Editing Chicago Cubs (section)

====1984: Heartbreak====
{{Main|1984 Chicago Cubs season}}
[[File:Pic of ryne sandberg from the early 90's.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Ryne Sandberg set numerous league and club records in his career and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005.]]After over a dozen more subpar seasons, in 1981 the Cubs hired GM [[Dallas Green (baseball)|Dallas Green]] from Philadelphia to turn around the franchise. Green had managed the 1980 Phillies to the World Series title. One of his early GM moves brought in a young Phillies minor-league 3rd baseman named Ryne Sandberg, along with Larry Bowa for Iván DeJesús. The 1983 Cubs had finished 71–91 under Lee Elia, who was fired before the season ended by Green. Green continued the culture of change and overhauled the Cubs roster, front-office and coaching staff prior to 1984. [[Jim Frey]] was hired to manage the 1984 Cubs, with [[Don Zimmer]] coaching 3rd base and [[Billy Connors]] serving as pitching coach.

Green shored<ref name=1984Cubs/> up the 1984 roster with a series of transactions. In December 1983 [[Scott Sanderson (baseball)|Scott Sanderson]] was acquired from Montreal in a three-team deal with San Diego for [[Carmelo Martínez]]. Pinch hitter [[Richie Hebner]] (.333 BA in 1984) was signed as a free-agent. In spring training, moves continued: LF [[Gary Matthews]] and CF [[Bobby Dernier]] came from Philadelphia on March 26, for [[Bill Campbell (baseball)|Bill Campbell]] and a minor leaguer. Reliever Tim Stoddard (10–6 3.82, 7 saves) was acquired the same day for a minor leaguer; veteran pitcher [[Ferguson Jenkins]] was released.

The team's commitment to contend was complete when Green made a midseason deal on June 15 to shore up the starting rotation due to injuries to [[Rick Reuschel]] (5–5) and Sanderson. The deal brought 1979 NL Rookie of the Year pitcher [[Rick Sutcliffe]] from the Cleveland Indians. [[Joe Carter]] (who was with the Triple-A [[Iowa Cubs]] at the time) and right fielder [[Mel Hall]] were sent to Cleveland for Sutcliffe and back-up catcher Ron Hassey (.333 with Cubs in 1984). Sutcliffe (5–5 with the Indians) immediately joined Sanderson (8–5 3.14), Eckersley (10–8 3.03), [[Steve Trout]] (13–7 3.41) and [[Dick Ruthven]] (6–10 5.04) in the starting rotation. Sutcliffe proceeded to go 16–1 for Cubs and capture the [[Cy Young Award]].<ref name=1984Cubs/>

The Cubs 1984 starting lineup was very strong.<ref name=1984Cubs/> It consisted of LF Matthews (.291 14–82 101 runs 17 SB), C [[Jody Davis (baseball)|Jody Davis]] (.256 19–94), RF [[Keith Moreland]] (.279 16–80), SS [[Larry Bowa]] (.223 10 SB), 1B [[Leon "Bull" Durham]] (.279 23–96 16SB), CF Dernier (.278 45 SB), 3B [[Ron Cey]] (.240 25–97), Closer [[Lee Smith (baseball)|Lee Smith]] (9–7 3.65 33 saves) and 1984 NL MVP [[Ryne Sandberg]] (.314 19–84 114 runs, 19 triples, 32 SB).<ref name=1984Cubs>{{cite web |url = https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1984.shtml |title = 1984 Chicago Cubs Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics |work = Baseball-Reference.com |access-date = August 12, 2010 }}</ref>

Reserve players Hebner, [[Thad Bosley]], [[Henry Cotto]], Hassey and [[Dave Owen (baseball)|Dave Owen]] produced exciting moments. The bullpen depth of [[Rich Bordi]], [[George Frazier (pitcher)|George Frazier]], [[Warren Brusstar]] and [[Dickie Noles]] did their job in getting the game to Smith or Stoddard.

