March 1, 2004
IT'S NEXT YEAR:
Cubs fans get solemn seventh inning song (Thomas Boswell, 10/17/03, The Washington Post)
Perhaps two moments on this Wednesday evening, both involving Wood, captured the potential for elation and the reality of ultimate Cubs dejection.In the second inning, Wood hit a huge two-run homer that landed in almost the exact spot as the three-run blast he'd allowed to Cabrera the previous inning. That tied the score. At ballparks, fans always cheer and clap, sometimes they scream. But when Wood's ball reached the top of the left field bleachers, hopes of the first Cubs visit to the Series since 1945 were reawakened in a blink. When pitchers hit home runs to win pennants, anything is possible, right? Everywhere you looked, people jumped, danced, waved their arms and seemed to hover in midair with elation, like Snoopy on a joy jag in "Peanuts.''
In a couple of dozen other cities, such moments are a precursor to victory. Here, they merely set the stage for some scene that is the complete opposite in mood. Four innings later, when Wood shuffled despondently off the mound in the sixth after being tattooed for four singles, a double, a triple, a home run, four walks and seven stunning earned runs, he kicked at the grass like a dispirited little boy lost in despondent thoughts as he approached the Chicago dugout. All the dejection of 95 years of Cubness since that last World Series win in 1908 was written in his demeanor, though he has worn the luckless uniform for only six seasons.
As Wood, the symbol of the Cubs' young power pitching, disappeared into the dugout, he flipped his glove disgustedly into the crowd, even though his team trailed by only one run and still might easily have won the National League pennant before the night was done. If body language could speak, that disgusted flip said, "Cubs Curse. We're dead meat. If I can't do it, then who will?''
Within seconds, though no one requested it, the crowd tossed Wood's glove right back onto the field.
For Cubs fans, that's how deep the disgust and depression now cut. For the faithful of Wrigleyville who have been jilted for so long, these are the dark hours when love fades, even love passed from generation to generation like a community heirloom. Perhaps spring training will revive the romance. Winter, especially in Chicago, is so long and April so sweet. But now, at the moment when the pain is deepest, if Wood--or for that matter perhaps Mark Prior or Sammy Sosa --throws his glove into a Cubs fan's lap, that person would never put it on his hand.
After all, whatever the Cubs have could be contagious.
You can already feel the thrill of the grass. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 1, 2004 12:35 AM
Go White Sox!!!!! Go Cardinals!!!!
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 1, 2004 1:55 AMGo Red Sox!! Go Somebody from the National league!!
Posted by: AWW at March 1, 2004 8:54 AMGo CUBS!!
Posted by: Bartman at March 1, 2004 9:35 AMRaoul:
You sound like one of those bitter Sox fans who would rather lose all 162 games than see the Cubs win the Series. I will give you that Cub "fans" and their Disneyland on the North Side can be annoying. (Sammy hits a homer; Cubs lose 7 -2 but everybody goes home happy - and drunk.)I just wish one of 'em would win in my lifetime.
An interesting Chicago experience is to visit Graceland Cemetery just north of Wrigley during a Cubs game. Strange to hear the cheering amidst the graves of the famous.
Posted by: Rick T. at March 1, 2004 11:16 AMIt must be March. It's the only time of year that Cubs and Red Sox fans can be excited about their prospects without being laughed at.
Wait, maybe not. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Go Diamondbacks.
Raoul:
I think I've heard of the White Sox. I saw an article about them in the Trib a few years ago. They play baseball right?
Posted by: Jeff at March 1, 2004 11:43 AMNot bitter at all. Although I must admit there is a bit of jealosy and frustration-- the Real Sox (not those losers in Boston) are have been just as bad on the field, but are ignored because of that circus on the northside and elsewhere-- if a team deserves to be cursed, you'd think it would be for thowing the Series. If a great player banned for gambling is going to be admited to the Hall of Fame despite never showing contrition, why shouldn't that player be a dead one-- Joe Jackson?
I'm just taking delight is seeing no joy in the one ballpark more where the baseball game doesn't matter. (I suspect there's a second.) It's the whole cult-- billy goat curses, Steve Goodman songs, "Bleacher Bums" stage shows, WGN, Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray, rooftop stands and the "friendly confines". Worst of all, fans who have no sense of humor while getting sloshed on 3.2 beer.
As Harry the Traitor described it before he defected, "It's the world's largest daycare center and old-folks home." (He left out the lawyers and Mercantile traders whose firms owned box seat season tickets.) Once in response to broadcast partner Jimmy Piersall's question as to why the Sox didn't draw in day games like that other team, Caray responded-- "That's because our fans work." The real curse-- they've never won the Series there, and they never will, and the only way to break that curse is to get a new ballpark.
As for rather seeing the Sox lose than that other team win-- not at all, because there's no danger of that ever happening. A team whose entire claim to fame is for being "lovable losers" isn't going to jeopardize that status by actually winning. I'd much prefer Al Capone's team, the one that was so good that it almost won a Series despite trying to throw it. The team that gave us the greatest fiasco in baseball history-- Disco Demolition Night.