As we approach the end of 2025, it’s time to post various year-end reviews.
So as has been my practice in previous years, I am today posting 10 of what I think are the best Cubs photos of the past season.
The Cubs in Japan
Here, the Cubs (first-base side) and Dodgers (third-base side) lineup for pre-game ceremonies before the first game of the Tokyo Series March 18.
Carson Kelly hits for the first Cubs cycle in 32 years
Carson Kelly in Sacramento March 31 after his eighth-inning triple completed the first cycle by a Cub since Mark Grace in 1993. The Cubs won the game 18-3.
Welcome to the Cubs, Reese McGuire!
Reese McGuire, who the Cubs had released just three days earlier but re-signed when he couldn’t find another team to take him, had one of the best Cubs debut days ever, homering twice against the Reds May 25. The Cubs won the game 11-8.
You talkin’ to ME?
Daniel Palencia had hit Willson Contreras with a pitch in the ninth inning of the game June 26 in St. Louis, which the Cubs were leading 3-0. The pitch clearly wasn’t intentional, but Contreras apparently wanted to make something of it. The Cubs wound up winning by the 3-0 score, but benches emptied after the game. Contreras later apologized.
Pete Crow-Armstrong makes another 5-star catch
PCA made 19 five-star catches in 2025, defined as any catch with less than a 25 percent probability of being made. No one else in MLB had more than seven. This catch of a ball hit by the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn in the first inning July 4, had just a 5 percent catch probability.
A franchise-record eight home runs
The Cubs’ franchise record for home runs had stood for more than 57 years. The team hit seven home runs against the Mets June 11, 1967. They had matched it three times, in 1970, 1977 and 2023.
On the same afternoon PCA made the fantastic catch above, July 4, the record was broken, as (left to right) Carson Kelly, Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki combined for eight home runs in an 11-3 thrashing of the Cardinals. PCA hit two and Busch had three, the first three-homer game by a Cub at Wrigley Field in 12 years.
Ryno
Tributes are left by the Cubs and fans at the Ryne Sandberg statue in Gallagher way on Aug. 1, after the Cubs Hall of Famer passed away July 28, to be remembered forever as a great player and better person.
The only Cubs walk-off home run of 2025
The Cubs won six games in walk-off fashion in 2025, but this was the only one won on a walk-off homer, a pinch-hit blast by Justin Turner Aug. 3 against the Orioles for a 5-3 victory. As Turner is likely retiring, that’s almost certainly the last home run of his MLB career, his 201st. It was also his only homer at Wrigley Field in 2025. The No. 23 in honor of Ryne Sandberg remained on the field for the rest of the season.
The Cubs clinch a wild-card spot
The Cubs pose on the field at PNC Park after defeating the Pirates 8-4 Sept. 17 to clinch a spot in the 2025 Postseason.
Cade Horton had a magnificent rookie season
Horton finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and had a spectacular second-half run in which he posted a 1.03 ERA and 0.783 WHIP over his final 12 starts. Here, he walks off the field after striking out the Mets’ Mark Vientos to end the top of the first Sept. 23 at Wrigley Field.
What’s your favorite among the 10 above?
