mimes to spring training and wears pajamas for fun on road trips, care not what critics may say.

“The next day comes and it’s back to business,” Russell said. “I think mindset-wise, we’re good. This is only the beginning.”

And it’s all Russell has known in the almost two seasons he’s been a Cub.

“I’ve been here two years and we’ve been here two years, in the postseason,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Cubs president Theo Epstein, who made his way from his bleacher seat and ditched his fake mustache and “Try Not to Suck” T-shirt by the time Russell and Montero helped pull off the improbable victory, was quick to point out that October is a whole different animal.

He stopped short of agreeing with the notion that the ending of this game was fitting of this season.

“You’re required in the journalist bylaws to draw extrapolations on the clinching game to the entire season,” Epstein said with a grin. “This team is marked by a very selfless, team-first attitude. It was fitting to have lots of guys contribute, not just stars.

“To come back and have the consummate team player in Miguel Montero, who’s handled this up-and-down year so, so well, to launch the celebration was apropos.”

There are 15 games remaining before the Cubs begin their quest for another celebration.

In the meantime, they will focus on their next magic number – nine - for clinching home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs. A combination of nine Cubs wins and Nationals losses would secure that.

The National League Division Series begins Oct. 7.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs get party rolling, and when it will stop, no one really knows By Paul Sullivan

The music stopped during the Cubs' wild postgame clinching party late Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, and the players asked for some quiet.

Dante the DJ, who had been brought into the clubhouse with his turntable to bring the house down, stopped spinning the tunes for a second and everyone stood at attention, a plastic cup full of Jack Daniel's in most of their hands.

Soaked in champagne with his official National League Central winner T-shirt pulled over a blue collared shirt, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts took over and addressed the players.

"All I did was buy some time with the fans," Ricketts told them. "And the fact is, we used that time for Theo and Jed to go out and build the best team in all of baseball."

President Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer and the players and staff burst into cheers. The plastic cups were emptied and Dante the DJ took his cue, cranking up the song "All the Way Up" by Fat Joe and Remy Ma as everyone began to dance and shout.

"Nothing can stop me, I'm all the way up. All the way up. I'm all the way up. …"

Nothing could stop this team from steamrolling its way to the Central Division title, clinching with more than two weeks left in the season and rolling toward a 100-plus victory season like they were bobsledding down Cricket Hill.

They're not all the way up just yet, but in October, we will find out if they can get where no Cubs team has gone since 1908.

The Cubs and their fans celebrate the day after the team clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 16, 2016. But now the party was rolling, and if there ever was a team that knew how to party, this was it. If Anthony Rizzo was correct, it would go on for the rest of the night, with no time out for a seventh-inning stretch.

This was a day for the Cubs to let their freak flags fly, hours after backing into the division title when the Cardinals lost to the Giants late Thursday night in San Francisco. There was no party then because the players all had separated.

David Ross said he went home on a bike-cab and stopped at a bar on Sheffield Avenue for a beer after the clinching became official. The bartender recognized him and bought him a shot of Jameson.

"'Rizz' told me it was a Chicago tradition," Ross said.

Manager Joe Maddon, the ringmaster of this circus, started his B-team lineup Friday against the Brewers, letting his regulars sit back and enjoy. Then he watched them come back to tie the game with a two-run ninth inning, and win it on Miguel Montero's home run in the 10th.

A perfect ending to a perfect afternoon in a town patiently waiting for that moment fans have been dreaming of forever.

Cubs President Theo Epstein spent the day watching the game in the left field bleachers with general manager Jed Hoyer and several other front office honchos, wearing a fake mustache his assistant bought for him and a "Try Not to Suck" T-shirt, pretending he was incognito.

Epstein said it was the first time he had sat in the bleachers since 1997, when he worked in the Padres front office, and that Cubs' fans didn't recognize him until the fourth or fifth inning.

"It's great out there," Epstein said. "I'm quitting. It's fun, such a blast out there."

Epstein said he would make it a tradition to sit in the bleachers every time the Cubs win the division, and if their youngsters grow at their current rate, that should happen quite frequently.

The Cubs knew all along this was going to be a special season, as the "Embrace the Target" mantra they adopted last spring indicated. But talent can go by the wayside if the players don't get along as we have seen on many Cubs teams in the past.

This team bonded from the opening of spring training, thanks in part to the wacky sideshows Maddon and strength coach Tim Buss created that got them through the same, repetitive drills that are part of every camp.

Players who played a bit part in the 2015 surge suddenly stepped into the limelight. Starter Kyle Hendricks made the biggest jump with Addison Russell and Javier Baez following close behind.

"We come to the field every day and it's like you're with all your best friends," Hendricks said.

This was the first of what the Cubs hope are a series of clinching celebrations, with each one expected to top the last. That's a tall order, especially when you bring in your own DJ for the first one.

"There are only four, so that's not a lot if you think about it," Hendricks said, alluding to three more potential postseason clinching parties. "It's a long year, so why not blow it out for all of them?"

There are bigger goals for this team, of course, and the Cubs are well aware their fans no longer will be satisfied with winning division titles if they don't get to the soon.

How soon is now?

"You want to be there, you want the parades," Rizzo said. "And this is the first step."

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Chicago Tribune Miguel Montero sends Cubs clinching celebration into overdrive By Paul Skrbina

The man with the answers had a question Friday.

"We're still under construction, huh?" Cubs manager Joe Maddon said while stealing a glance at the ceiling during his pregame session with the media.

Sound from a hammer pounding and the constant hum of a drill distracted Maddon before the Cubs defeated the Brewers 5-4 in 10 innings in a game that counts in the standings but doesn't matter much in this team's scheme of things.

A game that ended when Miguel Montero hit a leadoff home run in the 10th after the Cubs rallied for two runs in the ninth set off a belated celebration of the team's National League Central title, which was under wraps late Thursday night.

The Cubs, a team built for the postseason, looked like they were under construction at times Friday when Maddon opted to rest many regulars.

Absent from the Cubs lineup were MVP candidates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. Dexter Fowler, Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward likewise were being rested.

Instead, Chris Coghlan played first base, Tommy LaStella third, Munenori Kawasaki second and Matt Szczur right field. Albert Almora Jr. manned center field and Willson Contreras was catching but he caught a foul ball in the midsection in the first inning and moved to left field in the fourth when Jorge Soler left the game with what the team called tightness in his right side. He is day to day.

That prompted Maddon to summon Montero to catch.

"It hasn't been an easy year," said Montero, who is hitting .217 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs in 77 games. "I came through, man. You know what? That's what you live for, moments like that. I came up big, I guess."

So did some of the other reserves — and one regular — before a crowd of 40,823 at Wrigley Field.

Coghlan singled home Contreras, who led off the ninth with a double, to cut the deficit to 4-3. LaStella reached on an error and Kawasaki was hit by a pitch to fill the bases with one out for regular shortstop Russell, whose pinch- hit, infield single tied the score 4-4. Not to mention Almora, who had two hits, including a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth. Coghlan had three hits and Contreras two.

"The reserve guys, they're good ballplayers," Montero said. "I don't think we have any weaknesses on the bench."

That's where the Cubs stashed most of their stars Friday.

No matter, though.

Aroldis Chapman needed 11 pitches to strike out three Brewers, including one on an 89 mph changeup in the 10th.

Montero needed three pitches to send the celebration into overdrive.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs President Theo Epstein: 'Champagne is the best smell in baseball' By Paul Skrbina

A fake-mustachioed Theo Epstein drank beer in the front row of the left-field bleachers with other Cubs front- office brass and fans.

Ryne Sandberg sang the seventh-inning stretch while holding the Ryder Cup.

Munenori Kawasaki played second base.

Oh, and Miguel Montero blasted an improbable yet seemingly appropriate walkoff home run to lead off the 10th inning of a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory against the Brewers that fit the script of a team that seems, so far at least, to be on a crash course with destiny.

