Happy 4th-anniversary Miguel-Slam.
The 2016 Chicago Cubs postseason was absolute magic.
During Game One of the NLCS, Miguel Montero was called on to pinch-hit with the bases loaded. AND. HE. DELIVERED.
If you recall, the LA Dodgers had just tied the game off Aroldis Chapman, and it seemed that the momentum was shifting. You have to remember, a Cubs fan’s head immediately goes to the worst when something goes wrong in the playoffs, and when the Dodgers touched up Chapman, there were a lot of thoughts in a lot of our heads that we might not have wanted to say out loud.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Ben Zobrist led off with a double. Following the double, the Dodgers intentionally walked Jason Heyward (who tripled earlier in the game), Javier Baez flew out, and then the Dodgers intentionally walked Chris Coghlan to load the bases for Chapman.
While walking the bases loaded with an out, men on first and second, isn’t always the best option, Coghlan had been 8-for-17 against Dodgers pitcher Joe Blanton. With Chapman due up, walking Coghlan also meant removing Chapman for a pinch hitter – which would also benefit the Dodgers.
That is when Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, tapped Montero’s shoulder to pinch-hit. But, it shouldn’t have been him in that spot.
Maddon went to Montero in that spot as he expected Dave Roberts to pull Blanton in favor of a left-hander, Grant Dayton. If that were the case, Maddon’s check-mate option would have been to call on Willson Contreras. Roberts liked the Blanton-Montero matchup over the Dayton-Contreras choice.
Dayton had a 2.03 ERA in the 2016 season, but just came off a series in which he gave up 3 runs in 1.2 innings. Blanton, a 12 year veteran at this point known for throwing strikes, hadn’t given up a run in the NLDS series against the Washington Nationals in his four appearances.
So, when Roberts stuck with Blanton, the Cubs stuck with Montero. On an 0-2 count, Blanton hung a slider in the middle of the plate and Montero hit just the third, pinch-hit grand slam in postseason history.
“I never thought they were going to let the right-hander stay, and I don’t think Joe [Maddon] did either,” Montero said. “But I kind of looked in a couple times and I didn’t see the manager come out and I’m like, ‘Yeah, awesome,’ because I was ready to hit.”
The ball was hit at 105.3 MPH, and according to Statcast was Miggy’s hardest-hit home run of the year.
Dexter Fowler, whose reaction to the Montero blast was priceless, followed it up with a solo shot of his own. This was a great moment in Cubs history and had to have been an awesome moment for Montero. Earlier in the season, he lost quite a bit of playing time because of Contreras being called up. With Jon Lester using David Ross exclusively, and Contreras getting a lot of time, Montero was becoming the personal catcher for Jake Arrieta and that was about it.
Montero would also solidify his spot in Cubs lore some more when he knocked in what would be the winning run in Game 7 of the World Series.
