(much maligned Cub fans)
Cub fans, disparaged in this audio clip by Marty Brenneman, were on their best behavior last night after a scathing examination of Wrigleyville conduct here at CSTB. Except for two notable moments that brought fans to some unseemly boos, specifically when the night’s mvp, Aramis Ramirez, was hit by an Aaron Heilman pitch (after a Ramirez home run that brought in the only two runs the Cubs needed all night), and then when Lou Piniella jumped out of the dug out to accuse Heilman of a balk. I’m giving the crowd an 8 on etiquette for the evening.
(Really, Mr. Brenneman? Really?)
That said, the Cubs did what was hoped of their $100 millions payroll for most of the evening “ Zambrano went seven and gave up one run. Ramirez, Fukudome, Lee, and co. delivered with their bats, Marmol set up Kerry Wood, and Wood lasted the entire 9th, giving up nothing. The 8th is what mattered, esp when Jose Reyes dropped an in-field hit by Derreck Lee that put Lee on base, followed by the Ramirez peg. Fukudome followed with a 10-pitch, five-minute long at-bat that stands out to me as rare in Wrigley. He never gave up on it and got to first on an outside pitch that turned into a line drive, thus loading the bases for De Rosa with no outs. De Rosa and Geovany Sota then went down on swings and a pop up, respectively, and you really saw the difference between them panicking with the bases loaded and what Fukudome did. With two down, they verged on blowing the NY State Lotto ticket Heilman and Reyes handed them. Then Ronny Cedeno lined in a double followed by Felix Pie’s 3-run HR that made it a Cubs’ 7-1 final.
Cheer up Met fans, you get Ted Lilly today.