An unusual Thursday night leaned into an even more unusual Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field for the franchise that hasn't sniffed World Series triumph since 1908.

"Champagne is the best smell in baseball," President Epstein said. "It never gets old."

Friday afternoon promised to lean into an even more eventful Friday night as the club belatedly celebrated its postseason berth-day.

That's because even when the Cubs lose, they win. That's the kind of season it has been so far.

Despite a 5-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday night, the Cubs' magic number dropped from one to none courtesy of the Cardinals' loss to the Giants a bit later. The Cubs didn't bother to stick around to watch. Manager Joe Maddon told his boys to go home and leave the partying for Friday.

And party they did.

Beer-soaked relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. cloaked himself in a white "W" flag and danced for all the clubhouse to see. Kris Bryant, who doesn't drink alcohol and gives himself an "F" in celebrating, grabbed a can of Budweiser to spray toward teammates.

Pitcher Jon Lester returned the favor to Bryant, emptying a beer down his back all the way to the floor, which was littered with champagne corks and empty cans, rendering a deep clean of the new clubhouse's carpet necessary pronto.

A live DJ blasted from his speakers Fat Joe and Remy Ma's song, "All the Way Up."

The Cubs, well, they know there's a ways to go before they're to that point.

"We just can't take anything for granted," Montero said. "We have to keep working. We have a long way to go."

They know their new magic number goes from 0 to 11, the number of victories necessary to win it all, come October.

"It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October," Epstein said. "There's not a team I'd rather go into October with, but there are never favorites in October the same way there are in the regular season."

After embracing the target and trying not to suck, the team planned to let time stop for a day Friday so they could soak it all in. To forget that they're the favorites for a moment.

Some didn't wait that long.

People, among them catcher David Ross, peered at TVs through bar windows to catch a glimpse of the Cardinals- Giants game Thursday night, the scar of that night's Cubs loss magically healed when the Giants won 6-2 more than 2,000 miles away.

Ross said he gave in and went into a bar during his walk home.

"I was like, 'You know what, I need to have something in my hand, like a beer or something,'" Ross said. "I didn't want to walk down the street with a beer, so I walked in, the bartender recognized me and bought me a shot. I in a cab and was home by 12 or 12:15."

No such time constraints were expected to be followed Friday.

As for the guy in disguise, the man with the plan, Epstein, said his cover was blown in his first Wrigley Field bleacher experience since 1997 "by the fourth or fifth inning. That's what I'm telling myself."

That didn't stop him from watching the fruits of his labor unfold into a victory — or from him picking up the tab for a few rounds.

"I bought my share," Epstein said. "(But) everyone was chipping in."

Just like the team on the field.

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Chicago Tribune Theo Epstein goes incognito to take in Cubs game in Wrigley Field bleachers By Paul Skrbina

What looked to be a fake-mustachioed Theo Epstein and other members of the Cubs front office took in Friday's game against the Brewers from the front row of the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

Images of what appared to be the Cubs president of baseball operations were shared on Twitter during the game. General manager Jed Hoyer also appeared to be among the top-brass contingent sitting among the fans.

Epstein is no stranger to disguises. On Halloween 2005, he left Fenway Park dressed in a gorilla suit after resigning from the team.

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Chicago Tribune Friday's recap: Cubs 5, Brewers 4 (10 innings) By Paul Skrbina

Joe Maddon kept his promise of bringing spring to late summer.

As the Cubs baseball season leaned into division-clinching territory, Maddon said Thursday that Friday's lineup for the team's game against the Brewers would have a spring training-type feel.

A little more than 12 hours after the Cubs clinched their first National League Central title since 2008 by virtue of the Cardinals' loss to the Giants, Maddon's lineup with John Lackey on the mound featured plenty of what the Cubs have in reserve.

And the reserves -- and one regular -- delivered in a game that turned into a playoff-like atmosphere with a Cubs comeback in the ninth inning that was completed in the 10th thanks to Miguel Montero's walkoff home run in a 5- 4 victory in front of 40,823 at Wrigley Field.

Chris Coghlan singled home Willson Contreras, who led off the ninth with a double, to cut the deficit to 4-3. Tommy LaStella then reached on an error and Munenori Kawasaki was hit by a pitch to fill the bases with one out for regular Addison Russell, whose pinch-hit, infield single tied the score 4-4.

Matt Szczur flew out to center field with the bases still loaded and Javier Baez bounced out to the pitcher to send the game to extra innings.

Aroldis Chapman needed 11 pitches to strike out three Brewers in the 10th.

Absent from the Cubs lineup were MVP candidates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. No Dexter Fowler or Ben Zobrist or Jason Heyward.

Instead, Coghlan played first, LaStella third, Kawasaki second and Szczur right. Albert Almora Jr. manned center field and Contreras was catching until he caught a foul ball in the midsection in the first inning and moved to left field in the fourth.

Early on it looked like an exhibition game, what with Contreras botching a throw to second base on a stolen base attempt in the first. With Lackey staring down Orlando Arcia as the latter rounded the bases after a solo home run in the second.

Brewers center fielder Keon Broxton left the game in the third with a left-elbow strain after he misjudged Tommy LaStella's fly ball to left-center but caught up to it only to crash into the wall.

Ryan Braun hit a solo home run in the third to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

Almora tied it in the fifth with a two-run home run to left field, an inning after left fielder Jorge Soler left the game with right side tightness.

Scooter Gennett untied it with a two-run home run off Lackey in the seventh.

At the plate

Almora had two hits and two RBIs for the Cubs, while Coghlan had three hits and an RBI.

On the mound

Home runs accounted for three of the nine hits and all four runs John Lackey allowed in seven innings. The right- hander struck out eight and walked two.

Key number

146 -- Games it took the Cubs to clinch a playoff spot, making it the earliest the franchise has ever done so.

The quote

“I’m not going to be focused on anything. I’m just going to watch the game and enjoy it.” – Cubs catcher David Ross.

Up next

Cubs vs. Brewers, 3:05 p.m. Saturday, WGN-9. RH Jake Arrieta (17-6, 2.91) vs. RH (10-7, 3.87).

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Chicago Tribune Kyle Schwarber contributes to Cubs' postseason push By Tim Bannon

Kyle Schwarber might be injured, but the Cubs have found a way to use his surprising talents as the playoffs loom.

The velvety-voiced Schwarber narrates a 30-second "Fly the W" video.

"This is the fabric that brings an entire nation together," the video begins, as is shows fans displaying the W flag. "It says to the world, we will never lose faith. We believe in this team."

Near the end, Schwaber is revealed as the narrator.

He says: "Maybe this October, if we fly it high enough and loud enough and proud enough. Well, you get the idea."

Schwarber was injured April 7 when he collided with center fielder Dexter Fowler on a drive hit by the Diamondbacks' Jean Segura. He is out for the season, but remains with the team.

Thanks to the Giants beating the Cardinals late Thursday night, the Cubs clinched the National League's Central division.

The Cubs start the playoffs at Wrigley Field on Oct. 7 in the National League Division Series against the winner of the Oct. 5 NL wild-card game.

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Chicago Sun-Times Better lucky than good? Cubs might be both as they chase title By Gordon Wittenmyer

On an 87-degree evening in St. Louis, just before game time on July 20, 2012, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer stood near the left-field line at and completed the new regime’s first big trading deadline deal.

They got the guy they wanted from the Braves, right-hander Randall Delgado, for pending free agent Ryan Dempster. But it was too late to pull Dempster from his start that night, so the teams sat on the deal until the next morning.

Almost as soon as Dempster awoke to text messages and sourced reports of the trade, the deal fell apart.

Dempster was upset. He invoked his no-trade rights. The front office was upset because execs believed Dempster had given them the green light in earlier conversations. The Braves were chapped because they thought they had a deal.

More than a week of awkward byplay between the Cubs and Dempster – and between other teams and the leverage-dry Cubs – took them to the final minutes before the July 31 deadline, when team president Theo Epstein had GM Jon Daniels on the phone.

