Chi-town follies

While the whole world waited for Barry to join the 700 club (it'll happen this season, and he'll surpass Ruth the next and then Aaron the next because of a little thing called T-E-N-A-C-I-T-Y), Gobo rolled into town for a conference and we headed over to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs-Expos game from the (sorta) cheapie section. Big fun -- hanging out with Gobo, at least. He came prepared for the party with a Cubs jersey with his own name imprinted on the back of it, probably because he shares a name with a certain obsessive-compulsive relieverwho likes to chew on, like, bark and trace circles on the pitcher's mound. When I see this guy pitch, all I can think of is Tony Shaloub in Monk.

And the game itself? To quote Iggy and the Stooges: no fun, no fun, no fun. Greg Maddux kept it on lockdown through 7 innings before everything went boom and the Expos pounded out 5 runs in the 8th. Wasn't Maddux's fault, though -- he only ended up with two earned runs on his line, due in part to Derrek Lee booting a throw to first and catcher Paul Bako wildly misplaying a shouldn't-have-done-it-under-any-circumstance throw to second base.

And the Cubs could not put together the hits against Montreal starter Scott Downs (once traded from the Cubs to the Expos for Henry Rodriguez, a hero in Montreal back when folks cared enough to throw O Henry! candy bars onto the field), who came into the game with a 7.00+ era. Sammy Sosa looked mortal for the first time since he donned a Cubs uniform in 1992 and just hacked, hacked, hacked away at the pitches. Nomar Garciaparra (back in a Cubs uniform in '05? We couldn't decide) grounded into two double-plays and stranded four runners on base. And Mike Remlinger came in to relieve Maddux for a third of an inning and coughed up another run, prompting a huge Bronx cheer from the largely disinterested crowd.

On the plus side, a few fans walked away with Ryne Sandberg autographed baseballs. On the other side, this was the game where the Astros overtook the Cubs for the Wild Card lead...and then lost it again. So we've got the Cubs tied with the Astros and the Giants, with Florida and Philly within spitting distance, at this writing. Florida has more games to make up (including some which may be moved to the South Side of Chicago because of Hurricane Ivan -- how strange is that?). That's my pick. Philly's not fooling anyone and the Marlins are the only team that has the pitching to compete in the playoffs. Watch the Cubs take a dirt nap in October and please be sure to congratulate me on the fact that my commute time coming home from work is sure to reduce by 50%.