The Last Cubs Game

After the Cubs finally won a game in the NLCS against the Dodgers at Wrigley, hope sprung eternal in this Cubs fan. Sure the odds of coming back from a 3-1 deficit was daunting, but I had to get to Wrigley for game 5.  This would either be the Cubs last game of the season, last game at Wrigley, and last game  as defending World Champions, or it would give us momentum and a more realistic hope at 3-2 to fight our way back to the World Series. I mean, after that crazy game 5 against the Nats, anything seems possible.

The commute was a little tough, as noted in my Facebook post:


My brother Harlan found us a great deal on tickets...

 ... and my sister Wendy picked me up at Ohare.

 I needed some basic sustenance and grabbed a Chicago Dog at the airport  to maintain my strength as Wendy fought through traffic.

We got to Wrigley by game time, but Quintana was already pitching as we waited in line to get through the gate.

The seats on row four of the right field line were great ...

...but by the time we sat down, the Cubs were losing. By the time I finished my first beer, Quintana was out of the game. By the time I located the Italian beef stand, the game was out of hand.  On the plus side, we found cousins Daniel and Hannah at the game.

We had a fun time chatting and generally ignoring the on-going disaster on the field. Look,  I spent a lot of years watching terrible Cubs teams lose while still enjoying the ambiance of Wrigley Field, so I cannot say this feeling was unfamiliar to me.  I'd like to say it is more tolerable to watch a very good team like this lose, but I'm not so sure. In the old days, my expectations going into the park were quite a bit lower.

I guess I need to wrap this up with the game itself, and lets give the Dodgers their due with coverage from the LA Times:

"Dodgers crush Cubs in Game 5 to advance to the World Series for first time since 1988

Kershaw looked formidable from the start. He snapped a pair of curveballs to fan Cubs outfielder Albert Almora, Jr. His fastball touched 96 mph. He ended the inning with groundouts from third baseman Kris Bryant and first baseman Anthony Rizzo, the neutralized heart of the opposing lineup. 

When Kershaw retook the mound in the second, his lead had doubled. Hernandez blitzed Quintana for a first-pitch, solo homer. An inning later, the Dodgers forced Quintana off the mound with the bases loaded. Maddon opened up his bullpen, a group of relievers as volatile as nitroglycerine in the sun, and watched Hector Rondon hang a slider to Hernandez, who pumped his fist as the baseball landed in the basket above the ivy 

The slam freed Kershaw to attack the Cubs. A seven-run lead expanded to nine in the fourth, after Logan Forsythe stroked a two-run double. Kershaw’s bid for a no-hitter ended when Bryant hit a solo homer in the fourth. He did not permit another Cub to reach second base."

So it goes. I attended two Cub games this year, one at ATT Park, and this game at Wrigley. I am 0-2 on the season. Still, I can't complain. This was the best 3 year streak of my life as Cubs fan. Three division championships. three National League Championship Series, and a World Series.  I am sure there will be changes to the team before Spring Training but at this point I am happy to #TrustTheo. We'll see a familiar but different team on the field again in 2018. We can expect some of our favorites will be playing in other uniforms, and we'll have some new stars on the field. With this front office, we can also expect to see another contender playing quality baseball. 

Wait'll next year. 

Cubs vs Giants at ATT Park

The World Champion Chicago Cubs are in first place in their division and in town to play a 3 game series against the Giants - who are currently 25 games below .500 and 35 games behind the division leading L.A. Dodgers. But, that does not tell the whole story. The Cubs just lost the two previous series in Wrigley field and, like most Cub fans - I am seriously angst ridden about the way they are playing in 2017:


The Cubs weren't playing at home when I was in Chicago last spring, and I won't be back to Chicago until late October. Unless they are playing in the World Series, this may be my only chance to see them play this year. The Cubs won Monday night, amid the hoopla about Barry Bonds breaking the all-time home run record 10 years before. That brought back memories, as I was at the park that night in 2007:

Roy and I decided to go the Wednesday game. It was an afternoon game and, after the Cubs lost on Tuesday,  the rubber match of the series.

The Arcade Section - Between the Field and The Bay

ATT is a great baseball park to watch a game. Probably the 2nd or 3rd best park in the country behind Wrigley Field. It's in the City, so I can walk the 4 miles from Russian Hill to proactively work off the over-priced beer and food I would indulge in the park.  Got the tickets on GameTime at 50% off of face, met Roy at MoMo's for a beer and went in to watch the Cubs lose yet another series.

