I heard something that I couldn’t believe. Friday night in New York was the first time the Cubs beat the Yankees; is that true? That just seems crazy to me, but after further review, I guess it makes sense.
First of all, inter-league games are sort of new, in the big picture. 20 years ago was the first time the Cubs faced the Yankees, but that year, the series was in Wrigley. Speaking of that year, 2003, that was a pretty good year until the 8th inning of Game 6 in the NLCS. That series in Wrigley that year vs the Yanks should have been a World Series preview, but nooooo. That would have been a lot of fun. Turns out, the Yankees couldn’t even beat the Marlins that year either. I took a quick glance at the Cubs Yankees series in 2003. Wells defeated Zambrano in Game 1 in Wrigley, Wood defeated Clemens in Game 2, and Prior defeated Pettite in Game 3. Talk about some pitching matchups… The ending of that year really, really hurt; thank God for 2016.
But back to New York, and beating the Yankees there. We got our first chance in 2005; swept in 3 games. Will Ohman, Glendon Rusch, and Sergio Mitre got the losses in the Bronx that year; remember those guys? Not exactly Zambrano, Wood, and Prior, but… 2014 and 2022 were the next 2 years we played in New York; the Cubs went 0-5. So yeah, the Cubs beating the Yankees on Friday was the first time the Cubs beat the Yankees in New York; that still feels wild to say. Didn’t the Cubs ever face the Yankees in the World Series? Maybe they beat them in New York then?
Well, yes, of course, the Cubs and Yanks did face off twice in the Fall Classic, and no, the Cubs didn’t win any games in New York. In fact, the Cubs didn’t win any games period, in either year. Yes, both in 1932 & 1938, the Yankees swept the Cubs 4 games to zip. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio…. any of those names ring a bell? It wasn’t quite Murderer’s Row, but not that far off. Sure, there were some Cubs all timers around too, like Gabby Hartnett, Kiki Cuyler, and Billy Herman. No match for the pinstripes though… All this losing to the Yankees makes me wonder why I’ve never written a Hate File about them. I’m sure if I was alive in the 1930s the file would already exist…
I guess I should be ecstatic that the Cubs finally exorcised those demons in the Bronx. 27 World Series titles vs our little 3… New York vs Chicago… the battle of the pizzas… 1st city vs 2nd city… When it comes to the Yankees vs the Cubs, there may not be a comparison, but I’ll take my chances across the board against New York. I do love NYC, no doubt, but… there’s no place like home, and for me, there’s no team like the Cubbies. So yeah, take that Yankees! Go Cubs!!!
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