2008 Chicago Cubs season
The 2008 Chicago Cubs season was the 137th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 133rd in the National League and the 93rd at Wrigley Field. The season began at home on March 31 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs were champions of the National League Central for the second year in a row, accumulating 97 regular season wins—the most since 1945. It was the first time since 1908 that the Cubs made postseason appearances in consecutive seasons.
| 2008 Chicago Cubs | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League Central Champions | ||
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field | |
| City | Chicago | |
| Record | 97–64 (.595) | |
| Divisional place | 1st | |
| Owners | Tribune Company | |
| General managers | Jim Hendry | |
| Managers | Lou Piniella | |
| Television | CSN Chicago WGN America WGN-TV CSN Chicago Plus (CLTV) WCIU-TV (Len Kasper, Bob Brenly, Cory Provus) | |
| Radio | WGN (AM) 720 (Pat Hughes, Ron Santo, Cory Provus) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |
| ||
At the All-Star break in July, the Cubs led the NL Central 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.
On September 20, the Cubs clinched the NL Central championship with a 5–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite their regular season success, the team did not advance past the first round of the playoffs; they were swept 3–0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
Lou Piniella, in his second year as the Cubs' manager, won the National League's Manager of the Year Award in 2008. In addition, catcher Geovany Soto won the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year Award.