My Favorite Game of 2020: Cubs at Brewers (September 12th)
The saying goes that baseball is a game of prolonged inaction punctuated with a few moments of adrenaline and excitement. As a fan, a nine-inning game often feels like hours of frustration dotted with fleeting moments of ecstasy. These are the highs and lows of living and dying with a team filled with players you have no control over.
As a Cubs fan in 2020, one game encapsulated all these feelings, but instead of ending in disappointing defeat, a rare moment of joy arrived at the end. Considering the playoff failure and looming rebuild, this will be my defining positive baseball memory in an overwhelmingly sad and bizarre year.
Cubs at Brewers: September 12, 2020
Coming into this game, the Cubs held a 26-20 record with a light NL Central lead. Just the day before, the Northsider's boom or bust offense failed to get a single run across the plate and squandered a masterful Jon Lester start, losing 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th. A Ryan Braun walk-off sacrifice fly was the icing on the cake to send me to bed with an upset stomach.
The September 11th game was the antithesis of what was to follow; all frustration with no payoff. But the anger of the night before laid the groundwork for the coming relief, such is the nature of a sport that has a game almost every day.
After wasting multiple hours the night before watching Cubs hitters flail at Brewers pitching, I turned my TV on with dreams of long home runs and game-breaking rallies. The first three Chicago hitters (Happ, Bryant, and Contreras) struck out swinging and my mind immediately returned to the darkness.
In a brief respite from my muttered grievances with the Cubs offense, Milwaukee starter Brent Suter decided to unexpectedly roll off of the mound when he was about to deliver a pitch in the 3rd inning. Laughing at his sudden misfortune, I realized I was grateful any baseball was being played in 2020 at all and I was able to get worked up over a relatively meaningless rivalry game.
Brent Suter vs. Simone Biles, Floor Routine. Suter is on the left.pic.twitter.com/1b3Jtz7mCz-- Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja)September 12, 2020
Brent Suter vs. Simone Biles, Floor Routine. Suter is on the left.pic.twitter.com/1b3Jtz7mCz
Then Ryan Braun hit a 2-run homer in the 4th and I was pissed off. After getting two quick outs, the usually impressive Kyle Hendricks made back-to-back blunders. First, it was a single by Daniel Vogelbach (who the Cubs traded away) and then Braun stepped to the plate.
How could we let this washed-up steroid-using liar get the best of us for the second night in a row? Why can't the Cubs score a run? Why did the supposed dynasty collapse immediately after the 2016 title? How am I supposed to get a job during a global pandemic?
Things went downhill fast. While Hendricks recovered and cruised to 7.2 innings of 2-run ball, it seemed highly unlikely to matter.
Until the top of the 9th, the Cubs offense continued to do absolutely nothing. In a performance eerily reminiscent of every playoff game since 2017, the Northsiders collected 4 completely spread out hits (all singles) in the first 8 innings of play. In my basement, I entered the silent rage state of fandom with my glazed-over eyes glued to the TV.
The elite lefty Brewers' closer Josh Hader (who hadn't given up a single home run all year) was warming up in the bullpen and I killed my last beer in full sad boy mode. Back to back scoreless nights against a division rival loomed, and the offense that famously"broke" in 2018was still broken in 2020.
The 9th
So, how did hours of watching a torturous offense fail to score become my favorite game of 2020? We're getting there alright, just bear with me.
The first Cub hitter to try Hader was Kyle Schwarber. I've always loved the guy and I'm sad Chicago let him walk this offseason, but man did this at-bat make me angry. The lead-legged Schwarber thought he could trick the Brewers by laying down a perfectly placed two-strike bunt and somehow making it to first. Instead, he fouled it off for a strikeout.
While not exactly the same, the sequence reminded me of this wonderful at-bat in the ninth inning of game 7 of the 2016 World Series that had me contemplating self-harm.
At this point, the Cubs had a 3.1% chance of winning the ballgame. Maybe you're thinking that seems a tad low with 2 outs to play with, only a 2-run deficit, and the heart of the order coming up. Here's the thing: entering that appearance Josh Hader had not given up a single hit to a lefty in 2020. Over his career, left-handed hitters had a .115 BA against him.
Credit: ESPN(https://www.espn.com/mlb/game?gameId=401226362)
Credit: ESPN(https://www.espn.com/mlb/game?gameId=401226362)
Light hitting Victor Caratini was due up after Javy Baez with lefty Anthony Rizzo available off the bench. After that came lefty Jason Heyward. If the Cubs were going to get this done, a lefty needed to step up and make something happen.
Baez, the target of my 2016 anger, now played the role of party starter. On a 1-0 95 mph fastball, Javy took the pitch inside out and sent a flair to right for a single. Back on my couch, my eyes focused. Sure it was a long shot, but what are sports for except to dream?
David Ross made the call to replace Caratini with Rizzo, and it was officially time for a lefty to make something happen. The captain of the Chicago Cubs in all but name strode to the plate with his top button undone, sans an undershirt, and rocking a gold chain around his neck. My pulse quickened.
