- The Cubs aren't the only ones with a chance to clinch on Tuesday, as the Mets defeated the Dodgers 13-7 in Game 3 at Citi Field. Like the Cubs, the Mets have a chance to win their first-ever playoff series in their home park. They've only been waiting six years for that, though.
- The Blue Jays avoided elimination by downing the Rangers, in a game that featured a hefty dose of David Price in relief. That means it's Marcus Stroman in Game 5, once the two teams get back to Toronto for Wednesday.
- The Royals also avoided having their season ended, even though it looked like a sure thing there for a bit. In fact, Kansas City had about a three percent chance of winning, but thanks to a huge inning and an error, they won anyway.
- Yadier Molina exited Game 3 early, and it's fair to wonder if he's going to be back in 2015.
- Hank Conger performs the robot dance from Chappelle's Show after Astros' homers.
- Matt Harvey, human metaphor, started Game 3 for the Mets after Game 2's emotional loss. It wasn't the lengthiest outing of his career, but he got the job done.
- Pete Rose forgot how to use words while laughing on the FOX Sports 1 pregame show.
- Ruben Tejada, who suffered a broken leg at the feet of Chase Utley, rode his replacement around like a small horse.
- Speaking of Utley, Mets fans wanted him in the game, but mostly so they could drown out all other sounds with boos once again.
- On a record night for playoff homers, no one destroyed a single baseball more than Yoenis Cespedes.
Tuesday's Say Hey, Baseball includes the
rare opportunity for the Cubs to clinch at home, the Mets backing the
Dodgers into a corner and the Royals' comeback. Subscribe for your daily Say Hey!
Listen, we know
it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world
each morning. There are all kinds of stories,
rumors, game coverage and
Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of
it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy.
It’s okay, though, we’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each
morning and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation
baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause
until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.
* * *
Wrigley Field opened its doors
in 1914, with the Cubs first playing there in 1916 when it was still
called Weeghman Park. That means we're just shy of 100 years of Cubs'
baseball at Wrigley, and yet, they have not won a single playoff series
in that park. That can all change on Tuesday in Game 4 of the NLDS, when
Jason Hammel and the Cubs take on John Lackey and the Cardinals in
Chicago, with the Cubs up two games to one after Monday's victory.
It's hard to believe at first
that the Cubs have never clinched a playoff series at Wrigley, but here
we are. The only series that existed in the MLB playoffs until 1969 was
the World Series -- the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908,
before ground had even broken on Wrigley, and haven't even been to a
World Series since 1945. They lost the NLCS in 1984 and 1989, and lost
in their first League Division Series in 1998. The 2003 season actually
represented the only playoff series -- not just World Series -- that the Cubs haven't lost since 1908, but that victory against the Braves took five games, with the clinching contest coming at Turner Field
in Atlanta. And the past tense of "represent" only works there if you
want to call 2015's Wild Card Game victory over the Pirates a "series"
win.
Now is the time to do change
all that. They're facing their greatest rivals. It's the first time the
Cubs have had a chance to clinch at Wrigley since 2003, when they
dropped both Game 6 and Game 7 to the Marlins in Chicago. It's only the
third time in Wrigley's 99 years of Cubs' history that they have even
had an opportunity to clinch a postseason series there -- the other was
the '45 World Series, in which the Cubs won Game 6, but lost the
deciding matchup.
Not all of the Cubs' awful past
can be erased with a series win here, but it would certainly be a
start. Plus, avoiding the Cardinals in a must-win game seems like
something every team should do, not just one with the history the Cubs
have.
No comments:
Post a Comment