The Chicago Cubs' 2008 season was the 136th season for the Chicago Cubs. It is considered one of their most impressive regular seasons in the entire history of the franchise. Despite 97 regular season wins—the most since 1945—they failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs, losing 3-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. The Cubs repeated as champions of the National League Central Division. It was the first time since 1908 that the Cubs made postseason appearances in consecutive seasons. This is their second season with Lou Piniella as their manager.
At the All-Star break, the Cubs led the Central Division and were tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the best record in the major leagues. They tied a National League record with eight players selected to the All-Star team.
In 2007, Ernie Banks had requested that Evanston, Illinois native Eddie Vedder write the Cubs a song, and in August 2008 Vedder recorded "All the Way", which was released on September 18, 2008. During the season, a new version of "Go, Cubs, Go" was recorded and released by the Manic Sewing Circle, although the original 1984 Steve Goodman version became the official Cubs victory song.
On September 20, the Cubs officially clinched the Central Division with a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs lost in the 2008 National League Division Series.
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“An unlicked bear”
—Trans. by Johanna Prins.
Dutch expression meaning “a boor”: from the old belief that bear cubs are licked into shape by their mothers.
“The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)