The 1991 World Champion Cubs: 15 Years Later

Part one of a periodic series looking at MBL history

CHICAGO- The smell of peanuts no longer wafts through the air at the corner of Waveland and Addison in Chicago's north side now that the baseball nine have moved to Minnesota, but few fans here, despite the darkness of the Spellos era, can forget the year the curse was broken. Only fifteen short years ago, the Cubs did the unthinkable, beating the defending champion San Diego Padres--and future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens--in a game seven blowout, winning the city's first and only World Series title. Adding to the story of the Cardiac Cubs, Chicago had trailed in the Series, 3-1, before beating the 116-game winning Padres in three straight.

"Amazing," recollected longtime trainer Captain Larry Bridgewater. "The [Rick] Leach grand slam in game seven ... I can still remember the look on Clemens' face."

Despite being a Series underdog against the defending champions, Chicago was no pushover. The Cubs themselves had posted a 124-38 regular season mark, winning 63 road games. The rotation featured its own Hall of Famer--Nolan Ryan (16-5, 1.89)--and a solid supporting staff in Oil Can Boyd (24-1, 2.00), Sid Fernandez (23-4, 2.53), rookie Mike Harkey (10-6, 2.57), and David Cone (13-4, 3.45). Although the team did not need much offense, Mark Grace (.323-15-100) and Ryan Sandberg (.322-34-139) were the top two hitters in the league, with a 180-pound Barry Bonds (.310-44-144, 82 steals) patrolling left field. Current Seattle Mariner manager Carlton Fisk (.289-23-80), Willie McGee (.280-3-59), Shawon Dunston (.223-10-62), and Robin Ventura (.259-7-64) rounded out the northside lineup for manager Whitey Herzog.

"I remember San Diego's owner--Rich Perrotti--walking past the dugout before game four saying the entire league was rooting for the Padres," Fisk recalled during a recent interview in Seattle. "That really got our ire up. I remember the glare in Nolan's eyes in particular. He was always intense, but he looked criminally insane after hearing that comment."

The seventh game of the World Series was played at Jack Murphy Stadium, featuring a matchup between Clemens and Ryan. Over the course of the first three innings, the game was tied, 2-2, with Sandberg and San Diego's Matt Williams each connecting for two-run shots. In the top of the fourth inning, Clemens exhibited unusual wildness, walking the bases loaded with two outs. Herzog then did the unthinkable, pulling Ryan after three innings in an attempt to break the game open. Rather than calling upon more established bats on the bench such as Otis Nixon, Bob Boone, or Dale Murphy, the White Rat pointed at Rick Leach (.300-2-22), a left-handed outfielder who had 183 regular season at bats that year. Leach seemed as bewildered as anyone.

"I remember seeing Whitey point to the end of the bench ... and I thought it was at Marvell [Wynne], who was sitting next to me, but then Nick Leyva called me over," Leach, currently an insurance salesman in Winslow, Arizona, said. "I grabbed one of Ryne's bats off the rack and went to the on-deck circle." Fans in the first few rows could hear Ryan voicing his displeasure at being removed from the game.

The rest is history.

Padre catcher Benito Santiago, who admitted after the game at not having read any scouting reports on Leach, positioned himself low and away, and the Rocket delivered. Leach, who was told by Sandberg to look for a first-pitch fastball, was ready, swung, and delivered an opposite-field grand slam to put the Cubs ahead, 6-2. San Diego never recovered, and lost the game, 10-3.

"There will never be a comeback to rival that one," Fisk confidently stated last week. "Even today, I have a hard time believing that all happened. The die were cast once Leach came to the plate, and we got it done."

Other 1991 Chicago Cubs: Juan Gonzalez, Mickey Hatcher, Greg Litton, Derrick May, Gary Varsho, Hector Villanueva, Curt Schilling, Randy Tomlin, Bryan Harvey, Scott Terry, Norm Charlton, and Alejandro Pena.