Several of my friends have written me this morning about the Cubs’ insane collapse last night. I avoided mentioning the fan who tried to catch a foul ball and ended up interfering with Moises Alou’s catch. Had Alou caught the ball, there would’ve been two outs on the Marlins. That’s no guarantee that Chicago would have been able to get that third out before the floodgates opened, but it would’ve made it tougher for Florida to come back. The commentators suggested that the fan deserved to be torn to shreds by Maenads, but never got around to mentioning that the Marlins still would’ve had 4 outs remaining in the game, and no one on the Cubs’ pitching staff was capable of getting an out.
If anything, the error on a grounder to the shortstop was more damaging than the fan’s interference. But it’s easier for commentators to sneer at the irrationality and enthusiasm of a guy in the stands (and the others near him who tried catching the ball) than to criticize a player who completely failed to handle a routine play. It sorta reminds me of a New Yorker article a few years ago on the psychology of the choke-job (by Mal Gladwell, I seem to recall, and focusing on Jana Novotna’s epic and heartbreaking collapse at Wimbledon, where she ended up crying on the shoulder of the Duchess of Windsor). Anyway, on to the morning’s missives:
Tom writes:
“I called Florida [to win the series] when the Cubs went up 3 games to 1, by the way. It’s inevitable. Florida’s too solid of a team top to bottom — a little power, a little fielding, a little pitching, a little speed — so they’re not going to beat themselves and the Cubs weren’t going to maintain their ungodly hitting and relief pitching for more than a few games. The Cubs just aren’t any good, and it’s amazing they got this close.
“But the best part is the fan interference. The Cubs is the ultimate wannabe know-nothing fan’s team, so having a fan act that incredibly stupidly is totally, totally perfect. If that had been the White Sox, even, they would have cleared out. Hysterical.”
(While you’re here, why don’t you buy Tom’s new book?)
My buddy Adam Taxin writes:
“Supposedly, according to the spin of Harold Reynolds, etc., any fan would do the same thing, to get a souvenir. As if Wrigley Field did not invent the phenomenon of throwing the balls with which the opposing team hits home runs back onto the field!”
(Adam doesn’t have a book out. But if he did, I bet it’d be a fun read.)