Infected
Somewhere along the way the Cubs contracted the "paralyzing suck" virus and it seemed to spread from one Cub to the next last night. I felt like I was watching 28 Days Later, just waiting for the Cubs fans at the park to start ripping each other apart. It started with Ryan Theriot, and not on that ill-advised bare-handed play. After Soriano singled and took second, Theriot flailed away looking thorougly overmatched by Chad Billingsley. What a fantastic time for a guy who hits the ball to the right side about 95% of the time to fail.
He sure made up for it later though when he attempted a bare-handed do-or-die play on a ball he should have probably have just gloved. I admit I stepped away for a second and only saw the back end of the replay. The Parachat crowd was 50/50 on whether Theriot would have even gotten Loney had he tried to field it cleanly, but nonetheless, it certainly wasn't a good play.
Next up was DeRosa, who turned two routine outs into none when he muffed an admittably hard-hit ball. Had he not been infected with "the paralyzing suck" virus, he might have realized he still had plenty of time to at least secure one out, but instead rushed his throw to still try and get a double play which was gone as soon as he didn't fieldl the ball cleanly.
Around the diamond it went and next up was Derrek Lee who did all he could to keep a hot smash in front of him, but unfortunately the "paralyzing suck" virus must mess with your equilibrium because he couldn't pick up where the ball went. And to complicate matters, Zambrano was a little late getting to the bag.
I think somewhere in that exchange, Zambrano caught it because a few hitters later, he left an absolute cookie up for Russell Martin that pretty much sucked the air right out of Wrigley.
Quick sidebar: That was just an absolutely fantastic drag bunt single by Furcal right before that. Hope Hendry can land him this time around in free agency.
Oh but, it wasn't done. Aramis booted a ball later in the game and the entire offense started hacking away down five runs rather than remain patient and try to chip away one run at a time. In the 7th, the virus spread to the dugout when Neal Cotts was brought in to face Andre Ethier and James Loney. Problem being with Bob Howry warmed up in the pen, Lou left Cotts out there to face Matt Kemp who predicatbly singled in a run. You ask, what's the difference between 6-0 and 7-0, I say a whole lot when you have as talented an offense as the Cubs do. They're in every game and the manager doesn't need to be giving up in the 7th inning.
By the 8th, Lou decides to go with his bullpen aces and they certainly weren't immune. Marmol gives up another two and Wood - in possibly his last game as a Cub in Wrigley - gives up one more. Everyone gets a ride on the "suck ass" carousel.
More ranting after the jump....
- Way to be a leader of the team, DeRosa...
Beforehand, Piniella was taken aback by second baseman Mark DeRosa saying the Cubs already were in a do-or-die situation. If that was the case, Piniella said, they might as well forfeit Game 3.
Piniella had a little talk with DeRosa and amplified his feelings afterward.
"And this is why I don't like talking about do-or-die things, and I heard that from a few of our players," he said. "I'll talk to them about it. This is not do-or-die. Actually, we're sending a pretty good pitcher out there on the mound in Los Angeles on Saturday in (Rich) Harden, and we're sending a darned good pitcher to the mound also on Sunday in (Ted) Lilly."
- Good to see the Cubs learned about being up front to their fans about injuries....
Multiple team sources confirmed Thursday that Harden received an anti-inflammatory shot for the discomfort that sidelined him for 12 days between his Aug. 29 and Sept. 11 starts.
It's not rare for pitchers to get anti-inflammatory injections, and insiders suggest it can be considered maintenance as much as injury relief for a pitcher with a history of problems but no structural damage.
- Alright, this curse shit is complete bullshit, but the last fucking thing anyone associated with the Cubs needs to be doing is perpetuating it. So a hardy fuck you to Crane Kenney:
The story began a couple days ago, when Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney left a message on Greanis’ voice mail to call him. Greanis thought his friends were playing a prank on him, but when he eventually got in contact with Kenney, he found out the reason for the call.
“He said, ‘I’m a devout Catholic, and I’m not superstitious, but if there is anything there, I want to take care of it,’” Greanis said Thursday.
The Billy Goat curse was placed on the Cubs in 1945 when Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis was denied entrance to a World Series game at Wrigley Field because he wanted to bring in his goat. The curse was immortalized in newspaper columns over the years, particularly by syndicated columnist Mike Royko, and gained widespread attention during the 2003 postseason when Fox played it up during the Cubs-Florida match-up in the National League Championship Series.
Kenney told Greanis that they wanted a Greek Orthodox priest to bless the dugout, since the alleged curse was placed by a Greek-American.
“I told him ‘I’m honored,’” Greanis said. “I said we’d bring some holy water and say a prayer. It’s not for ensuring the Cubs winning, but for being safe and protected. I’m a priest first, and a Cubs fan second. I don’t want anything to be mocked, and neither did Mr. Kenney.”
Greanis came to Wrigley on Wednesday well before the media was allowed inside the park. But a TBS cameraman setting up near the dugout saw the ritual and got some of it on tape. TBS then aired it during their pre-game show, ensuring it would get national publicity.
- However you feel about "The Sports Guy", Bill Simmons, his take on why this game means so much to many of us and why many of us take each and every loss so personally is about as spot-on as I've ever read:
The relationship between a fan and his baseball team is unlike anything else. If you love a team -- if you truly love it -- then that team infiltrates your daily life for six straight months (seven if you're lucky). You wake up, you shower, you eat, you work, you eat, you watch your baseball team, you sleep. When the Mets collapsed for the third straight season last week, my devastated friends who follow them all said the same thing: it wasn't losing again as much as reflecting on those 162 games and the hundreds of hours wasted along the way. They felt betrayed. Only baseball does that to you. It's a game of routine, of watching one at-bat after another, hoping something different happens, of relishing the little things that happen along the way. You don't know your favorite players personally, but you feel like you do
- I'll have the "pleasure" of being there for Games 3 and a possible Game 4. Sort of like the pleasure of contracting genital herpes.
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