Cubby-Blue

Epilogue 2007: The Judge

I’ll be honest with you.
Had The Judge not been in the baggie in Ben’s pocket at the last game, I probably would have left early.
I was at the last game of 2003, and the weird sight of the Marlins all hugging each other on the Wrigley Field infield after winning the NLCS is a memory I wish I didn’t have.
So after watching Chris Young circle the bases after his homer on the first pitch of the game, I damn near bolted.
But I didn’t.
And when it was over, we all sat there and watched the weird sight of the Diamondbacks all hugging each other on the Wrigley Field infield…

Then, it really was time to spread the judge.
The crowd was oddly quiet as they filed out and we passed them, going upstream, back into the park.
Not exactly sure about any rules, but certainly this was an odd thing to do, so we were secretive.
Ben had ingeniously put The Judge into the remaining beer in his cup, and the ruse would be he just “spilled a beer” onto the field.
“Great solution!” I almost said, but we were suddenly serious and…that was stupid anyway.
So we got to the corner seats down the right field line.
There were a couple guys in Cub jerseys still in that corner, and on the field the Andy Frain guys were standing about every 30 feet or so, keeping people from running onto the field.
I pretended I was taking Ben’s photo.
“Put your beer on the wall there, Ben.” I said.
Which he did and, after a minute, “spilled” the beer over the wall.
Suddenly somebody yelled “Hey!” behind me.
Scared the crap out of me.
“You guys want me to take your picture?”
It was one of the guys in Cub jerseys, and I don’t know why but I said something like this: “Uhh, no! We just did something secret that no one will ever know about.”
(What?)
Cub Jersey Guy gets this weird look on his face and says, “Did you guys just…” and as he asks the question he pulls a baggie out of his shirt with someone’s cremated ashes in it.
“We’ve been waiting for the right time,” he whispered.
It was a head-spinning moment.
Suddenly he opens the bag and waves it like a beach towel – with real big motions as whoever that was went over the wall.
I began to laugh hysterically as the Cub Jersey guys and Ben all shook hands.
Then, we walked out.
So that’s how the 2007 Cub season ended for us, with membership into some odd secret society.
But I thought it was a nice way for The Judge to go out, and a nice burial to this year’s playoffs.
Next year will truly be a fresh start.
I can't wait.

ps: Did you see Boston last night? I thought CC Sabathia was supposed to be good. Instead, he was just fat. But Boston is a true monster of a team. The bats of Manny and Pappi and the arm of Josh Beckett are sort of insurmountable. Boston 10, Cleveland 3. Good god! They say anything can happen on the field, which is true, but maybe the Cubs dropping out of the playoffs isn't such a bad thing...this year.

Welcome to Chicago, Lou

There’s no real story here.
Just how I feel about the piling-on of Lou during the NLDS.

So...Brandon Webb.
Not so effective against that hot Rockies team last night.
Colorado 5, Arizona 1, and the Rockies have now won 18 of their last 19.
We missed it.
It was "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" night at our house.

George Steinbrenner Is A Giant...Male...Chicken

I don't live in New York, but no matter - I still get a big dose of George pretty much guaranteed every year. When I heard that he threatened to fire Joe Torre if he didn't get to the World Series, I just had to scratch my head.
If you're the owner of a team, why would you do that to them?
Why would you publicly put out that message in the middle of a division series?
I'll tell you why...oh wait, I already did (that would be the painting above).

Earlier this year, I got to go to Yankee Stadium for a game.
I knew it was hot out, but I forgot my hat.
So we get to the game, it's awesome, the old stadium truly gives you baseball goosebumps...but my head was burning up.
I walk around the inside, the hallways are claustrophobic and there are like, holes or dents in the wall where a bar would appear or some vendor would be, and finally I find a big place that sells souvenirs.
There are a million hats, all Yankees of course, and there was only one kind I would wear which was a fitted hat, black with the white NY or a black, raised NY.
Thirty five...no I think it was forty bucks.
So now I've got a Yankee hat and I'm standing in line missing the game for 15 minutes and just before I get to the counter I suddenly think, "Wait just a minute..."
What am I doing?
I'm paying forty bucks to wear a hat for another hour and a half and then...what?
I'll NEVER wear this thing again...it's a freaking YANKEE HAT - EWWWW!
AND I am NOT giving FORTY BUCKS to GEORGE FREAKING STEINBRENNER!
So there you go, George.
I know he's too nice a guy, but I do hope that some day old Joe Torre writes a "Nanny Diaries" type book about you.
I'd probably buy it, actually.
And...what does this have to do with the Cubs?
Just makes me nervous with eccentric millionaire's (billionaire's?) names being bantered about as possible new owners. That's all.

