Until Major Leagu Baseball is able to preserve footage of the 1908 World Series in a digital format, Chicago Cubs fans will have to content themselves with the Chicago Cubs Legends – Great Games Collector’s Edition. It’s an eight-disc set of complete games in the Cubs’ history since 1984, each dedicated to a significant player. Hall of Fame second-sacker Ryne Sandberg gets the obvious game, his coming-out-party on Game of the Week when his two clutch homers vs. St. Louis Cards closer Bruce Sutter signaled something big was happening in 1984. From there you can skip to the first game of the NLCS when Rick Sutcliffe shut down the Padres and even pounded a homer to lead a 13-0 romp, Andre Dawson hitting three home runs in his MVP season of 1987, and Mark Grace’s epic dul against the Giants’ Will Clark in the 1989 NLCS. There’s more: rookie Kerry Wood fans 20 Astros and allows no walks and only one infield hit in arguably the most dominating pitching performance of all time; Sammy Sosa crashes home runs nos. 61 and 62 in his race with Mark McGwire to set the single-season homer mark; returning-prodigal-son Greg Maddux wins his 300th career game in 2004; and first baseman Derrek Lee goes 5 for 5 in 2005.
But it wouldn’t be the Cubs without some heartache, and there’s plenty of it–even these memorable games (they’re all wins too!) led to further misery. The 1984 heroics led to a defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory playoff loss. Dawson’s three home runs still netted him only five RBI, and the club finished in last place despite having the MVP. The 1989 NLCS was tense and hard-fought, but the game included here was the only win in a 4-games-to-1 series loss. Du to injury, Wood became the poster boy for unfulfilled potential; Sosa ended up leaving a game, and the team, in infamy; and Maddux in 2004 was not the vintage Maddux of old, nor did his addition turn out to be the move that pushed the post-”Bartman” team over the top. Lee played a big hand in knocking out the Cubs that year, and his subsequnt acquisition led to near-MVP numbers in Cubbie Blu in 2005, but based on tenure he’s the most qustionable “legend” as of 2007, when this set was released.
That said, these games are some of the most memorable, and enjoyable, in Cubs history. And although none of the complete games is earlier than 1984, classic fans should enjoy the bonus footage of older Cubs such as Ernie Banks and Billy Williams. Unlike other MLB collector’s editions, though, no new interview footage is included. –David Horiuchi
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