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A blockbuster movie four decades ago sparked the “Cub-busters” T-shirt that seemingly every Padres fan purchased during the 1984 postseason.
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Forty-two years later, the shirts could still be spotted amid a sea of brown and gold jerseys during Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Padres’ NL Wild Card series against the Cubs. The shirts were seen in those moments, that is, when fans stopped waving their gold “For the Faithful” rally towels.
The “Cub-busters” shirts borrowed from the “Ghostbusters” movie that captivated the country during the summer of 1984. Combined with a lyrical change to the movie’s equally popular theme song – “I ain’t ‘fraid of no Cubs” – it was a local phenomenon that lives on today.
Padres organist Bobby Cressey played the “Ghostbusters” theme song in the hour leading up to first pitch against the Cubs. A Padres fan was shown on the video board holding a Cub-busters poster moments before Michael King delivered a strike to Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong to start the game.
All well and good, but it’s the shirts that really tie together generations of Padres fans. They featured a cartoon bear cub wearing a glove but dropping a ball. A red circle with a line through it surrounds the cub. It reads “Padres Cub-busters” above the picture and “N.L. Championship Playoffs 1984” below it.
Chris Ello, co-host of “Gwynn & Chris” on 97.3-FM, was at Baja Rick’s Cantina in the Gaslamp District for Tuesday afternoon’s show.
Looking out among the fans soaking up some suds before the game, Ello noticed a woman in a Cub-busters shirt. He marveled at how well preserved the shirt looked.
“They just made stuff better back then,” the woman told him.
There was something of a rivalry between the Cubs and Padres back then. Or at least a few memorable moments. And it went beyond the Padres’ stirring comeback from an 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series.
Three years after the postseason get-together, the teams were involved in a dust-up when Padres pitcher Eric Show hit Cubs slugger Andre Dawson in the face with a pitch. Both benches emptied after the incident.
One inning later, a Cubs rookie pitcher named Greg Maddux hit Padres catcher Benito Santiago in the back pocket with a pitch. Santiago took a few steps toward the mound and the benches emptied once again.
In 1993, Mark Grace hit for the cycle against the Padres. Were the Padres upset? Perhaps the saving grace was that the Cubs first baseman played for San Diego State.
In 1998, Tony Gwynn went 5-for-5 against the Cubs, who treated him with the respect due a future Hall of Famer.
Cub-busters shirts would be substantially more plentiful had Major League Baseball not stepped in and prevented the Padres from offering the shirts as a 2018 giveaway.
Two explanations were offered at the time: Either there was a potential copyright issue, or they didn’t want to offend all the Cubs fans who were going to be in attendance at the game. A “Trevor Time” shirt honoring Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman was given away instead.
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Emotions were renewed last year, when the teams met in the NL Wild Card Series played at Wrigley Field.
Bygones were seemingly bygones by then. After all, nine years had passed since the Cubs got rid of their ghosts by winning the 2016 World Series.
Cubs fans were easily triggered before that.
One example came when East County resident Rick Romero, better known as @RJsFro on social media, was detained during a layover at a Chicago airport
“I was backpacking in Europe for about three weeks,” Romero said. “We were finally coming home, so the clean clothes were limited and, honestly, I didn’t even give it a second thought to wear my Cub-busters shirt in Chicago before heading home to San Diego.
“My wife went through customs without any issues. I followed, and the guy kind of made a playoff remark about that series being heartbreaking for him. I slightly chuckled along with him.”
That’s when another airport employee walked up to Romero, pointed at him and then took him to a holding area.
“I sat there for at least an hour or so and almost missed my connecting flight home,” Romero said. “I never ran so fast in my life (to catch a plane). This was July of 2016 – before the Cubs won it all that year – so the pain ran deep with that guy.”
Joy runs across generations with the Cub-busters shirts.
An hour before first pitch, Mollie Kirkpatrick was with her husband Michael inside The Loft at the Western Metal Supply Co. Building. They were playing shuffleboard. Mollie was wearing a Cub-busters shirt.
“This shirt is older than me,” she said. “It’s my dad’s shirt, and every time the Padres play the Cubs, I wear it.”
Mollie assumed ownership of the shirt when her dad grew out of it.
“When he stopped fitting into it, he gave it to me,” she said.
Mollie has a special connection to the Padres dating back to 1989. Her parents were longtime season-ticket holders who brought Mollie to her first game when she was one month old.
“I don’t think you’re allowed to do that anymore,” she said. “Actually, I have a one-month-old. And I just decided with my husband that if we make the World Series, our son, his first game will be a World Series game.”
Mollie’s father died in December, so coming to Tuesday night’s opening game of the postseason made the night more emotional than normal.
It was obvious, though, that there was no place she’d rather be on this night – wearing this shirt.
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This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 8:41 PM.