Editing Chicago Cubs (section)

====2001: Playoff push====
{{Main|2001 Chicago Cubs season}}
Despite losing fan favorite Grace to free agency and the lack of production from newcomer [[Todd Hundley]], skipper [[Don Baylor]]'s Cubs put together a good season in 2001. The [[2001 Major League Baseball season|season]] started with Mack Newton being brought in to preach "positive thinking". One of the biggest stories of the season transpired as the club made a midseason deal for [[Fred McGriff]], which was drawn out for nearly a month as McGriff debated waiving his [[no-trade clause]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Cubs still waiting for McGriff's OK |date = July 14, 2001 |publisher = [[ESPN]] |url = https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=1226222&type=news |agency = Associated Press |access-date = June 11, 2008 }}</ref> The Cubs led the wild card race by 2.5 games in early September, but crumbled when [[Preston Wilson]] hit a three-run walk-off homer off of closer [[Tom Gordon|Tom "Flash" Gordon]], which halted the team's momentum. The team was unable to make another serious charge, and finished at 88–74, five games behind both [[2001 Houston Astros season|Houston]] and [[2001 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis]], who tied for first. Sosa had perhaps his finest season and [[Jon Lieber]] led the staff with a 20-win season.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2001.shtml |title = 2001 Chicago Cubs Statistics and Roster |website = Baseball-Reference.com |access-date = June 11, 2008 }}</ref>