While You Were Sleeping Javy Baez Hit A Game Winning Home Run And Single Handedly Saved Baseball On The North Side (Last Part Is A Tiny Stretch)
Well, if you went to bed early last night then you basically missed everything ever. As some of you were probably aware the game had stretched into extra innings and Javy Baez was sitting at a solid 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Then came the bottom of the 11th, Cubs up 5-4, 1 out, an easy two outs away from Baez going o’fer in his Major League Debut when it got worse. An error that proved to be the tying run.
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I said at the time but that right there, that’s just a classic, let me make a quick error to extend this game and give myself another at bat so I can hit a game winning YABO. Which, well I’ll let Len take it away.
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Final Score, Cubs 6, Rockies 5, Javy Baez the game winning hero.
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Now this is when you say, who cares, it’s 2 of the worst teams in baseball playing extra innings in August. Well guess what, I care, and every Cubs fan on earth cares. Carl said it perfectly before the game, Javy Baez being called up is the reason you deal with all the shit. Everyone knows the last 100+ years for the Cubs have been terrible but the last 5 have been especially cruel. We watched back to back playoff berths and a dominant 2008 team get embarrassed by the Dodgers in a 3 game sweep. Over before it even began and then a steep dive off a cliff the following season. We watched Dale Sveum fumble, Fukodome disappoint, Josh Vitters vanish off the face of the earth. We watched Soriano get old, Kerry Wood retire without a ring, Dempster traded away to get his, and Shark jet to Oakland. We’ve watched teams like the Rays figure it out, the Red Sox win their 3rd World Series in a decade, the Pirates, a team that had 20 years of absolute dogshit somehow turn the franchise around. We watched our rival in St. Louis reach the NLCS every single season, reloading time and time again with savvy front office moves. We watched all of this as we’ve sat patiently telling ourselves that this entire plan will work. That every 90+ loss team and deadline deal where we dump quality players will be worth it. And last night was the first time that we officially could say it was worth it.
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I know it’s just one guy hitting one home run. But at the same time it’s not. Last night was proof that this thing may be turning around. Proof that we’re all not crazy for dreaming of 2016 and 2017. Proof beyond the AA or AAA box scores we’ve been watching with a keen eye, finding the name J. Baez to see what he did the day before. So yeah, I know in the back of my head it’s silly to get this excited over one home run but I really don’t care. Last night is why we watch sports, why we put up with bad teams and all the jokes at our expense. The hope that someday it will all be worth it, and Javy Baez’s game winning home run in a half empty Coors Field was that hope. It’s ok to get irrationally excited about something like this, don’t let anyone tell you differently. Last night was special.
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PS
This was essentially my reaction to the Baez Home Run, times infinity.
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