CHICAGO (AP) -If it’s any consolation, at least there were no “Cubbie occurrences,” manager Lou Piniella’s catchall phrase for the historic hiccups that accompanied Chicago’s departures from postseasons past.
No cursed goats, black cats or fans interfering with foul balls. Nothing more mysterious to blame Wednesday night’s 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on than sloppy pitching and a lack of timely hitting.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Wrigley Field wasn’t subject to the usual playoff weirdness.
Just ahead of last season’s playoff exit at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks, some crazed Cubs fan hung what appeared to be a dead, skinned goat on the Harry Caray statue outside Wrigley Field, as though a ritual offering might somehow change the civic destiny. No such luck.
oincidentally, the last time the Cubs got that far.
Jimmy Gerodemos said a security guard spotted him stepping out of the limo and told him “no way” the goat would be allowed in. Asked what he planned to do with the animal, Gerodemos smiled and said something about one of his restaurants being nearby and left it at that.
At least Father James Greaneus got into the ballpark and was allowed to complete his mission. The Catholic priest and longtime Cubs fan drove several hours so he could pour holy water atop the low wall on the front of the Chicago dugout an hour or so before the game. He didn’t stick around and the ballclub was vague on details, not wanting to seem too officially involved in the brief blessing.
Piniella, meanwhile, happened to be sitting in an interview room beneath the stands at aging Wrigley Field around the same time and explaining that warding off evil spirits was pretty much the last thing on his mind. He said at the start of spring training the worst thing his club could do is get caught up trying to correct the Cubs’ sins of the past 100 years.
“I kid around about that from time to time … but I don’t really believe it,” he chuckled.
Yet, when asked about problems he could anticipate, Piniella didn’t hesitate.
“You’re going to have to stay away from walks. They can hurt you in this type of environment,” he said, “a heck of a lot.”
eman James Loney deposited Exhibit “A” in the seats in center field for a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning. It came after Cubs starter Ryan Dempster walked the bases full – his fifth, sixth and seventh free passes of the game.
“He was having control problems,” Loney said afterward, in the understatement of the night. “Guys were getting on base. Fortunately, I came through.
“It was real quiet when I was going around the bases,” he added a moment later. “But I think our fans were cheering back home.”
Maybe so, but Wrigley was ominously quiet for the rest of the night. Fans broke their self-imposed silence just long enough to boo occasionally, such as when Alfonso Soriano struck out leading off the bottom of the fifth.
“Well,” Piniella said afterward, “it’s Game 1 only. Let’s hope we get better with it. We need to swing the bats, no question.”
Chicago might as well be on anxiety alert for the rest of the series. All the soothing words in the world might be too late now. But two Dodgers who played for Boston when the Red Sox shed an 86-year World Series drought of their own helpfully offered some tips.
“You can’t change history, you can’t worry about what has happened before,” said Los Angeles starter and winner Derek Lowe, who pitched the clinching Game 4 of the 2004 World Series and knows a little something about the topic.
th it, so there’s no sense worrying about jinxes. A lot of it is media driven. … They only care about this year, not trying to make up for the previous 100.”
No matter who started it, there was little doubt whether it had struck a reflexive chord with the audience packing the old ballpark. Loney’s outfield partner, Matt Kemp, couldn’t help noticing that.
“They couldn’t really say nothing once James hit that grand slam,” he recalled. “They’re always going to talk to you, but it wasn’t as bad once we were up by some runs.”
But it wasn’t just the crowd that sat on its hands the rest of the way. While the Dodgers added three more runs, one in each of the last three innings, the Cubs managed only three hits, left four men on base and never seriously threatened again.
The city might be panicked, but the Cubs insist they aren’t.
“Players don’t think like that, they really don’t,” said Mark DeRosa, whose two-run homer was all the offense the Cubs could muster. “It’s stuff that’s written about, stuff that’s talked about. But we play for the moment. We’re not worried about 100 years.”
Fine.
Start worrying about Thursday night instead.
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Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org
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