“At that point one deal had been blown up, and we had to make a deal,” Hoyer said. “There were like two minutes left.

“Given how much time we had left,” Hoyer said, “it was, like, just grab the guy that came well recommended from a [colleague] who used to be there.”

That guy was a Class A pitcher without much of a fastball but with promising intangibles.

And that’s how the Cubs shrewdly landed Kyle Hendricks.

“So dumb luck almost,” said Hendricks, who leads the majors in ERA and might be this year’s National League Cy Young winner. “What if that wouldn’t have happened? Who knows what the path would have been?”

For Hendricks. For the Cubs.

Delgado? He’s now a reliever with a 4.26 ERA for the also-ran Diamondbacks.

“Absolutely, we’ve had some luck involved,” Epstein said of the five-year process of assembling what today is the best team in the majors, with a chance at the franchise’s best record in more than 80 years.

Never mind its designs on solving their whole 108-year problem.

Epstein and Hoyer have said repeatedly since starting an organizational overhaul in the fall of 2011 that the process – and the progress – would not be linear.

However, the progress has been remarkably linear. The process of putting this team together has been anything but.

The national perspective often is that this has been a team built around a homegrown core that Epstein’s regime drafted and developed. And Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber would certainly qualify.

But Schwarber has been out for the season since Game 3. Not one pitcher expected to make the playoff roster has been drafted or signed as an amateur by this front office. And key contributors Javy Baez, Willson Contreras and Matt Szczur were inherited prospects from the previous regime.

But Epstein and Hoyer installed and upgraded processes and systems for evaluating players, and hired dozens of scouts and analysts to help execute them. They squirreled away part of their 2014 budget to have enough in 2015 to successfully target their first big free agent in Jon Lester. They accelerated their spending to capitalize on a sudden early window after their surprising 2015 success boosted this year’s budget with windfall revenues (and increased revenue projections).

And they made lots and lots of trades over five years that account for more than half the roster.

Certainly, they wouldn’t be here this quickly without nailing acquisitions such as Lester, a Cy Young candidate, and Bryant, an MVP candidate in his second season.

But it’s hard to imagine a timeline to 100-win potential coming this fast without “dumb luck” (or even smart luck).

“We’ve benefitted from a number of significant breaks along the way,” Epstein said. “That helps.”

Hendricks might be at the top of that list. But the sudden availability of Joe Maddon – one of the best managers in the game – at a critical transition point before last season might be just as big. And the Cubs wasted no time kicking Rick Renteria to the curb with two years left on his contract to snap up Maddon.

The 2013 trade for Jake Arrieta was a dice roll on a controllable pitcher with great stuff – with nobody expecting last year’s Cy Young season for the ages.

And Hector Rondon, the closer who might have been the best in the league before moving to a setup role when the Cubs traded for 105-mph closer Aroldis Chapman?

Rule 5 pick in 2012.

“As a baseball operation, you work really, really hard to bring in great people and build proven systems that can hopefully tilt the odds in your favor from 50-50 in a given transaction to in a best-case scenario, 55-45,” Epstein said. “But if you want to go off on a series of hitting at a much higher clip than that, and on a bunch of big moves, then you better have some luck involved as well.”

Just ask Hendricks, who considers himself the lucky one in that deal.

“I’m fine with it,” he said. “Just keep on going with the dumb luck. You’ve got to have it in this game.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs notebook: Montero a hero; Almora homers; Soler hurt By Mark Potash

Miguel Montero was a fitting hero Friday. The 33-year-old catcher came in hitting .215. “There was actually a point where I thought I was going to get released,” he said. But came through when the Cubs needed him.

Montero’s 10th-inning home run gave the Cubs a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, igniting a Wrigley Field crowd awaiting the celebration of the Cubs’ National League Central Division title.

“I’ve been having a tough year,” Montero said. “The reality is, I haven’t really played much this year [59 starts]. I haven’t swung the bat the way I wanted. But the good thing is like the last three weeks, I’ve been swinging the bat pretty good. I’ve been feeling good at the plate.”

Almora’s bid

Albert Almora, Jr., one of the best defensive outfielders on the team — if not the best — could be the odd-man out among outfielders for the playoff roster. But Almora served a reminder that he’s more than just a defensive player. The rookie had two hits Friday, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning that tied the game at 2.

Almora, who has four RBIs in his last two starts, is hitting .275 with three home runs and 13 RBIs. His goal right now is to just be ready.

“I haven’t even thought about [the playoff roster],” Almora said. “If they call my name, I’m ready to do whatever I can do to help the team. If not, I’m going to be the first one on the top step [of the dugout], cheering on my teamamates. That’s the way I am. That’s the way I will be.”

When Almora was drafted sixth overall in 2012 (five spots ahead of Addison Russell), the Cubs were 18-36 and had lost 16 of 19 games on their way to 101-loss season. Though not a regular, he’s proud to be a part of a landmark season.

“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since the day I was drafted,” Almora said. “The day I was drafted the Cubs weren’t the best team in baseball. That’s something I promised Theo [Epstein] — it’s kind of funny to say, but I was an 18-year-old kid. I was like, ‘I want to win.’ And I think they liked that about me. Now I know my role here. I know what I can do to help the team win.”

Soler hurt

With the playoff roster in mind, an injury to outfielder Jorge Soler bears watching. Soler, who has had a history of injuries with the Cubs, left the game in the fourth inning with “right-side tightness.”

Wire to wire

The Cubs (94-53) had the best record in baseball through their first 60 games (42-18). With Friday’s victory, they have the best record in baseball in their last 60 games (42-18). They were 10-17 in between — their only dry spell this season.

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs know how to party — and keep their eye on the prize By Mark Potash

With the music turned up full blast, the lights turned down low and the beer spraying, the champagne flowing and owner Tom Ricketts doing shots, the Cubs clubhouse turned into a night club gone haywire Friday in a celebration that was both a long time coming and yet — the Cubs hope — just the first step toward Chicago baseball immortality.

The Cubs celebrated like they hadn’t won a division title in 108 years Friday. But they earned the right with one of the most dominant seasons a Chicago baseball team has ever had — clinching the National League Central Division title with 16 games to go.

“We just won one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball and we did it by a landslide,” first basebman Anthony Rizzo said. “We have to celebrate this because we’ve been so good all year. Guys have been grinding all year. This is a huge steppingstone to where we want to be and we’re going to celebrate every way along the way.”

And at the same time, the Cubs were steadfast about keeping the big picture in focus. This team expects to win the World Series.

“There’s much more left for the team,” pitcher Kyle Hendricks said. “ This is only the first baby step. We know where we want to go and it’s a lot more than just the division.”

A year ago, the Cubs finished third in the Central and made the playoffs as the second wild-card team. This group basked in the satisfaction of raising the bar themselves and exceeding it. You don’t have to win your division to win the World Series. But this team took a huge step by winning the Central this season.

“This is what we preached in spring training is win the division,” Rizzo said. “We put ourselves in position to line ourselves up with how we want to attack the playoffs [and] whoever we play. So enjoy it, let it sink in for a few days and get ready for October.”

After clinching the division when the Giants beat the Cardinals on the West Coast on Thursday night, the Cubs (94- 53) were going to celebrate whether they won or lost Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers. But in typical fashion, they found a way to make the moment special, with a thrilling 5-4 vicory on Miguel Montero’s walk-off home leading off the 10th inning.

With a make-shift lineup that did not include Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler or Jason Heyward, the Cubs trailed 4-2 in the ninth, but rallied behind Willson Contreras, Chris Coghlan and Addison Russell to tie the game in the ninth. It was only a matter of time after that, and Montero ended it quickly, setting an appropriate mood for the raucous celebtration that followed.

“The perfect way — a walk-off win and we come in here to celebrate. It doesn’t get any better than that,” Bryant said. “This team has so much resilience. We’re never going to give up. You saw that in the game today Perfect game, the way we won. I haven’t had this much fun laying baseball in a long time.”

