Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

The willow is too close to the house.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

The words do not have to be perfect.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

I was promised a recession.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / World Series Game 7

Reader Interactions

391Comments

  7. 7.

    divF

    my plane is waiting in line to take off at O’Hare, so it looks like I’ll be in the air for most of this.

    Or when the meteor hits.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    I read that first as two “crappy-ass teams” and thought, gee that doesn’t sound totally neutral to me – it’s bound to piss off at least half the people here!

  11. 11.

    different-church-lady

    If it somehow goes to extra innings, they should just declare them co-champions.

  12. 12.

    R-Jud

    I don’t understand who could possibly favor an outcome that would make Bill Murray sad. Go Cubs!

  22. 22.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The meteor strikes in the bottom of the 9th.

    It’s the end of the world as we know it…someone is going to end a very long drought tonight.

    For the sake of the sanity of Bob Newhart and Bill Murray, if no one else…

  24. 24.

    Anonymous At Work

    If the Indians win, it’ll be on a walk-off home run in extra innings.
    If the Cubs win, they’ll need 1-2 scares.
    I’ve been calling this for days.
    Also, someone check on Obama, Clinton, and Nate Silver.

  25. 25.

    Mary G

    OT: Anybody have trouble with Firefox? I can’t get the nav bar, side bar or box where it tells you what site you are on. It’s been fucked up since last night and I am gradually switching to Chrome, though I still want a bookmarks sidebar.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Right wing trying to ruin the World Series, Luntz was debunked and quickly admitted it

    Frank Luntz ‏@ FrankLuntz 1h1 hour ago
    Just found out 1000s of Chicago fans are stranded @ OHare and Midway.

    Why? Obama’s in town and the airspace has been closed over Cleveland.

  31. 31.

    chopper

    still amazed by this. all those days as a kid spent at wrigley and i never figured the cubbies would even make it to the series.

  35. 35.

    Lulymay

    @Cacti:

    I’m an aged Canadian female and have been an avid baseball fan since I was 9 years old. Had to come home at noon to listen to the games on the radio!
    Became a rabid Yankee fan against 6 other members of my family (Dad was the only guy) and still am. Since my Yankees have been doing zilch, I still always root for the American team in the World Series. So….. get er done, Cleveland, cuz tonite’s the night (as Rod Stewart used to sing).

  36. 36.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @chopper: I figure we’re mid-Ghostbusters script already, at the part where the pasty, bloated, babyish, fire-breathing ghoul appears. Time to cross the streams.

  38. 38.

    Shalimar

    I’m slightly favoring Cleveland, but only because I want both of them to end their long droughts and the Cubs look a lot stronger because of young talent and money over the next few years. Happy for whichever one wins tonight.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m surrounded by Cubs fans, which is good; but based on their conversations during commercial breaks, they’re all Trump supporters (or at least anti-Hillary), which is not good.

  44. 44.

    Cacti

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m surrounded by Cubs fans, which is good; but based on their conversations during commercial breaks, they’re all Trump supporters (or at least anti-Hillary), which is not good.

    Present company excluded, the Cubs have a pretty Republican fanbase. :-P

  47. 47.

    raven

    These are the saddest of possible words:
    “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
    Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
    Tinker and Evers and Chance.
    Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon[a] bubble,
    Making a Giant hit into a double[b] –
    Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
    “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”

  49. 49.

    different-church-lady

    What the fuck is Facebook Live, and how will it soon be making my life more difficult?

  51. 51.

    Cacti

    @Lulymay:

    I’m an aged Canadian female and have been an avid baseball fan since I was 9 years old. Had to come home at noon to listen to the games on the radio!
    Became a rabid Yankee fan against 6 other members of my family (Dad was the only guy) and still am. Since my Yankees have been doing zilch, I still always root for the American team in the World Series. So….. get er done, Cleveland, cuz tonite’s the night (as Rod Stewart used to sing).

    So far, they look tight as a drum.

  53. 53.

    ThresherK

    @Lulymay: I’m a not-young Connecticut native, who latched onto the Montreal Expos before they got good. (Thanks to 1994, my hatred for Bud Selig burns with the heat of a thousand suns.)

    I opted out of the border war in my state between Red Sox and Yankee fandom. How did you come to be a Yankees’ fan?

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cacti:

    I know. If I weren’t a Chicago Grrl, I’d despise them because of their owners.

