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Home , Casey Stern, David Ross (baseball), Joe Simpson (baseball)

October 3, 2017

 Chicago Sun-Times, How Cubs went from near sellers to buying their chances for a repeat https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/how-cubs-went-from-near-sellers-to-buying-their-chances-for-a-repeat/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Jose Quintana on missing the White Sox — and loving life with the Cubs https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/jose-quintana-on-missing-the-white-sox-and-loving-life-with-the-cubs/

 Daily Herald, Why loose feeling might help in postseason http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20171002/why-loose-feeling-might-help-chicago-cubs-in-postseason

 Cubs.com, Park at Wrigley site of Cubs' party Tuesday http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/257206312/cubs-ring-in-postseason-with-party-at-wrigley/

 Cubs.com, Windy gritty: Cubs love passionate Lackey http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/257178080/john-lackey-has-earned-love-of-cubs-teammates/

 NBC Sports Chicago, Why Theo Epstein almost reached the breaking point and sold pieces off this Cubs team http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-cubs/why-theo-epstein-almost-reached-breaking-point-and-sold- pieces-cubs-team

 NBC Sports Chicago, How Jon Jay brought Cubs clubhouse together for big finish http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-cubs/how-jon-jay-brought-cubs-clubhouse-together-big-finish

 NBC Sports Chicago, After roller coaster season, wants to add to his budding 'Mr. October' legacy http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-cubs/after-roller-coaster-season-kyle-schwarber-wants-add-his- budding-mr-october-legacy-world-series

, 's pre-playoff message to Cubs: Just play your game http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-joe-maddon-team-meeting-cubs-notes-spt-1003- 20171002-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs tenure ended 11 years ago, but it's still 'personal' for http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-dusty-baker-still-personal-cubs-nationals-spt-1003- 20171002-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Max Scherzer's uncertain status gives Cubs even more lineup options for NLDS http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-nlds-lineup-options-spt-1003-20171002- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Dream On: Looking at potential matchups for the Cubs http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-ranking-cubs-world-series-matchups-sullivan-spt-1003- 20171002-column.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs get top TBS crew for 1st round games http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-1003-cubs-tbs-announcers-20171002-story.html

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Chicago Sun-Times How Cubs went from near sellers to buying their chances for a repeat By Gordon Wittenmyer

By the time spring-training visions of dynasties had given way to the real possibility of the Cubs becoming sellers at the trade deadline, and were on the disabled list and the Brewers had opened a 5½- game lead in the Central.

‘‘We’re not looking back at the Cubs,’’ Brewers closer Corey Knebel said at the time.

Twelve weeks and 49 Cubs victories later, Knebel doesn’t have to look back to find them. The Cubs are headed to the playoffs for a third consecutive season for the first time since the dead-ball era.

Here’s how it happened and why the Cubs think another World Series might be in play as they open the postseason Friday against the Nationals:

Q and Answers to the starting pitching

Team president Theo Epstein said the front office was a bad road trip and homestand away from selling short-term veterans at the non-waiver trade deadline July 31. He also pounced on the chance to acquire short- and long-term asset Jose Quintana from the White Sox during the All-Star break, a move many in the clubhouse called an emotional boost.

‘‘Our ownership and front office, they mean what they say when they talk about an opportunity to win a World Series every year,’’ right fielder said. ‘‘When that trade happened, that’s what they showed.’’

Quintana went 7-3 with a 3.74 ERA for the Cubs, pitching their two best starts of the season (8-0 in Baltimore in his first start and 5-0 in Milwaukee in his second-to-last one). Lackey returned from a sore foot and was a different pitcher, including a 5-0 run with a 3.06 ERA in his first six starts back. Hendricks returned July 24 and had a 2.19 ERA the rest of the way. got hot until a hamstring injury slowed him in the final few weeks.

And the rotation went from 29-33 with a 4.66 ERA in the first half to 35-14 with a 3.36 ERA in the second. The Cubs’ rotation was second in the majors to that of the Indians in victories and ERA after the break.

No star power

The Cubs got exactly one All-Star this season after landing seven in 2016, including the entire NL starting infield. That was closer Wade Davis, who didn’t endure the lengthy 2016 postseason and who had only 16 save chances (30 innings) in the first half.

‘‘I really think those few days at the break, with some of our guys not making an All-Star team, was probably one of the best things for this team,’’ veteran said. ‘‘Everybody came back refreshed and excited to change the whole point of the season and the way it was going. That definitely was the turning point.’’

The schedule eased

Fifty-three of the Cubs’ 74 games after the break were against teams that went into the break with losing records. The Cubs went 39-14 against those teams (and 10-11 against the others).

They went 14-3 in their first 17 games out of the break and won 15 of their last 19. They were 63-63 in the rest of the season.

Rest and patience

Between false starts and false hope throughout the first half, Joe Maddon preached patience and continued a liberal schedule of rest for his every-day players and rotation, acknowledging the toll of two seasons of deep playoff runs and the anticipation of another October.

‘‘As human beings, coming off of winning a World Series in Chicago — after a century — there’s a lot attached to that that’s really hard to evaluate,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘So you’ve got to try to be patient.’’

Said left-handed reliever Brian Duensing, who is in his first season with the Cubs: ‘‘Coming here for the first time, the way we started the second half really showed me maybe how tired mentally and physically the team was from how long the season was last year. . . . You could tell it was just completely a different energy on and off the field the second half.’’

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Chicago Sun-Times Jose Quintana on missing the White Sox — and loving life with the Cubs By Steve Greenberg

Last week’s Cubs clincher in St. Louis wasn’t the first time pitcher Jose Quintana got to climb over a dugout rail, run onto the field and celebrate a division championship with teammates. He also did it as a member of the Yankees organization.

What, you don’t remember? It was 2009 and the Colombian left-hander, then 20, was an up-and-comer in the Dominican Summer League.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “But this is better. This is a bigger deal.”