The king of the two-strike approach fell behind 0-2 immediately. Knowing he had to get the barrel on the ball, Rizzo seemed to slow his swing as he whacked a slider for a bloop shot into right. The lefties were on the board!
Baez scrambled to third on the play and Rizzo was instantly replaced with the lightning-fast Billy Hamilton (yes, he was on the 2020 Cubs believe it or not).
Every fan likes to think they can be rational and level-headed when considering their team, but to be honest it isn't true. Against all the statistics and probabilities, all I could think of at that moment was Jason Heyward taking Josh Hader deep to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Heyward, who underperformed his massive contract in his first few years with the club, was experiencing a 2020 renaissance and establishing himself as one of the team's best hitters. A thought crept into my mind that would have been laughable in 2016: if anyone could do it, it just might be Heyward.
Once again, the Cubs hitter racked up two quick strikes as J-Hey fell behind 1-2. My eyes hit the floor. Would this be another devastating Heyward strikeout in a key situation? My mind flipped to the 2018 Wild Card game (which the Cubs lost 2-1 in extra innings) when Heyward was fanned with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the 7th inning (5:26 in the video below).
But 2020 Jason Heyward was truly different and he proved it here. Hader offered up a 95 mph fastball over the inside part of the zone. With impressive bat speed, Heyward launched it into the sky. Jumping up, I prayed for the ball to clear the fence and, to my disbelief, that wish was quickly granted. Bouncing off the Toyota Territory in right field at Miller Park, the dinger gave the Cubs a miraculous lead. The lefties couldn't be stopped!
The guy who in previous years struggled mightily to catch up with the fastball had smashed a Josh Hader offering deep into the night at the best moment possible. Talk about redemption.
Javier Baez and I let out a scream of joy and Jason Heyward took an extremely satisfying trip around the bases.
In the immediate aftermath of game-changing moments, the present has a tendency to feel less important than the mistake that just occurred. That might explain why, in the following at-bat, when Josh Hader prepared for his 3-2 offering to relatively unknown Cubs backup infielder Ildemaro Vargas, he didn't have the right stuff.
Hader was likely still thinking about the ill-advised pitch he threw to Heyward. In doing so, he repeated his error. For his first home run in a Cubs uniform, Vargas hammered a middle of the zone pitch into the waiting glove of Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel, now warming up beyond left field for a save opportunity.
Hader did not seem pleased. On the other hand, I was giddy at this point. The most unlikely of characters on the Cubs roster had just put an exclamation point on one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory.
No matter what happens, ever, Ildamaro Vargas owning Josh Hader will be evergreen.#Cubs#ThatFace@BleacherNation@realcubsinsiderpic.twitter.com/r6EGcR7BlI-- MBDChicago (@MBDChicago)September 13, 2020
No matter what happens, ever, Ildamaro Vargas owning Josh Hader will be evergreen.#Cubs#ThatFace@BleacherNation@realcubsinsiderpic.twitter.com/r6EGcR7BlI
When the next two Cubs got out, excitement quickly turned to anxiety after the recent results of the Craig Kimbrel experiment flooded my mind. The high priced closer had struggled mightily in 2020 with head-scratching blown saves and a ballooning ERA that left fans frustrated. Now that the offense had finally come through, it was time to see if the closer could too.
Things did not start well. A leadoff single by Keston Hiura had me gripping the armrest tightly. The following single from Jedd Gyorko left me wishing the Cubs had never scored at all. A 2-0 listless loss was one thing, but to come back in such a thrilling fashion and then lose seemed unbearable. I cursed Kimbrel's name and tried to prepare myself for disaster.
Credit: ESPN(https://www.espn.com/mlb/game?gameId=401226362)
Credit: ESPN(https://www.espn.com/mlb/game?gameId=401226362)
Then, the impossible happened. For a brief moment, Kimbrel found his Hall of Fame self from years past. Vogelbach struck out swinging on four pitches, Ben Gamel grounded into a fielder's choice, and Orlando Arcia lined out. Star for a day Ildemaro Vargas made a pair of nice defensive plays including catching a tricky final out at third to seal the deal.
After checking multiple times, I confirmed there were no more innings to be played. At the end of a rollercoaster of emotions like few others, the Cubs had won.
Nothing about this game should have given me confidence about the Cubs moving forward. The offense was lifeless for 8 innings, Craig Kimbrel still couldn't muster a clean appearance, and the team needed a miracle to avoid dropping two in a row, and racking up 18 scoreless innings, to the middle of the road Brew Crew. But I wasn't thinking about any of that, for I was floating along on cloud nine.
The Cubs were in first place, they took down the mighty Josh Hader, and the playoffs were approaching. For one night, we were world-beaters.
The obvious signs of danger present on September 12th (and for years previously) would come back to destroy Chicago in a disastrous playoff series against the Marlins in which they scored a single run in two games. In the face of this and the approaching rebuild, I try to let my mind wander to the glorious day the Cubs left Miller Park with a bright blue W flapping on a pale white background.