"When DeRosa's ball went out of the ballpark, that's the loudest that this place has been this year by far," Piniella said. "It was almost deafening."
I wasn't watching, but I was listening. Which is pretty surprising, as I normally turn off the game after the Cubs start to get clobbered. But what seemed to be my point of depression to turn me to drinking tonight quickly became the point of surprise and ecstasy...which will also lead me to drinking. The most unthinkable part of the comeback, the biggest in just under 10 years, is that it was done by not Soriano, D-Lee, or Ramirez. It was done by our bench-warmers. Check out these stats:
Not exactly the terrifying middle of the order Cubs opponents are used to. Also notice that Ramirez wasn't even in the lineup, and Lee and Soto were pulled after Lou had decided this would be a better day off, than day of baseball. But what is it that makes good teams great? Oh yeah, everyone gets in on the act.
"It speaks volumes to the character of the team and the fact that Lou's not afraid to play everyone," DeRosa said. "Everyone feels like in that clubhouse that they're a part of the team. Everyone's contributed in their own personal way to our victories so far this year."
It's funny, because right before I left for work today, the yahtzees on ESPN2 (cause ESPN was showing the Spelling Bee) were talking about if this Cub team is for real. Well, I think they might have just proved it today. And even though Lilly was tagged for seven runs on just 3 innings, another horrible outing, not getting the lost just might prevent him from running to the nut house.
But today wasn't about pitching. It was about confidence, which is something the Cubs have more of than any other team in the Bigs. You could even hear it in Pat and Ron's voices as the Cubs started their rally in the sixth. And when DeRosa hit the go-ahead homer, I thought Ronny was gonna have a heart attack right there on the radio.
BTW, yours and mine most hated Cub might have even redeemed himself, at least for the time being. Jimmy Red-Nuts went 3-4 after dropping a fly ball early in the game, including his first homer as a Cub. I love to bash my Cub players now and then, but it looks like Edmonds will get a pass for at least a week.
Hey, if he keeps it up he might even end up like Dempster and will get a pass for half a season. Which is good, because as Jimmy said himself, "Sometimes when I'm in the outfield, I think I'm still wearing red and white."
Well this hell of a 4-day work week is finally over. Now I just need some more of these Cub's wins that I can actually watch all the way through...even though I have to admit listening to Pat and Ron freak out is probably as entertaining as it gets.
Go Cubs!
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