    But . . . CUBBIES!!*

    Edit: Actually, that’s not true. Most team owners are RWNJs, and I really can’t imagine despising the Cubs. So scratch all that.

  56. 56.

    Cacti

    I feel bad for the fans of historically unsuccessful franchises. Any time things go badly, it’s like a funeral.

    At the Cleveland mlb forum, about half are already cursing the baseball gods and raising the white flag.

  57. 57.

    Ivan X

    Ok, so I’ve seen two Trump ads, zero Hillary ads. Are they really writing off every baseball fan?

    Also, I did see a Hillary ad last night, and it was just Trump being vulgar in front of a bunch of children watching TV. Where are the ads pointing out his lies, contradictions, and fraud?

    I’m in NYC, so maybe I just haven’t seen them.

  58. 58.

    Mary G

    I am getting ads every commercial break, NRA Hillary will kill us all, Trump.

    OTOH, Coco Crisp is one of my favorite baseball names

  60. 60.

    Cacti

    @Ivan X:

    Ok, so I’ve seen two Trump ads, zero Hillary ads. Are they really writing off every baseball fan?

    Where are you watching?

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ThresherK:

    Thanks to 1994, my hatred for Bud Selig burns with the heat of a thousand suns.

    I have always hated Bud Selig. And I also hate the stupid Brewers. For me, they always ranked last after even all the American League teams. I would root for the FTFY over Bud Selig’s fucking Brewers.

    OTOH, 1994 was good to me as a Braves fan, and only as a Braves fan. Your Expos would almost certainly have taken the pennant that year, and wrecked the long 14-season championship run of Atlanta.

  62. 62.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Cacti:

    Any time things go badly, it’s like a funeral.

    Just imagine if a political party behaved that way! That would be a pretty exhausting 40 years!

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ivan X: Also, I did see a Hillary ad last night, and it was just Trump being vulgar in front of a bunch of children watching TV. Where are the ads pointing out his lies, contradictions, and fraud?

    They test these things to a fare-thee-well, they’re using what they think works

    and [email protected]@>:

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m a White Sox fan, but I still want the Cubs to win. You can take the girl out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of the girl…

    edit: italian beef for everyone if the Cubs win… Taco trucks Italian Beef food trucks on every corner!

  70. 70.

    Cacti

    So the winner will have to score more than 1.

    Game on.

    Not gonna lie, the greatest game 7 I ever saw was when Jack Morris threw a 10-inning complete game and the Twinkies beat the Braves 1-0 in 1991. That was a helluva a series.

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cacti:

    It was an incredible series, even though my Braves ended up not winning. Hard-fought all the way, several indelible moments, and both teams won every one of their home games.

  78. 78.

    different-church-lady

    “The middle innings start now.”

    Didn’t someone the other night ask why people hate Joe Buck?

  79. 79.

    Prescott Cactus

    Tonight
    And you know you’re never sure
    But you’re sure you could be right
    If you held yourself up to the light
    And the embers never fade in your city by the lake
    The place where you were born
    Believe, believe in me, believe
    In the resolute urgency of now
    And if you believe there’s not a chance tonight
    Tonight, so bright
    Tonight

    Billy Corgan 1995

  83. 83.

    ThresherK

    @SiubhanDuinne: Peple with more conspiracy-minded minds than mine think that after Toronto in ’92 and ’93 that MLB would do anything to prevent Les Expos from winning in ’94.

    All I know is that the team never got the chance to build the fan base one does after a successful run and/or Series win. Keeping the players they had in ’94 was not going to be, owing to the budget, but they always knew how to get a lot out of the farm system.

    But I digress. This night is for the living. Go Extant Teams!

  85. 85.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: There was a dramatic pause after “innings…”

    Tonight he should sound excited. But last night he was at peak volume with every late game single, and I’m like, “Dude, it’s a six run lead, a single up the middle isn’t all that right now.”

  90. 90.

    different-church-lady

    @raven: I don’t really feel one way or the other about Joe Buck, but it did seem like a brilliantly inane utterance.

    It does kinda bug me that the Fox contract for the WS extends past the heat death of the universe.