It's Gonna Happen

I saw it even before I got to my seat, right behind Ben and Oif.
That stupid sign and what it means or doesn't mean.
They gonna choke or go all the way?
I hate that sign.

I got there plenty early to soak up the playoff spirit.
There was humendous throng, and the anticipation was as thick as the humidity.
Clark St. had a couple cars on it, blocked by people walking across.
Every couple steps someone said, “I need one” and across Addison there was a crowd around those scalper places.
I obliged people asking me to take their photo with their camera, and when I saw a Diamondback Family posing in front I made sure to walk in the background and make a goofy face.
There was a wedding party with the bridesmaids all in red strapless dresses and the men in black with red ties, the guy dressed as a hot dog, news cameras, helicopters, stupid t-shirts for sale…
I met Olson and his wife Lisa at the outdoor upper deck bar, had a frosty cold one and tried to calm down.
Ben and Oif showed finally with The Judge in tow.

We walked in just after the Cubs had been introduced, and now Wayne is singing the Anthem so I stop and take off my sweaty hat.
I keep walking as Ernie throws out the first pitch, and I turn to look at our seats and there’s the sign.
You ever see “Drugstore Cowboy” – the scene where (I think it’s) Kelly Lynch throws the hat on the bed and Matt Dillon and everybody freezes cause they know it’s bad luck?
That’s what it felt like.
So I already had the fear when young Rich Hill threw his first pitch.
Pop!
Chris Young hit it out, and you could hear one guy loudly boo.
And then, it got worse.
Nobody could hit Livan Hernandez.
It was in the 5th with the bases (walked) loaded, 1 out and Mark DeRosa up with the hitter’s count of 3-1 where you felt real hope.
I’ve been to so many Cub games I couldn’t count them and I’m telling you the crowd noise for this next pitch was louder than I’d ever heard it.
But poor DeRosa hit into a double play, and it was truly over.
The boos were unbearable, and a couple fights almost broke out between Cub fans behind us – that was weird.
Next inning I asked the two ladies holding their sign if I could take their photo (yes, the one on the right in the painting is a woman – I probably was a little cruel in my depiction of her), and that’s where I got the painting ammunition.
Later, walking out of the park, I passed her being interviewed by tv people on the street as her son kept saying, “Come ON, ma!”
So, it’s over.
The Cubs get swept 3 games to none by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
I wish I could hate them, but I don’t.
There’s no Steve Garvey, nobody threw at anybody, I still don’t even know most of their team.
This series was truly just lost by the Cubs – I don’t think there’s any tipping of the cap to the better team.
The Cubs that won the division just never showed up.
But we get two more years of Lou, and I believe him when he says this thing is just getting started.

There’ll be an epilogue in the next couple days, and I’ll finish the strange tale of The Judge.
I hadn’t really thought ahead about what to do with this blog once the season ended, but for now I think I’ll keep it going…

Check Negative Baggage At The Door

Hey You.
That’s right.
You.
Don’t go being Captain Bringdown anywhere near me today, you hear?
I took a day to re-charge, and I’m ready to go.
Aramis?
Alfonso and Derrek?
How about you guys?
What about a little connection today?
That's right.
DeRosa – you call your dad about your swing and figure that out?
Good.
And you, Rich Hill - throw strikes and don’t hang anything, okay?
Get this game to the bullpen about the 7th and it’ll be just fine.
Carlos Marmol, I know you.
You were ready to go next day, right? So today’s gonna be a breeze.
Speaking of which…Hey Wind!
How’s about a little velocity to center field today?
And lastly, The Judge.
You got a little bit of work to do today, bro, but you’re 3 for 3.
Lets make it 4 for 4.
About 9:00 or so, I wanna be driving West with my top down listening to the city sing “Go Cubs Go”.
And tomorrow, I wanna come back for the Zambranofest.
Go Cubs.