Observations & Best Of Game Notes Vol. 6

Well, certain things were proven true last weekend.



One, it struck me that Wrigleyville has finished the inevitable trajectory I noticed the last 5 years. New bars like Red Ivy and the Cantina across the street are a little bit swankier, a little bit loungier, and -- I’m certain, without going into either of them -- cater to the neighborhood types that don’t want to rub shoulders with people who are only in for the game. It’s not that they don’t like the Cubs; it’s that they don’t like the type of Cub fans who end up at Hi-Tops or Sluggers. Wrigleyville has changed enough to support both ends of that spectrum, and I’m not judging it at all. I’ll simply say that I’m curious if the new bars will make it -- never a certainty on Clark Street north of Belmont.

On a side note, the name “Red Ivy” got me thinking. I imagine that the principal founders conceived the name on an ill-fated night in October of 2003, back when there was baseball in front of the Red Ivy on Wrigley’s walls. “If we start a bar in Wrigleyville, we’re naming it ‘Red Ivy,’” I imagine the conversation concluded, with clinking of glass. I’m sure it seemed like a great idea at the time. Now it stands as ironic, at least if I’m right that it was meant to symbolize the turning of the Cubs fortunes as they became a team good enough to play October baseball; ironic, since it now illustrates even more closely how the opposite came to pass, at least in the descent of 2004, 2005, and the worst yet, 2006.

Second, even what I think is the Cubs best lineup is not enough right now. Jon Garland did not have his best stuff on Friday, and yet the Cubs could only score two runs. It was a disappointing game, that’s for sure.

A friend of mine is a firefighter living north of Wrigley, and working a 24 hours on / 48 hours off schedule lets him stop by games pretty often. He was telling me the other night how the timbre of fan conversations has changed. The tone, with the exception of the vocal and angry minority, has become nonchalant and even detached. People still follow the team, and I guess in some sense you can say they still care, but during the games, people would rather talk about something, well, more interesting than the game.

Another friend of mine told me that he’s putting the rest of his tickets up on E-Bay. Money is a little tight, and while he would be willing to stretch and make the games work if there was good reason, he decided that in 2006 it isn’t worth it. One exception: country night. Before I could even say anything, he already alluded to my living in Texas, the old “Can’t miss the girls in cowboy hats -- you know what I’m talking about.” But the other 8 or 10 games he has tickets for -- he’s selling them, even if he doesn’t break even. I don’t think I would be doing the same, but it struck me that there is a tiny corner of my mind where I’m also glad I don’t have to think about it, which is something new for me.

I noticed Adam’s comment on my last post, rightfully insinuating that since the Tribune Company can count on people like me filling the stadium, they don’t necessarily have to fix things. He’s right, but if anything, 2006 will test the limits of that theory. I don’t think the theory can stand up to circumstances where the team is this bad; in The Producers Argument I suggested that I think a team trying to do that balancing act would have to be at least second-place good. I guess I’ll be able to tell a little bit better in October, when I fly back for my now-annual attendance at the last game of the season.

Last, Wrigley Field was filled with a much higher percentage of Sox fans on Friday than other crosstown games I’ve attended, and while there are several reasons including the White Sox success, there is also the Cubs ineptitude. I can also say that there were a few Sox fans in my section of the bleachers who were well-versed and well-spoken enough to remind me of Cardinals fans. Not that those fans didn't exist several years ago; it's just that I never ran into them in the Wrigley bleachers. Given how bad the Cubs have now been for 3 straight seasons, if the Sox make it to the World Series this year, I think the shift in Chicago baseball fan culture could reverberate for decades, as last year's season is validated and the Cubs move at least a little bit closer to afterthought status.

On to the Game Notes, of which I have only a few from these last 2 weeks.

• Henry Blanco must be a Gemini, because for him to leg out an infield single, the stars must be smiling.
  
  
• What does PRONK mean? Does that sign make sense? Oh, I see -- it’s Travis Hafner’s nickname. I also read on the internet that it’s a verb for kangaroo jumping. As far as connecting the dots... do I even want to know?
  
  
• In what world does it make sense for Neifi to bat second, and the DH Todd Walker eighth? How can the Cubs have a DH hitting 8th?!?
  
  
• The Perez / Blanco lineup strikes again!
  
  
• I wonder if Ruben Sierra lays awake some nights muttering, “Frickin’ Julio Franco. I should be the ageless wonder.
  
  
• Does anyone else find it fitting that Kathy Griffin is doing Alka Seltzer commercials? You know, since her voice makes my stomach turn.
  
  
• How is it that Maria Carey is making a comeback but Jennifer Lopez fell off the face of the earth? Oh yeah -- talent.
  
  
• Did Bob Brenly just say, “tendencies tend to...” ??? Even for the master of the obvious, that one is especially redundant.
  
  
• Fan cam is 0 for 8. All dudes. That’s weak. I lived in Minnesota briefly, so I know they should have been able to find a Peterson or a Schneider or some other Scandinavian Snow Queen in the crowd.
  
  
• Good lord -- I think Fielder’s 2 homeruns have gone as far as all the Cubs outs combined.
  
  
• An (edited) e-mail from JAR after a game last week, starting out, “Best coments of the night from VERY angry and frustrated cub fans:”
  
  • After Ramerez [screws] up one of 3 plays in a row...
    Random Fan: "man... go back to f[reaking] mexico..." * I dont know if he is mexican, but that was funny [stuff].
    
    
  • "Hes going to over throw second base" said moments before he over threw third base.
    
    
  • "I didnt realise Dave Wanstat was the new coach of the Cubs"
    
    
  • "If we had playing cards right now we could be having fun playing Euker"
    
    
  • "look man, they dont need a sac fly to get him in from third, they could do it with a single or a double or a home run or a suicide squeeze. That way they can keep the inning going longer"
    
    Me: "Is this your first Cubs Game?"
    
    
  • Chant: "F[#*^] you Brewers" - now thats a classy cheer.
    
    
  • Your site might get famous this year my friend... The Schaumburg Flyers would have a good shot at beating the Cubs any given day.

And in conclusion, let me just say that whatever else, I like that it’s possible for me to end up crawling through Wrigleyville bars, ending up at the Irish Oak for several hours of fevered laughter with longtime friends, and then, um, somehow ending up at the 24 hour diner watching Dharma and Greg at 6am with a waitress who didn’t even mention my crumpled and beer-stained scorecard from the day before on the table next to me as she kept my coffee mug full. There are a few cities in the world where nights like that can happen, and Chicago is not only one of them, but in June, probably the very best.