Bryant’s euphoria typified the day.

“I was kind of surprised [at the celebration], but at the same time, not so with this group. This group enjoys having fun,” Hendricks said. “You only have so many celebrations. This is the first step. But to enjoy that sense of accomplisment is pretty awesome.”

Just three more celebrations to go. There’s no doubt this team has enough gas in the tank for that.

“We could get used to [these celebrations],” Hendricks said. “We’ve definitely got the right guys to lead us.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Mustache failure: Theo spotted in Wrigley bleachers during game By Gordon Wittenmyer

By the time Miguel Montero’s game-winning home sailed over their perches in the left-field bleachers Friday, Cubs team president Theo Epstein, about 10 of his top front office staff and his fake mustache were gone.

But they left a long trail of Twitter smoke in their wake. And along the way a Cubs tradition may have been born.

“Every year we win the division, we’ll go out there,” said Epstein in the Cubs’ champagne-sprayed clubhouse after their 5-4 victory over the Brewers at Wrigley Field.

“It was fun,” he said. “We had a blast. It’s awesome out there.”

Awesome? Check out the pictures fans began posting on Twitter of Epstein sitting in the front row in left field wearing an Ernie Banks No. 14 cap and a fat, fake mustache.

“I made a half-assed attempt at trying to go incognito,” he said, laughing. “I didn’t plan ahead.”

It was Epstein’s first game in the bleachers since he was a low-ranking member of the Padres front office in 1997 and was the result of conversations through the season among front office execs wanting to experience a game in baseball’s most famous seating section.

“We said if we win the division, we’re going to sit in the bleachers for a game,” said Epstein, who added fans began noticing him in about the fourth inning.

It wasn’t his first failed attempt at disguising himself at a ballpark, having tried to slip out of Fenway Park after resigning (briefly) on Halloween in 2005, wearing a gorilla costume.

Among those in his group were general manager Jed Hoyer, farm director Jaron Madison and assistant GM .

They left in the eighth inning to head to the clubhouse for the after party.

“It’s such a blast out there,” Epstein said.

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs win on Montero homer, then celebrate division title By Mark Potash

Almost out of habit, the Cubs gave their fans something to cheer about Friday.

With a celebration of the National League Central Division title already planned win or lose against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie, then won it 5-4 on Miguel Montero’s lead-off home run in the 10th inning to appropriately set the mood for the postgame celebration of the Cubs’ first division title since 2008.

Trailing 4-2 in the ninth, Willson Contreras doubled leading off and scored on Chris Coghlan’s single. Almora lined out sharply to left field. Tommy LaStella’s sharp grounder deflected off first baseman Chris Carter for an error, with Coghlan advancing to second. Kawasaki was hit by pitch from reliever Carlos Torres to load the bases.

Russell beat out a soft liner toward second to tie the game 4-4. But Matt Szczur, on a 3-2 pitch, lined out to shallow center for the second out. And Javier Baez bounced back to the pitcher to send the game into extra innings.

After clinching the title late Thursday night despite losing to the Brewers when the Giants beat the Cardinals in San Francisco, the Cubs made plans to celebrate at Wrigley Field, win or lose.

“Obviously sometimes you’d rather celebrate on the field and all that, but it doesn’t really matter. The key is getting in,” Cubs catcher David Ross said before the game. “This is one of our goals and steps toward a bigger goal. So hopefully there’s a lot more partying to go on, especiially here at Wrigley. We’re going to enjoy this. We’ll enjoy ourselves [Friday night] — don’t worry about that.”

The Wrigley Field crowd of 40,823 gave the Cubs a standing ovation when the players emerged from the dugout and walked onto the field 15 minutes before the start of the game to acknowledge the fans.

Manager Joe Maddon rested several of his regulars, including MVP candidates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Russell, Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward.

Even without celebrating Thursday night, at least some players were in a relaxed mood Friday.

“I’m not going to be focused on anything,” Ross said when asked it it would be tough to focus in this game. “I’m just going to watch the game and enjoy it.”

Albert Almora started in center field and had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning that tied the game 2-2.

Almora singled to right field leading off the seventh inning, but was thrown out at second after he rounded the bag and turned back on LaStella’s single. After Munenori Kawasaki walked, Ross — pinch-hitting for starter John Lackey — grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Lackey allowed four runs on nine hits over seven innings. Scooter Gennett’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh broke the 2-2 tie.

The Cubs didn’t go down easily.

The Cubs planned to party Friday into the night, but get right back to the business of setting themselves up for the playoffs on Saturday. Last year they also lost the first game after clinching a playoff spot, but won their final eight games to go into the wild-card game against the Pirates with momentum.

“The biggest thing will just be rest,” Maddon said. “If you’re rested a couple days and you go out and all of a sudden, you’re starting to feel right again or I’m able to do what I had been doing before.

You get fatigued and I just cant get the bat there and all of a sudden the bat feels quicker. Those are the kind of things I want to focus on. It’s not perfect. I gotta talk to the coaches. I gotta talk to the players. I gotta watch what I’m seeing. I gotta feel what’s going on. All that stuff is important to make sure that these guys are ready for that first playoff game.”

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Chicago Sun-Times Cubs ready to celebrate division title — with eye on postseason By Mark Potash

The Cubs were only mildly disappointed to clinch the National League Central Division while watching television — the Giants beating the Cardinals on the West Coast did the trick. It’s not like the celebration was going to that spontaneous anyway — with a 17-game lead with more than two weeks to go in the regular season.

Kyle Hendricks, in fact, said he “slept like a baby,” resting up for the actual celebration following Friday’s game against the Brewers.

“I was at home hangin’ out — pretty awesome,” Hendricks said Friday morning in the Cubs clubhouse. “I wish we could have won that one [Thursday night against the Brewers, a 5-4 loss] and done it like that. But it’s a season- long thing and it was obvious our first goal set out in the spring. To accomplish that, [it’s] the first baby-step on the road.”

After losing to the Brewers at Wrigley Field on Thursday night, the Cubs (93-53) clinched their first division title since 2008 when the Giants beat the Cardinals 6-2 in San Francisco. They lead the Cardinals (76-70) by 17 games with 16 to play. It’s the earliest the Cubs have ever clinched a championship — eclipsing the 1907 National League pennant winning team, which clinched with 14 games to play.

It was the magnitude of that cushion that stood out for manager Joe Maddon.

“It was Sept. 15 — that’s really unusual,” Maddon said. “That’s the part that I have kind of been downpaying — but it’s har to wrap my mind around it that you get it done that soon.

“Based on everything that we had talked about last offseason, spring training, this season, running through a tough All-Star break and then coming back on the other side, man, and just takin’ off. That’s really impressive on the part of our players.”

Winning the division avoids the coin-flip wild-card game — the Cubs beat the Pirates as the second wild-card last year. And the early clinching gives Maddon the opportunity to set up his position players and particularly his rotation starters exactly as he wants them for the postseason.

“Winning your division is always a highlight,” Maddon said. “You really want to avoid the wild-card game if you possibly can — it’s a tough day.

“Now we have this opportunity to plan it out slowly — really try to make some intelligent decisions while we’re playing the same game, with the same kind of intensity. That’s what I’m looking for.”

The Wrigley Field crowd gave the National League Central Division champion Cubs a well-deserved standing ovation when the players emerged from the dugout to acknowledge the fans prior to Friday’s game with the Brewers. The real celebration will be after the game. But the Cubs have their sights on bigger and better achievements. This team is one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the World Series, which would be kind of a big deal on the North Side. The Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908.

“There’s much more left for this team,” Hendricks, a Cy Young Award candidate, said when asked about balancing personal achievements. “There’s always more for the team. This is only the first baby step. We know where we want to go and it’s a lot more than just the division.”

Catcher David Ross, who played on division-championship teams with the Dodgers in 2004 and the World Champion Red Sox in 2013, predictably took the evening in stride and already had the bigger picture in sight.

