Chicago sports stars witness PCA's latest heroic moment at Wrigley

CHICAGO – As more and more fans inside Wrigley Field looked to the video board beyond the left-field bleachers, the decibel level began to slowly climb. And when the camera panned to Pete Crow-Armstrong, waving to a few of his friends sitting in the first row behind the Cubs’ dugout, things revved up even more in the old ballpark.

Crow-Armstrong smiled as Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, along with Bulls players Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson, pounded on the dugout’s roof. Wilson stood and started to get a “P-C-A!” chant going. Their time in the spotlight will arrive soon enough, but these stars were here to witness one of the most exciting shows in baseball.

“They pulled up,” Crow-Armstrong said. "It was awesome having them here. I felt the energy from the crowd when they got put on the board."

Maybe, but Pete’s fan club had a pretty great view of his latest heroic for the Cubs in a 2-1 victory over the rival Brewers at the Friendly Confines. The star center fielder continued his push for the National League MVP trophy with another home run – an improbable two-run shot off a great changeup from Brewers righty Logan Henderson.

Crow-Armstrong – fresh off winning the NL Player of the Month award for the second time this year – now has 39 home runs on the season. That puts him one shy of joining Sweet Swingin’ Billy Williams as the only left-handed hitters in Cubs history to belt at least 40 in a season. The Hall of Famer had 42 for the North Siders in 1970.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked if he was running out of ways to describe what Crow-Armstrong is doing this season.

“You guys are the wordsmiths,” quipped the manager. “We should really enjoy a player having this season. These are seasons you remember from individuals. You see things like this, you see a great player playing at his peak, you should really soak this in, because these are the fun things to talk about as the years go by. That’s what kind of season this is.”

For his latest feat, Crow-Armstrong homered on a pitch he had no business hitting out.

Entering Thursday, Henderson had limited batters to a .167 average and .367 slugging percentage with his changeup, which generated a 36.5% whiff rate. The five homers off the pitch were on changeups in the strike zone. This 2-1 change in the third dove well under the zone, and Crow-Armstrong got to it anyway.

“That’ll drive you crazy as a pitcher,” Cubs starter Kevin Gausman said. “I can guarantee you nobody else has hit his changeup like that probably all year.”

The pitch was similar to the 2-1 changeup that Henderson used to induce a flyout off the bat of Crow-Armstrong in the first inning. When the Cubs' center fielder returned to the dugout, he was kicking himself over missing that one, but Counsell felt confident that Crow-Armstrong could make the adjustment.

“He was mad at himself,” Counsell said. “I was happy with it, though, because I thought he saw him good. This guy’s been really good, and he saw it good, so you felt like something good was going to happen at some point.”

Crow-Armstrong was ready for it in his next meeting with Henderson.

“The guy’s got such a good heater and it spins so well,” Crow-Armstrong said. “When a guy’s got a really good spinny heater – and this goes for anybody – seeing shape and seeing the wrinkle becomes a little bit easier, because the fastball is so true and it’s got great carry and upshoot play.

“Again, I handle the ball down. And you saw the last three days how deep my contact point was, and just the level of intent on some of my swings were just terrible. So [I was] making a real conscious choice today to be on the heater and let my athleticism play like I’ve done all year. And that’s pretty much exactly what happened.”

The changeup Crow-Armstrong got to was 1.20 feet off the ground, per Statcast, making it the lowest pitch he has hit for a home run this season. Dating back to 2024, he has actually launched five homers on pitches 1.20 feet or lower off the ground, marking the most such blasts in the Majors in that span.

“It was in his honey hole,” Henderson said. “He scooped it and got it.”

And some of the city’s other young stars had a front-row seat for the show.

“It’s just huge having guys show up and support each other,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And I think what everybody doesn’t see is that we genuinely like each other as well. That in itself, just the friendship alone, is great. I’m lucky to have that.

“But to be able to show the city that we’re all pulling for each other and we all believe in each other is huge.”