  98. 98.

    divF

    I’m on the plane from Chicago to Hartford, Conn. I am monitoring the game on line, and helping out the flight attendants by giving some very agitated baseball fans updates.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jk:

    Agreed. During the regular season I admire a nice close pitching battle, but in the Series I want laughers.*

    *As long as it’s my team doing the laughing.

  113. 113.

    qwerty42

    @Cacti: …Not gonna lie, the greatest game 7 I ever saw was when Jack Morris threw a 10-inning complete game and the Twinkies beat the Braves 1-0 in 1991. That was a helluva a series.
    I will never have the excitement of the Braves 1991 run, the playoffs and the Series. It was incredible. We lost the Series, but it was the greatest year.

  114. 114.

    Jeffro

    It’s not over yet…but go Cubs go!! Fro Jr is going to be so pumped when he hears the news in the a.m.

  118. 118.

    Schlemazel

    @different-church-lady:
    I noticed in the first inning he was screaming as if the home run had ended things then & there. It got worse when the first two Cleveland batters went down. Then when the 3 batter gets a bloop single he was screaming as if it were a whole new game!!!! I thought, “dude, calm down, its the first inning”. Finally gave and just muted them, they are obnoxious.

  120. 120.

    Schlemazel

    @divF:

    I don’t think I could do that. I would want to give them the exact wrong score so, by the end of the flight, they thought their team had won/lost and not find out until they got home. That way they could know the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

  122. 122.

    steppy

    So, might President Clinton get to greet her club at the White House? President Obama’s a White Sox guy, so he’d probably pass.

  124. 124.

    piratedan

    @qwerty42: I thought the drama in the 2001 series was pretty high as well….

    also the Neil deGrasse Tyson tweets putting the last time the Cubs won into historical perspective are pretty awesome

  127. 127.

    WaterGirl

    @steppy: No way would Obama pass on having the Cubs at the white house. He’s White Sox just like I am, but he’s from Chicago, so he’s for the Cubs right now.

  130. 130.

    JMG

    Odds are one out of between four and five people watching the game tonight have already voted. Like 31-32 million have, me included.

  132. 132.

    Schlemazel

    @qwerty42:
    Something like 5 or 6 of the games were one run games decided in the last at-bat of the game. Kirby’s game 6 saving catch followed by his game winning home run. People can complain they were not the two best teams in baseball but that was the best series every played.

  135. 135.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl: and there’s talk of Theo Epstein, who recently attended an HRC fund-raiser, having thought of public office.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    Why do you guys think they pulled Kyle Hendricks? Saving him for the end of the game if the other guys have scored? Saving his shoulder?

  148. 148.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mary G: Liz Mair (GOP operative) is still teasing two big anti-Trump bombs. One she says is coming, the other the Dems have given up on. So…. FWIW. how much can you trust a true believe of the other party?

  155. 155.

    Lizzy L

    I volunteered as a lector at 7:30 pm Mass tonight (it’s All Souls), so I gotta run. It’ll probably be over when I get back. Ah well. Go Cubs!!!

  156. 156.

    Botsplainer

    I’m going to Bonaire Saturday, and much as I hate the flavor, I’m eating goat.

    I’ll think about Corner Stone as I eat it…

  157. 157.

    Eric S.

    @efgoldman:

    Both Maddon and Francona have over-managed the last two games.

    This! I like Madden but at this point I’m going to suggest if the Cubs win today it is in spite of Madden’s efforts in the past 2 games.

  159. 159.

    WaterGirl

    The old dog, David Ross, can still get Wrigleyville to their feet. Fans chanting “Grandpa!”

  161. 161.

    CaseyL

    I don’t know if I’ll make it to the end of the game. Been having bad insomnia. Last night didn’t manage to fall asleep until 3:00 AM and was up at 6:30, so I’m running on fumes now.

  168. 168.

    raven

    @redshirt: He almost got knocked out when the pitch drilled him in the mack. His bad throw to 1st is probably what they were talking about.

  169. 169.

    Jerzy Russian

    three run lead is better than two. At this point, I won’t relax until the lead is 5+ runs. That way a single swing can’t tie it.

    Hendricks should have stayed in, if for no other reason so he could qualify for a win.

  170. 170.

    Jilli Brown

    @chopper: I’m with ya Our family vacations were spent traveling with the Cubs to ballparks all over in the 60s and 70s. This is like a dream come true. I wish my grandma was alive email to see in – at 93, she could rattle off cubs stats like nobody’s brother. Heck, she’s probably got a better seat than I do. Cmon cubs!

