1989 was a season we all remember fondly... well, that is, until the Cubs headed to San Francisco with the NLCS tied at one game each.

This game was against the hated Mets; the NL East standings of the contenders before this game began were:

Cubs 77-60
StL  75-61
Mon  73-64
NYM  72-64

It was nervous time. And this game didn't help.

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The photo attached to this post is partly in honor of celebrating New Year's Eve tonight, and partly to tell you where the Cubs played on July 4, 1986. (If you don't recognize the stadium, you'll have to look after the jump for the answer.)

About the game itself... well, you'll just have to keep reading.

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In the last of this three-part interview with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, we cover various topics including ticket prices, the policy on rainouts, Carlos Zambrano, the overall baseball budget, Dale Sveum, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade and more.

Note: this interview was conducted before the details of the new MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement were made public -- at the time, Tom Ricketts didn't have any information on the new draft rules so he didn't want to make any comment on them, but I included that in this transcript to note that I did ask about it.

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In the second part of my wide-ranging interview with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, he addresses the needed renovations to Wrigley Field, plans for building on the triangle property adjacent to the ballpark, and plans for the new spring training complex to be built in Mesa, Arizona.

Note: this interview was conducted before the Cubs' recent purchase of the McDonald's property across Clark Street from Wrigley Field, so that topic wasn't available to be addressed at the time I spoke with him.

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In yet another "buy low" move, the Cubs have signed former Rays righthander Andy Sonnanstine to a non-guaranteed split contract -- i.e. he'll make more if he makes the major league team.

Sonnanstine looked promising in his first two seasons with the Rays, particularly in 2008 when he posted a 101 ERA+ and had an excellent walk ratio of 1.7 per nine innings and had two good starts for the Rays in the 2008 postseason. But he has regressed the last three years, was banished to the Rays' bullpen and spent much of 2011 at Triple-A Durham.

Sonnanstine will be 29 in March. He's a reclamation project, but at that age he's got a much better chance to be productive than the retreads (Doug Davis, Ramon Ortiz, Rodrigo Lopez) that Jim Hendry signed last year. Theo Epstein is certainly familiar with Sonnanstine because of their time together in the AL East; I'm all for signings like this. In fact, one pitcher like that who I'd really like to see the Cubs give a NRI to is Scott Kazmir. Maybe Kazmir is done, as some here said last year. But maybe the Cubs can reclaim him, too; he's lefthanded and just 28 years old next month.

The Cubs today also officially announced the signing of right-handed former Rockies reliever Manny Corpas to a similar, non-guaranteed split contract.

Recently, I had a chance to sit down with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts for another wide ranging interview, covering topics from the hiring of Theo Epstein, to ticket sales, to the Triangle Building and Wrigley Field, and a number of other topics.

This interview will run in three parts, today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Today's installment has to do with the process of getting Theo Epstein to Chicago to become the team's president of baseball operations, what the new position is all about, and what that means to Crane Kenney's position as president of business operations.

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Have a wonderful holiday. And may we receive, soon, what we've all been dreaming of -- one of these, with a Cubs logo on it.