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Cubs Sun Apr 05 2009
With the Dawn of a New Season
With the dawn of a new season comes new hopes, new dreams, and new goals. For the Chicago Cubs one of the goals include winning their first World Series in 100 years. In what will likely pan out to be one of the rockiest Cubs seasons in recent memory, the Chicago Cubs will be World Series Champions in 2009.
April 6: In the Cubs opener against the Astros, Carlos Zambrano throws six shutout innings before giving up a three run homer, costing the Cubs the game as they lose their 3rd straight opening day 4-3.
April 13: After going 3-3 to start the season, Ted Lilly pitches a solid 1-run game sending the Cubs to 4-3 after defeating the Rockies to open the season in Wrigley Field.
April 23: Milton Bradley sees first stint on the disabled list as he strains his quadricep diving for an outfield ball with two outs, landing himself on the 15-day disabled list. The Cubs would win the game against Cincinnati upgrading to a 10-5 record.
April 30: After batting .203 over the first month, Kosuke Fukudome losing the center field job to Micah Hoffpauir, who goes 3 for 4 with a HR against the Marlins in his MLB debut.
May 8: Bradley returns to the Cubs lineup, goes 2 for 4 with a game-winning hit to defeat the Brewers 9-8, putting the Cubs up 3 games in the division.
May 31: The Cubs complete an 8-game win streak by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0. Derek Lee slugged his 15th season home run in the game, and fans overreact by already calculating if he'll beat Barry Bonds' single-season home run record.
June 11: The June swoon hits as the Cubs drop their 4th of the last 8 games by losing to Houston 6-0. Carlos Zambrano gave up a grand slam to Miguel Tejada.
June 30: Rich Harden pitches 6 perfect innings en route to a Cubs 13-0 trounce of Pittsburgh as they advance to an 7 game lead in the Central.
July 12: Cubs complete the first half of the season 55-26, leading the NL Central by 9 games. 7 Cubs players earn All-Star spots, including Carlos Zambrano, who has a 4.55 ERA.
July 29: In a freak series, the Cubs get swept by Houston, bringing the Cubs division lead down to 4 games as the Brewers close the gap.
August 10: 10-game road trip comes to an end as the Cubs go 5-5, however the Cardinals have won 10 of the past 12, cutting the Cubs lead to 2 games in the Central.
August 29: The start of a crucial series with the Mets begins badly as the Cubs give up 5 runs in the first inning, and what's worse, Rich Harden comes off the mound gripping his throwing shoulder, he doesn't see action for at least 15 more games.
September 20: Cubs keep a 1-game lead in the division after defeating St. Louis 3-1 to avoid a series sweep, following the game Aramis Ramirez stuns Cubs fans when he proclaims "The Cubs will win the World Series."
September 29: Cubs defeat Pirates 13-9, breaking a 4-game losing streak. In that losing streak, the Cardinals gain the Division lead, however they would also lose on this day, which puts them in a tie for the division.
October 2: Cubs defeat Diamondbacks to regain division lead
October 4: Cubs defeat Diamondbacks again, finish season 90-72, clinching their 3rd straight NL Central Title.
NLDS: After dropping first two games, Cubs roar back over the Dodgers, winning the NLDS 3 games to 2.
NLCS: In baseball's closest NLCS battle in recent history, the Cubs edge the Mets 4 games to 3, following Derek Lee's 3-run homer in Game 7 at Wrigley in the 8th inning, putting the Cubs up for good.
World Series: Cubs sweep Yankees 4-0 to win their first World Series in 100 years. Chicago fans rejoice and can finally sleep easy as their Cubbies had finally won the World Series. They fall safely asleep, only to wake up and realize it was all a dream...
Tomorrow's only opening day.