“I didn’t do anything last night. Just hangin’ out with myself and watching the highlights on my way home and watching the game a little bit,” Ross said. “It’s exciting. Winning the division is pretty cool — a rare treat. I think we’ve seen this coming for a while now but it’s nice to finally have it in the books and get a focus on getting guys rest and focus on the areas we need to clean up.”

The Cubs clinched the wild-card with nine games left in the regular season last year — again backing in when the Giants lost to the A’s — and won their final eight games to go into the playoffs on a roll. They won the wild-card, beat the Cardinals 3-1 in the NL Division Series, but were swept by the Mets in the NL Championship Series.

“This gives us a chance to get everybody healthy and on the same page, Ross said, mentioning reliever Pedro Strop, expected to come off the disabled list next week. “Get a little rest early and then a little momentum going into the off days before the playoffs.

“I think throughout the year we’ve done a good job of focusing on the day and what’s to come. As long as we focus on being the best team that we can be, I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”

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Chicago Sun-Times ICYMI: Cardinals loss gives Cubs first division title since 2008 By Mark Potash

In case you missed it … despite losing to the Brewers 5-4 on Thursday night, the Cubs clinched the N.L. Central title when the Giants beat the Cardinals 6-2 in San Francisco.

It’s the Cubs’ first division title since 2008 and their sixth championship of any kind in the last 71 years. They also won the division in 1984, 1989, 2003, 2007 and 2008. With 16 games to play, this is the earliest the Cubs have ever clinched a championship — eclipsing the 2007 National League title, which they clinched with 14 games to play.

Even the seven-year drought was long by National League standards. Ten of the league’s 15 teams have won division titles since the Cubs last won in 2008 under Lou Piniella — with the Cardinals and Dodgers winning four times, the Phillies three times and the Giants and Nationals two each.

Only four other teams have had longer dry spells — the Pirates (24 years), Marlins (24), Rockies (24) and Padres (10).

In fact, only eight current Cubs were in the big leagues the last time the Cubs won the division — Jon Lester (Red Sox), John Lackey (Angels), Jason Hammel (Devil Rays), Ben Zobrist (Devil Rays), Miguel Montero (Diamondbacks), Dexter Fowler (Rockies, as a September call-up) and Joe Smith (Mets).

The last time the Cubs won the division, Addison Russell was an eighth grader in Florida. Jake Arrieta was in A-ball with the Orioles organization. Kris Bryant was starting his junior year at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas. And Anthony Rizzo was with Class A Greenville in the Red Sox organization — undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma, and getting the news that September that he was in remission.

The early clinching gives manager Joe Maddon the opportunity to set up his position players and particularly his rotation starters exactly as he wants them for the postseason.

But the next order of business is clinching the best record in the National League and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. The Cubs (93-53) have a six-game lead over the Nationals (87-59) with 16 games to play. The Nationals have won eight of their last 10 game and lead the Mets by 10 games in the NL East.

While the Cubs want to go into the postseason rested, they also have some individual honors at stake. Kris Bryant (.295, 37 home runs, 95 RBIs) and Anthony Rizzo (.290, 31, 101) are among the leading contenders for National League Most Valuable Player. Kyle Hendricks (15-7, 2.03 ERA, 0.960 WHIP) is a contender for the Cy Young Award.

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Daily Herald Montero's blast gives Chicago Cubs another reason to celebrate By John Dietz

For one brief moment amid the madness that was the Chicago Cubs locker room on Friday, everybody got quiet.

Glasses were raised.

And players bent an ear to listen to what owner Tom Ricketts had to say after a 5-4 victory over Milwaukee.

"It's all about you," he told the players, who were celebrating a division title that was clinched the night before when St. Louis lost to San Francisco. "All I did was buy some time with the fans. And the fact is we used that time with Theo (Epstein) and Jed (Hoyer) and everybody else to build the best team in all of baseball."

It's tough to argue with that.

This star-filled powerhouse stands before you because of Epstein's shrewd drafting and willingness to make trade after trade after trade year after year after year.

And it has resulted in this: a 94-53 squad that clinched its division with 16 games left on the schedule.

"We just won one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball and we did it by a landslide," said a beer- and champagne-soaked Anthony Rizzo. "This is a huge steppingstone to where we want to be and we're going to celebrate every way along the way."

The celebrations began early Friday with Epstein sitting in the left-field bleachers, attempting to disguise himself with a fake mustache. It hardly worked, though, as astute fans began tweeting pictures about an hour after the first pitch.

Fans then erupted in the top of the seventh as Ricketts made his way down the bleacher steps to join Epstein, Hoyer and scouting director Jason McLeod.

"It was great for them to get out there and relax," Ricketts said.

Celebrating a win over Milwaukee certainly wasn't necessary to make the day special, but the Cubs went out and did that anyway. They stormed back from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth thanks to RBI singles by Chris Coghlan and pinch-hitter Addison Russell.

Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the 10th on 11 pitches, and Miguel Montero then blasted the Cubs to victory with his seventh home run of the season.

"A walk-off win and come in here and celebrate?" said Kris Bryant. "It doesn't get any better than that."

Wrigley was rocking at that point, with some front-row fans wearing goggles in case a champagne shower came their way. The players celebrated for a bit on the field then retreated to the locker room and unloaded gallons of alcohol on each other while dancing to music that could make your eardrums bleed.

"There's still some baseball to be played before the real fun starts, but we're definitely going to enjoy it right now and live in the moment," Bryant said. "Not often do get to win a division, so this is awesome."

Clinching a playoff spot so early can present some challenges, most notably how to keep players sharp with three weeks to go before Game 1 of the NLDS.

The next carrot to go after is clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Washington is 6 games back of the Cubs and the only team with a chance of chasing down manager Joe Maddon's squad.

Maddon also believes the fact that so many Cubs are chasing individual awards like the Cy Young or MVP will keep his stars from getting rusty.

"They're gonna be primed," Maddon said. "They're not going to turn down that dimmer switch."

Maddon did give most of his regulars the day off Friday and said he plans to sit down with coaches Saturday "to make some intelligent decisions while we're playing the same game, with the same kind of intensity."

The kind of intensity that will be needed come playoff time. Because if there's one thing veteran Jon Lester knows, this should be just the beginning.

"Everybody keeps talking about what we've already accomplished, but we haven't accomplished anything yet," he said. "We've got … a lot more games to play and hopefully a whole nother month, month-and-a-half to go.

"At the end, then we can talk about how special this group is."

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Daily Herald Rozner: One party down, three to go for Cubs By Barry Rozner

It can never be said that these Cubs don't know how to have a good time.

Seriously, Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod spent Friday in the first row of the left-field bleachers, Epstein under hat and fake mustache.

"The guys have been asking if we could do it if we clinched early and had a day we could do it," Epstein said with a big smile. "We had a blast. Best place to watch a game. It's awesome out there. Might have to quit my day job so I can watch more games out there."

Late in the game, owner Tom Ricketts joined the bums and spent a few innings with what is likely to be remembered as the most important triumvirate in Chicago sports history.

And it was Ricketts who told me on the field after the game that Cub fans need not lose any sleep over the fact that he has yet to announce a new contract for Epstein.

"No one has to worry about that," Ricketts said with a huge smile. "Cubs fans have nothing to worry about. Nothing. Believe me."

Epstein said much the same in a text message last week so there was very little to worry about Friday even though the Cubs missed their chance to clinch the Central Division Thursday night.

Instead, the Cubs had their party Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field in front of 40,823, after clinching late Thursday night when the Giants took out the Cardinals in San Francisco.

A year ago, the Cubs clinched on a Friday just before midnight in similar fashion, having lost the game that day, but Oakland beat San Francisco late at night while the North Side ballpark was empty.

So the following day -- after another defeat -- the Cubs had their clinching bash.

