Cubs-Giants Game 3: A Look at the Marathon Through a Weary Cubs Fan's Eyes

I had to work for Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Cubs and the Giants. Well, let me be clear, my “work” is an incredibly loose term compared to what most think of when they hear the word “work”. When I say I had to “work”, what I mean by that is I had to sit in a cozy radio studio on the southwest corner of Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis.

The view is really something. I look to my left and see the best view in town of my favorite city in the world with the Monument literally a Javier Baez cross-diamond throw away, and the Chase Tower maybe close enough for Aroldis Chapman to hit if he’s allowed a crow hop. The most I have to complain about is that there is only a single television in the studio I’m working in on Monday night, but that didn’t matter because our cable at the station doesn’t carry Fox Sports 1, and that the feed from my stream of the game is about two pitches behind Dan Schulman’s call of Game 3 on ESPN Radio.

Poor me.

One thing I didn’t expect as I sat down in the studio at eight o’clock, besides Jake Arrieta blasting a three-run bomb off Bumgarner, was for Game 3 to be a five-and-a-half hour marathon that had me tossing and turning by myself in a radio studio until three in the morning. It was such an incredible rollercoaster, marathon of a game, I had to document it because well, almost like what Morgan Freeman said in “Shawshank Redemption" about a man being alone in prison, when you’re all by yourself with nothing but the nerves, anxiety, and paranoia of being a Cubs fan in a potential series clinching playoff game, you’ll do just about anything to keep your mind busy. The times will be a rough estimate of what was happening at that particular time in the game, so bear with me as we venture through my mind, and probably most Cubs fans, in last night’s instant classic (even though the Cubs didn’t win).

Top of the 1st, 9:38 p.m.: OK. So Bumgarner. This is why we got up 2-0 and took care of home-field advantage. Not that I want us to lose tonight. It’d be fuckin’ great for my health to just take care of it, but it’s doubtful. This dude hasn’t given up a run in the playoffs since I was a junior in High School, but lets just see. Fowler down. No worries. Here comes the MVP. Down to two strikes. He’ll probably strikeout on a sweeping curve. Crack! Hell yeah! Double down the left field line. He didn’t look too phased. I dig it, lets put up at least a run early. Come on, Riz!

Bumgarner stiffens, and sits down Rizzo and Soler to end the first.

OK. We got to him more than I thought in the top of the 1st. KB is a freak-of-nature. Let’s just hope Arrieta has command tonight.

Bottom of the 1st, 9:50 p.m.: I’m already standing. Arrieta’s command has been shaky, and I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about him elevating all night and getting knocked around. Please be on, Jake. Shoop, shoop, Buster Posey is a pain in the ass, shoop.

Arrieta strikes out the side. That’s what I’m talking about!

Top of the 2nd, 10 p.m.: Last inning KB doubled, there was some solid contact, Soler barely missed a 420 foot bomb, and Bumgarner threw 20 pitches in the first. Let’s do Theo’s work, keep driving that pitch count up until we get back to the top of the order. And Zo does exactly that as he always does. I swear this guy is 3-2 in every at bat. 1 out. Addy works the count and hit by pitch. Hey, anything to get on against this guy. Now here comes Javy. He’s about to hit a shot. This is his postseason. Every time he coils in that load, I think he’s going yard. Gets down in the count with two strikes. He’s not striking out like he used to. This is a different Javy and Fox Sports 1 even shows the change in his swing from 2014 to 2016. Holy Shit. We think he swings like he’s trying to give himself a hernia now? I forgot what he looked like in 2014. Here comes another 2-strike pitch and…sweet. Another foul ball. He drove the count to eight pitches! Fouls off another. Bumgarner is getting pissed! Fouls off another. He has to do something now. Let’s go! Double down the left field l—Damn. Gillaspie getting in the way again. I’ll take it, still driving the pitch count up and Javy with a base knock. Two on. Miggy takes a solid crack at the first pitch he sees and off the bat I thought it may be a gapper, but it falls into Pence’s glove in right.

Here comes Arrieta.

