Anthony Rizzo: Anthony Rizzo wins game for Cubs

And think about the LA Dodgers, they were without Clayton Kershaw for most of the season and they all of the sudden watched the San Francisco Giants fade towards the end of the season and they won the NL west. A total of 1,908 rings and pins will be distributed to Cubs players, coaches, ownership, executives, front office associates, ballpark staff, partners and Hall of Fame alumni, including posthumous rings for the late Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, to be saved in the Wrigley Field archives.

The Cubs unveiled their rings, which had plenty of pizzazz and history, during a ceremony prior to Wednesday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not all the key players from the 2016 championship team could be at Wrigley to celebrate on Monday. The shot to right field on a 3-0 pitch from Ian Kennedy (0-2) barely scraped over the wall, but it gave Cotton the only help he needed against a punchless Kansas City lineup. Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw were able to prop up the pitching staff for only so long.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood (57) throws against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning of a baseball game on home opening day, Monday, April 10, 2017, in Chicago.

Mike Montgomery worked two scoreless innings for Chicago. "But there's just something different about this place".

"It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get up!" he shouted. The main event was the banners commemorating the three championships and last year's pennant going up in the outfield - two on each side of the manual scoreboard in center. He closed out 2016 throwing the baseball any and all directions, just not those intended.

"It took me a while to take my uniform off, not knowing whether or not I'd ever put it back on again", he said. "I wanted to get back to work, that was really it".

Now, any Cubs fan would love to spin that yarn while they show off the newly framed first base hanging in their living room. McCarthy did walk three Wednesday, but that was against a Cubs lineup adept at working counts. The Dodgers' second run came in the eighth, when Russell - taking a throw from first on Chase Utley's grounder - threw a wild bounce past reliever Koji Uehara covering after Justin Turner's diving takeout slide, allowing Logan Forsythe, who opened the inning with a base hit up the middle, to score. Kershaw has allowed five runs in his two outings, while Maeda has allowed seven. At the very least, they have a real shot to do it again, as their first game at Wrigley in 2017 showcased. And this is a guy that can't crack the rotation.

Chairman Tom Ricketts said in June that the Cubs deserved to operate the plaza as they saw fit and had compromised enough. "I'm not Erv, I'm not 86 and waiting for this thing to happen". So miserable was the evening that most rooftop seats across Waveland and Sheffield avenues went unclaimed. And obviously Kershaw is Kershaw. "We're not satisfied with what we did a year ago". Probable starters are John Lackey and Brendan McCarthy.

I can actually say there isn't a better team in baseball that win close games. "There is no sense of urgency, no numbers, no anything". "I had won this contest and... my jaw dropped, I couldn't believe it". That's just really as simple as my focus is right now.

Some of that noise to the side, though, might not have been completely unwelcome. The Cubs aren't the Lovable Losers anymore - and this ownership group has pulled this historic franchise out of the past with an eye toward winning for years to come.

The first of six "Movies in the Park" is scheduled for June 14, a showing of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". He is giving the Dodgers that rotation traction Roberts is looking for.