Chicago Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur isn’t even on the team’s roster, but his presence has apparently been a very helpful one for multiple members of the team during the postseason.
On Wednesday, first baseman Anthony Rizzo borrowed one of Szczur’s bats and broke out of his hitting slump in a big way, slugging a home run as the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 for a Game 4 triumph.
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The Chicago Cubs are just one win away from their first World Series trip in 71 years, and it's been 108 years since they last won a title in 1908. To get you ready for the final games (or game) of the NLCS, we've come up with a list of factoids and interesting coincidences as the team prepares for what's ahead.
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19:08 The first five games of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers are all slated to start at 7:08 p.m., which in military time is 19:08. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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108 MLB pitchers are very particular about the baseballs that they use, and Jon Lester is likely no exception. We would strongly doubt however that he spends much time thinking about how many stitches there are in an official MLB ball: you guessed it. 108.
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108 In order to reach the World Series, the Cubs would have to win four games. In order to win four games, the team would have to make a minimum of 108 defensive outs.
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108 Cubs slugger Kris Bryant had 102 RBI this season, which is pretty impressive. Just for fun, if you add in the six RBI that noted not-slugger Jon Lester had this season, you get 108 runs batted in.
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108 Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez are both very important pieces to the puzzle for the Cubs' offense, but they do their fair share of striking out. In fact, both players struck out 108 times apiece this season.
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108 Baseball purists are always quick to bemoan the fact that pitchers rarely throw complete games any more (the Cubs as a team only had five this season, which was second best in the National League). The 1908 Cubs, led by Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, were much more prolific in that category, throwing 108 complete games as a staff for the eventual world champions.
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71nIt's been 71 years since the Cubs reached the World Series, and two of the most important Cubs to potentially ending that drought, Bryant and Rizzo, combined to hit 71 regular season home runs. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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71 Look excited Kris, because you get to finish off our gallery. Out of your 102 RBI, 71 of them came against right-handed pitchers this season. Celebrate appropriately.
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A little extra credit fact: In Game 5 against the Dodgers, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester pitched a grand total of 108 pitches, leading the team to a pivotal victory.
His generosity apparently applied to other items as well, as he lent a pair of his leggings to shortstop Addison Russell before Game 4. The spandex apparently had some magic in it, because Russell hit a home run on Wednesday and hit another one in Thursday’s Game 5 victory that left the Cubs just one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1945.
“People broke out of their slumps and it just so happened to be with my stuff,” Szczur told reporters on Thursday. “I feel like a lot of things happen for a reason.”
Perhaps Szczur could lend some of his gear to Jason Heyward, who continued to struggle at the plate in the Game 5 victory. An extra bat, perhaps? Or his batting gloves?