At the top of the order, Dernier and Sandberg were exciting, aptly coined "the Daily Double" by [[Harry Caray]]. With strong defense – Dernier CF and Sandberg 2B, won the NL [[Rawlings Gold Glove Award|Gold Glove]]- solid pitching and clutch hitting, the Cubs were a well-balanced team. Following the "Daily Double", Matthews, Durham, Cey, Moreland and Davis gave the Cubs an order with no gaps to pitch around. Sutcliffe anchored a strong top-to-bottom rotation, and Smith was one of the top closers in the game.

The shift in the Cubs' fortunes was characterized June 23 on the [[Major League Baseball on NBC|"NBC Saturday Game of the Week"]] contest against the St. Louis Cardinals; it has since been dubbed simply "[[The Sandberg Game]]". With the nation watching and Wrigley Field packed, Sandberg emerged as a superstar with not one, but two game-tying home runs against Cardinals closer [[Bruce Sutter]]. With his shots in the 9th and 10th innings, Wrigley Field erupted and Sandberg set the stage for a comeback win that cemented the Cubs as the team to beat in the East. No one would catch them.

In early August the Cubs swept the Mets in a 4-game home series that further distanced them from the pack. An infamous Keith Moreland-[[Ed Lynch (baseball)|Ed Lynch]] fight erupted after Lynch hit Moreland with a pitch, perhaps forgetting Moreland was once a linebacker at the University of Texas. It was the second game of a doubleheader and the Cubs had won the first game in part due to a three-run home run by Moreland. After the bench-clearing fight, the Cubs won the second game, and the sweep put the Cubs at 68–45.

In 1984, each league had two divisions, East and West. The divisional winners met in a best-of-5 series to advance to the World Series, in a "2–3" format, first two games were played at the home of the team who did not have home-field advantage. Then the last three games were played at the home of the team, with home-field advantage. Thus the first two games were played at Wrigley Field and the next three at the home of their opponents, San Diego. A common and unfounded myth is that since Wrigley Field did not have lights at that time the National League decided to give the home field advantage to the winner of the NL West. In fact, home-field advantage had rotated between the winners of the East and West since 1969 when the league expanded. In even-numbered years, the NL West had home-field advantage. In odd-numbered years, the NL East had home-field advantage. Since the NL East winners had had home-field advantage in 1983, the NL West winners were entitled to it.

The confusion may stem from the fact that Major League Baseball did decide that, should the Cubs make it to the World Series, the American League winner would have home-field advantage. At the time home field advantage was rotated between each league. Odd-numbered years the AL had home-field advantage. Even-numbered years the NL had home-field advantage. In the 1982 World Series the St. Louis Cardinals of the NL had home-field advantage. In the 1983 World Series the Baltimore Orioles of the AL had home-field advantage.

In the [[1984 National League Championship Series|NLCS]], the Cubs easily won the first two games at Wrigley Field against the [[1984 San Diego Padres season|San Diego Padres]]. The Padres were the winners of the Western Division with [[Steve Garvey]], [[Tony Gwynn]], [[Eric Show]], [[Goose Gossage]] and [[Alan Wiggins]]. With wins of 13–0 and 4–2, the Cubs needed to win only one game of the next three in San Diego to make it to the World Series. After being beaten in Game 3 7–1, the Cubs lost Game 4 when Smith, with the game tied 5–5, allowed a game-winning home run to Garvey in the bottom of the ninth inning. In Game 5 the Cubs took a 3–0 lead into the 6th inning, and a 3–2 lead into the seventh with Sutcliffe (who won the [[Cy Young Award]] that year) still on the mound. Then, Leon Durham had a sharp grounder go under his glove. This critical error helped the Padres win the game 6–3, with a 4-run 7th inning and keep Chicago out of the [[1984 World Series]] against the [[Detroit Tigers]]. The loss ended a spectacular season for the Cubs, one that brought alive a slumbering franchise and made the Cubs relevant for a whole new generation of Cubs fans.

The Padres would be defeated in 5 games by Sparky Anderson's Tigers in the World Series.

[[File:Andre Dawson (August 1988).jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|[[Andre Dawson]], 5× All-Star and 1987 NL MVP during tenure in Chicago]]The 1985 season brought high hopes. The club started out well, going 35–19 through mid-June, but injuries to Sutcliffe and others in the pitching staff contributed to a 13-game losing streak that pushed the Cubs out of contention.