Game #4 of the playoffs took the wind out of me. Steve Garvey's late inning homerun dropped me to my knees. Game five, would knock me out. I remember feeling like I had just went 5 rounds with Ali and I won the first 2. All I needed was one more round under my belt and I would have won a split decision. All that matters though, is that I ended up flat on my back hearing the referee count to 10, but unable to move my body and pull myself to my feet.
Rick Sutcliffe got the start in the deciding game of the 84 NL playoffs. The Cubs rode his back the entire season. He simply could not be beaten.
The Cubs started off quickly in the first inning, thanks to a Gary Mathews walk along with a two run blast by Leon Durham. Two runs would be all the Cubs would need with Rick Sutcliffe on the mound. Atleast, those were the words that I intentionally deceived myself with to temporarily put my anxiety at ease. For the casual fan, they can enjoy a game and root for their team and just hope for the best. For the die hard baseball fan its not that easy. You breathing actually wavers with each pitch when so much is at stake. Its not just a game to a Cubs fan. Its decades of standing up against a curse. Its knowing that you stood strong through all the years of adversity to say that you were there through it all. Its pain.
The Chicago Cubs would score again in the second inning with a solo shot from Jody Davis to make the score 3-0. That would be the last time the Cubs would score in the game. Would that be enough to send the Cubs to the 1984 World Series against the Detroit Tigers? (The same Detroit Tigers that the Cubs faced in the 1945 World Series).
Rick Sutcliffe and the Cubs held the Padres scoreless through the first 5 innings. In the sixth inning, the Padres closed their deficit to 3-2 on a pair of singles by Alan Wiggins and Tony Gwynn, followed by a walk to Steve Garvey, and sacrifice flies by Nettles and Kennedy. I remember the tension that began to build inside my body as Rick Sutcliffe appeared to wear down.
The 7th inning would prove to be the crushing blow dealt by the Padres, by a critical error, and by just pure bad luck. Carmelo Martinez was walked on 4 straight pitches by Sutcliffe, and was moved to second base by a sacrifice from Gary Templeton. Tim Flannery then stepped to the plate and hit a routine ground ball to Leon Durham at first base. I remember this play as if it was in slow motion. It was a ground ball that Durham would have made 99.9% of the time. Durham didn't have to range to his left or to the right. He simply let the ball go right between his legs. Everybody remembers Bill Buckner's fielding blunder in the 1986 World Series but often don't recall Leon Durhams critical error. Cub fans remember well.
What happened next really makes me wonder if the Chicago Cubs curse actually has some substance to it. Tony Gwynn hit a sharp ground ball directly to Ryne Sandberg. The same Ryne Sandberg that went on to win 9 consecutive gold gloves. The ball mysteriously took a bad hop and took off over the outstretched glove of Sandberg. I have seen balls take bad hops throughout my years of watching baseball, but I had never seen a ball just jump over the head of a second baseman. It pains me to even write this post. I had buried some of these memories deep because they still are hard to accept.
The Cubs lost game #5 6-3 and their pursuit of the elusive World Series had ended.
Leon Durhams post game comments : Durham was obviously stunned by the Cubs' downfall. "I've got to let it go, man," he said. "Somebody has to win, and somebody has to lose. I make that play two hundred times in a row. I'll remember it, for sure. It hurts a lot. We had a chance to go to the World Series, and now it's out the window. I still don't believe the season's over."
After his interviews were completed, Durham excused himself and walked to a corner of the clubhouse to talk to Reggie Jackson, who was among the playoff broadcasters. "Don't feel bad, Bull," said Jackson as he put his arm around Durham. "It happens to everybody."
Baseball is such a wonderful game, and luck is involved in each and every game in one shape or form. Such is life. However, I still have a hard time accepting the bad hop ground ball that went over Sandberg's head. I want to lower Leon Durhams glove just two inches on that fateful error. I want to take back a single pitch to Steve Garvey in game #4. 1984 was almost 25 years ago.. A quarter of a century! 2008 marks the 100 year anniversary of the last time the Cubs have won a World Series. I still feel that "wait till next year" has arrived. I await in eager anticipation.
2 comments:
Game 5 is my first clear memory as a child. I was five, the family was gathered around the basement television, mounds of spaghetti before us on these hideous plastic tv trays with fruit and violins. I cried that night.
Those were some of the best memories of my life...everyone in the country wanted the flubs to win, and we made them all suck it.
Post a Comment