It looked like that would be the scenario again, a loss, a clinch, a loss and a party. The Cubs said it didn't matter, that they could throw a bash either way, but once they rallied to tie the game and then beat the Brewers in extras Friday, they confessed it was a lot more fun after a victory.

"It always feels a little funny when you have it after a loss. We can admit that now that we won," Epstein laughed. "What a fitting way with a walk-off home run from a consummate team player and professional in Miguel Montero to kick off our celebration."

Every starter except for Javy Baez was on the bench resting Friday, and that was as much a chance to get Baez some work at shortstop as anything else.

Outside of starting pitcher John Lackey, it looked a lot like a 2012 or 2013 lineup -- when the rebuild had just begun -- filled with spare parts and youngsters.

But when the Cubs came from behind in the ninth to tie the game and had a chance to win it, every Cubs regular was on the top step ready to vault onto the field.

It was quite the scene.

"That tells you a lot about this team," said veteran catcher David Ross. "Those guys are always pulling for the starters and now the regulars had a chance to return the favor, pulling for the bench guys. It's just a special group of people."

When Montero won it with a solo shot to left in the 10th inning, the Cubs finally had a chance to let loose.

The celebration began by mobbing Montero at home plate 17 hours after they officially clinched. It moved to the clubhouse and then back out onto the field, where friends, family and tens of thousands of fans awaited their triumphant players.

"The best smell in baseball," Epstein said, "is champagne."

This team is starting to get used to the aura.

"Play hard, win hard," said veteran Jon Lester. "We have a good time together and we like this kind of party. It means something good has happened. We hope to have a few more of these next month."

So it's been a somewhat strange 24 hours for the Cubs, unable to celebrate with a win Thursday, but determined to celebrate hard and they promised to do so Friday night.

"It's been a pretty good year for us to this point and winning a division is not an easy thing to do," Lester said. "We're absolutely going to celebrate. We don't really care who has a problem with it."

It's not a problem for anyone who can count.

One party down, three to go.

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Daily Herald Clinching celebration not lost on Cubs' Ross By John Dietz

The much anticipated party in the park couldn't take place Thursday night thanks to the Buzzkill Brewers, who dampened the spirits of 40,000-plus Cubs fans expecting a division-clinching victory at Wrigley Field.

That didn't stop backup catcher David Ross from raising a glass, though, when he found out the Giants beat the Cardinals just before midnight, thus clinching the NL Central for the Cubs.

Ross, who had taken the El to Thursday's game against Milwaukee, was looking for a bike taxi to take him home but kept poking his head into bars to get updates on the Giants-Cards game.

"The great thing about Chicago -- it's different than Tallahassee where I'm from -- there's a bar every 30 feet," Ross said.

When the Giants prevailed 6-2, it gave the Cubs their first division title since 2008.

And it gave Ross an idea: "I stopped in a bar when they won and I was like, 'You know what, I need to have something in my hand like a beer or something.' "

So Ross walked in and, because the bartender recognized him, didn't even have to pay for the shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey that was set in front of him.

After that, Ross hopped in a cab and was home "by 12 or 12:15."

He planned on celebrating a whole lot more with his teammates after Friday's game.

"I don't know if I'll be this smiley tomorrow," he said. "I'll wear the dark glasses with a hoodie on and just (be) hanging out."

Pitching in:

Joe Maddon said he will "probably" get Mike Montgomery into a relief situation or two before the playoffs begin. Montgomery, acquired from Seattle in mid-July, came in as a reliever in his first 7 appearances as a Cub but has since started five straight games. Once the playoffs begin, however, Maddon expects Montgomery to help in a relief role.

Maddon also said reliever Pedro Strop, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 11, will see game action before the postseason.

"He had a good session (Thursday) so we're listening to the trainers, but he'll pitch in a game," Maddon said.

Around the horn:

The Cubs advanced to the postseason in back-to-back seasons for just the fourth time. The other three came in 1885-86, 1906-08 and 2007-08. … The last team to clinch a division with 16 or more games remaining (as the Cubs did Thursday) was the 2008 Angels. … In 14 games since Aug. 29, Jorge Soler is hitting .289 (11-for-38) with 3 home runs, 6 RBI, and he has a .400 on-base percentage.

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Daily Herald Forget the playoffs. Cubs fans, which World Series game do you want to see? By Jake Griffin

As the Cubs became the first MLB team to clinch a playoff berth (very) late Thursday, fans are looking to the future.

Like 39 days into the future, to the start of the World Series.

Forget about an NL Division Series or the National League Championship Series, fans have their sights on a World Series berth -- the team's first since the Truman presidency in 1945. And on a World Series win -- the Cubs' first since Ford's Model T started coming off the assembly line in 1908.

If luck, momentum, skill, the stars and various goat curses all align, the Cubs would begin the World Series in an ballpark on Oct. 25 and 26 followed by games 3, 4 and 5 at Wrigley on Oct. 28, 29 and 30. If the Series isn't over by then, they'd face two more games away Nov. 1 and 2.

The only question that remains for many Cubs fans is which home game would they go to if they could pick only one to attend?

"Game 4 of the World Series," Kyle Murphy of Arlington Heights said without hesitation. "I was able to see the clincher of the NLDS last year. I'd love to see a clincher, but I want to see a guaranteed World Series game at Wrigley."

It's quite a conundrum for Cubs faithful. Game 3 will be special since there hasn't been a World Series game at Wrigley in so long. Game 4 is alluring because it's a guarantee the game will be played and there's always the potential for a sweep. Game 5 might not be played, but it's a practical choice for those who hope to see the Cubs win it all at the Friendly Confines since World Series sweeps are rare.

Katie Obenauf of Antioch would choose Game 3 because she's tired of waiting.

"Hey, it's been over 100 years and it's time for it," she said.

St. Charles resident Leo Whalen said he'd rather take his chances with a later game that might see the Series decided at Wrigley.

"I doubt any team is going to sweep in the World Series, but Game 5, I think you have a better chance of being there when the Cubs win it all," he said.

Don't tell that to Carol Stream's Jose Perez, who would snatch up a Game 4 ticket without thinking twice about it.

"So we can sweeeeeeeeep!" he declared brazenly, tempting the baseball gods.

For others, there is no choice, there's only the wait.

"If I could have any ticket to any World Series game here at Wrigley, um, well, actually I will be going to all three of them because I already have tickets as a season-ticket holder," said Becky Yaworski, a Crystal Lake native now living in the city.

Goats, both actual and of the scape variety, were unavailable for comment.

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Cubs.com Cubs begin party with Montero's walk-off jack By Carrie Muskat and Brian Hedger

CHICAGO -- Now it's time for the Cubs to party. Miguel Montero smacked a walk-off leadoff home run in the 10th inning to lift the newly crowned National League Central-champion Cubs to to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory on Friday over the Brewers at Wrigley Field.

The win sparked a celebration that was delayed because the Cubs had gone home after Thursday's loss to the Brewers and didn't know they'd won the division until the Giants beat the Cardinals in San Francisco in a game that ended shortly before midnight. The plan was to party at Wrigley Field following Friday's game, and they did just that.

"This is what we work for," Montero said after spraying champagne in the clubhouse and dancing with his teammates. "A lot of people play for many years in the big leagues and never get that chance to experience something like that. It's a great experience and great feeling. I'm proud of every single guy on the team."

Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the Brewers' 10th and Montero launched a 1-1 pitch from Blaine Boyer into the left-field bleachers. The Cubs players spilled onto the field to celebrate, putting on hats and T-shirts that said "Made for October" to commemorate their NL Central win. It was the Cubs' second walk-off home run this year -- Javier Baez also hit one May 8.

"It's the first step, but it's biggest step," Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said. "If you're playing the best, then you will win and that's what we have to be."

Milwaukee led, 4-2, in the ninth, after Scooter Gennett hit a two-run shot in the seventh, but the Cubs rallied to tie the score on an RBI single by Chris Coghlan and a pinch-hit infield single by Addison Russell. Chicago had the bases loaded with two outs, but Carlos Torres got Baez to hit a comebacker and end the inning.

