The year in Cubs quotes: Was 2022 just a preview of things to come?

“Need to address the double birds first,” Cubs manager David Ross said before a reporter could even ask the first question in his pregame media briefing July 29 in San Francisco. The night before, the Marquee Sports Network game broadcast cut to the standard establishing shot of the manager standing in the dugout. Except this time, Ross saluted ex-Cub/Giants outfielder Joc Pederson with an inside joke and raised both of his middle fingers.

“I’m sorry, first of all,” Ross said. “It was kind of my hello to a friend of mine on the other side. I should definitely know better. I don’t want any kids out there giving the birds to anybody. That’s not the way I want to represent this organization or myself or my family. Yeah, poor taste. Sorry it got caught on TV.”

That moment became the perfect GIF for a team that was buried in the National League Central and bracing for another sell-off at the trade deadline. It was also sort of refreshing to see a reaction that went off-script from the talking points that the modern manager has to follow while collaborating with the front office, fulfilling obligations to the team-owned network and trying to avoid any kind of controversy that might cause blowback in the clubhouse or on social media.

After all the rumors on Twitter — and stealth negotiations that advanced to the point of Astros owner Jim Crane spiking a deal for Willson Contreras — Cubs president Jed Hoyer did not trade the All-Star catcher at the Aug. 2 deadline. The post-deadline crash didn’t happen, either, as the Cubs finished with a 39-31 record after the All-Star break that reflected well on Ross and his coaching staff and certain initiatives within Hoyer’s baseball operations department. Pederson praised Ross as a good communicator — “he was just making a joke” — and later recommended Chicago as a destination for free agent Dansby Swanson.

Dansby Swanson’s signing helped the Cubs end the year on a high note. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

A year that began with the silence from Major League Baseball’s lockout ended with the statement signing of Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million contract. If the Cubs do turn the corner next year, then 2022 will be given the hagiographic treatment, idealized alongside the 2014 season. But that’s never how it’s experienced in real time. There’s nowhere to hide for the full 162-game schedule, which allows for surprises, disappointments and personalities to emerge. Here’s a look back — in their own words — on the good, the bad and the double birds.

“No, there haven’t been any talks.” — Contreras, in his 14th year in the Cubs organization, seeing free agency as a potential “dream come true,” March 13.

“Mike Trout, I love you.” — Seiya Suzuki, explaining why he chose 27 for his jersey number (after getting $85 million guaranteed before his first major-league at-bat), March 18.

“The way everyone talked about playing at…