The 1995 Cubs weren’t expected to do much. The previous year’s edition had started by losing its first 12 home games, prompting the infamous “Firehouse Chat” with manager Tom Trebelhorn. They’d lost nine of their last 10 pre-strike, costing Trebelhorn his job.
Jim Riggleman, a highly-regarded young manager (he was just 42 when he took over the Cubs, just about David Ross’ age now), got the team playing better. They inhabited first place for a while in May and early June before fading, but stayed near .500.
With 10 games to go in the strike-abbreviated 144-game season, the Cubs were 65-69 and 5½ games behind the Dodgers, who then led the wild-card race.