It will likely be the answer to a Beer Money trivia question one of these days: what pitcher threw the first complete game of 2018 for the Cubs? Your hint…he wasn’t part of the original starting rotation (but, boy was he a shot in the arm when the Cubs needed it). You might end up a big winner if you can pull up Cole Hamels.
The lefty took the mound in a late-August series opener against the Reds and I remember this game specifically because it was the start of American Legion Week for the Cubs. That’s where manager Joe Maddon encourages players to get to the field late in hopes of giving them more time to rest and freshen up for the September stretch run. “A tribute to playing baseball the old-fashioned way,” Maddon says.
Great for the players. Not so great for the media, as we sometimes struggle to find guys to talk to before the game. But little did we know at that time, the headline for this contest would be a no-brainer.
Hamels wasn’t exactly “dealin” from the get-go, as it took him 24 pitches to get through the opening frame and the Reds scored on a couple bloop hits. Watching this from the camera well, I recall him coming back to the dugout and picking up a couple towels to dry off the heavy lather of sweat he had already worked up. In my head I’m thinking, this could be a long, muggy night at Wrigley. That, however, was not the case as Hamels only threw 90 pitches the rest of the way. He got some help from his defense, which was the first thing he alluded to in his post-game interview with me, but in turn, they sure loved playing behind a guy who threw 76 strikes on 114 pitches…67% isn’t too shabby.
It was the first complete game of the season for the Cubs and the Wrigley faithful were on their feet when Hamels came out to bat in the 8th. “The fans give you that extra boost,” he said, “and to be able to feel it in the 8th inning, I knew what we could accomplish.” The 17th complete game of his career didn’t come without a bit of 9th inning drama. After loading the bases, it looked like Hamels’ outing may be over after 8 1/3. I kept looking down to see if Maddon was inching closer to the field, but he, Brandon Hyde and Jim Hickey held their ground. Good thing, as the 3-2 pitch to Tucker Barnhart resulted in the 3rd—and final—double play ball of the game.
As it turned out, a 481-ft homer in the 3rd inning was just the first delivery of the night from Javier Baez, who also made sure Mr. Hamels was properly cooled off with a Gatorade bath in his post-game interview on the field, something the veteran lefty quickly told me “never gets old.”