Maybe just a skosh.

Would the Cubs even be in the playoffs if not for the contributions of Quintana? Since switching sides of town in a mid-July trade with the White Sox for four prospects — including top hitter Eloy Jimenez and pitcher Dylan Cease — Quintana has gone 7-3 with a 3.74 ERA. The Cubs are 10-4 in games he has started and head into the divisional round against the Nationals on a six-game winning streak when he starts.

Maybe they’d have staggered to the finish line in first without him, but they’d have about as much of a chance to win another World Series as Bears quarterback Mike Glennon has of going to the Pro Bowl.

“I feel like I’m pitching really good,” Quintana said, “and it’s funny, but I feel like I’ve been here for more than one year. I know it’s just a half-season, but the coaches and all my teammates make it easy for me to be here. We have a really good group of teammates, and we stay together.”

If that reads in any way like a backhanded assessment of his time with the Sox, stop right here and understand: Quintana prizes his five-plus seasons on the South Side.

He remembers like yesterday his September victory over the Tigers in 2012, his rookie season. It put the Sox in first place by three games. Alas, two weeks later — after having spent 126 days at the top of the division — the Sox watched the Tigers go by. There’d be no catching up down the home stretch.

“But that year was special,” he said. “I enjoyed that time. I spent good times there. I just wish we made the playoffs one time.”

Because he never pitched in the postseason with the Sox, it’s almost certain his time with the Cubs — who have him at least through 2020 — will overshadow everything that came before it. But Quintana will remember it all.

He’ll remember taking an older, much bigger Jose Abreu under his wing for all of 2014, the Cuban slugger’s rookie season. Quintana looked out for Abreu, helped him navigate a new life at and away from the ballpark. An ironclad friendship was formed.

He’ll remember talking pitching with — and marveling at — former Sox ace Chris Sale. The day Quintana was traded to the Cubs, he got a text from Sale that said: “We didn’t make these choices, but it’s better for us. I’m happy for you. You look good in blue. Now go make the playoffs.”

When Sale recorded his 300th of the season last month, Quintana texted his congratulations. Each pitcher noted the other’s opportunity to experience postseason baseball for the first time.

In some moments, Quintana feels a little bit like he’s taking his former Sox teammates along for the ride. He thinks about them often as he drives to from his home near Soldier Field. The first time he made the drive post-trade, it made him feel “weird” to head north on Lake Shore Drive rather than south. And now?

“The drive is a little longer,” he said, “but it’s good. I like it.”

All the same, Quintana is leaning toward getting rid of his place. The thought of moving to the North Side, maybe even somewhere walking distance from Wrigley, appeals to him. Consider it the next step in fully embracing his life in blue.

Come to think of it, that’s not the next step at all, is it? The next step is taking the ball against the Nationals, breaking the seal on his playoff career and making it seven consecutive Cubs victories in games he has started.

Talk about fun. Talk about a big deal.

“I’m very excited,” Quintana said.

Another time or two — dare we say three? — jumping over that dugout rail for a celebration, he won’t know what hit him.

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Daily Herald Why loose feeling might help Chicago Cubs in postseason By Bruce Miles

There's a looseness about the Chicago Cubs' clubhouse these days.

That looseness may be telling the Washington Nationals and any other potential playoff foes this: We've been there, we've done that, we know how to win.

The Cubs got their world-championship mojo back after a 43-45 start to the season leading into the all-star break. Since then, they went 49-25 and won the by 6 games over the after trailing by 5½ at the break.

This is not to say the Cubs are going to repeat or that it's going to be easy. If Nationals ace Max Scherzer is 100 percent after "tweaking" his hamstring over the weekend, he heads a rotation that includes Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez.

And if the Cubs can't keep Nats leadoff man Trea Turner off the bases, it could be a quick series in Washington's favor.

Working for the Cubs is their immense talent, their vastly improved play over the final weeks of the regular season and their winning pedigree.

A young Cubs team took the baseball world by storm in 2015 by winning 97 games in the regular season, beating the in the wild-card game and exorcising decades worth of demons by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the division series. The team finally ran out of gas in the championship series, getting swept by the .

The Cubs went virtually wire-to-wire last year in the regular season before surviving several tense moments in the postseason and winning the franchise's first World Series since 1908.

With all of that out of the way, the Cubs can play it free and easy starting with Friday's Game 1 at Nationals Park.

The Nats, on the other hand, will be under tremendous pressure to perform after handily winning the NL East one year after losing the NLDS in five games to the .

Manager Dusty Baker, who has done a good job managing around myriad injuries this year, also will be under scrutiny to see if he can get a team over the hump.

So while the Cubs might be the underdogs, even as defending world champions, they go in feeling good.

"The part that feels different, only, to me, underdogs or overdogs, I don't listen to that anyway," manager Joe Maddon said. "The thing that feels different is that we know how to do this."

First baseman sounded a similar theme.

"We've been there," he said. "We've been there and we've done it. We've had a lot of different scenarios and series. We've been up games. We've been down games. We've been up in the series, down in the series.

"We're as battle tested as you can get going into the playoffs. It's all about if that bounce is going to go your way, if you're going to get the big hit or make that big pitch."

Second baseman- Ben Zobrist has been through this twice in the past two seasons, winning the 2015 World Series with the and being named Series MVP last year with the Cubs.

"As a club, we feel like all those memories are very fresh, knowing how the postseason feels," he said. "I think everybody's just really excited about the chance to get back into that same mode of thinking, that same adrenaline rush, and we're just excited about the opportunity again.

"Throughout the struggling first half, we just kept coming at it. It was always tough to get (batting) cage time. You'd just see guys in there working all the time, constantly.

"No one's resting on their laurels and thinking they have it all figured out. The other thing I think about is the ability to stay loose and have fun. That always serves you well in pressurized situations.

"I think it served us well playing Milwaukee and St. Louis this past week. Those were postseason-type situations. It will serve us well next weekend and beyond."