  171. 171.

    different-church-lady

    @redshirt: pitch hit the dirt, came up and hit Ross in the mask. Ross toppled sideways for a moment either from the force of the impact on his head or because he lost his balance. He got up right away to chase the ball, which had gone all the way to the wall on the first base side. By the time he got to it one runner had crossed and his throw wasn’t sharp enough to allow Lester to get the tag on the second.

  173. 173.

    Death Panel Truck

    I tried to mute the sound on my TV and listen to ESPN radio, but the TV broadcast lags behind by at least one pitch. Joe Buck annoys the shit out of me.

  177. 177.

    BruceFromOhio

    @raven: Each manager starts the game with one challenge. If he uses it and the call is overturned, he gets one more but can never have more than two. If he still has a challenge after the sixth, he must use it if he wants to challenge a call.

    However, if a manager is out of challenges, he may ask the umpires to review a close play in the last three innings. Chances are, the umpire will grant the request. And, yes, the umpire can also decide to take another look after the sixth even if a manager who is out of challenges doesn’t ask.

    Source.

  180. 180.

    Jerzy Russian

    @raven: Well, individual wins are nice, but team wins are of course better. Putting all that aside, I thought Hendricks could have gone one more batter. I am not watching (listening to the Chicago radio broadcast over a shitty internet connection), but it sounds like Hendricks got a bad call on a few pitches there.

  183. 183.

    Jerzy Russian

    @raven: This is the one time I regret not having a TV in the house. I bought the MLB package and watched the games on my laptop, but that subscription did not carry over to the postseason. I would be willing to pay a few more dollars for the postseason, but that does not seem to be possible, unless you have a cable *TV* provider. I have a cable *internet* provider, which apparently is not the same thing.

  187. 187.

    Shana

    “We’re contractually obligated to show Bill Murray” is pretty funny. Hubby and I were joking the other night that they must have a Murray-cam.

    My late father would have been over the moon about this. As is it, I have a cousin who’s a huge fan. He and his wife have a Cubs-themed katubah (the certificate of marriage for jews). Their dog is named Cubbie.

  197. 197.

    BlueDWarrior

    @redshirt: It’s all about protecting the cable tv cartels. They know that Sports is one of the few things that they can really still monopolize since most people want to watch it live.

    And I definitely don’t like it, but until a few more years pass or a few more people retire/die, that’s the way it’s gonna be.

  198. 198.

    Jerzy Russian

    @redshirt: Yes, either a huge oversight or more likely Fox Sports, TBS, et al. being dicks.

    On a related topic, don’t even get me started about football. I would be willing to pay $10 per game to watch the Broncos play each week on my laptop. There does not seem to be a way to do that if all one has is internet.

  199. 199.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Oldgold: I think in terms of picking up balls and whatnot, Lester fields his position quite well. His problem is that he has a clear psychological issue with throwing the ball from his pitcher’s position to first base.

    The ‘yips’ is a hard thing to quantify but you can see it when it’s there.

  201. 201.

    Death Panel Truck

    @Mary G: Joe Buck needs to watch game 7 of the 1975 World Series, and let Curt Gowdy take him to school. Now that man was the shit.

  203. 203.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mary G: Joe Buck knows everybody hates him and here is his explanation.
    Spoiler: he thinks it’s because he is so neutral

    So he’s Tim Russet, or any other Sunday morning narcissist, covering sports

  206. 206.

    Oldgold

    Jon Lester’s batting average in 2016 is .102. His career batting average is .064, with 10 hits in 157 at bats.

    But, they pay him to pitch. And, he does that exceptionally well. Good outing tonight.

  228. 228.

    Elizabelle

    Unbelievable. Don’t watch baseball team often, but what a game. Go Cubs, but WTG Cleveland.

  248. 248.

    Prescott Cactus

    We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight
    We’ll find a way to offer up the night tonight
    The indescribable moments of your life tonight
    The impossible is possible tonight
    Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight

    Billy Corgan 1995

  253. 253.

    Mary G

    Now it’s raining. Drama!

    Joe Buck, if you don’t stop with the stupid statistics some unpaid intern comes up with, I’m going to curse your hair plugs you are so obsessed with.

  255. 255.

