It wasn't quite a rain delay before extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series, but the Cubs had another crucial team meeting last week and they've once again found immediate success after.
Prior to the final game on an 0-6 road trip, the Cubs players all got together in San Diego and hashed some things out.
Of course, the Cubs wound up losing to the Padres that day, but they've since stopped the bleeding and put the finishing touches on a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday night at Wrigley Field.
"We just talked," Kyle Hendricks said. "It was good stuff, just getting back to focusing on what we do. Inside the clubhouse, focusing on the guys and playing the game."
Jason Heyward was the leader of that now-famous Game 7 weight room meeting. He downplayed the San Diego meeting as standard regular maintenance.
"We're not gonna dwell on it," Heyward said. "It's just checking in. You gotta check in. You gotta be on the same page, regardless of how things are going.
"That's something we're going to continue to get better at and do a great job of. Not to say it's a lack of this and that. It's just nice to be on the same page. It's nice to hear how everybody's doing.
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"Everybody just kinda saying whatever you need to say. If you feel like you need to say something, voice it. You just want to hear each other. You just want to check in and say, 'Hey, what we got, guys?'
"... Regardless of what our coaches tell us, regardless of whatever kind of work you put in, if you're not on the same page as a team, you're not gonna go anywhere."
The Cubs scored just nine runs in six games on the road trip, but put up 15 on the board in three games against St. Louis over the weekend.
One of the main issues on the West Coast last week was a lack of timely hitting, but the Cubs went 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position Sunday night, including Ian Happ's three-run homer in the fourth inning and pinch-hits from Albert Almora Jr. (third inning) and the game-winner from Jon Jay (seventh inning).
"It's always good to just slow things down and just talk," Jay said. "That's what we did — slowed things down, talked a little bit and just reminded ourselves how good we really are.
"You look around, you look at a lot of guys' baseball cards here. They've done a lot of good things. The younger guys, they've done stuff and they're gonna continue to get better. That's kind of how the season is. There's 162 games for a reason."
Jay also downplayed the meeting as "nothing big. Just reminding ourselves what we really can do. We all have each other's backs."
Prior to Sunday's game, Joe Maddon spoke about how he stands on the top step in the dugout every night to get a feel for his players.
And the Cubs manager noticed a difference in his team this weekend at Wrigley Field compared to the West Coast trip, citing a certain "believability" that has returned.
Hendricks has noticed the same thing.
"There has been a little mindset change," Hendricks said. "I don't know what to attribute it to, honestly. The guys kinda got together and talked amongst ourselves. Maybe it's just that team confidence that's back.
"Everybody's just a little bit more relaxed, focused on ourselves and what we're doing moreso than what's coming from the outside. It's just what we needed to get back to — playing our brand of baseball."