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Cubs.com Park at Wrigley site of Cubs' party Tuesday By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- The Cubs will convert the Park at Wrigley to "'W'ville" on Tuesday to ring in the postseason, providing fans with free #FlyTheW items plus give them a chance to win 2017 postseason tickets.

The party will be held from 3-7 p.m. CT on Tuesday.

A giveaway tent will include free #FlyTheW cardboard posters, stickers, temporary tattoos, rally towels from American Airlines and "W" stencils provided by Benjamin Moore. CBS Radio Chicago will host a number of giveaway opportunities and games as well.

Fans also can take a swing for a chance at free 2017 Cubs postseason tickets in a fun and fast-paced whiffle ball challenge. With one swing of the bat, participating fans can take aim at a large "W" flag target in the lawn area. Those who hit the ball directly into the cut-out "W" will receive a pair of free tickets to a 2017 postseason game at Wrigley Field. Fans who hit the target with a fly ball but don't make it into the "W" will receive a complimentary "W" Flag or choose from a selection of other available prizes.

A number of family-friendly games and activities will be available as well. Guests can test their arm at an inflatable speed pitch station or take some swings at an inflatable whiffle ball station. A balloon artist, face painter and glitter temporary tattoo artist will be on hand to entertain children, while a caricature artist will provide "W"-themed drawings of fans.

Guests can play oversized games, bags with custom #FlyTheW boards, an RBI Baseball gaming station and even control miniature Cubs robots, courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry's Robot Revolution Exhibit.

A pop-up "W Shop" next to the Cubs Store will have a number of "W"-themed items, flags and apparel for sale. Guests also can purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages from the food trucks and concession stands on-site.

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Cubs.com Windy gritty: Cubs love passionate Lackey By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- He's not exactly an umpire's favorite pitcher. He'll glare if a call doesn't go his way. He's not too fond of opposing batters either. Cubs manager Joe Maddon has known John Lackey since they were together with the Angels, and he says the right-hander hasn't changed.

If Lackey does retire after this season, his 15th in the big leagues, he needs to know one thing: His Cubs teammates love him.

"When he's on the mound, it's take no prisoners, and that's one of the things you can learn from him," Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks said.

Where Lackey fits into the Cubs' postseason plans is still to be determined. He may find himself in the when Chicago opens the National League Division Series presented by T-Mobile on Friday against Washington. Maddon asked the veteran to pitch one inning in relief in the regular-season finale on Sunday against the Reds. It was only the second time in 448 career games that he's done that (also June 27, 2004). It had been 4,844 days between relief outings.

When the media approached Lackey to ask about Sunday's outing, he dismissed them.

He's irascible, intense and intimidating, but he's backed it up, winning three World Series rings (2002 with the Angels, '13 with the Red Sox and '16 with the Cubs).

"He's a great dude," Cubs closer Wade Davis said. "Playing against him, you definitely saw him on the mound and he's pretty emotional and definitely into it. You hang out in the clubhouse, and he's a real good friend to everybody."

Lackey does like to have fun when he's not pitching. His favorite target lately has been rookie reliever Rob Zastryzny, whom Lackey will joke with good-naturedly.

"He told me during the celebration [last Wednesday], 'Enjoy it, Rob Z, because you never know when it will be your last,'" Zastryzny said. "It makes me think how lucky I am to be here."

Lackey has some perspective. He missed all of 2012 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Remember, he isn't here for a haircut, but wants the jewelry.

Jake Arrieta could write a book about everything he's learned from Lackey in the two seasons they've been together on the Cubs.

"He's not afraid of anything," Arrieta said. "He's got the composure, he's got the demeanor, he's got the competitiveness. He crosses the line sometimes, but that's what we like to see. He says it a lot, 'I've got to go to a different place out there.'

"He likes to rag on himself sometimes, but this guy has been really, really good for 15 years. Just watching him on a daily basis -- this guy is 38 years old and he's busting his [butt] in the weight room every single day -- cardio, moving weights, working on his mobility. This guy, whether he's at the end of his rope or not, he doesn't act like it."

If this is Lackey's last year, he's not saying. Unlike David Ross, who made it clear from that he was retiring after the 2016 season, Lackey has only said he wants to talk to his family before announcing his decision.

"He'll comment from time to time that this is it for him," Arrieta said. "I'll mess with him all the time and say, 'No, it's not. You're 92, 94 [mph] with a good breaking ball and your body feels good -- you've got at least one more in you.'

"It's a pleasure to play with a guy like that. He's one of the last batches of old school guys still in the game. There's not many of them left."

Maddon knows. He's watched Lackey since the then-rookie started and won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.

"John does all the little histrionics on the field on occasion, but when you're with him all the time and he's not performing, he's an entirely different person," Maddon said. "He's a softie outside of what you see on the field."

A softie?

"That's not a bad thing," said Arrieta, who also is Lackey's neighbor in Austin, Texas. "This guy loves his kids more than anybody I've seen. He's a great father. He's a great human being. ... He messes around that he's going to be a high school pitching coach where our kids are going to school. I think that would be tremendous."

After the Cubs clinched their second straight NL Central title on Wednesday in St. Louis, stopped the partying to toast Lackey.

"I've had the pleasure to call this guy a teammate for eight years," Lester said in the beer and champagne soaked visitor's clubhouse. "I've learned a lot about this game from this guy and I'm sure you guys have, too. He's one of the best teammates and one of the best people I've ever had to play with. Tonight was probably his last regular- season start. Here's to one helluva career."

If this is Lackey's last year, the Cubs want to make it memorable.

"The way he's been throwing, he's definitely got another year in him," Hendricks said. "It wasn't surprising [the toast]. We know the possibility is there. He knows he's always welcome in this clubhouse, and we love him here and we'd love to have him here and he can still throw. He's still got a lot in the tank."