Torres got the save opportunity because closer Tyler Thornburg had recorded a four-out save Thursday and wasn't available to pitch.

"Carlos just had a bad day," Brewers manager said. "He's had a lot of good days. Today just wasn't his day."

The Cubs' players and coaches took the field before the game started to acknowledge the fans and received a standing ovation from the crowd of 40,823. The next goal for the club is to secure the first overall seed in the NL and home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series. The magic number to lock up the No. 1 seed over the Nationals is 9.

The game was costly for the Brewers as center fielder Keon Broxton sustained a fractured right wrist after slamming into the brick wall in center. Broxton won't require surgery, but the injury will take six-to-eight weeks to heal, ending his season.

"The wind was howling out today," Counsell said. "The wind just kind of took that ball. It kept taking the ball to wall. He made a nice play, but he crashed into the wall doing it."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Lineup card: The Cubs weren't hung over from a celebration party after Thursday's game, but manager Joe Maddon treated Friday's game like a Sunday and gave the regulars the day off. Albert Almora Jr., who started in center field, delivered a two-run homer in the fifth that knotted the score at 2. Almora launched a 3-2 changeup from Chase Anderson a Statcast-projected 398 feet to left-center for his third career homer, and first at Wrigley Field. It ended Anderson's scoreless innings streak at 14 2/3.

"They have so much depth," said Anderson, whose scoreless streak ended at 14 2/3 innings. "When a guy comes in, he just keeps it going when someone goes down. It's still a good lineup, no matter who's out there. They're the Cubs. They're in first place and won the division for a reason."

Long gone: Orlando Arcia and Ryan Braun hit towering solo homers in the second and third innings to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead. According to Statcast™, Arcia's went out to left-center field with a launch angle of 28 degrees, 103 mph exit velocity and traveled a projected 437 feet. Not to be outdone, Braun topped those numbers an inning later off John Lackey, hitting his to straightaway center above the green batter's eye. Braun's blast left the bat with an exit velocity of 106 mph, at a launch angle of 30 degrees and traveled a projected 450 feet.

Start me up: Lackey served up seven hits, including three home runs over seven innings for Chicago. The right- hander struck out eight. He's been pitching with an extra day of rest as the Cubs try to keep the starters fresh for the postseason. The right-hander knows all about the pluses and minuses of clinching early. He was on the 2008 Angels team that clinched on Sept. 10, 2008.

"I guess it's just coincidence I'm on good teams," Lackey said.

Getting defensive: The Brewers had some excellent defensive plays that nixed two potential extra-base hits and erased a runner from scoring position. In the third inning, Broxton chased down a long fly in left-center field for a great running catch before fracturing his right wrist. In the fourth inning, third baseman Hernan Perez then snagged a hard line drive by Baez, which Statcast™ tracked with an exit velocity of 107 mph.

"It's a righty hitting and you're playing in, and Baez has a pretty good swing, so I have to be ready for everything," Perez said. "I was ready for that ball and I caught it."

Perez moved to right field in the seventh and made another big play, throwing out Almora at second after the Cubs rookie rounded the base too far on a single.

QUOTABLE

"Champagne is the best smell in baseball. It never gets old." -- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein

"Once the ball hit my glove, I wasn't going to let it come out." -- Broxton, on his catch

INJURY UPDATE

Broxton had to leave the game in the Cubs' third with a fractured right wrist after he crashed into the brick wall catching Tommy La Stella's fly ball. Broxton was escorted off the field by one of the Brewers' athletic trainers, who made sure the outfielder did not move his right arm.

"As soon as I hit, I knew my wrist was broken," Broxton said. "I've had broken bones before, so I know what it feels like."

Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler was also pulled from the game after three innings because of soreness in his right side. His status is day to day.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis left the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with an abdominal strain. Nieuwenhuis, who entered the game in the third to replace Broxton, will be evaluated further Monday in Milwaukee and could miss extended time.

REPLAY REVIEW

In the Cubs' fifth, Lackey was ruled safe at first to beat a double-play relay off his ground ball to second. Chicago would've had runners at first and third with one out, but the Brewers challenged the call. After a video review, the call was overturned for the second out.

Almora Jr. overran second base in the Cubs' seventh after La Stella singled to right, and was called out after a tag by Gennett. Chicago challenged the ruling, and after a review, the call stood.

WHAT'S NEXT

Brewers: Right-hander Zach Davies will get the start and try to earn his first win since Aug. 24 against the Rockies. Davies leads the Brewers with 15 quality starts, but he is 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA against the Cubs this season. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT.

Cubs: Jake Arrieta will start on Saturday in the third game of this four-game series. Arrieta is 6-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 14 starts at Wrigley Field. He's coming off a win over the Astros in which he gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings.

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Cubs.com Vote for the Cubs' top fan of 2016 By Zachary Finkelstein

Players, managers and executives receive their fair share of recognition each season. But what about the fans?

The most important part of the game -- you -- should be cheered, too. That is why Major League Baseball has stepped up to the plate to honor the inaugural MLB Fans of the Year presented by Esurance.

Nominees from all 30 Major League clubs will be featured on MLB.com/awards through Monday at 2 p.m. ET -- with winners to be unveiled an hour later at 3 p.m.

Winners whose clubs reach the League Championship Series or Fall Classic will receive tickets to root for the home team on a late-October night. As for the top fans whose teams fall short of the sport's semifinals? Have no fear, as there's always next year (and free tickets to an April 2017 game of their choice).

Major League Baseball and the 30 clubs worked tirelessly to identify the sport's top supporters. But after great debate, the following Cubs fans were chosen among a long list of deserving candidates:

Jesus Munoz: Special needs youngster Munoz was overjoyed when he spent a day with the Cubs and served as honorary bat boy at Wrigley Field.

Stewart McVicar: McVicar has constructed an epic Cubs museum in his basement that has been visited by former and current members of the team.

Beckham Zobrist: After losing an eye to cancer, resolute youngster Zobrist got a prosthetic replacement emblazoned with the Cubs' logo.

Natalie Adorno: A regular at Wrigley Field, 14-year-old Adorno dedicates her Twitter account entirely to sharing Cubs-related messages and photos.

The MLB Fans of the Year presented by Esurance program represents the "first inning" of the Esurance MLB Awards, which honor greatness in Major League Baseball and serve as the grand finale of the game's awards season. Esurance MLB Awards voting will run from 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 19 to 2 p.m. ET on Nov. 11 and include nominees in 19 categories -- from Best Major Leaguer to Best Social Media Post to Best MLB Interview.

Media, front-office personnel, retired MLB players, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and fans will determine the most #AwardWorthy players and moments from 2016. The MLB Awards winners will be announced Friday, Nov. 18, live on MLB.com and MLB Network.

(Voting link in story)

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Cubs.com Epstein, Cubs join together for belated celebration By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had made a deal with his staff that the day after they clinched the National League Central: they would watch a game from the bleachers at Wrigley Field. And that's what they did on Friday, with Epstein wearing a fake mustache to try to hide in the crowd of 40,823.

"In case something went really wrong in the game, I thought it would be good to be disguised out there," Epstein said, drenched in champagne after celebrating the Cubs' walk-off 5-4 victory over the Brewers. "I didn't plan ahead until the last minute, and that's what the costume store had. It was fun."

Epstein was able to be a bleacher bum for at least four innings before the fans realized the architect of the Cubs was sitting among them. He bought his share of beers, and basked in the setting.

"To enjoy the real Wrigley Field and sit out there and feel the breeze and be amongst the fans was wonderful," Epstein said. "It was even better than I thought it would be. I haven't done that since 1997 at Wrigley. It was great."

For the Cubs, winning the division and not having to deal with being an NL Wild Card entry, which they were last year, will make this postseason a little more blissful, too. The Cubs, who won the NL Central earlier than any other team has ever done, still have 15 games to go in the regular season.

