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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 34

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images The homers just keep coming in a 6-2 win over the Brewers. The Cubs had been winning more frequently against right-handed starters than left. Jose Quintana had only allowed one homer. He had won all of his starts this year. And none of those things are true any longer. The Cubs took him deep three times in rapid succession, scoring six runs in all against ...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 33

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images The Cubs explode in the the second and coast to a 10-0 victory. Friday night in Milwaukee, the Cubs scored two in the first to set the tone early, then lowered the boom with a seven-run second, featuring a Michael Busch grand slam. For those of you who aren’t longtime WPA guys, a quick summation. When the game gets lopsided early and stays that way th...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 32

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images The Cubs bounce back with an impressive 8-3 win and take the series. Checks notes. Yep. The Cubs are better when Kyle Tucker hits. And hey, any time he and his teammates want to get to four homers, I’m here for it. I’ve talked about it in the past, and in fact just yesterday, four runs is a sweet spot. Teams with four runs win a solid majority of the ...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 31

Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Cubs come up short in Pittsburgh and lose 4-3. Some of my longtime readers may wonder if I had a life transformation or if someone else is writing this for me this year. No questions about glasses half full or empty. No extended metaphors or analogies. Not particularly even any off topic discussions that don’t talk about the game i...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images The Cubs offense revives in a 9-0 trouncing of the Pirates. After Phillies pitching stifled the Cubs offense for the most part over the weekend, it was a refreshing sight to see the Cubs offense come out in force Tuesday night. It was what you hoped would happen and happen it did. After being mowed down the first time through the order, the Cubs offens...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 29

David Banks-Imagn Images Well, I had a bad feeling and wasn’t wrong about this series. Before the series, I expressed some concern on this one. The Cubs weren’t going to be taking the Phillies lightly at this point in the season. So “trap” isn’t really the right description for the series. But, this was the tail end of a very brutal stretch to start the season for the Cubs and the Phillies...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 34
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 33
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 24

Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images The Cubs can’t complete the sweep and lose 3-2 in extras. Sunday’s loss is going to fall into the category of a turn the page game for me. I don’t want anyone to think that I’m going to just be dismissive of every loss. I’m high on the team and ignoring the losses, at some point, feels like that I’m just dismissing the things that don’t flow with my narr...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 23

Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images The Cubs win a relatively mellow game for a change, 6-2. One of the byproducts of a stacked early season schedule is that every game has either felt like a playoff game or has been lopsided against the Cubs. A week ago, the Cubs had a laugher in Los Angeles. It was almost two weeks ago that there was a comfortable win at home against the Rangers. The A’...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 19

David Frerker-Imagn Images The Cubs’ sloppy play leads to a 10-4 loss. Monday night’s game has an awful lot to unpack. If you are an impulsive reactor, I’d say today is a day to take a deep breath. Recall that this team has played terrific baseball over the first few weeks. The frustrating aspect to the start of this season has been that the losses have been like this. The Cubs were leadi...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 18

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images The Cubs win 4-2 and take the series from the Dodgers in LA. When does being on the Sunday night national broadcast suck less? When you are in California. I mean, it is certainly possible the game would have been a Sunday “afternoon” game in Los Angeles. But for me over here in Florida, them playing a game that only ended around 10 p.m. local time wa...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 15

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images It was a bummer of a day as the Cubs lose 6-2. The start to this season has been so exceptional that this game is a weird feeling. The Cubs did show a brief sign of life in the fourth inning and the game was tied after four. This game was all Rangers, though. Shōta Imanaga had an uncharacteristically bad day. He allowed a couple of homers and...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 14

Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images The Cubs offense never quits in a 10-6 win over the Rangers. The beat rolls on. The Cubs offense has been a largely unstoppable force in the early going. It posted 10 more runs in this one. Once again, there were contributions up and down the lineup. The Cubs had 12 hits by six players. They also drew six walks and had a hit batter. Eight different Cub...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 8

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Takin’ care of business: Cubs win 7-4. You know you’ve officially settled into the season when you get to that first ordinary win. Nothing spectacular. Nothing feels new about it. You didn’t overcome and kind of adversity. You looked at the schedule and the matchups. You thought, that could be competitive, but I think we’ll win. And then you just ...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30
2025

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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 148

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images The Cubs falter late, losing 6-5 to the Rockies. This feeling this morning, it’s different than it has been in a while. The beauty of an in-season vacation is that I was out of contact during the Cleveland series. Because of that, I’m having trouble remembering the last time that things were so frustrating that I’m looking for where the ride ends so th...2024
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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 117

Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images The Cubs win 8-2 to take the series from the Twins. I mean no disrespect to the Twins, but when I was looking into them ahead of this series, I saw a team that has feasted on bad teams with an unusual fervor. On the one hand, all you can do is beat the team in the other dugout. This isn’t college football and you aren’t lining up cupcakes to boost your...2024
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2025
"Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5) Kyle Tucker +7 Shōta Imanaga/Matthew Boyd/Carson Kelly +6 Miguel Amaya/Jon Berti +5 Ben Brown -5 Nate Pearson/Porter Hodge -6 Matt Shaw -7 Dansby Swanson -9 Up Next: Early weather forecasts suggest the wind will blow in, so Saturday should be a vastly different game."