They're still in first, but I have my doubt whether they'll still be playing late October. Unhappy outcome but a fun outing. Some pics from the day:

A foggy morning to start the walk from Russian Hill

Stopped to watch this guy catch a monster ray fishing along the Embarcadero

I have some video footage of that amazing catch, which I'll post later. 

Then on to MoMos to meet Roy for a a pregame beer or two.

And into the Park:

 We sat in the Arcade Section. It's the closest thing to being in the Left Field Bleacher in Wrigley.

No Chicago Style Italian Beefs, but Cheesesteak was an acceptable substitute.

It didn't turn out the way I hoped. 

I hate having to explain a Cubs loss to Giants Fans.

Pence goes deep, Bumgarner puts in quality start, Giants beat Cubs

"Hunter Pence played 42 home games this season before launching a home run. After Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants right fielder has hit two in his last four starts. His eighth-inning, opposite-field shot gave the home team an insurance run in its 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the series finale from AT&T Park. It also allowed starter Madison Bumgarner to breathe a little easier from the bench after submitting a quality start over seven innings. Bumgarner’s win wasn’t secure for most of the game."

#ThatsCub\- at least so far in 2017. 

Wait 'til next year.

 I see blue people 

I have attended an ecstatic city wide World Series celebration. Unfortunately it was here in my adopted home of San Francisco instead of where I left my sporting heart in Chicago. It was amazing, but pales in comparison to the "Cubstock" World Series celebration in Chicago today. I had to be satisfied with watching the wall-to-wall coverage on MLB, ESPN, and WGN networks. There is no way to improve on the superlatives and emotions on display, so I won't try. Everyone, from the people on the streets of Chicago, to the crusty "seen it all" baseball correspondents weeping openly on air and in print felt the magic. Let's just state the obvious and move on:

This was the greatest celebration, in honor of the greatest team, playing the greatest game, in the greatest championship series of the greatest season of the greatest sport in the history of this or any universe since the beginning of time. 

There were just too many story lines to count: The 108 year Chicago Cubs drought vs the 68 year Cleveland Indian drought; Cubs come back from 1-3 deficit to force game 7, Retiring David Ross hitting two home runs in the World Series, including a crucial blow in Game 7; Cubs first losing to, then beating the Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in the NLDS, Dodger's ace Clayton Kershaw in the NLCS, and Indians ace Corey Kluber in the World Series; The extra inning rain delay clubhouse meeting led by Jason Heyward, the double plays by Russell to Baez to Rizzo that won the NL Pennant invoking the  1908 Cubs infield of Tinker to Evers to Chance; The Rickets / Epstein / Maddon rebuilding; Addison Russell's grand slam; Montero's pinch hit grand slam and crucial game 7 hit; The Schwarber comeback; Series MVP Zobrist's back-to-back World Series; Bryant's MVP base running and fielding and hitting - it just goes on and on.

With the media saturation over the last couple days, you'd think the networks had every story covered. But there may be one story that they missed - the goat.  What happened to the goat?  I'll get back to that. But first, there is one other story line that I'd like to kill right now.

Please! Please! Please! Spare me the Cubs "lovable loser", "loss of identity", "who are we now" happy horseshit. I don't care how many sappy, pseudo-intellectual, navel-gazing, melancholic, self-identified Cubs fans spouting psycho-babble about loss of identity you can find. I mean, what is wrong with you people? Just STFU! I don't want to hear this crap. I cut high school to sit in the left field bleachers in 1969, sat in Candlestick Park when Will Clark single-handedly beat the Cubs in the 1989 NLCS Series, and watched in stunned silence after the Bartman Ball in 2003. I won't miss or be nostalgic for one second of being a "lovable loser."

I'll tell you our identity. We are obnoxious winners. As Chicago sports fans we've been there before. 1991-1998 Chicago Bulls. Six championships in seven years. Two three-peats. Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen. Dennis Rodman. Steve Kerr. Their dominance in the sport was hated by fans in every other NBA city. We reveled in grinding any spark of joy or hope out of the heart of every other team. Los Angeles Lakers. Seattle Supersonics. Portland Trailblazers. Utah Jazz. Detroit Pistons. New York Knicks. All great teams. We sneered at their futility and laughed at the despair of their fans. Ahh. The good old days. Does anyone think that those Chicago Bulls fans then were a completely different group of people than Chicago Cubs fans now? Does anyone think those fans just went away? If you're not sure, just check any on-line discussion about who was the greatest NBA player - Jordan or James? Jordan or Curry? Jordan or Bryant? I rest my case.

