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Which historical Cubs game would you choose to see in person?

A thought exercise, with a twist.

By Al Yellon
Charles Conlon

First, credit where credit is due. I stole this idea from Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports, who posted Friday on this topic. Craig asked readers to choose any historical game they’d like to see in person if they could go back by time machine and do so. The only condition:

Well, since we’re assuming the existence of time machines let’s set an additional fantastical ground rule: once you step into the time machine, any specific personal knowledge you have of the game is erased. Or at least as much as you specify. All you know is that you are about to be sent back in time to see something cool and historic, maybe with a little context if you feel you need it. After the game is over your previous memory is restored but, of course, it is now augmented by the experience of having witnessed the amazing game or event or whatever you choose.

I’m going to add one more condition to this exercise of choosing a Cubs game to view. It cannot be any game from 2000 to date. Why 2000? Well, first, if I left this open to any game, I’d think almost all of you would choose Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, or maybe another game from that postseason run or even the 2016 regular season. To me, that’s a waste of a good time machine! It was only a bit more than three years ago, we all lived through it and some of us attended many games that year. The same holds true for almost any game over the last 20 years.

Given that restriction, which Cubs game would you choose to see? Would it be the famous Merkle Game from 1908? A division or pennant clincher from decades gone by? The Homer in the Gloamin’, so you could see just how “gloamin’” it was? The Sandberg Game? One of Ken Holtzman’s no-hitters, or maybe the so-called double no-hitter from 1917?

Incidentally, the photo at the top of this post is from the Merkle Game, almost certainly taken just before the controversial play that ended that game. I wrote about that photo here two years ago.

Have fun with this! I’ll be interested in seeing your choices.

Poll

If I could time-travel to see one Cubs game played before 2000, it would be...

This poll is closed

  • 9%
    The Merkle Game, September 23, 1908
    (27 votes)
  • 9%
    The Cubs win the World Series in Detroit, October 14, 1908
    (25 votes)
  • 0%
    The Fred Toney/Hippo Vaughn double no-hitter, May 2, 1917
    (1 vote)
  • 23%
    Babe Ruth’s World Series "called shot," October 1, 1932
    (63 votes)
  • 9%
    Gabby Hartnett’s Homer in the Gloamin’, September 28, 1938
    (27 votes)
  • 0%
    Sam Jones’ no-hitter, May 12, 1955
    (2 votes)
  • 2%
    Ken Holtzman’s first no-hitter, August 19, 1969
    (8 votes)
  • 2%
    Ernie Banks hits his 500th home run, May 12, 1970
    (7 votes)
  • 0%
    Ken Holtzman’s second no-hitter, June 3, 1971
    (1 vote)
  • 5%
    The 23-22 game, May 17, 1979
    (14 votes)
  • 21%
    The Sandberg Game, June 23, 1984
    (59 votes)
  • 3%
    The Cubs clinch the N.L. East, September 24, 1984
    (9 votes)
  • 1%
    The Cubs win the N.L. wild-card tiebreaker, September 28, 1998
    (5 votes)
  • 8%
    A different game not mentioned here (leave in comments)
    (23 votes)
271 votes total Vote Now

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