2024
"Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3) The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall."

2023
"195) Yesterday’s winners: Cody Bellinger (Game 1) and Hayden Wesneski (Game 2) - [Superhero is 91-44] Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5) The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall."

2022
"123) Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3) The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall."

• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 33
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 32
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 31
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 29
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 27

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Cubs pitching stifles the Phillies in a 4-0 win. After what feels like weeks of challenging games, the Cubs won a relatively easy one against a Phillies team that is heading in the wrong direction right now. There is a lot of baseball to be played and it is hard to imagine them not getting themselves back into contention, but on Friday afternoon they could n...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 18
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 15
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 7

Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The Cubs pummel the A’s as they open their new home. On Sunday, the Cubs missed an opportunity to have a signature win. They could have taken three of four from a legitimate playoff contender, in their ballpark and even the season record at three wins and three losses. We’ve seen so many bullpen collapses in recent years, particularly early season ones, that it...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 6

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images Fright Show: The Cubs bullpen immolates in Arizona. You always know there are going to be games like this. There are always going to be some games that you should have won and let get away and some games that you should have lost and flip the script. In and of itself, I don’t lose more than a moment’s thought about a game like this. So many things. Every ye...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 34
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 33
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 32
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 31
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 29
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 28

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The Cubs were pounded by the Phillies, 10-4. The Cubs haven’t had a lot of completely uncompetitive games. This was the first one since April 14, when they also lost to the Padres 10-4. If this were to happen regularly, I’d be concerned about it. Maybe. But, at every few weeks, it is what it is. Maybe I’m rationalizing, but the Cubs, for the second straight ...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 27
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 26

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images The bats continue to sizzle in a 7-6 Cubs win over the Dodgers. Strange, conflicted sigh. I had a good feeling about this team before the season started. I thought they had a chance to win more than 90 games and a very good chance to win the NL Central and return to the playoffs. But I saw the same gauntlet that everyone else saw to start the season. M...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 25

Matt Marton-Imagn Images The Cubs win a wacky, wild one 11-10. I looked at my wife in the eighth inning. I said it’s 10-7 and the Dodgers bullpen is really good. Then I said, there have been 17 runs scored, I don’t know how anyone can assume there won’t be more scoring. That’s also about the time I started muting some people on social media. I’ve already written this year and many times ...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 34
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 25
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 19
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 7
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 6
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 5

Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images A thoroughly entertaining Cubs win. I’d like to thank the Cubs for playing a terrific game. A little behind the scenes, I went to bed Friday night rather than stay up with the Cubs game. I was up a little before 6 locally in Florida to write about Friday night’s Diamondbacks beatdown of the Cubs. I had a long day here that included a local renaissance fai...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 4

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images Snake bitten: Cubs lose 8-1! It will forever amaze me how good a team can look one day and how bad the next. In this case, that would refer to the offense only. Obviously, the pitching has been sluggish to start the 2025 campaign, save for those innings worked by Shōta Imanaga in Japan. Games like Friday night are the origin of the quote about momentum and t...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 1

Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images A tough start against perhaps the game’s toughest opponents. Welcome back, baseball, my old friend. As long-suffering Cubs fans, we know that this can be a very fickle friend. That was definitely the case in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. For one of the rare times where baseball is concerned, I really appreciated my move to the east coast. This game st...2025
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Intro to the season

Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images Just what exactly is Heroes and Goats? Here’s an overview. For those of you who have followed Heroes and Goats for one or more years, welcome back! To those of you who are new here, welcome. Hopefully, you’ll give this space a chance. There are a number of loyal followers of this section who come back year after year and engage with this material. Hopefully,...2025
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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 161

Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images A magical sendoff for a Cubs legend in a 3-0 win. What a day. We all have so many memories of Kyle Hendricks. Obviously, he started some of the most significant games in modern Cubs history, a statement that can be made without even an ounce of hyperbole. He started the deciding games of both the NLCS and the World Series in 2016, dominating the Dodgers ...2024
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 136

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images For the second game, the Reds rally in the ninth to beat the Cubs. Heavy sigh, part two. I’m invoking early day game after a night game formation. As in, an abridged Heroes and Goats today. I’m going to give you bullet points rather than a full narrative. The Cubs lost consecutive games for the first time since August 13 and 15 against the Blue Jays and W...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 1
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images Hope springs eternal! Welcome back for the 10th season of Heroes and Goats. I can remember back to 2014 when Al Yellon asked the Bleed Cubbie Blue faithful if any of them had ideas for new features. Me? I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly creative. But I well remember when Russ La Croix conceived Heroes and Goats. I was from the beginning a fan o...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 19
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports The nearly perfect one Nothing like a little afternoon baseball on in the background while you are finishing your work day. By the time I got off of an afternoon call, the Cubs were already battering Dodgers starter Julio Urias. I tuned in just in time for the top of the third, as Drew Smyly was recording his fifth and sixth consecutive strikeouts. Sometimes yo...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 138