This is who we are as Cubs fans. We have the youngest team in baseball with the best hitters, best pitchers, best fielders, best manager, best front office, best owner and best ballpark. Bar none. There is no weakness on this team. We deserve a dynasty, and with this line-up we'll get one.That is our identity. We don't want to be loved. We want to be hated for our greatness.


The only thing left to say at this point: Wait 'till next year. 

So - If you want to look for lovable losers searching for identity, look elsewhere. You might try Cleveland. It's pretty clear that the "goat" has found a new home. I mean - look at these idiots:

They actually brought a goat dressed in Cleveland colors to the ballpark. What were they thinking? Do they not understand how curses work? Did they not notice that the goat of the "Billygoat Curse" was actually the mascot for the Chicago Cubs dressed in Cub colors and denied entrance to the gates of Wrigley Field? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!  Excuse me. Did I accidentally ALL CAP that derisive laughter? Sorry.

C'mon. None of us really believe in that superstitious nonsense. But still, does it not seem a little odd that in the top of the very first inning of the Cubs return to Progressive Field in Game 6 - this happened:

Look. I am not saying that the Billygoat Curse has relocated to Progressive Field.

Oh wait... That's exactly what I am saying. I just wouldn't want anyone in Cleveland to get the idea that I would be deliberately spreading that superstition. I am sure everything will be just fine for the Cleveland Indians over the next century.

Really.

You might even enjoy that "lovable loser" thing.

My only other counsel after that heart wrenching loss... Wait 'till next year. 

On the Cubs, World Series, and moving from... Tinkers to Evers to Chance - to - Russell to Baez to Rizzo.

Cubs 2016 Pennant Winning Infield: Russell, Baez, Rizzo, Bryant

Today the Cubs play the first game of the World Series. I'll spare the reader the usual tales of woe endemic to lifelong Cubs fan. You can find that elsewhere on this blog.  Today we celebrate.

Regardless of how this series turns out, regardless of whether the Cubs win the World Series in four games or five, today we enjoy the moment. I can finally say I saw the Cubs win the pennant and play in a World Series in my lifetime. This is an emotional moment for all loyal Cub fans we react in different ways.  We all cheer. Bill Murray cried. I have been moved to verse. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, for context, a look back.

Fans watch Cub v Giants in Polo Field from Coogans Bluff - 9/23/1908

We've all heard, ad nauseum, about  the 108 years of frustration and futility since the last Cubs championship in 1908. That Chicago Cub team and the infamous 1908 pennant run against the New York Giants are legendary in baseball lore. It rated a full chapter in Jim Rasenberger's book "America 1908", right alongside Henry Ford rolling out the first Model T, Robert Peary's race to the pole, and the Wright brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk.

The 1908 Cubs were a championship team playing in a series that inspired some of the most colorful names and notorious events in the history of the game. Among the players - Christy "Big Six" Mathewson, Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Fred "Bonehead" Merkle, and of course the legendary Cubs infield of Tinker,  Evers and Chance.

(Cubs 1908 Pennant Winning Infield: Steinfeldt, Tinker, Evers, Chance)

Hat tip to Cub fan and blogger Aslam, who found the photo, and has the story:

"Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were the Cubs’ shortstop, second baseman, and first basemen respectively. Along with Harry Steinfeldt, they were one of the best infield sets to ever step on the diamond. All four were great hitters, but they have been remembered in history for their defensive prowess. This infield combination was immortalized in a poem by Franklin Pierce Adams, a Giants fan (the Cubs’ biggest rivals at the time). The poem is entitled... 

Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.  

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double –
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Unfortunately, this ode to the double-play left out Steinfeldt, who by the numbers has as much of a right to the Hall of Fame as Tinker or Evers. Baseball-statistics.com lists the 1908 Cubs infield as the second best in league history..."

After watching the Cubs win the pennant against the Dodgers with sparkling double play after sparking double play - including the gem that finished the game and series  - Russell to Baez to Rizzo in this 9th inning double play ....


... I decided it's time to update the most famous baseball stanza ever.

And this was before they added Baez...