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NBC Sports Chicago Why Theo Epstein almost reached the breaking point and sold pieces off this Cubs team By Patrick Mooney

Divided, tone-deaf, gridlocked, the Cubs reflected Washington the last time they played at Nationals Park, where veteran went rogue during an epic postgame rant and the defending World Series champs kept stalling around the .500 mark.

Team president Theo Epstein watched the Nationals run wild across his iPad on June 27 while he was visiting the Class-A Myrtle Beach affiliate, a breakdown that had Montero pointing the finger directly at Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta for those seven stolen bases.

Within seconds of seeing those explosive comments in his South Carolina hotel room, Epstein knew he wanted to get rid of Montero, who couldn’t hide his frustrations with manager Joe Maddon…during a radio interview the day of the championship parade and Grant Park rally last November.

Montero wasn’t exactly a lone wolf, speaking out for players who didn’t always see the communication skills that Maddon showed off during his media sessions. Even Arrieta appreciated Montero’s honesty, saying: “I love Miggy.”

Looking for a button to push with a team that wasn’t getting a jolt from The Cubs Way culture or Maddon’s laissez- faire style, Epstein DFA’d Montero and eventually shipped him to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The next day, about half the team showed up at the White House, where board member told Donald Trump the Cubs would run into the Nationals in the playoffs and predicted: “You’ll see them crumble.”

In reality, the Cubs were dangerously close to imploding, which will make it fascinating to watch which team crumbles during the best-of-five National League Division Series that begins Friday night in Washington.

As Epstein consulted with a few players about the Montero decision, he sent this message: Get your stuff together and play with an edge if you want us to trade the Class-A talent here in Myrtle Beach for big-league reinforcements this summer.

The Cubs also quietly put the word out to teams looking for starting pitching and bullpen help: There was a remote possibility that looming free agents Arrieta and Wade Davis would be available at the July 31 trade deadline. A new collective bargaining agreement – with the international spending restrictions, luxury-tax implications and a modified qualifying-offer system – would have been part of the rationalization.

“Not blowing it up,” Epstein said. “But when you’re five-and-a-half out, if you have a bad road trip and a bad homestand and then you’re 10-and-a-half out, absolutely, we would have sold.”

That’s the deficit the Cubs faced on July 9, when Jon Lester got rocked during a 14-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field that left the defending World Series champs with a 43-45 record. During that final game before the All-Star break, Epstein received a text message from White Sox general manager Rick Hahn, sparking the Jose Quintana trade talks.

Davis – who wasn’t even a part of last year’s championship team – would be the only player representative at the All-Star festivities in South Florida. Epstein went into stealth mode that week – credit Reddit users Wetbutt23 and KatyPerrysBootyHole with the scoop – and gave up top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease in a blockbuster deal for Quintana that would solidify the rotation through 2020.

Epstein left his family’s beach vacation in Massachusetts to join the team at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where he got his start in as a summer intern out of Yale University in 1992, the same year that trendsetting stadium opened in downtown Baltimore.

Epstein noticed the mood in the visiting clubhouse after that first game back from the All-Star break on July 14 – a 9-8 victory where the Cubs got homers from , Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and , still almost blew an eight-run lead and began a six-game winning streak.

“In the first half, we were kind of tired of the postgame celebration,” Epstein said. “It was getting kind of old.

“Folks don’t understand. Once you win it all – and you’ve given everything you’ve had – the specter of playing 162 games and making them all meaningful is really overwhelming. It’s hard to get up for all of them.

“The first half, there were just a lot of things, different gripes going on. It was kind of more a collection of individuals than it was anything else.

“And then as soon as we hit the break – and we had to answer the bell – our guys did. We came back from the break as a team – and as a really good team – and we celebrated that win like it was a postseason win.

“We took off from there. That vibe of a loose atmosphere – but very connected group – was back. And we kind of rode it the whole second half.”

The Milwaukee Brewers, a rebuilding team with an Opening Day payroll around $56 million, spent 69 days in first place, but never after July 25. Epstein’s front office never got to the point of exchanging names or discussing any white-flag deals in depth or really considering a breakup of their young core. But the Cubs now believe that adversity will make them stronger in October.

“Look, it was crunch time early this year,” Epstein said. “If we had had a bad road trip and a bad homestand to start the second half, we’re selling. We didn’t. We started to play pretty good baseball right off the bat. We added and our guys elevated their level of play and had a hell of a second half and a great closing kick.

“And now we’re going into the playoffs with as much momentum as anybody.”

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NBC Sports Chicago How Jon Jay brought Cubs clubhouse together for big finish By Patrick Mooney

Jon Jay didn’t feel the World Series hangover. While the 2017 Cubs got pulled in so many different directions, Jay wasn’t living off last season or focusing on his personal brand or thinking there’s always next year for a young team with money and big names.

Sensing another moment that could become a distraction, Jay called a team meeting immediately after the Milwaukee Brewers swept the defending champs on Sept. 10. There were three weeks left in the regular season as the Cubs gathered in a Wrigley Field weight room after getting outscored 20-3 that weekend. The Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals had both pulled within two games of first place. What the Cubs did next would define their season.

“It was just a reminder of how much we had fought at that point to be in the position we were at,” Jay said. “Everything was OK. That was the message all year with the veteran guys: ‘Hey, we’re going to be fine.’ That’s something I just preached all year: ‘Hey, we’re good enough. We got enough talent. Just keep playing baseball.’ Sometimes, it’s unexplainable what happens in baseball.”

That last line won’t fit easily on yet another Joe Maddon T-shirt, but it sums up a team that staggered into the All- Star break with a 43-45 record, a zero run differential (399-399) and questions about whether the front office would be trade-deadline buyers and if the clubhouse would come together or completely collapse.

Jay would never take credit for this, because at the age of 32 and after eight seasons in the big leagues he understands how complicated this game can be. His face remained expressionless when a reporter approached his locker and asked him about the short meeting. He won’t be holding court with the national media before and after the playoff games that begin Friday night at Nationals Park in Washington.

