Second City October: Eff Your Magic

Alright, let’s start by going to back to this bit of wisdom from my recap yesterday:

“Before I dive deeper into it, here’s a question: has there ever been a postseason game where the Cubs ended up winning? Like, ever?”

So before you go any further, know this: you are most likely reading the words of a baseball idiot.

Specifically: The happiest damn baseball idiot on the planet.

Here’s a sample of what I was preparing to post for tonight’s game recap:

In the middle of the 7th inning of tonight’s game, the commercial break featured that ad where Justin Grimm and Matt Szczur surprise Cub fans with playoff tickets. And my first thought was “What did these poor people do to piss off the Illinois Lottery?”

So that’s where my mind was at. And judging by #CubsTwitter, there were a lot of others with me.

This was the best playoff win in Cubs history. There is nothing close. Take the joy of the NLDS clincher from last year and add in the drama of The Sandberg Game. There’s a pretty good argument to be made that a Cubs team has never played an important game this incredible in the 140 years that this franchise has existed.

Now I’ve got to figure out a way to put this moment into words for this recap. But this is the kind of joy that feels like it would be diminished if I could find a word for it.

And part of that joy stems from a visceral reaction to the most miserable first eight innings that the Cubs have played all year. As Theo Epstein told Ken Rosenthal, it felt like the Cubs weren’t themselves. To the point where fans could be excused for wondering if Brian LaHair or Aaron Miles had secretly been added to the playoff roster.

After a gut wrenching loss earlier this morning, Matt Moore had them shut down, giving up two hits and striking out 10 over the first eight. Outside of a David Ross home run and sac fly, the Cubs’ offense looked positively impotent.

This was not the team we had grown to knew and love. It was depressing and infuriating to watch. Consider…

Matt Moore (.042/.042/.042/NOT A TYPO) hoisted the Cubs on their own petard by driving in the go ahead run with the bases loaded in the 4th inning. On an 0-2 pitch. And up until the ninth, the play of the game might have been John Lackey’s ability to get the third out of the inning before he committed further crimes on the mound.

And then Conor Gillaspie went 4-for-4. After his fourth hit, Giants fans started an “MVP” chant. The only thing that keeps me from concluding that he’s a demon is because that would mean he was a demon named Conor. Real demons don’t have their moms drive them to soccer practice.

And as each inning depressingly marched onward toward what felt like an inevitable conclusion and frightening Game 5, Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz repeatedly informed us that this was an even year and an elimination game. Naturally, they concluded that the Cubs were up against a juggernaut designed to win specifically in that particular situation. Clearly, winning the first two games of the series was playing directly into Bruce Bochy’s hands. #FireTheo

Then the ninth inning started. And the Giants bullpen showed up at the same time the Cubs offense did.

It started with Derek Law. He threw a couple of wild ones to Kris Bryant that didn’t find the zone. Presumably because he was unused to the feel of something other than a rally towel in his hands. Bryant singled to left center field. This was different. This was good.

Then came Javy Lopez to face Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo’s first two at bats of the game looked like he had mentally reset his approach. Once again, he was working the counts, drawing a walk, and hitting line singles to center. Rizzo refused to be tempted by Lopez’s breaking pitches, working the count to 3-1 before swinging wildly and missing. Suddenly, it felt like he was slipping back into his habits from the first three games. But in one of the key moments of the rally, he regained control of himself and took another breaking ball out of the zone for ball four. The tying run was coming to the plate.

Things were getting serious and on came Giants closer-du-jour Sergio Romo. He was the best of a rather unfortunate lot down the stretch and is still capable of throwing unhittable sliders on his good days. So it was a good thing Ben Zobrist was at the plate. His contact-first approach ensured that he wouldn’t try to do too much with a crafty hurler like Romo. Sure enough, Zobrist laced a double down the right field line, scoring Bryant. After almost four games, these Cubs finally were looking familiar.

Now Joe Maddon decided to tempt Bruce Bochy to step further into his own personal hell. Sending Chris Coghlan to the plate for the slumping Addison Russell, Maddon baited Bochy into removing Romo immediately in favor of lefty specialist Will Smith. Because it turned out he had a right handed contact specialist on his bench in Willson Contreras. The future Hall of Famer played right into Maddon’s hands and Contreras came through with a game tying single up the middle.

They weren’t done. Jason Heyward bunted back to the mound and Smith got the force at second. But Brandon Crawford’s relay sailed wide and out of play. That thing that always happens to the Cubs was suddenly happening to someone else.

With a look that defined both utter helplessness and the feeling that he’d done this way too much before, Bochy strode out of the dugout one more time to summon Hunter Strickland to face the automatic MLB.TV highlight that was Javy Baez. And we found out why Strickland knocked Javy down with a pitch in Game 2. Because anything else was going to be lined up the middle for the series winning single.

In the span of fifteen minutes, things had gone from despondence to a truly unique feeling in the history of Cub fandom: disbelief in what they were seeing because of something good.

After Aroldis Chapman struck out the side and bedlam erupted, the Cubs gathered on the mound to chant “WE NEVER QUIT.” It’s a simple platitude like “Do simple better” or “Embrace the target.” But as tonight proved, it’s one in which they believe completely. In spite of all evidence or logic that points to the contrary. And it’s what makes this Cubs team different than any we’ve ever seen before.

And on a night where they knocked out the Giants, it’s worthwhile to remember this: 1908 was also an even year.

Lead photo courtesy Kelley L. Cox—USA Today Sports.