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports Justin Steele dominates in a holiday 5-0 win. It was a long holiday weekend for me here in the Tampa area. I had an old friend in town and Sunday night was a very late night. There were a few drinks and only a few hours of sleep. I appreciate you all bearing with me while I gave you somewhat abridged versions of Heroes and Goats the last couple of days. The C...2023
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• 2022 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 162
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images The Cubs win going away to close out the season All’s well that ends well, right? That probably doesn’t work here. But, I’m certainly glad this season ended with a win, and an emphatic one at that. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean anything. Not losing 90, winning more than last year, none of it actually means anything. Nothing you can hang you...2022
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 64
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images Class dismissed! Kyle is vintage Professor in a 4-0 win Some of you might not remember, but when your team wins back-to-back games, that’s called a winning streak. Yeah, it’s not really that long. Somehow, they won two straight against the Rays. I mean, not really just “somehow.” This team basically has one way it wins games: A domina...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 116

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports Back in the win column in Toronto with 6-2 win. I have just one hope. Let’s hope the Cubs don’t become one of “those” teams. You know, the kind of team that beats the good teams but then does less than exceptional against the lesser teams. Instead, I like to think that the core of the Mets team that was put together with an eye on getting back to the World ...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 53
David Banks-USA TODAY Sports A win! An impressive one at that! Well, here in the Heroes and Goats department of Bleed Cubbie Blue, this was hands down the performance of the year. Long time followers of this series know that at the end of the year, I bring you a list of top 10 and a bottom 10 games by WPA. I track scores +/- .400. To date, there had been no scores over .400. I certainly w...2023
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1. White Sox

2. World Series

3. Red Sox

. . .

735. Rizzo Award

• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 25

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images The Cubs sweep the Astros to close a successful homestand. Every season is an entity onto its own. You watch enough seasons and they start to feel like one long homogenous mass. But when you sort them out, or more specifically when one is going on, you can really feel that individuality. And so, as we sit in front of this currently unfolding season, th...2024
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• 2022 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 109
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports Cubs rally late only to falter and lose 6-5 I quit playing fantasy baseball somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago. Somewhere around that time, I also quit playing Strat-O-Matic baseball. When I ceased those activities, I basically stopped paying attention with any detail as to the comings and goings of any particular roster or players. I’m overtly aware o...2022
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 33
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 32
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 31
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 30
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 29
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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 27
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 26
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 25
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 24
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 23
2025

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• 2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 16

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images The offense was stifled in Los Angeles, as the Cubs lose 3-0. This is a frustrating one to write. That cover photo should be Matthew Boyd. Coming off of two strong starts against quality opponents, in his third start he drew the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. And that’s not any ordinary defending champion, that team is a poor man’s All-Star team...2025
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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 141

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images The Cubs come up empty in a 3-0 loss to Anthony Rizzo and the Yankees. The Cubs were so happy to see their old pal Anthony Rizzo that they rolled over and played dead to give his team a win. Not really, but it might as well have been true. It was a generally well played game and neither team was able to generate a whole lot of offense. Unfort...2024
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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 138

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images The Cubs return home from a terrific trip with a disappointing 5-3 loss. Last night’s game was simultaneously totally predictable and a little shocking to me. After an 8-1 road trip, a letdown game was so completely foreseeable. I essentially wrote about it yesterday. It isn’t surprising and it isn’t per se the gambler’s paradox. A team isn’...2024
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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 117
2024

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• 2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 113

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images The Cubs fail to protect their lead and lose 5-4. Heavy sigh. Once again, the Cubs had things in position to win a game and let it get away. That will be the enduring memory of this season. The crushing number of blown leads late has derailed this team over and over again. The Cubs had the opportunity to get back to three under .500. The last time they r...2024
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 156

Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports A three-game sweep sets up a fight to the finish. As easy as one, two, three! Okay, well, it wasn’t easy. But, the Cubs took care of a woeful (on the road) Rockies team in business-like fashion. This season has been so many things that we don’t always see from the Cubs. I’ve talked about it several times regarding their ability to come off the mat and rebound...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 145

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs fumble the lead late, but bounce back to win 5-4. In the moment, I suspect Jordan Wicks would tell you that winning a game and the march towards the playoffs is what matters. That’s the right thing to say and is admirable. At the end of the day, it is a team sport. You win as a team and you win at a lose. It isn’t about individual accomplishments...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 86
Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs come up short in Milwaukee. Sometimes I give you a narrative after the game Sometimes, I’m more a series of thoughts. Today is one of those. As I did yesterday, I’m going to steer a little away from the bigger picture implications of this game and the season to date. None of that is shocking, new territory or any great insight I’m going to give you. Th...2023
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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 64
2023

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• 2023 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 1
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