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Pete Crow-Armstrong Etches Name in Cubs History With Towering Homer vs. Brewers

An extraordinary week for the MVP candidate continues.

Patrick Andres

Pete Crow-Armstrong celebrates a home run against the Nationals.
Pete Crow-Armstrong celebrates a home run against the Nationals. / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
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Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is having one of those rare seasons in baseball—the kind where All-Star buzz gives way to MVP chatter and seemingly everything he does is news.

On Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, he generated headlines with a long home run and a diving catch in a 5–3 Cubs win. On Thursday, he smashed yet another home run in Chicago's 8–7 loss—and it made history.

With the dinger, the 23-year-old Sherman Oaks, Calif., native became the youngest Cub in history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season. Three Chicago players previously accomplished the feat in their age-24 season: outfielder Leon Durham in 1982, outfielder Sammy Sosa in 1993, and center fielder Corey Patterson in 2004.

Overall, the Cubs have had 12 previous 20-20 seasons. Right fielder Frank Schulte had the first in 1911 (which won him the National League's first MVP award), and first baseman and center fielder Cody Bellinger had the most recent in 2023.

Sosa is the only Chicago player with a 30-30 season, and it's only June 19. The math adds up if Armstrong wants to make a run at immortality—and perhaps baseball's highest individual honor.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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