Wouldn’t it be insane if Arrieta just went yard here? Yeah that’d be pretty crazy. This was the thought every Cubs fan was thinking because in a perfect world in which the Cubs would have it be their year, something like that would happen. Down two strikes. Oh well, still got more runners on base and drove the pitch count up.

Top of the 2nd, 10:18 p.m.: HOLY F&%$ING SHIT POP OUT THE CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES NOW, CALL OFF THE NATIONAL AND DODGERS SERIES IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER.

Arrieta busts the seams out of a fastball left up by Bumgarner and deposits it into the left field seats. This is it. I can finally say this is the year. This doesn’t happen for the Cubs. Anthony Rizzo is seizing in the dugout, I cautiously check to make sure the mic in the studio is turned off because if it wasn’t I definitely would have been fired for the pounding of the desk while screaming extreme vulgarities of excitement at the top of my lungs on our airwaves. FS1 encapsulates exactly how I was feeling as they get a slow-motion shot of Jake stepping on home, pounding fists with Addy and Javy, and screaming “FUCK YEAH”.

Cubs lead 3-0.

Bottom of the 2nd, 10:25 p.m.: Another fairly clean inning for Arrieta, but I still feel like his command is off. Top of the order coming back around, and I know some will be left up. Let’s get more runs.

Unfortunately that doesn’t happen. Three won’t be enough especially against the Giants.

Bottom of the 3rd, 10:52 p.m.: Top of the order for the Giants. At least there was already bullpen work for the Giants and talk of MadBum being pinch-hit for. That in itself feels like a victory almost. But he remains in the game. Denard Span rips one into the right-centerfield gap for a double. Shit. I hate that we’re up 3-0 and rolling yet one base hit makes me feel like the Giants are about to pop for six runs. Posey knocks another one right back up-the-middle, and the Giants are on the board. Posey, you smug son-of-a-bitch, can’t you just suck for a little bit?

Cubs lead 3-1 end of 3. Scoreless 4th inning.

Bottom of the 5th, 11:30 p.m.: After the one and only 1-2-3 inning for Madison Bumgarner, he is pulled and Núñez hits for him. Theo you freakin’ genius. Knock the aces out in five or less, thats what we did. Lets hold them then attack. Top of the order coming back up though. Deep breaths in and a few prayers. Denard Span triples to right after doubling to right in the third. Yep, looks like we aren’t holding them with wonder boy Posey coming up this inning. Turns out it wasn’t Posey, but Belt who hits the sac fly. Posey still singled after Belt and is now 3-for-3. He is going to be a problem later. Please for the love of God let’s get some insurance runs.

Cubs lead 3-2 after 5. Javy reaches on an error to start the sixth, moves over to second with one out. Fowler, come on, man! You go, we go! Right? Nope. He strikes out after working a full-count and Baez is left stranded. This isn’t good, can’t let them hang around. Damn it.

Bottom of the 6th, 11:55 p.m.: You’re leaving Jake in there against three lefties?! And Gillaspie leading off?! This guy has been fuckin’ Roy Hobbs this postseason. I hate this. This is Grady Little. Don’t be Grady Little, Joe. Go to the pen. Gillaspie of course rocks one up the middle to start the inning, but Holy Cow! Javy Baez you Jedi Master with the glove!

“Too much sauce, Javy!!!”- a text I received from a good buddy who played middle infield in college.

But wait. Of course. They’re challenging. Riz, you can’t hit, keep your foot on the bag, man! His spike looks off the bag by just the slightest. Damn it. Aaron Boone and Dan Schulman basically say on-air if this is upheld, the series is fixed. And they call him out! Wow. Screw all these people bitching about the call. After 108 years, we should get a few calls, so you all can kiss my ass. Then Jake gets two more groundouts. Hell yeah. Good outing. Made me nervous a few times, but 6 innings pitched and only two runs given up. I’ll take that any day especially with already knocking out MadBum.

