A No No

That Cub game yesterday is what makes baseball the greatest sport of them all. You never know when one ordinary game out of 162 will be historical. Late night that is exactly what happened. Big Z gave all of us Cub fans a thrill. To put this in perspective, the last Cub to throw a no hitter was Milt Pappas in 1972. That was thirty six years ago. Nixon was still in the White House and I was three.

Meaning this is the first Cub no hitter that I have ever been able to witness and celebrate. (And celebrate I did, I think my wife thought I was going to bring the house down with my cheering.) There is nothing more exciting in all of sports then a no-hitter. I would love for someone to explain the equivalent in football.

Seriously I would love to hear an example in really any other sport one can point to where a regular season game can be as exciting. This is just one of dozens of reasons I spout as to why baseball is far superior to football, basketball, hockey, soccer, or water polo. I like football as much as the next red blooded American but baseball is still America’s game and is healthier then ever.

As to the Astros bitching about having to play the games at Wrigley Field North, blame your owner. It is rare I agree with Bud Selig on anything, but on this one I am not sure what other decision he could have made. Drayton Mclane (John’s brother) the Astros owner was deluding himself into thinking they could play in Houston at any point this weekend.

By delaying the decision that left MLB with very few options. I agree Milwaukee is very close to Chicago and it gave the Cubs an advantage. But name me another stadium in America outside the Houston city limits where it wouldn’t have been a pro-Cub’s crowd? Also, name me another option where the weather was clear or had a dome. Minnesota and Arizona had home games yesterday. Tampa has one today. The only other alternative was Atlanta but according to MLB, there was rain in the forecast. Really Baseball had no other choice. It sucks for Houston I agree. But I just don’t see any alternative.

Also, let’s not ignore the greed factor in this one on the part of Mclane. Where else was he going to get a gate of 23,000 for this game with 24 hours notice? Houston as the home team gets 70% of the gate. I know it is crass of me to think like this but, it would not be the first time in baseball history that an owner put money ahead of his team’s welfare. (See: Cubs Andy McPhail era)

Lastly, if I ever hear that Cub fans just go to Wrigley to drink and look at girls, I am going to point to the fact that 23,000 people got in their cars with 24 hours notice and made the trek to Milwaukee to see the Cubs play. Meanwhile, the Sox announced a crowd of 28,000. That was paid attendance. If there were 5,000 in the park I would be surprised. I know the weather was bad last night but, your team is in first and that was all you could muster on a Sunday night playing locally? But I guess you guys are the “true” baseball fans. Whatever.