From the first inning’s Alexei Ramirez homer to left to the Bobby Jenks vs. Milton Bradley faceoff in the 9th that left Mr. Absent-Minded twisting on the end of a 1-2 hook, Game “2” (Game 1 being rained out an rescheduled for September 10th) of Crosstown ’09 was a sight to behold.
Unfortunately, I could personally behold only two innings of it due to work constraints. I did manage to check in to see Big Bobby’s aforementioned punchout of Bradley and could not help but smile as Cub Nation glumly streamed for the exits with one out, down a mere three runs with the heart of their order coming up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bobby displace that many people at one time outside an Old Country Buffet.
In stark contrast to the sad faces in the lanes of the northbound Edens expressway, Ozzie’s chipper demeanor remained undented all day, starting with an encounter with a Wrigley t-shirt vendor. Having had many months to think of a replacement for last year’s Humanitas award-winning “Horry Kow” Fukudome paean, Cub Nation idly looked out the bay window of its Lake Forest manse and noticed that lawn mowers have nameless, Ozzie-like people attached to them. (I’ve got some friends in merchandising, so if next year anybody wants to run with my Cubbie-blue Klan hood, complete with lil’ red “C” on the front, drop me a line.)
Guillen cheerfully purchased a shirt, and then cheerfully pounded Ryan Dempster (L, 4-4, 6IP 4H 3R, 6BB 4K) with a smallball assault while Johnny Danks turned in a magnificent no-walks 9K outing (W, 5-5, 7IP, 5H 1R, 9K 0BB), getting out of jams in the 3rd and 4th.
I missed the entire game, and no doubt Cube nation is still in shock due to the Page Six item on Sammy Sosa that inadvertently ran in the NY TIMES this week.
Honestly, when I first saw the Ozzie shirt I thought it was in an “Your ass is grass” playground mentality. That is – a Sox fan’s shirt. These days, I assume the only racists at Wrigley are in the press box.
Ben