"It's not special yet," Chicago starter John Lackey said. "We won a division and a tough division. It's the first goal. We definitely have some talent, but we have a long way to go."

On Friday, manager Joe Maddon backed Lackey up with the reserves, and they delivered, showing just how much depth the Cubs have. Albert Almora Jr. hit a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth and Miguel Montero delivered a walk-off shot leading off the 10th inning.

"It was fitting to have a lots of guys contribute, and not just stars, but everyone contributed today," Epstein said. "To have the consummate team player, Miguel Montero, who has handled this up-and-down year so, so well, to have him walk us off and launch the celebration was very apropos."

The Cubs won 97 games last season, beat the Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, and then topped their division rivals, the Cardinals, in the NL Division Series, only to lose in the NL Championship Series to the Mets. They were preseason favorites, and they know they have a lot of expectations to deal with.

"The only thing for me now is about the fans," Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said. "We have the best team in baseball, but the playoffs don't reward the best team, they reward the team that's playing the best, so we have to be ready for that and we have to move forward. Let's hope we have the same celebration a few weeks from now."

Before Maddon took the Cubs job, a former Chicago player told him just how special it was to call Wrigley Field home.

"This is unique," Maddon said. "I'd heard it before -- [a player told me] everybody should be a Cub at some point in their Major League existence if they had the opportunity. There's nothing like it. ... To play here under these circumstances, in this ballpark, with these fans is different in all the best ways."

Winning the division is the first step. Epstein and Co. know that.

"Champagne is the best smell in baseball," Epstein said. "It never gets old."

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Cubs.com Sandberg praises Cubs' incredible performance By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Ryne Sandberg said this Cubs season has been unlike any other, and it's not just because the team clinched the National League Central earlier than ever before. He credited the young players for the good vibe at Wrigley Field.

"It's pretty impressive," the Hall of Famer said of the young club. "It shows the talent level that they have and the job the Cubs did on scouting players to get them here so quickly and to be such good players, to be All-Star-caliber players after one year, two years in the Minor Leagues. That's almost unheard of. What that also does is open some windows for them to be here for years to come and do well.

"The players are easy to pull for because of the way they are as people and the way they act on the field. They do all the right things, they celebrate when you're supposed to, and they've been able to celebrate often. Obviously, the fans get to feed off that. I've never seen Wrigley like this from the first of April to now. Every day is the same atmosphere from the first inning on, and that's all new to me. It makes it a lot of fun."

Sandberg, 56, who played for the Cubs from 1982-94 and again from '96-97, didn't stay up to wait for the results of the Giants-Cardinals game. San Francisco's win helped Chicago secure the division.

"I came up about a half an hour short," Sandberg said. "I was [at Wrigley] for the game, and then came up a little short. It was my first check on my phone this morning. I wasn't surprised. I saw the 4-2 lead when I went to bed."

The Giants won, 6-2.

• The Cubs were encouraged by Pedro Strop's bullpen session on Thursday and they hope the reliever can pitch in a few regular-season games. He's been on the disabled list since Aug. 11 with a torn meniscus in his left knee, and he threw 22 pitches in his first bullpen session on Thursday.

"He had a good session [Thursday]," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said on Friday. "We're still listening to the trainers. He'll pitch in a game."

Maddon and the coaching staff are still deciding whether Mike Montgomery will get another start or switch to the bullpen. Montgomery made his fifth start as the sixth man on Thursday.

How the Cubs will use their pitchers now that they've clinched the NL Central will be discussed on Saturday when Maddon meets with the coaches.

"The biggest thing will be rest," Maddon said of his game plan for the final 15 games. "If you're rested a couple days, all of a sudden you start to feel right again. You get fatigued and [then say], 'I just can't get the bat there,' and [after rest] the hands feel quicker. Those are the kind of things I want to focus on."

• Kyle Schwarber, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the year, is the narrator for the Cubs' video celebrating their NL Central win. Schwarber, who tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee, will not be ready to play until 2017.

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Cubs.com Cubs celebrate separately after late clinch By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Manager Joe Maddon was talking to his wife, Jaye, late Thursday. Albert Almora Jr. was playing with his new baby. Aroldis Chapman was asleep, and David Ross was walking back to his apartment when they found out that Giants had beat the Cardinals and the Cubs were the National League Central champions.

"I grabbed a glass of wine and toasted with my wife," pitcher said on Friday.

The Cubs lost to the Brewers on Thursday night, but the Giants' 6-2 win over the Cardinals helped Chicago secure the division for the first time since 2008. It's the earliest clinch by a club in the NL Central since it was created in 1994.

"We didn't get it done on the field last night, but we played a good game overall and we get it based on 93 wins on Sept. 15," Maddon said Friday. "That's really unusual. That's the part I've been downplaying, but it's hard to wrap my mind around it that you get it done that soon, based on everything we talked about last offseason, Spring Training, this season, rolling through a tough All-Star break. It's just taken off.

"That's really impressive on the part of our players. It's pretty incredible. Winning your division is always a highlight. Being able to avoid a Wild Card, which can be exhilarating if you win them, otherwise it can be devastating. You really want to avoid that if you possibly can. Now we have this opportunity to plan it out slowly and really try to make some intelligent decisions while we're still playing the same game with the same kind of intensity."

Maddon planned on meeting with his coaches on Saturday to discuss their plans for the remaining two weeks of regular-season games. If the Cubs finish with the best record in the league, they will open the NL Division Series on Oct. 7 at Wrigley Field against the winner of the NL Wild Card Game, which will be played Oct. 5.

Ross, 39, who is retiring after this season, was walking back to his apartment when he saw the Giants-Cardinals score. It was shortly before midnight, and he figured it was a good time to celebrate so he walked into the nearest bar.

"The bartender recognized me and bought me a shot," Ross said. "It's the last time to clinch a playoff berth and a division title in my career."

Ross said he didn't expect the extended time to affect the Cubs at all in their preparation for the postseason.

"As long as we can focus on being the best team we can be, I don't think we'll have any problems," Ross said.

Although the Cubs did not celebrate as a group after Thursday's game, Friday's lineup featured more backups than regulars, with the exception of starter John Lackey.

For Almora, it's been quite the year. The outfielder got married, celebrated the birth of his first child and made his Major League debut.

"This year's been pretty good," Almora said. "We've still got things to do."

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Cubs.com Arrieta faces Crew in bid for NL lead in victories By Brian Hedger

CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta will make his 29th start of the season Saturday afternoon for the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and he could take sole possession of the National League lead in wins by defeating the Brewers.

Arrieta (17-6, 2.91 ERA) is tied in wins with teammate Jon Lester atop the NL. It will be the third time he faces Milwaukee this season, with the previous two also at Wrigley Field (2-0, 5.06 ERA).

Arrieta is 6-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 11 career starts against the Brewers, and he has held them to a .167 average this season. He's walked 11 in those two starts, though, and he has yielded five stolen bases to the top basestealing team in the Majors.

"It's just something that we felt, with our personnel, was something we could use to our advantage," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of swiping bases. "That's all we're trying to do. It's more the threat that we're trying to use as an advantage sometimes."

Right-hander Zach Davies will start for the Brewers, looking for his first win since Aug. 24 against the Rockies at Miller Park. Since winning three consecutive starts from July 23-Aug. 2, Davies is 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA in his past seven outings, with six homers allowed.

The Brewers have gone 13-13 in games Davies has pitched, and he leads the team with 15 quality starts. He's 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA in three games against the Cubs this season.

Three things to know about this game

• Brewers infielder Jonathan Villar is expected to return to the starting lineup after getting a breather Friday. Villar has 54 steals and trails Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton by four for the Major League lead.

• After his club clinched the NL Central on Thursday night, Cubs manager Joe Maddon fielded a lineup of almost entirely backups Friday. It's unknown how many regulars will return to the lineup Saturday.

• The Brewers are just 3-14-6 in road series this season.

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