Maybe non-Chicagoans wonder why the Cubs-Sox series is such a necessary event, especially with both teams languishing under .500, several games out of first place; watching either team is not unlike seeing a chipmunk struggle against the current during a downpour. Cruelty is hardly ever entertaining....... except when the Cubs come to the Cell.
When the Cubs lose, they never do it with dignity, and goddam if that isn't funny. Barrett punches Pierzynski instead of tagging him out. The Cubs blame their fans when they lose. And in game 1 at the cell we had Milton Bradley getting kicked out of -- not the game-- but the dugout, by his own manager!
Even with all this comedy, occasionally a ballgame breaks out. How can a Sox fan resist watching this train wreck year after year? This year we had Bradley, sure, but you knew that wasn't the apex of the asininity... no, for that we needed to wait til Sunday: for Captain Carl, the King of Crazy, whose body of work speaks for itself.
With the bases loaded and the game on the line Sunday, the Cubs picked up a steal sign and Zambrano pitched out to the catcher, Geovany Soto. But the errant throw went too far outside with the ball traveling all the way to the back stop, and Getz scored for the Sox.
Instead of mitigating his error, Zambrano compounds it by deliberately hitting the next batter, Dewayne Wise, out of frustration. Cue Keyboard cat. Needless to say, the Cubs unraveled and their only threat was later squelched by the cool defense of the Sox. John Danks appropriately plunked a Cub in the next inning, and the Sox went on to win the game and the series, with their pride intact. Even I have some empathy for Lou, who apparently needs babysitting skills in addition to baseball skills.
I wonder if being a Sox fan would be as much fun if we didn't have the Flubbies 8 miles away for contrast.
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