Rookie of the Year

Looking back at the improbable 1993 Chicago Cubs, 30 years later.

As the world of Major League Baseball comes together in Nashville, Tennessee for their annual Winter Meetings, the focus is rightly on a handful of players and teams who have the potential to ink record-breaking deals this off season.

Obviously the biggest story of the moment is the still undecided destination for the most desirable free agent in baseball — Shohei Ohtani, but as a Yankees fan, I know I’m paying attention to see if Brian Cashman can do something — anything — to win back the fans and set up a better year.

It finally took Hal Steinbrenner to seal the deal with Aaron Judge last year, now is the time for Cashman to step up and take some of the pressure off our captain and move us in the right direction. (Editor’s Note: this piece was written in advance of the Yankees monumental 7-player trade for the Padres’ Juan Soto).

But while it is all well and good that our collective attention is beginning to shift toward the upcoming 2024 season in earnest, it’s worth taking a look back at the remarkable (and shockingly under-discussed) 1993 Chicago Cubs.

30 years removed from their remarkable, and unlikely, World Series win, this Cubs team is clearly best remembered for their stunning late season surge, fronted by two pitchers — one old, the other decidedly not.

That 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner came from the bleachers of Wrigley Field to the mound seemingly out of nowhere is only slightly more impressive than the connection he forged with veteran pitcher Chet “Rocket” Steadman, and the story of this season has definitely been marred by the continuing mediocrity that continued to plague the Cubs for more than another two decades.