But from that point, the Cubs won seven games in a row, nine of their next 10 and 13 of their last 16 before clinching the National League Central title and eliminating the Cardinals from the wild-card race. That run included a 9-2 burst against Milwaukee and St. Louis, the Cubs committing only two errors during that time while outscoring their division rivals 58-29.

The Cubs played with a focus and an urgency that had been lacking at times. Jay’s 15-pitch at-bat and leadoff single against Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff became a symbol for the grinding team that won 10-inning games on back-to-back nights at Miller Park. Ben Zobrist retweeted the MLB.com Gameday sequence from the official Cubs account and called it the “best at-bat all season by anyone anywhere.”

“Jon Jay, to me, the 2017 Cubbies don’t go without him,” Zobrist said. “He picked us up on the field and off the field in a lot of ways when we struggled. He wasn’t around last year to talk about last year, so he was so focused on this year. He’s like: ‘OK, well I want to win a championship with you guys now. You guys did it last year, but turn the page.’ He definitely helped us do that.”

This meeting won’t go down in history next to the Jason Heyward Rain Delay Speech, but it illuminates how fragile and puzzling this team could be in the aftermath of an epic celebration. Maddon can say his methods are validated now – and no manager had guided this franchise into the playoffs for three straight seasons in more than a century – but he doesn’t have that many buttons to push beyond his patience and positive nature.

“Joe goes hands off, even when he knows things aren’t going the way we expect,” said Zobrist, a Maddon ally from their years together with the Tampa Bay Rays. “He just expects (it from) the players: If you feel like something needs to be said, then bring everybody together and say it.

“When there was some moments where people felt something needed to be said, they called the team meetings. That’s what good teams do. They don’t talk behind each other’s backs. They say: ‘Let’s come together. Let’s talk about this. Let’s turn the page and figure it out.’

“Yeah, it had to happen a little bit more this year, probably because we all knew that we were underperforming.”

The players met near the end of an 0-for-6 West Coast trip (and didn’t bother with Maddon’s “Anchorman” costumes for the long flight back home to Chicago). The Cubs had to deal with the fallout from Miguel Montero’s classic rant in Washington in late June (when roughly half the group skipped a visit to Donald Trump’s White House). Maddon called a we’re-still-in-good-shape meeting before a July 6 game at Wrigley Field (and then watched the Brewers maul the Cubs in an 11-2 game).

“So the second half, how many meetings did we have? One,” Zobrist said. “That Milwaukee series was not good for us, so I think it was good just to say, ‘All right, so what? Forget it.’

“There were multiple times beyond those meetings that I think just kind of kept everybody together as a team. Team dinners, guys hanging out, going to somebody’s room at a hotel, things like that, which nobody knows about or nobody talks about.

“Those kinds of things are not technically team meetings. They’re not saying everybody’s got to be there. But it’s a way that we connect.”

Jay has been the exact glue guy the Cubs envisioned when they signed him to a one-year, $8 million contract in late November, hoping he could take over some of David Ross’s leadership responsibilities, mentor Jr., the young outfielder who also grew up in Miami, and change the lineup dynamics (.296 batting average, .374 on-base percentage) as a different kind of left-handed hitter.

Now Jay – a player drafted and developed under The Cardinal Way – sees the parallels to the 2011 St. Louis team that didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the final day of the regular season and wound up winning the franchise’s 11th World Series title.

“Absolutely,” Jay said. “Just get in and get hot. It’s not how you get in. It’s just about getting in.”

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NBC Sports Chicago After roller coaster season, Kyle Schwarber wants to add to his budding 'Mr. October' legacy By Tony Andracki

Kyle Schwarber is ready to add to his legend.

The 24-year-old slugger just finished his first full MLB season, but will live forever in Cubs lore after helping end the 108-year championship drought with a made-for-Hollywood return to the lineup in the World Series.

Schwarber's 2017 has been a roller coaster that included a three-week stint in the minor leagues and inconsistent playing time down the stretch.

But he has a career .364 average and 1.178 OPS in 14 playoff games and the Cubs' new "Mr. October" is heating up at just the right time. He hit .288 with a .954 OPS in 59 September at-bats, crushing six homers and helping raise his season average from .168 on July 6 to .211.

It's like he flipped a switch as October neared.

"This is my favorite time of year," he said. "This is when things start coming to the nitty-gritty. This brings out the best in everyone, I think. You saw when we were playing Milwaukee and the way St. Louis was playing, those were some really hard-fought games.

"It was like a playoff atmosphere. Going into Washington, it's gonna be some hard-fought games. ... You're gonna be in for a grinder series, I'm sure, and it'll be fun."

In a trying year that saw Schwarber finish with only 422 at-bats, he still reached the 30-homer plateau with a moonshot Saturday afternoon in the season's penultimate game. He was also caught on the videoboard camera in the Cubs dugout dancing along to the "YMCA."

"It's pretty crazy, isn't it?" Joe Maddon said of Schwarber's 30th homer. "Good for him. That shows you the kinda talent that he has. Came back and really reconstructed himself.

"Right now, that [Saturday], I was really watching it closely. He got started really early, which is good. You can never be too early, but you can be too late as a hitter. He was definitely on time and that's why the ball went that far."

We don't know yet how often Maddon will write Schwarber's name on the lineup card at the start of the Cubs' playoff games, a stark contrast from last year when the left-handed slugger changed the complexion of the entire lineup and drove the news cycle for 10 days right around Halloween.

Schwarber isn't concerned about his role, focusing instead on the team

"I'm gonna prepare like I'm in the lineup until I'm told that I'm not," Schwarber said. "And then when I'm not, I'm gonna prepare like the way I would be coming off the bench.

"There's gonna be no different kind of preparation for me. This time of the year is where you can't get surprised by anything."