1st Inning Double Play

With apologies to Franklin Pierce Adams, my new improved 2016 version:

Chicago's Happy Lexicon 

These are the happiest of possible words:
"Russell to Baez to Rizzo."
Unless it's the trio that often is heard,
Baez to Zobrist to Rizzo.
Ruthlessly defending day after day,
Fielding and throwing insane double plays ...
Oh wait!! Sometimes THIS trio makes them all pay:
"Russell to Baez to Bryant."

Play ball.

---------------------------------

How about a 2017 update? April 10, 2017 - Home Opener / Raise the Banner.

Bottom of the 7th. Cubs leading 2-1 against the Dodgers. Grimm in relief with bases loaded and nobody out. Pederson flies out. Toles to the plate - then this:

Chicago's Happy Lexicon 

These are the happiest of possible words:
"Russell to Baez to Rizzo."
Unless it's the trio that often is heard,
Baez to Zobrist to Rizzo.
Ruthlessly defending day after day,
Fielding and throwing insane double plays ...
Oh wait!! Sometimes THIS trio makes them all pay:
"Baez to Russell to Rizzo."

Cubs vs. Kershaw - National League Championship Series

Drove back from the Upper Peninsula on Friday. On Sunday we are at Wrigley Field for Game 2 of the National League Championship Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ticket prices in the lead-up to the NLCS were, of course, insane. This guy had some good advice on his blog:

"Interested in going to NLCS Game 2? I think you are in luck (relatively speaking). Since there are almost 6,000 tickets available, it is a Sunday, and with a slightly iffy weather forecast, there is a strong possibility tickets will decrease from their current pricing. See below for some recent observations made at two different times Friday."

It was good advice, but I didn't take it. As soon as game 1 ended, I was on Stub Hub getting bleacher tickets. I wasn't going to be in Chicago for the World Series, this was as close as I was going to get. The atmosphere around the park was electric.

 

The bleachers are the best place to watch a game in Wrigley.

My facebook update...


The game itself, not so good. Hendricks was great, but Kershaw was untouchable. Adrian Gonzalez' home run in the 2nd was the only run of  the game. It landed one section away from us in the left center bleachers:

Cubs Dodgers split 1-1 after the first two games of the NLCS in Wrigley.

Cubs shut out by Dodgers 1-0 in Game 2

"Clayton Kershaw came to the Dodgers’ rescue. Pitching on two days’ rest, Kershaw shut down the Cubs during a 1-0 victory by the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night at Wrigley Field....The Dodgers got all the offense they needed on a second-inning solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez. From there it was all Kershaw, who out-dueled Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks went 5 1/3 and yielded the one run on three hits while walking four and striking out five."

Nobody said this was going to be easy.

Wrigley Field Bleachers - Cubs vs. Padres

A Hot Doug "Carmen Fanzone" spicy Vienna style Polish sausage

In the Temple.

Under the new scoreboard in Center field bleachers with Harlan and Jonah.

Hoping the rain holds off. So far, so good. Lester had a no-hitter intact thru 2. Looks like the Cubs will be playing "Screw the Closer" again tonight..

"CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs hitters really mean no offense to their closer, Hector Rondon. They simply want to add on runs and win baseball games without a nail-biting ninth inning. In that vein, they play a game catcher David Ross brought to the team.

"When you're on the bench and you're up three runs, two runs, whatever, we have a game we call Screw the Closer," Ross explained, laughing and admitting 'screw' isn't the word the players actually use. "We want to score more so he doesn't get the save."

UPDATE: As I have an early start for Honor Flight Chicago in the morning, we left early with the game well in hand. Or so we thought. 

There was a lot of late inning drama in this game.

 I don't like late-inning drama. Too stressful. 

Nice win though.

PADRES: Cubs hold on, despite Dickerson's pinch-hit grand slam

"Ben Zobrist went 4 for 4, Addison Russell had three RBIs and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 8-7 on Tuesday night for their eighth straight win.

Jon Lester (4-1) pitched six innings of three-run ball as Chicago improved to 25-6 for the best start by a major league team since the 1984 Detroit Tigers won 26 of their first 31 games. Kris Bryant drove in two runs and Jason Heyward scored twice to help the Cubs.

Alex Dickerson became the first player in Padres history with a pinch-hit grand slam for his first career homer, according to STATS, but San Diego lost its third consecutive game. Melvin Upton Jr. also went deep for the Padres, and Jose Pirela had two hits and scored two runs.

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