2008 Chicago Cubs season
The 2008 Chicago Cubs season was the 137th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 133rd in the National League and the 93rd at Wrigley Field. The season began at home on March 31 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs were champions of the National League Central for the second year in a row, accumulating 97 regular season wins—the most since 1945. It was the first time since 1908 that the Cubs made postseason appearances in consecutive seasons.
At the All-Star break in July, the Cubs led the NL Central and were tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the best record in the major leagues. They tied a National League record with eight players selected to the All-Star team.
On September 20, the Cubs clinched the NL Central championship with a 5–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite their regular season success, the team did not advance past the first round of the playoffs; they were swept 3–0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
Lou Piniella, in his second year as the Cubs' manager, won the National League's Manager of the Year Award in 2008. In addition, catcher Geovany Soto won the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Regular season
Rally songs
In 2007, Ernie Banks had requested that Evanston, Illinois native Eddie Vedder write the Cubs a song, and in August 2008 Vedder recorded "All the Way", which was released on September 18, 2008. During the season, a new version of "Go, Cubs, Go" was recorded and released by the Manic Sewing Circle, although the original 1984 Steve Goodman version became the official Cubs victory song.Playoffs
NLDS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Chicago Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs after Los Angeles won the series, 3-0.Game 1, October 1
Wrigley Field in ChicagoGame 2, October 2
Wrigley Field in ChicagoGame 3, October 4
Dodger Stadium in Los AngelesThe Cubs' Game 3 loss to the Dodgers marked the franchise's ninth consecutive post-season defeat, dating back to the 2003 NLCS.
Player stats
Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Derrek Lee | 155 | 623 | 181 | .291 | 20 | 90 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 109 | 453 | 127 | .280 | 29 | 75 |
| Ryan Theriot | 149 | 580 | 178 | .307 | 1 | 38 |
| Aramis Ramírez | 149 | 554 | 160 | .289 | 27 | 111 |
| Mark DeRosa | 149 | 505 | 144 | .285 | 21 | 87 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 150 | 501 | 129 | .257 | 10 | 58 |
| Geovany Soto | 141 | 494 | 141 | .285 | 23 | 86 |
| Reed Johnson | 109 | 333 | 101 | .303 | 6 | 50 |
| Jim Edmonds | 85 | 250 | 64 | .256 | 19 | 49 |
| Mike Fontenot | 119 | 243 | 74 | .305 | 9 | 40 |
| Ronny Cedeño | 99 | 216 | 58 | .269 | 2 | 28 |
| Henry Blanco | 58 | 120 | 35 | .292 | 3 | 12 |
| Daryle Ward | 89 | 102 | 22 | .216 | 4 | 17 |
| Félix Pie | 43 | 83 | 20 | .241 | 1 | 10 |
| Micah Hoffpauir | 33 | 73 | 25 | .342 | 2 | 8 |
| Matt Murton | 19 | 40 | 10 | .250 | 0 | 6 |
| Eric Patterson | 13 | 38 | 9 | .237 | 1 | 7 |
| Casey McGehee | 9 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 5 |
| Koyie Hill | 10 | 21 | 2 | .095 | 0 | 1 |
| Pitcher Totals | 161 | 335 | 68 | .203 | 6 | 33 |
| Team Totals | 161 | 5588 | 1552 | .278 | 184 | 811 |
Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | R | ER | BB | K |
| José Ascanio | 0 | 0 | 7.94 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Neal Cotts | 0 | 2 | 4.29 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 35.2 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 43 |
| Ryan Dempster | 17 | 6 | 2.96 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 206.2 | 75 | 68 | 76 | 187 |
| Scott Eyre | 2 | 0 | 7.15 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 14 |
| Chad Fox | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Sean Gallagher | 3 | 4 | 4.45 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 58.2 | 31 | 29 | 22 | 49 |
| Chad Gaudin | 4 | 2 | 6.26 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 27.1 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 27 |
| Ángel Guzmán | 0 | 0 | 5.59 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9.2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Rich Harden | 5 | 1 | 1.77 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 71.0 | 15 | 14 | 30 | 89 |
| Kevin Hart | 2 | 2 | 6.51 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 27.2 | 24 | 20 | 18 | 23 |
| Rich Hill | 1 | 0 | 4.12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 19.2 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 15 |
| Bob Howry | 7 | 5 | 5.35 | 72 | 0 | 1 | 70.2 | 44 | 42 | 13 | 59 |
| Jon Lieber | 2 | 3 | 4.05 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 46.2 | 24 | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| Ted Lilly | 17 | 9 | 4.09 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 204.2 | 97 | 93 | 64 | 184 |
| Carlos Mármol | 2 | 4 | 2.68 | 82 | 0 | 7 | 87.1 | 30 | 26 | 41 | 114 |
| Jason Marquis | 11 | 9 | 4.53 | 29 | 28 | 0 | 167.0 | 88 | 84 | 70 | 91 |
| Sean Marshall | 3 | 5 | 3.86 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 65.1 | 29 | 28 | 23 | 58 |
| Carmen Pignatiello | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 1 | 0 | 2.28 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 27.2 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 25 |
| Randy Wells | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Kerry Wood | 5 | 4 | 3.26 | 65 | 0 | 34 | 66.1 | 25 | 24 | 18 | 84 |
| Michael Wuertz | 1 | 1 | 3.63 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 44.2 | 23 | 18 | 20 | 30 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 14 | 6 | 3.91 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 188.2 | 88 | 82 | 72 | 130 |
| Team Totals | 97 | 64 | 3.87 | 161 | 161 | 44 | 1450.2 | 669 | 624 | 548 | 1264 |
2007 post-season changes
Other news
- On November 20, 2007, John McDonough stepped down as team president to join the Chicago Blackhawks.
- On April 23, 2008, the Chicago Cubs recorded their 10,000th victory in franchise history with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over the Colorado Rockies. They were just the second team to complete this feat behind the San Francisco Giants.
- On September 14, 2008 Carlos Zambrano threw the first no-hitter for the Cubs since Milt Pappas threw his on September 2, 1972. Zambrano threw the no-hitter against the Houston Astros in a game played at Miller Park in Milwaukee. It was the first no-hitter recorded at a neutral site in baseball history. The game was moved due to the damage Hurricane Ike caused.