For the third straight fall, Schwarber will be in uncharted waters in the beginning of October.

In 2015, Schwarber immediately put the Cubs on the board in that high-octane wild-card game in Pittsburgh before crushing the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS and coming under fire for a couple defensive miscues in the NLCS against the New York Mets.

Last year, Schwarber was still powering through a rehab process up until the last week of October when he made an incredible return to the lineup in the World Series after missing more than six months.

This fall, he has four days between games and will focus on simulated action and batting practice instead of rehab and winner-take-all one-game playoffs.

He's also taking some time for visualization, imagining himself executing in different situations and trying to provide some of that 30-homer pop whenever he's called upon in October.

"It's been an up-and-down year," Schwarber said. "It is what it is. I'm happy about [the 30-homer plateau], but I'm not really too focused on it at all. It's a cool accomplishment, but I'm more focused on the bigger picture here, which is the postseason coming up."

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Chicago Tribune Joe Maddon's pre-playoff message to Cubs: Just play your game By Mark Gonzales

Manager Joe Maddon's team meeting Tuesday won't rattle the walls of the Cubs' spacious clubhouse.

"There's nothing I can say that's going to be stirring, motivational, substantive in a sense that it's going to change their minds about anything," Maddon said. "I just want our guys to go out and do what they've been doing since the All-Star break. No different.

"Go out and play. Play unencumbered. Go out and play mentally freely and play the game we've learned to play over the last couple years."

Maddon traditionally holds three meetings each season: one before the start of spring training, one before the start of the second half and one before the playoffs.

The Cubs making their third consecutive playoff appearance with the same core leaves the usually loquacious Maddon with little to say to his players.

"More than anything, I have so much faith in our guys to go out and play," he said. "I don't anticipate any kind of nervousness or over-anything from our guys. I anticipate our guys playing the game that we've come to play."

Answering the bell: The Cubs will have nine days between clinching the NL Central title and opening the division series Friday in Washington — less than half the time they had to prepare for the 2016 playoffs.

"It's nice to have at least a week," reliever Mike Montgomery said.

Maddon said the nine-day window is perfect after a lengthy spring training and a stretch of 20 games without a day off in late August and early September.

"(Clinching the division) title when we did permitted us to set this thing up properly," Maddon said. "We'll work on a few things and figure this thing out. By the time we take the field on Friday, the guys will absolutely be ready."

Extra innings: A stint on the disabled list cost Jon Lester (180 2/3 innings) a shot at his sixth consecutive season of at least 200 innings. ... With 75 RBIs, Javier Baez finished second on the team to Anthony Rizzo (109), with Willson

Contreras (74) third despite missing 4 1/2 weeks with a hamstring strain. "Willie was on the verge of 100 RBIs before he got hurt," Maddon said. "That was missing a significant amount of time while he was extremely hot."

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Chicago Tribune Cubs tenure ended 11 years ago, but it's still 'personal' for Dusty Baker By Paul Sullivan

Dusty Baker is a big believer in karma, in case you haven't heard, and the Nationals manager is counting on some good karma — and solid pitching — to lead him to his first championship as manager.

But first the Nationals have to make it past the Cubs in the National League Division Series, where Baker's former team is poised to squelch his dreams.

Leaning back in his chair in his office at Nationals Park, Baker said he's not worried about a thing.

"It's already written," he said. "All you gotta do is believe. If I win (the World Series), I'm going to be extremely happy, but then I'll be thinking about winning No. 2.

"If you see my crying on TV, then kick my butt. Because I'm thinking (two rings) is how it's supposed to be in the first place."

Sometimes life will beat you down. The 68-year-old Baker has been beaten down a time or two in his four stops as manager, especially in October.

Last year the Nats, without injured starter Stephen Strasburg and catcher Wilson Ramos, lost a tight, five-game NLDS to the Dodgers. Injuries have marred this season, but the Nats managed to cruise to the NL East title, which allowed star outfielder Bryce Harper to return from his knee injury without rushing things.

"This year we're at full forces, but without (outfielder Brian Goodwin) and Harper just back a week, and (Jayson) Werth back 10 days or whatever, it's probably synonymous to (Kyle) Schwarber coming back later (in the )," he said.

"It should be a heck of a series. It's already kind of written. The whole path."

The whole path? The path to playing the Cubs?

"You don't think that's circumstance necessarily?" he said.

Well ...

The Cubs and Nats were on path to meet in last year's National League Championship Series before the Dodgers intervened. They've been on this current path since the Cubs overtook the Brewers in the Central Division shortly after the All-Star break, giving everyone ample time to ponder the matchup.

Is this personal for Baker?

Are you kidding?

"Almost everything is personal to me," he said. "I make it personal. It keeps me motivated sometimes, whether we're playing the Cubs or not playing the Cubs. If you've been around as long as I have, there's something about everybody that maybe they don't like (you), or something about everybody that I may not like.

"In 50 years in this game, I've come across paths with general managers, players, people, fans, relatives that were either for or against you, or changed sides along the way."

It would be impossible to separate Baker's experience in Chicago from his personality.

He was defiant before got there, and more defiant upon leaving. He still can recall every slight, including one from Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney, who told fans at the 2009 Cubs Convention replacing Baker with was the best thing to happen to the team.

"If you think about the team that won in '07, does that team win with our former manager?" Kenney asked the crowd. "Not a chance."

After leaving the Giants following their 2002 NL pennant for the Cubs, Baker was beloved in Chicago in '03, but lost in an NLCS that included a certain Game 6. Google it.

The Cubs let Baker go after 2006, a long and excruciating season in which everyone knew he was fired by July, he took the Reds to the postseason three times without winning, but was let go after 2013 when he refused to fire his hitting coach.

That's three controversial endings, and since his two-year contract is up, this could be No. 4 if he doesn't win. Still, the only place he still gets booed is in Chicago, more than a decade after his last game managing there.

