Commentary: Chicago in the Championship Series? That’s just Cub

It used to be a derogatory term fans uttered following one calamity after another.

They would wait for something bad to happen before the words flowed effortlessly.

“That’s the Cubs.”

But somehow, some way, things changed. A new leader, a new philosophy, and eventually a new mantra sprung from nowhere.

“That’s Cub” was the catchphrase Chicago Cubs team President Theo Epstein coined one day, and the meaning of the phrase became quite the opposite of what it meant in the past.

So when the players, coaches and front office celebrated together in the clubhouse and on the field in front of the Wrigley Field faithful after a wild, 6-4 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the National League division series, the only thing you could think was “that’s Cub.”

“The whole vibe in my opinion really started three or four years ago in Instructional League when we started to realize how much talent we had, how much guys enjoyed each other’s company, how much they enjoyed being Cubs,” Epstein said as champagne dripped off his eyebrows.

“It started to be a badge of honor if someone said ‘That’s Cub’ about something that you did, whether it was backing up a base, making a big pitch, pumping someone up. And that just really built.”

Anthony Rizzo homering into the right-field bleachers to snap a 4-4 tie in the sixth?

That’s Cub.

Kyle Schwarber cranking a mammoth shot that ended up on top of the right-field video board after Harry Caray sang during the seventh-inning stretch on the video boards?

That’s Cub too.

A crew of seven castoffs combining to pitch six innings of relief and preserve the biggest victory of their lives?

That’s very, very Cub.

It all came together like a daydream at supercharged Wrigley, a bandbox ballpark that survived 100 years of shattered hope until this special crew turned the town upside down.

“This is how it should be, and I think the manager, Joe Maddon, brought that to the organization, to the players in the clubhouse,” Cubs great Billy Williams said. “Maddon said ‘Let’s go out and have fun.’ They say ‘Play ball,’ not ‘Work ball.’”

Rizzo said he was told the organization was “30 or 40 years behind, technology-wise” when he came to Chicago. But everything began to jell in a season so insane Ripley’s wouldn’t believe it.

“The things they did to turn this organization around, and stuck with what they believed is right, this is really nice and rewarding for them, for [owner] Mr. [Tom] Ricketts, for Theo and for this entire city, who stuck behind us this entire time,” Rizzo said.

No one saw this coming, except perhaps Maddon, who drilled positive thoughts into his players’ heads from the first day of spring training.

“This is exactly what I envisioned,” Maddon said. “This is what it’s supposed to look like, in this venerable ballpark, in the greatest city around, a city that can’t get enough of this.

“This is fabulous, and hopefully the beginning of many more years to come.”

Epstein credited Maddon and his staff and the players for taking things to another level.

“It was so fitting our scouting and player development staff were here to see those six bombs [Monday in Game 3],” he said. “And so fitting to see Kyle Schwarber, who was sitting in Instructional League 365 days ago, hit the ball over the freaking scoreboard to help put us into the NLCS.”

That Schwarbomb was a Ruthian clout that folks will be talking about for years, even if Schwarber forgot to point beforehand.

“I didn’t even know what to say when that ball was hit,” Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks said. “I couldn’t even go crazy. I was in shock.”

There may have been more talented and experienced Cubs teams, but never has there been one so willing to embrace its role as uniter of a city. These are your next-door neighbors, the guys that come over to mooch a beer or borrow your rake.

“I feel like part of the community,” pitching ace Jake Arrieta said. “I immerse myself in the community. I like when people come up and approach me and give thanks and are grateful for what we’ve done.

“That’s why I play this game, to give something back.”

Epstein said he had targeted 2016 when the Cubs would have a World Series-caliber team.

“But a lot of things went right in the last 18 months and put us in this position,” he added. “Most of it is just guts — young players overcoming their rookie slumps in a month instead of in a year, and guys coming back from deficits, pulling together.

“It’s incredible.”

That’s Cub.

sports@latimes.com

Sullivan is baseball columnist for the Chicago Tribune.