    CaseyL

    What did that sportcaster just say? It sounded like he was trying to express how hard the post-season is on players, but it came out gibberish.

  259. 259.

    different-church-lady

    @Mary G: “We have just witnessed the first 2-2 count from a left-handed pitcher with more than 17 innings in the post season during wet weather in a game 7 taking place in November when the moon is a waxing crescent…”

  260. 260.

    jk

    @efgoldman:

    This is right up there with Grady Little leaving Pedro in too long in 2–3.

    That’s a very good comparison. I hope the Cubs can keep it together to win this damn thing in spite of Maddon trying to give it away.

  265. 265.

    SFAW

    Maybe it’s selective memory on my part, but I can’t remember a game where Chapman turned in a top-notch performance. Reminds me of what they used to say about Bledsoe on WEEI (local sports radio) back in the pre-Brady era: : “He’s big, he’s got a strong arm, he’s got a strong arm, and he’s big.”

    But at least Chapman can throw it 100+ MPH.

    BFD

  267. 267.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Mary G:

    Just thinking the same thing! “This is only the second time in the seventh game of a World Series that a left-handed infielder with a BMI over 36 has blah blah blah . . .”

  270. 270.

    Baud

    I hope there’s no rain delay. Already too late for me.

    Don’t know what I’ll do if there are extra innings.

  271. 271.

    Tom Q

    Given the two teams involved, getting to Game 7 was a gift; putting it to the 9th tied (especially when it looked like an easy win) is baseball nirvana for those of us without a rooting interest. Indians & Cubs fans — of which I know both — are exempt from this feeling; I know they all have terminal agita.

    I’m going to feel deeply sorry for whichever team doesn’t win.

  274. 274.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    This game is starting to remind me of this election, goes on forever and no clear outcome.

  280. 280.

    CaseyL

    @Tenar Darell: This seems like a good time to mention Kinsella’s wonderful book about an apocalyptic, otherworldly baseball game, “The Iowa Baseball Confederacy.”

  292. 292.

    Mary G

    @Tenar Darell: And the person says they tweeted that the day Maddon was hired by the Cubs. Spooky!

    Now Joe Bush ** freudian slip by me ** is talking about Al Capone was nine in 1908.

  312. 312.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Earth Orbital Control has told the meteor to go into a holding pattern…extra innings!

  320. 320.

    Villago Delenda Est

    This will go on all night…Odin says no one can win this game…

    Oh…wait…Thor has called a rain delay!

  321. 321.

    Jerzy Russian

    They have got other pitchers other than Chapman. Montgomery, Wood, Grimm, etc. Hell, even John Lackey. The Cubs should score about a dozen runs in the top of the 10th, just to be safe.

  330. 330.

    hueyplong

    Now I just feel sorry for CHI and CLE fans. They’ll be subjected to bone-grinding idiocy from Joe Buck and, if Fox is particularly sadistic, Pete Rose and A-Rod as well.

    It’s just too much. A meteor would be merciful.

  332. 332.

    different-church-lady

    GROUNDSKEEPER: “So… uh, hey, listen, it says here on my phone that if one of these two teams wins a World Series the Seventh Seal is broken and the apocalypse happens.”

    CREW CHIEF: “TARP! NOW!”

  333. 333.

    OldDave

    @Oldgold:

    What a dishonest ad.

    The Clinton Rags to Riches ad was national, was it? Yeah, it was a dishonest piece of work “worthy” of The Donald.

  335. 335.

    Tom Q

    This is divine. A routine game would have been a colossal fizzle. A late rally/extra innings/now rain makes it one we’ll remember a long time.

  337. 337.

    Botsplainer

    @Oldgold:

    It’s a combination of Trump and the FBI, with 30 years of propaganda from Christian conservatives.

    Lies are how they all roll.

  339. 339.

    Waldo

    I’m confident the underdog will win, thrilling their long-suffering fans after decades of frustration.

  358. 358.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Tomorrow would be the one day in my usually featureless calendar when I have to get up early to go to a dentist’s appointment.

  359. 359.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @WaterGirl:

    Chapman pitched in consecutive Innings; that’s one appearance. There’s no “free substitution” (in and out) in baseball.

  382. 382.

    divF

    So if the Cubs pull this out, they will have cured their curse the same way Boston did, i.e. hiring Theo Epstein and giving him a big pile of money to work with.

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