Column: Pete Crow-Armstrong crashes Chicago Cubs\u2019 150th anniversary party with historic day at Wrigley Field<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThen, as if to seemingly add more pressure on the 24-year-old, Sosa, the slugger who clubbed 609 home runs in his career, pulled him aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just in the cage talking again, and he was like, \u2018I want three out of you today. I need three,\u2019\u201d Crow-Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a burden to Crow-Armstrong. In fact, it seemed to empower the Cubs star.<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong belted a home run on the second pitch he saw, another one an inning later and then a three-run shot in the seventh inning, stealing the show in the Cubs\u2019 17-5 walloping of the Reds.<\/p>\n
It was Crow-Armstrong\u2019s first career three-homer game and the third by a Cubs hitter this season, joining Dansby Swanson on July 1 and Alex Bregman on Aug. 12. He also tied career highs with four hits and six RBIs.<\/p>\n
It was another performance to fortify his case for the National League MVP award.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what he passed down to me there, but weird (stuff) like that happens in this game,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cThat\u2019s coming from a guy that\u2019s \u2014 I don\u2019t know how many times he\u2019s done that. We all know how many homers he\u2019s got. I guess he was feeling pretty good today too.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-SPORTS-CUBS-REDS-082926-42.jpg\")
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong connects for a solo home run against the Reds in the first inning Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
The first was a 435-foot blast off left-hander Andrew Abbott that kick-started a three-run first inning and was his seventh leadoff home run of the season, tied for the second most in franchise history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was fun, great pregame ceremony \u2014 and Pete kept it going, for sure,\u201d Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong took Abbott deep an inning later, capping another three-run frame with a 375-foot shot to right field.<\/p>\n
The most memorable, though, came in the seventh, when he uncorked a no-doubt three-run shot to left-center field. Crow-Armstrong flipped his bat just in front of him, spun, walked for two steps and then began his trot around the bases, holding up three fingers as he neared third base and glanced at the Cubs dugout.<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong had a chance to become the 22nd player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game when he came up to bat in the eighth. The Wrigley Field crowd rose, hoping to see him make history with Reds catcher Jose Trevino pitching.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, of course,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said when he was asked if he was trying to homer. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing else to do against a guy like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-SPORTS-CUBS-REDS-082926-86.jpg\")
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong smiles as he comes to the plate against Reds catcher Jose Trevino, who took the mound in the eighth inning Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
He grounded out to second base, but as he trotted off the field, the 39,597 in attendance rose to their feet, giving him a standing ovation, which he acknowledged. It was his final act in a show that rivaled what some of the other icons in attendance had put on in their careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that was really cool,\u201d Crow-Armstrong. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome. I couldn\u2019t really do much but smile and tip my cap. That\u2019s a really special, specific thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong\u2019s three home runs raised his count to 36, and coupled with his 32 stolen bases, put him in position to challenge a 40-40 season, an exclusive club of six players, including former Cub Alfonso Soriano, who was honored as part of the franchise\u2019s anniversary team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to geek out a little bit because I finally met Alfonso Soriano for the first time,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s performance is the type of game that can be the crown jewel of an MVP campaign. Of course, he has had many of those performances this season too. He hit for the cycle June 15, he\u2019s had a home run and stolen bases in six games and is the first Cub with consecutive 30-home-run, 30-stolen-base seasons.<\/p>\n
The three-homer game raised his fWAR to 9.1, the fifth-highest mark in a single season by a Cubs player behind Rogers Hornsby (11.1, 1929), Sosa (9.9, 2001), Ernie Banks (9.7, 1959) and Ron Santo (9.5, 1967).<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, those are legendary people, but everyone\u2019s starting to ask a lot of questions about WAR right now, so I don\u2019t know how to feel about WAR,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cWhatever I can do to produce wins is really what I care about most. Those are just (four) names that everybody knows is Hall of Famers, so that\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-SPORTS-CUBS-REDS-082926-96.jpg\")
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong acknowledges fans after a 17-5 win over the Reds on Aug. 29, 2026, at Wrigley Field. He hit three home runs in the game. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what makes not just Saturday special but Crow-Armstrong\u2019s entire 2026 campaign remarkable. These seasons don\u2019t happen every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to watch,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think the great example for me is (bench coach) Ryan Flaherty stands next to me a lot of the game and he\u2019s shaking his head and can\u2019t believe it. You see guys do this and it doesn\u2019t happen a lot, but it\u2019s the seasons you remember somebody having and we\u2019re lucky to be a part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as a fan in the stands, for the teammates, for the coaching staff, watching somebody perform like this is something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notes<\/p>\n
Left-hander Hoby Milner was designated for assignment after Saturday\u2019s game. He had been on a rehab assignment since July 29 after an appendectomy.<\/p>\n
Right-hander Edward Cabrera (right middle finger blister) is scheduled to go on a rehab assignment next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong felt jitters as he prepared for Saturday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Reds…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1032007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[204108,960,1271,5048,1816,5386,1818,1266,1277,412796,1270],"class_list":["post-1032006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-alfonso-soriano","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-craig-counsell","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-mlb","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-pete-crow-armstrong-three-home-runs","tag-sammy-sosa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117181688946630116","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1032006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1032007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1032006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1032006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1032006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}