What a wild ride it's been

What a long, strange trip it's been for the Cubs from the high hopes of spring training to finally clinching the NL Central title Saturday at Wrigley Field.

And to think it all started on the first day of camp when closer-turned-starter Ryan Dempster uttered these immortal words:

"I think we're going to win the World Series, I really do."

It was the start of a nutty spring, one where reliever Jose Ascanio was punched in the face by a would-be robber at a convenient store, causing manager Lou Piniella to quip: "If I need some food, from now on I'm going to have room service."

A few days later, second baseman Mark DeRosa was taken off the field in a stretcher, suffering from an irregular heartbeat. Less than two weeks after undergoing corrective surgery in Chicago, he was back with his teammates.

"It was a scary experience," DeRosa said upon his return. "It gives me a new lease on life to go out and run around and not worry about it."

The regular season began with the Milwaukee Brewers visiting Wrigley Field and the Kosuke Fukudome hype in full throttle after the new Cubs right fielder tied te game in the bottom of the ninth with a home run.

In between Fukudome's opening day heroics and Saturday's NL Central clinching win over St. Louis there were quite a few memorable moments this season. Here are just a few, in chronological order:

April

• A week after Kerry Wood picked up his first career save, Carlos Zambrano goes off on a tray of gum in the dugout after getting pulled during a loss in Philadelphia.

"I enjoyed the water cooler more than the gum basket," Piniella said of his outbursts as a player. "I wasn't messy."

• With a 7-6 win over Colorado, the Cubs become just the second team in history to win 10,000 games.

• An argument can be made that center fielder Reed Johnson's diving catch at the fence in Washington is the defensive play of the year. "That's as good a catch as you'll ever see in baseball," Dempster said.

May

• Struggling left-handed pitcher Rich Hill is optioned to Iowa.

"We told him we're holding a rotation spot for him as soon as he gets straightened out," Piniella said.

Hill never returns.

• Jim Edmonds, given up for dead in San Diego, signs with the Cubs.

• Catcher Geovany Soto provides the highlight in a 7-2 win in Houston by recording an inside-the-park home run.

"(Third base coach) Mike Quade waved me home," Soto said. "I was like 'no way.'"

June

• With Piniella still on the mound, Big Z wrestles with a Gatorade cooler after a 7-3 loss to Los Angeles.

"If I would've been in the dugout at the time, I probably would've enjoyed it," he said.

• Alfonso Soriano breaks his finger when he's hit by an inside pitch against Atlanta. He misses 6 weeks.

• The Cubs sweep the White Sox at home and get swept in the Cell later in the month.

July

• Seven Cubs are selected to the all-star team.

• Shortly after Milwaukee acquires CC Sabathia, Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin arrive in a trade from Oakland.

"I couldn't be happier," Harden says on arrival.

• With the Brewers nipping at their heels, the Cubs lay the hammer down by sweeping a 4-game series at Miller Park, dropping the Brew Crew 5 games back."We don't like the fact that we allowed their fans to come into our park and have a four-day party," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

August

• Torrential rains, ear-splitting thunder and tornado warnings force 40,000 fans to seek shelter in a twice-delayed night game against Houston.

"Mother Nature ... she's tough," Dempster said. "You don't want to get on her bad side."

September

• Pitcher Ted Lilly collides with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina on a play at the plate in St. Louis. Molina has to leave the game; Lilly stays in.

• Thanks to Hurricane Ike, the Cubs and Houston play two games at Miller Park. Big Z opens the series in style by tossing a no-hitter, the first by a Cub since 1972.

"I still can't believe I did it," Zambrano said.

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