Creeping Inexorably Toward A Worthwhile Sub-Heading.
Sunday, May 02, 2004
Game Notes 24: Crying Shame
There's not a lot to say here. It was a fantastically pitched game for the most part, with Matt Morris holding the Cubs down for nine innings, and Big Z throwing as well as I've ever seen him for seven. LaTroy Hawkins did a wonderful job getting out of a couple of tight spots - one created by Kent Mercker, and one of his own making - to throw two very important late, scoreless innings.
In the end, the game was decided in an eerily similar manner to the first contest of the series, with the bases being walked loaded, and a sacrifice bunt wedged in between. The only difference was that the passes were issued by one man - Kyle Farnsworth - and the final at bat ended with a hit rather than another walk. In both cases the result was the same: a Cub loss.
I have little to complain about. Bunting with Derrek Lee in the tenth was a weird play, but any other moves I disagreed with had no effect on the outcome of the game. While I would have liked to see Dutch Boy™ throw a few strikes, I don't know that there was anyone else available I would have rather seen in that situation. Wellemeyer can be equally wild, Borowski's been super shaky, and Glendon Rusch is...well...Glendon Rusch.
When a game is that close, whoever loses is going to be sorely disappointed, and the outcome will likely be magnified by the moment or series of moments that caused the match to slip through their fingers. But over the course of 162 games, these things will happen - as they already have and will again. The real test isn't whether you come out on top in those situations, but how you react in the aftermath. One thing I've noticed in this team from last season and into this one is their resiliency. These losses are painful, but they don't faze them. They'll take a shower, get some dinner, catch some sleep, and when they wake up the next morning they'll realize that Scarlett O'Hara was right - "Tomorrow is another day."