1962 NLCS Game 1
A match that cannot exist because the playoff format had not yet been invented.
Consequently, there are no records, box scores, or legendary moments for a game that never took place in the Cubs' canon.
Lore & Background
It would take seven more years of baseball evolution before Major League Baseball split into divisions and introduced the NLCS in 1969, allowing for a best-of-five playoff series to decide the league champion.
In Their Own Story
Fans packed the bleachers, eyes glued to the scoreboard, desperate for a miracle that the rulebook simply refused to grant. The Cubs had clawed their way through a grueling summer, but the San Francisco Giants held a two-game cushion that marched them straight to the World Series without a single playoff hurdle. There was no Game 1 of a championship series lurking in October's shadows, no sudden-death drama scheduled for the fall.
Reader's Guide
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) was not introduced to Major League Baseball until 1969, following the league's divisional realignment. Prior to this change, the team with the best regular-season record in each league automatically advanced to the World Series. Because there was no playoff series format at the time, the two teams did not meet in a postseason showdown. The Giants secured the pennant by finishing with a better win-loss record (103-62) compared to the Cubs (84-78). This event is remembered today primarily as a 'what if' scenario for Cubs historians and fans who often wonder how the team might have fared in a playoff series against their fierce rivals. However, strictly within the canon of established baseball history, no such game occurred.
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