Wrigley Field was already a party. Then Dansby Swanson made it a memory.
The Cubs shortstop launched his third home run of the day on Wednesday, a grand slam to left-center that pushed Chicago’s lead over the Padres to an absurd 23-3. That score is not a typo. It’s the kind of number you see in a video game when you forget to turn the difficulty setting above Rookie.
As Swanson rounded third and jogged home, he hit the Michael Jordan shrug. The one Jordan broke out during the 1992 NBA Finals after his sixth first-half three-pointer. In Chicago, that gesture carries weight. Swanson knew exactly what he was doing.
He now has five home runs in a 24-hour span. Five. That’s not a hot streak. That’s a historic tear that snuck up on everyone, including maybe Swanson himself.
Three Homers. One Grand Slam. Zero Answers From San Diego.
Swanson’s afternoon started like any other. By the time it ended, he had single-handedly turned a comfortable Cubs win into a full-blown laugher. His first homer came early. The second followed. The grand slam was the exclamation point, a no-doubt rocket that landed deep in the left-center bleachers.
The Padres had no answer. Their pitching staff got carved up by a Chicago lineup that suddenly looks like the version the front office envisioned when they signed Swanson as a free agent. He was brought in to be a steady veteran presence, a glove-first shortstop who could hit enough to matter. On this night, he was the whole show.
Fans at Wrigley spent the late innings just trying to process what they’d seen. The scoreboard read 23-3. The buzz was real. Someone in the bleachers reportedly held up a sign that read “NBA Jam” — a nod to the old arcade game where players catch on fire after three straight buckets. For Swanson, the fire was literal.
What the Jordan Shrug Means in This City
Michael Jordan set the standard for greatness in Chicago. Athletes here don’t invoke him lightly. When Swanson hit that shrug, it wasn’t arrogance. It was acknowledgment. The man had just done something so ridiculous that the only appropriate response was a shoulder-shrug and a smirk.
The Cubs have been searching for a signature moment all season. They got one on Wednesday. Swanson’s three-homer game with a grand slam will live in highlight reels for years. But the shrug? That’s the part people will talk about tomorrow.
Chicago now heads into the rest of its homestand with a jolt of momentum. The Padres, meanwhile, have to figure out how to forget a 23-3 loss. Good luck with that.
Leave a Comment