"Everything lingers there," he said. "I'm all right. That's the nature of the place, and I've always liked Chicago."

Harsh feelings about his Cubs ending may motivate Baker to beat them, but general manager Mike Rizzo said it's not going to affect his managing once the game starts.

Baker and Rizzo have bigger fish to fry.

"I don't think him managing against the Cubs has any significance," Rizzo said. "He wants to win a World Series. That's the significance with me, being a Chicago kid, and with Dusty being the manager over the years there.

"The significance is to win the World Series, not to beat the Cubs."

Beating the Cubs is Step 1, and Baker knows the storyline of this NLDS will include two big subplots: The Nats never winning the big one, and Dusty never winning the big one.

"I don't listen to any of them, and I don't read 'em," he said. "I've told people that, and they're like 'Oh, no man, (forget it).' After I got booed unmercifully in my first year in L.A. (as a player), and the next year I hit 30 home runs and they loved the heck out of me, I'm kind of unfazed by the ups and downs.

"And why should I let anybody else control my happiness and my (self) esteem? I don't play any attention to that because I've got to remain constant in myself and in my happiness. If you read or listen to all that stuff, you'll be high or low depending on the reactions of everybody else."

Baker again thanked the Cubs and former GM Jim Hendry for helping him resolve a longstanding fight with the IRS over a tax issue. The weight was lifted, and he stopped looking backward.

"When I left San Francisco, I was fighting the IRS, and I was always, it seemed like, fighting somebody," he said. "When I go there and they boo me, I thank 'em for the life they helped me get. No problem."

It seems like Baker's fight isn't over yet.

Maybe it will never end.

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Chicago Tribune Max Scherzer's uncertain status gives Cubs even more lineup options for NLDS By Mark Gonzales

Joe Maddon's use of numerous lineups flustered some Cubs fans. It also kept potential opponents' advance scouts alert.

The uncertain status of Nationals ace Max Scherzer's right hamstring gives the Cubs even more lineup options for the National League Division Series.

From the time the Cubs clinched their third consecutive playoff berth, Maddon has been careful not to rule out any possibilities while hinting past success might not be weighed so heavily as he formulates his lineup.

"I don't want numbers to overemphasize the person, in a sense," Maddon said Sunday. "That's not to say I might not make a decision based on that. I still believe you trust your guys.

"I'm not at the end. I have not concluded anything but permitted myself to think about the things you're talking about. I'll listen."

Maddon was scheduled to take a long bicycle ride Monday along Lake Michigan to formulate some thoughts, but Tuesday's meeting with executives and coaches will give him more to ponder.

If history is any indicator, left-handed hitter Jon Jay could bat leadoff for at least two of the first three games, even against left-hander Gio Gonzalez. In fact, among Cubs likely to make the postseason roster who have faced Gonzalez three or more times, Jay has the best batting average at .267 (4-for-15).

For all the hype surrounding Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg — who could pitch Game 1 if Scherzer needs more time to heal — Gonzalez has limited current Cubs players to a lifetime .191 mark.

For the season, the Cubs batted .273 against left-handed starters and .250 against right-handed starters. Gonzalez held the Cubs to one run and two hits with eight and five walks in six innings on June 26 in a game the Cubs came back to win 5-4.

As early as August 27, Maddon started looking ahead and started Gold Glove right fielder Jason Heyward in center field, which could be an option as he tries to fortify his offense against Scherzer and Strasburg.

Throughout the season, Maddon has tempered suggestions that Albert Almora Jr. get more playing time against right-handed pitchers, even after Almora hit a 96 mph pitch from Raisel Iglesias of the Reds for a home run in the ninth inning Sunday.

But Almora is 2-for-6 with two doubles against Strasburg, and an outfield of left fielder Ben Zobrist, Almora and Heyward (15-for-37, .405) against Strasburg is possible, with Jay (1-for-9) coming off the bench.

If there's any benefit for the Nationals to push back Scherzer to Game 3, it's that he's 10-2 with a 1.82 ERA on the road this season.

Scherzer allowed two hits in six innings in a win over the Cubs at Nationals Park on June 27, and he was pulled after only 93 pitches because he threw a season-high 121 pitches six days earlier in Miami.

"When this guy is on, I don't care who you're throwing up to the plate," Maddon said. "I got to know him during the All-Star break and was even more impressed."

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Chicago Tribune Dream On: Looking at potential World Series matchups for the Cubs By Paul Sullivan

Noted philosopher Mike Ditka once said "Living in the past is for cowards," a view I've always subscribed to.

It's much better to live in the future, where anything is possible and there's no limit to one's optimism.

Being an optimistic guy, I helped the Cubs plan their championship parade route on the opening day of spring training in 2016, about 8 1/2 months before it actually happened. They ignored my advice, naturally, but, as we like to say in the press box, "That's Cub."

As the Cubs approach the start of the National League Division Series against the Nationals, I'm once again trekking to the future in an Airbnb in fantasy world.

Sure, the Cubs could get swept in three games by the nasty Nats and their 1-2 punch of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. But they just as easily could knock them off and ride that momentum to oust the Dodgers again in an NLCS rematch.

With that rose-colored assessment in mind, it's time to choose the best World Series matchup for the Cubs. Here they are, in descending order of coolness:

5. Twins: This should be the easiest team for the Cubs to beat, and a sweep would not be out of the question.

They went 15-14 from Sept. 1 on but won the second wild card because the rest of the contenders were merely pretenders, including the Angels, Rangers, Mariners, Rays and Orioles.

The Twins are not even a very good home team, with a 41-40 record at Target Field. Their only dominant starter is Ervin Santana (16-8, 3.28 ERA), and management went into white-flag mode at the trade deadline, showing little faith in their team. The Cubs would also have home-field advantage based on their won-lost records.

It'd be a true Cinderella story if the Twins went to a World Series after a 103-loss season, but it would lack the drama of the other potential matchups.

