There are several heartbreaking and frustrating games that happened in the Playoffs for the Cubs. But if just thinking about bad regular season losses, one that sticks out in my mind took place on September 16th, 2023 in Arizona.
I was in Greece with my wife at the time at the time. She had contracted covid, so we were stuck in our hotel room most of the time (fortunately it had a great view of the Aegean). It also left us with extra time on our hands, and not too much to do.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) this did not involve watching the Cubs try to make the playoffs. The MLB App would only let me follow on Gameday. And with the time difference, I was typically falling asleep, and finding out what the Cubs had done when I woke up in the morning. I think it was about 3 am in Santorini, when I woke up and made the mistake of checking the score on Gameday. They were tied at 3, with Arizona having tied it up in the 6th inning.
The Cubs were in the midst of a late season collapse. After a sweep against the Giants on September 6th, the Cubs were 76-64, the Cubs had a 92.4% chance of making the playoffs according to Fangraphs. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks were at 31%.
The Cubs proceeded to lose 3 of 4 to the Diamondbacks at home, but after a win in Colorado they were still at about 88% to make the playoffs. But two losses at Colorado and a loss at Arizona brought things down to 59.5%.
So that’s where the Cubs were as I looked at my phone at 3 am. Neither team had done much at the plate over the final 3 innings, so it was going to go to extras.
In the 10th, Nico was the designated runner. He stayed at 2nd when Christopher Morel got an infield single. Then they tried a double-steal, and Gabriel Moreno’s throw got past the 3rd baseman allowing Hoerner to score and Morel to go to third.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/716558/video/nico-hoerner-scores-on-error
So the Cubs already had a lead, and a man on 3rd with no one out. Then it went wrong:
- Cody Bellinger lined out to the pitcher
- Dansby Swanson hit into a fielder’s choice to the pitcher, who got Morel in a run-down. Swanson ended up on 2nd.
- They alked SUzuki
- PCA walked to load the bases
- Yan Gome grounded into a force-out to end the inning.
So instead of getting 2 or more runs, the Cubs were limited to 1. Of course it did not hold.
Marcus Stroman came in and immediately gave up a tying single to Corbin Carroll. But he got two ground outs and a strike out to end the inning.
Both teams scored a run in the 11th, but neither scored in the 12th. Drew Smyly had a great escape, getting out of a bases loaded, 1-out situation.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/716558/video/drew-smyly-in-play-out-s-to-tommy-pham-8jahoz
Somehow, Yan Gomes was the designated runner again in the 13th, and he could not score on a Patrick Wisdom single. But with no outs, an Ian Happ ground ball double-play scored the run. It’s debatable whether the ball was fair or foul
But, alas, the Cubs could not hold the lead. With 2 outs, Emmanuel Rivera hit a liner deflected by Hayden Wesneski, scoring the tying run.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/716558/video/hayden-wesneski-in-play-no-out-to-emmanuel-rivera
On looking at the replay, it seems like maybe Danby should have been able to catch the deflection off Wesneski. But I don’t think he would have had a play at first, even he had fielded it cleanly.
Finally, Gabriel Morerno singles on an 0-2 pitch, and the throw was to the right of home, and Yan Gomes didn’t tag directly at Evan Longoria’s hand, allowing him to just be safe.
Sitting in my hotel room, counting on Gameday, I saw that the Cubs had challenged the call, giving me just a little bit of hope. But then I saw “Call Confirmed” and the game was over. It was just so deflating.
A sweep of Colorado at home on September 24th brought some hope back, bringing the playoff odds back up to 59.7%. But a 3-game sweep in Atlanta (by a grand total of 4 runs) and a walk-off loss to Milwaukee put things on the brink. And despite a win over Milwaukee in the 2nd game of the series, the Cubs were eliminated, due to tiebreaker losses to Arizona and Miami.
The Cubs, who had a +96 run differential, which was 4th in the NL, did not make the playoffs.
There were tons of heartbreaking losses that season, but that night/early morning, for me, was the worst.
Cubs in 7 
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