I just saw the "Sandberg Game" on the MLB channel (June 23, 1984)

[bluestateguy]

Watching that game was like a nostalgia trip through my first year of collecting baseball cards. I think I remembered every single one of those players. Anyway, Sandberg was a hell of a player.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryne_Sandberg#.22The_Sandberg_Game.22

One game in particular was cited for putting Sandberg (as well as the 1984 Cubs in general) "on the map", a NBC national telecast of a Cubs-Cardinals game on June 23, 1984. <1> The Cubs had been playing well throughout the season's first few months, but as a team unaccustomed to winning, they had not yet become a serious contender in the eyes of most baseball fans.

As for Sandberg, he had played two full seasons in the major leagues, and while he had shown himself to be a top-fielding second baseman and fast on the basepaths (over 30 stolen bases both seasons), his .260-ish batting average and single-digit home run production were respectable for his position but not especially noteworthy, and Sandberg was not talked about outside Chicago. The Game of the Week, however, put the sleeper Cubs on the national stage against their regional rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams were well-established franchises with a strong fan base outside the Chicago and St. Louis area.

In the ninth inning, the Cubs trailed 9-8, and faced the premier relief pitcher of the time, Bruce Sutter. Sutter was at the forefront of the emergence of the closer in the late 1970s and early 1980s: a hard-throwing pitcher who typically came in just for the ninth inning and saved around 30 games a season. (Sutter was especially dominant in 1984, saving 45 games.) However, in the ninth inning, Sandberg, not known for his power, slugged a home run to left field against the Cardinals' ace closer. Despite this dramatic act, the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the tenth. Sandberg came up again in the tenth inning, facing a determined Sutter with one man on base. As Cubs' radio announcer Harry Caray described it:

“ There's a drive, way back! Might be outta here! It is! It is! He did it again! He did it again! The game is tied! The game is tied! Holy Cow! Listen to this crowd, everybody's gone bananas! ”

The Cubs went on to win in the 11th inning. The Cardinals' Willie McGee had already been named NBC's player of the game before Sandberg's first home run. As NBC play-by-play man Bob Costas (who called the game with Tony Kubek) said when Sandberg hit that second home run, "Do you believe it?!" The game is sometimes called The Sandberg Game. The winning run for the Cubs was driven in by a single off the bat of Dave Owen.

[GReedDiamond]

1. Ron Santo...

...my baseball card collecting era hero when I lived in Tinley Park, a somewhat distant "suburb" of Chicago in the 60s.

The Cubs' 1969 season lives in infamy (along with a few other seasons).

Ron, the team captain, at 3rd, with Beckert at 2nd, Kessinger at short, Ernie Banks on 1st, Randy Hundley catching Ferguson Jenkins, with Billy Williams in the outfield and Leo Durocher calling the shots...to this day, I maintain some hope for the team, that they may win it all before I croak, which could be at any moment at this point.

[flvegan]

2. I DVR'd Tom Seaver's 300th win game yesterday.

I love the MLB channel.

[MrSlayer]

3. We traded him for Ivan DeJesus as a throw in.

Way to go 1982 Phillies management.