Editing Chicago Cubs (section)

====1998: Wild card race and home run chase====
[[File:Sosa swinging2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[Sammy Sosa]] was the captain of the Chicago Cubs during his tenure with the team.]]
{{Main|1998 Chicago Cubs season|1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase}}
The 1998 season began on a somber note with the death of broadcaster [[Harry Caray]]. After the retirement of Sandberg and the trade of Dunston, the Cubs had holes to fill, and the signing of [[Henry Rodríguez (outfielder)|Henry Rodríguez]] to bat cleanup provided protection for [[Sammy Sosa]] in the lineup, as Rodriguez slugged 31 round-trippers in his first season in Chicago. [[Kevin Tapani]] led the club with a career-high 19 wins while [[Rod Beck]] anchored a strong bullpen and [[Mark Grace]] turned in one of his best seasons. The Cubs were swamped by media attention in 1998, and the team's two biggest headliners were Sosa and rookie flamethrower [[Kerry Wood]]. Wood's signature performance was one-hitting the [[1998 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]], a game in which he tied the major league record of 20 strikeouts in nine innings. His torrid strikeout numbers earned Wood the nickname ''"Kid K",'' and ultimately earned him the 1998 [[NL Rookie of the Year]] award. Sosa caught fire in June, hitting a major league record 20 home runs in the month, and his home run race with Cardinal's slugger [[Mark McGwire]] transformed the pair into international superstars in a matter of weeks. McGwire finished the season with a new major league record of 70 home runs, but Sosa's .308 average and 66 homers earned him the [[National League MVP Award]]. After a down-to-the-wire [[Wild card (sports)|Wild Card]] chase with the [[1998 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]], Chicago and San Francisco ended the regular season tied, and thus squared off in a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field. Third baseman [[Gary Gaetti]] hit the eventual game-winning homer in the playoff game. The win propelled the Cubs into the postseason for the first time since 1989 with a 90–73 regular-season record. The bats went cold in October, as manager [[Jim Riggleman]]'s club batted .183 and scored only four runs en route to being swept by [[1998 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta]] in the [[1998 National League Division Series|National League Division Series]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3375336|title=1998 marked banner year for Cubs|website=Major League Baseball|language=en-US|access-date=May 20, 2017|archive-date=October 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023133722/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3375336|url-status=dead}}</ref> The home run chase between Sosa, McGwire and [[Ken Griffey Jr.]] helped professional baseball to bring in a new crop of fans as well as bringing back some fans who had been disillusioned by the [[1994–95 Major League Baseball strike|1994 strike]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Sosa discusses future, McGwire's Hall chances |date = December 4, 2006 |publisher = [[ESPN]] |url = https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2683234 |agency = Associated Press |access-date = June 11, 2008 }}</ref> The Cubs retained many players who experienced career years in 1998, but, after a fast start in 1999, they collapsed again (starting with being swept at the hands of the cross-town [[1998 Chicago White Sox season|White Sox]] in mid-June) and finished in the bottom of the division for the next two seasons.