Not only for what he did to Chapman, but what he did to Hendricks and Lester. IMHO, if Hendricks had finished that inning, no wild pitch, no two runs, and Hendricks would have been the winning pitcher.Originally Posted by Rocker Ute
Same with Arietta the night before.
As Thomas Boswell wrote, what Maddon did will be forgiven but not forgotten.
Last edited by concerned; 11-03-2016 at 08:48 AM.
Had the Cubs lost there would have been lots of second guessing of both Maddon and the players. The handling of the pitchers in both of the last two games as well as the fact that the Cubs were shaky in the in field all night long. Uncharacteristic errors and mis-plays by Baez and Russell, the whole scenario in the 5th with the swinging bunt, errant throw to first, wild pitch that all gifted Cleveland two runs without the ball leaving the infield. Even in the 10th the Cubs had scored two but still had bases loaded and only one out and couldn't get any more. Had they lost the talk of choking and curses and managerial errors would have been very loud.
But it was a great team win. Every Cub that played contributed something significant, all the way down to Almora and Montero coming through in the 10th. Even Chapman who was almost the goat did bounce back to pitch a clean 9th, which was huge.
Last night I took a minute to read several posts off the first page of this thread, started in February 2013. We've come a long, long way since then.
Chris Berman summed up last night's win best.
https://twitter.com/OldRowKoozie/sta...66322166403073
The thin line between goat and genius.
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
It was a good series, and a GREAT Game 7 - probably the best World Series game in 15 years (I consider the 2001 WS Game 7 the best game of my lifetime- hardly a comprehensive approach to baseball history, but whatever).
The thing that started to get to me during the rain delay was how baseball blew a chance to showcase itself to the nation. Its championship game went down to the wire - past the wire, actually - and casual fans & kids were fast asleep by the time Zobrist hit home the winning run in the 10th.
A championship game with its climax coming after midnight on a rainy November Wednesday night in Cleveland? Are you kidding me?
Get better, MLB.
σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ Ἑλλὰς πάντα.
-- Flavius Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 1.35.2.
For every sports fan this has a special place. In the really old days of cable one of the few channels was WGN. Back then, Cubs only played during the day. If you were sick, sluffing school, or just laying around, the Cubs were always on. . It was always fascinating to see guys sitting on chairs on top of their buildings watching the afternoon game. Although the Cubs weren't my favorite team, Ryne Sandberg was one of my favorite players. And Harry Caray was so goofy that he was entertaining.
My first chance to go to Wrigley was in 2010. it was an afternoon game. Driving up to the Stadium for me was like driving through Sugar House and there, in the middle, was Wrigley. It's just a neighborhood. At that time, the only beer they were serving was Old Style--just like the John Hughes movies of the 80s. It was magical. It's the greatest baseball Stadium in the world, bar none. I tell people if you love baseball, visiting Wrigley is like dying and going to heaven. And, if you don't care for baseball, you'll love visiting Wrigley. The day I visited, my son was participating in an AAU basketball tournament the next day. They lost early that day. The first thing he said to me after the last game was "dad can we go back to Wrigley tomorrow?" We did.
I'm happy for Cubs fans.
Same with me. Our whole family saw the Cubs play the Mets in July; Lester pitched and Rizzo hit the game winning homer. None of us had been to Wrigley before. the game started at 6 pm, which was perfect. The sun was shining for about the first 5 innings and then the lights came on. We sung go Cubs Go with gusto and all bought hats or shirts. I tell my kids they will remember for the rest of their lives that they attended their first Cubs game the year they broke the curse. I hope it is special for them forever.
Maybe this isn't the time for my suggestions on how to make baseball better and more accessible by the average fan.
What the hell? Wrigley Stadium has lights?
(I kid - but only a little bit)
σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ Ἑλλὰς πάντα.
-- Flavius Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 1.35.2.
On the ticket, it says you are required to turn on the light on your phone and shine it in the direction of the field.
Speaking of lights at Wrigley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tm3GFcPZQo
My wife is a bigger Cubs fan than me. Our first three dates were games at Wrigley- her choice. This last week I learned that she is also a scarier, more demented sports fan than me, and that if the Cubs go to the WS next year I'm just buying her a flight and tickets and praying for the person who sits next to her.
i'm also now terrified of going to te Utah-Butler game with her (her alma mater).
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote