NLCS Game 3: Cubs on the Brink
Walking around Wrigley Field before tonight’s game had a different feel to it. The everything-is-possible electricity that permeated last week’s NLDS showdown against St. Louis was gone. There was energy in the air, but it was a nervous energy. Cubs fans seemed apprehensive, if not a little bit scared.
You couldn’t blame them. Not only was their team down two-games-to-none, the losses came with Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta on the mound. The bats were turned stone cold by Mets’ pitchers at frosty Citi Field, and now they were up against Jacob deGrom, the best of a talented New York staff.
They cheered to mask their fear. Prior to the first pitch, a “Let’s Go Cubbies” chant drowned out the introduction of the New York starters. Solo homers by Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler proceeded to raise the roof. The annulment of a Mets run – courtesy of a ball-in-the-ivy ground-rule – elicited one of the loudest sighs of relief you’ll ever hear.
Beyond that, the noise appeared almost obligatory in nature. It was cheering for the sake of cheering. Base runners were at a premium for the home team all night, while the visitors had no shortage of traffic. Sloppiness also marred the effort. Chicago didn’t play a clean game, with a Trevor Cahill wild pitch the most egregious of the mistakes. It brought in a run, and the Cubs – despite their best efforts – weren’t scoring many of their own.
The atmosphere was subdued by the later innings. Smatterings of applause greeted the final outs of the top of the ninth inning, but nothing more. It was uncomfortably quiet in the bottom half. The Mets won 5-2, but it felt like 10-2.
Drizzle is falling as fans file out of the ballpark. It’s only fitting, because while a glimmer of hope remains, their fears are coming to fruition. The Cubs are on the brink of elimination.
David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.
That last pitch to Soler to end the game was not a good sign. He just stared at strike 3.
This is the only crappy part about this season. Everyone is gonna act like the sky is falling because a 97 win team full of rookies is gonna get swept.
Oh well…
Grab a couple pitchers, add a bullpen arm, and we will be fine.
Wait till next year cubbie fans!
Let me know how that brink feels, Cubs! You’ll be looking into it for another 107 years. #FlyTheM
#FlyTheT (for Troll)
The Cubs and Cub fans have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. That they’ve come as far as they have this season is a testament to the quality young talent that Chicago has developed and brought up this year. They’ll be back next year; maybe the year after that, too! Chin up, North Siders.
Thanks… it’s been a fun year! Obviously they need to add some pitching depth and some on base guys, but it’s been a really fun season.
Good luck with your rebuild! It’s starting to come around for you guys!
“The annulment of a Mets run – courtesy of a ball-in-the-ivy ground-rule”
I was under the impression that the umpires had discretion about baserunners in this situation. As such, I could see the argument that the rules were misapplied, which means the Mets could have protested the game. It ultimately didn’t matter, but it was huge at the time.
It wasn’t misapplied. It’s the same rule that’s been in effect since 1937 and it’s pretty straightforward. Naivete of fans doesn’t change this.
I think the problem is not that the rule isn’t clear (obviously thats a ground rule double), but that its a stupid rule that needs to be revised. Wrigley ivy is historic and all that, yadda yadda, but at the end of the day the Cubs are growing shrubbery in the field of play, and in this case, negating runs through that policy. If this series had swung on that play there would (rightly) be a lot anger coming from the Mets front office. That ball is still in the field of play, and umpires should have discretion to make calls on it; its not like an over the fence GRD where the fielder cannot physically get to the ball.
If the Mets installed a vacuum tube in the apple in center field that turned any deeply hit ball into a 2 base GRD, they’d be greeted by howls of derisive, outraged laughter from the league. Yet the Cubs expect different treatment because… tradition?
Ground rules are unusual but not illegal; the Mets have ground rules of their own that could just as easily influence gameplay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_rules#Individual_ballpark_ground_rules
I don’t think it’s that they’re unusual or illegal; just that this particular one badly skews outcomes on certain plays. At Citi, if a ball hits the Pepsi Porch, almost guaranteed it was going out anyway. A ball rolling into the wall would have easily scored a run at any other ballpark; only at Wrigley would it be two bases because of the ivy.
Not saying it’s right or wrong but it’s probably the ground rule with the biggest affect on outcomes.
At the bar where I was watching the game, right after that play we erupted into a chant of “trim that bush!” Definitely the best baseball-related chant I have ever heard.
They have discretion during fan interference, but not with a ground rule double. And even if they did have discretion, there’s no way they’d win a protest based on a judgement call.
They have discretion except where the ground rules say they don’t, and in the particular case of Wrigley Field and balls that disappear into the ivy, the rule does not allow for runners to advance more than two bases. This isn’t the same as a “ground rule double” from the ball bouncing over the fence, it’s a rule unique to this park and this circumstance.
For Chicago Cubs fan to consider the 2015 season anything besides an astounding success is crazy – almost all of the building blocks are now on the major league roster and almost all are meeting or exceeding expectations. Lester/Arrieta are two of the best pitchers in the NL and I’d be surprised if another ace isn’t added in the offseason. This season is the very beginning of what looks to be a 5-10 year stretch of dominance from the Cubs, who know have invaluable postseason experience to boot.
I’m not at all feeling disappointed. Young hitting is a great asset to have, but it’s obvious that the pitching depth needs improvement. It’s been a great season. The rivalry with the Cards means something again, the Pirates should remain a great team. The Mets will be tough again. We may never get the final outcome that we want, but there’s going to be a lot of great baseball the next few years.