4. Astros: Sports Illustrated went out on a limb in the summer of 2014, declaring the Astros "Your 2017 World Series champs" on its cover in the middle of a 92-loss season.

Doubling down, SI predicted they'd beat the Cubs, who were also rebuilding at the time and on their way to 89 losses during 's cameo as manager.

Cubs President Theo Epstein was giddy at the time about the idea of his team making it to the 2017 Series, until I reminded him SI predicted the Cubs would lose.

"OK, they didn't get everything right," he said.

The Cubs' plan zoomed ahead of the Astros, as last year's title proved, but now the Astros have a 101-win team and a killer lineup that could handle the Cubs staff.

They also went 21-8 since the start of September and added an ace in Justin Verlander. This would be a great World Series to watch, and since the Astros have only been there once, getting swept by the White Sox in 2005, they'd be facing the ghosts of playoffs past, like the 2016 Cubs.

3. Indians: A rematch of one of the most thrilling seven-game World Series in history would be a lot of fun, even without and Rajai Davis to mess with everyone's heads in Game 7.

This one could be just as crazy, and the Cubs would be obvious underdogs after the Indians' sizzling finish, including their AL record 22-game win streak.

Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco are both more dominant than any of the Cubs' starters have been, and the lineup is even more explosive with Edwin Encarnacion in the middle. Like last year, the Indians would have home-field advantage, and Game 7 would be at Progressive Field. Jason Heyward may want to tidy up the visitors' weight room, just in case of rain.

2. Red Sox: Whether the black-market T-shirts would call it the "Theopocalypse" or "Theomageddon," this would be the series Epstein has dreamed of since his unceremonious exit from Boston in 2011 after two championships and changing the culture.

Epstein ended the two most famous droughts in sports history, but the Red Sox seemed to relegate him to a footnote in Boston history. When I asked then-president Larry Lucchino in spring training of 2015 if he was happy for Epstein's early success in rebuilding the Cubs, he replied: "What has he done in Chicago?"

Ouch.

When the teams played in Fenway Park last spring, former Red Sox ace Jon Lester raised his eyebrows when asked if there was much difference playing in the two cities.

"Really?" he replied. "It is (different). ... You're taking a team in the Northeast with all the coverage and demands of a Northeastern team, and then you have the Midwest, a little more laid-back and kind of just chill."

Like Epstein, Lester also should've remained a Red Sox for life.

This would be one of baseball's dream matchups, with two storied franchises, plenty of stars and characters, and the game's two hallowed meccas, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

1. Yankees: Babe Ruth's called shot at Wrigley in Game 3 of the is more than enough to make this the preferred matchup of Fox Sports and baseball fans around the world.

The most successful franchise in sports history vs. a franchise once synonymous with ineptitude.

The Bronx Bombers vs. the Loveable Losers.

The Big Apple vs. The Second City.

Yankees manager and Northwestern grad could've had the Cubs job after was fired in 2013, but he opted to remain in New York. Here he'd return to Wrigley with the game's biggest star, Aaron Judge, and Chapman, who helped the Cubs to the 2016 title before leaving and complaining manager Joe Maddon "abused" him with his World Series workload.

Also in the spotlight would be former Cubs infielder Starlin Castro, once marketed in Chicago as the next Derek Jeter. Former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is also employed as a Yankees scout, and pitching coach Larry Rothschild is Girardi's right-hand man.

Epstein grew up in Boston hating the Yankees, and of course the Red Sox escaped a 3-0 deficit against New York in the 2004 ALCS en route to their drought-ending championship.

A Cubs-Yankees World Series at long last?

Sounds like a plan.

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Chicago Tribune Cubs get top TBS crew for 1st round games By Phil Rosenthal

TBS is assigning its top announcing crew to cover the Cubs as the defending World Series champions begin their postseason bid for their first back-to-back titles in more than a century.

Ernie Johnson will be calling play-by-play with former pitcher offering analysis and working as roving reporter when the Cubs' best-of-five National League Division Series with the Nationals opens Friday evening in Washington, D.C.

Only the first two of the Cubs' NLDS games have been slotted by . Game 1 is set for 6:31 p.m. Friday and Game 2 is slated for 4:38 p.m. Saturday.

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at Wrigley Field but does not yet have a start time in part because MLB does not know if it has four, three or two playoff games that day. That hinges on whether either or both of the American League Division Series extend to a fourth game.

If needed, a Cubs-Nationals Game 4 would be Tuesday at Wrigley and Game 5 Thursday at Nationals Park.

Johnson, Darling and Ryan will be coming to Game 1 of the Cubs-Nationals series from Arizona. They are working the Rockies-Diamondbacks NL wild card game on Wednesday night to determine which team goes on to meet the Dodgers in Los Angeles in the other NLDS playoff.

Darling and Ryan also will handle TBS' coverage of the National League Championship Series, beginning Oct. 14, although the earlier-than-usual, overlapping start of the pro basketball season means Johnson will miss the NLCS so he can assume his role as host of TNT's "Inside the NBA."

Taking over for Johnson during the NLCS will be Brian Anderson, who's doing TBS' play-by-play on the Dodgers' NLDS games with analysts and plus reporter Lauren Shehadi.

Those who get TBS at home can also access its postseason baseball telecasts by live streams via tbs.com and the Watch TBS app by logging in with their service provider user name and password.

In addition to being available Spanish through SAP (secondary audio programming), all of the NL postseason telecasts will be available on the CNN en Español channel.

Casey Stern will host TBS' pregame and postgame shows through the National League playoffs, joined by Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, nine-time All-Star and 2007 NL most valuable player .

The AL wild card game is set for Tuesday on ESPN. The ALDS will be split by cable's Fox Sports 1 and MLB Network. FS1 can share the ALCS with Fox Broadcasting if it wants. But the World Series is set for Fox Broadcasting, carried locally by WFLD-Ch. 32.

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