Let’s make this clear…I don’t believe that anything I do or do not do will impact the outcome of a Chicago Cubs game. The shirts or hat I wear, where in the house I’m watching, following the game on the Gameday app instead of television, listening to the radio broadcast — none of these behaviors have anything to do with any real outcomes of pitches or at bats.
Nevertheless, I still do them. There is a powerlessness that goes along with being a sports fan, and while in a way this can be liberating, as there is really no pressure on a fan to do anything – many try to combat this through superstition. I do wonder if others are like me, and are doing it out of habit or nervousness, without truly believing it changes anything. Or how many people actually believe they are making a difference with their silliness. Based on the number of people who truly despair when their team loses or have a sense of accomplishment when their team wins – when they had absolutely nothing to do with either outcome – I have a feeling lots of people take their superstitious shenanigans completely seriously.
With that being said, I’m going to try to do a bit of a reverse jinx for today, and take a quick look at the times the Cubs have previously been swept in the playoffs. Of course this will have nothing to do with today’s outcome, but it will allow me to channel some of my nervous energy.
I am not going to include the one-game playoff of 2018, as I do not consider a single game to be a sweep. It has to be at least 2 games.
1998 – Cubs vs Braves – NLDS – 3-game sweep
I wrote about the 1998 team here, including a few paragraphs abut the Atlanta series: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/04/08/my-favorite-cubs-teams-part-2a-1998/
1998 was an overachieving team that barely snuck into the playoffs behind a monster year from Sammy Sosa. And they were playing against the heavy favorite Atlanta Braves, who started Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux in those three games. After a blowout in Game 1, Game 2 was very tight, with the Braves squeaking out a 2-1 win in 10 innings: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL199810010.shtml
And in Game 3, the Cubs were only down 2-0 in the top of the 8th, when this happened:
The Braves went on to lose the World Series to the Yankees, which seemed to happen every year back then.
2007 – Cubs vs Diamondbacks – NLDS – 3-game sweep
IN 2007, the Cubs won the Central with only 85 wins, but were facing a Diamondbacks team that had the best record in the NL and a negative run differential of -20. I admit to being overconfident, thinking the Diamondback luck would run out in the NLDS. Of course, that did not happen.
Game 1 was very close, with Carlos Zambrano pitching a great game, going 6 innings allowing 5 hits and a walk and striking out 8. But he did give up a solo shot to Steven Drew. But Carlos Marmol, who had been untouchable that season (1.43 ERA, 5.3 H/9, 2.74 SO/BB) gave up a solo shot to Mark Reynolds, breaking a 1-1 tie. Weak-hitting Augie Ojeda got a double setting up a 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, and the D’Backs cashed in with a sac fly to finish the scoring.
The Cubs got off to a good start in Game 2, with Geovanni Soto mashing a 2-run home run in the top of the 2nd.
The joy was very short lived (sound familier) as the Diamondbacks got 4 in the bottom of the 2nd off Ted Lilly, 3 on a home run by Chris Young. This led to the iconic moment of Ted Lilly throwing his glove to the ground.
After 4 more runs by the D’Backs in the 4th and 5th, things looked grim. The Cubs got 2 back in the 6th on a double by Daryle Ward off of ex-Cub Juan Cruz. But the Cubs could not mount any more offense over the final 3 innings.
Game 3 was never really competitive, as Chris Young had another home run in the first, this time off of Rich Hill. Livian Hernandez and 3 releives limited the Cubs to 1 run on 7 hits, and the Cubs were done, losing 5-1.
https://www.mlb.com/news/2007-d-backs-cubs-nlds-recap
2008 – Cubs vs Dodgers – NLDS – 3-game Sweep
It did not take long for the Cubs to get back to the playoffs, but the outcome was exactly the same. And until their Wild Card win in 2015, the Cubs managed to lose 8 playoff games in a row, starting with Game 6 in 2003.
Game 1 had another promising start, with Mark Derosa hitting a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning:
But the Dodgers responded with a high home run of their own, after Ryan Depster had walked the bases loaded:
The Cubs could not score again after that first home run, and the Dodgers added single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th, making it a blowout, 7-2.
Game 2 wasn’t close, with 2 errors by the Cubs defense contributing to a 5-run 2nd inning, where the Dodgers only got the ball out of the infield twice. The Dodgers continued to add on runs, scoring in each of the final 3 innings. The Cubs scored 2 meaningless runs in the bottom of the 9th to make the final 10-3.
Despite a fairly well-pitched game by Rich Harden and 2 relievers in Game 3, the Cubs could only manage 1 run against Hiroki Kuroda, Cory Wade and Jon Broxton, and the series was over after a 3-1 loss.
https://www.mlb.com/news/2008-dodgers-cubs-nlds-recap
2015 – Cubs vs Mets – NLCS – 4-game sweep
I wrote about this series in my 2015 recap found here: https://cubsin7.blog/2025/07/21/my-favorite-cubs-teams-2015/
This one stung a bit less than the other, primarily because 2015 felt like the start of a good run, and the team had already overachieved that season. I’ll not rehash what I had already written, but Daniel Murphy was an absolute beast and the Mets pitching was just too much for the young Cubs team that season.
2020 – Cubs vs Marlins – Covid Wild Card – 2-game sweep
I’m not sure if this one should even count. The Cubs won the Central in an abbreviated season. 8 teams made the playoffs in each league, including a 31-29 Miami Marlins, who had a terrible run differential (-41). But they had two well-pitched starts by Sandy Alcantara and Sixto Sanchez, and their bullpen gave up 0 runs in 6.1 innings. Both games were cold, helping contribute to the lack of runs.
Game 1 had the Cubs holding a slight edge on a home run by Ian Happ, who homered into an empty bleachers.
But the Marlins stormed back in the 7th, with a pair of 2-run homers by Corey Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar. The 5-run inning was all they needed for the 5-1 victory.
Yu Darvish did fairly well in Game 2, but he was no match for the Marlins pitching (and anemic Cubs hitting). The Cubs managed only 5 hits and 2 walks, despite names like Rizzo, Bryant, Baez and Happ. After a Jason Heyward doble to lead off the 9th allowed the Cubs to bring the tying run to the plate, Brandon Kintzler struck out Baez, Bote and Kipnis to end the game.
Will 2025 be added to this list?
We will find out today whether 2025 will be added to this list. The trend of the Cubs getting an early lead with a homer only to see the lead disappear was one that accompanied previous sweeps.
One other thing to note: no team that swept the Cubs in a playoff series went on to win the World Series.
Cubs in 7 
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