Top of the 7th, 12:15 a.m.: Well, I was scheduled to be off at 1 a.m., but I don’t see that happening. Saddle up. Middle of the order coming up against this tool of a rookie. Lets go. Bryant strikes out swinging. First time he hasn’t been on base all night, so I’ll give him a pass. Rizzo pops out. Riz, shit, man. You and me have the same amount of hits in the playoffs. Come on.

Bottom of the 7th, 12:30 a.m.: This is interesting. Jake is done. Good job, sir. Here comes Strop. Oh boy. I’ve tweeted numerous times after some of his outings the old Happy Gilmore line of Pedro Stro-OH MY GOD. Two up and two down for Strop. Deep breath out. Travis Wood throws one pitch, he’s been Mr. Reliable against lefties, and he holds true. To the eighth.

Cubs lead 3-2

Bottom of the 8th, 12:55 a.m.: If there were to be an inning that gets the Cubs, its this one. We’ve dicked around and haven’t done jack with the bats after stunning the Giants to be up 3-0, and they have Belt, Posey, and Pence coming up. Middle of the order. Survive this, hello NLCS. If not, we play tomorrow. As soon as I finish that thought, Belt singles to lead-off the inning. Great. Hector Rondon coming in now? Shit. He’s been shaky at best since the summer. This is it. He walks Posey. Only batter he faces, and he walks him. Solid outing. Now Joe makes the move of all moves. He’s going to the big guy, The Cuban Missile, for a SIX OUT SAVE. Gotta love being bold in the playoffs, Cotton. First batter he faces is Pence. This psycho is so crazy he’ll probably come to the plate without a helmet against 103 MPH heat. He’ll be the one to come through, solely because his face is so punchable. Chapman handles Pence fairly easily. Whew. Let’s go Chappy, pump 105 and get us out of this.

Gillaspie. FUCK.

Seriously, Chapman? You don’t have another fucking pitch you can throw? This isn’t 9-year-old rec ball. Even those kids eventually catch up to the heater when they know that is all you have. Throw a slider that skips four feet in front of the plate for Gods sake, just something that puts a different thought in their head than “As soon as he releases I’m swinging at this fastball.” Then Crawford rips another one. These Giants are like that spy from Austin Powers. “Why won’t you die?” They just won’t. This freakin’ blows. You have MadBum down and out. You lead 3-0. Step on their damn throat and finish it! Classic Cubs. I’m burning all my Cubs stuff when I leave this damn studio. No point to even pay attention to the ninth.

Giants lead 5-3

Top of the 9th, 1:10 a.m.: The only positive bone in my body is telling me, “Well, at least its the top of the order. Sometimes you have to pull off the unthinkable if you want to do something like break a 108-year-curse.” But I came to my senses. I guess I thought since this closer’s name is Romo, maybe he’d choke? Wishful thinking. Dex…works a walk. Ok. This just got interesting. Now, I know Kris Bryant is baseball’s golden boy and the second coming of Derek Jeter only better, but there’s no way he’s going deep here, right? Get it out of your head, man. That’s just too good to be true.

OH MY GOD MY FIRST BORN WILL BE NAMED KRIS BRYANT. BOY OR GIRL. DON’T CARE. HIS SMILE IS SO CHARMING, I’M MELTING.

Hopefully no one saw me through the windows or was watching on the security cameras. I was leaping around like Rizzo was after Arrieta’s bomb. “The Cubs are going to win. We took their best punch and sent it right back! That’s what I’m fuckin’ talking about!” as I smack the desk.

Tied 5-5

Bottom of the 9th, 1:22 a.m.: We only have two arms left in the pen? Of course. Here comes Montgomery, but he can go long. Still don’t feel thrilled about Mike Montgomery facing the top of the order with a chance to walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, but here it goes. I love when pitchers get the leadoff hitter out. Just makes the inning feel much better and eases my tension by about 3,000%. What I hate as much as I love getting the leadoff hitter out is walks. There goes Belt trotting goofily down to first with Posey walking to the plate. Gulp. There’s some solid contact on that one. Oh God. It’s down the line. Even Belt is going to score on that one. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ALBERT ALMORA JR. YOU HAVE SOME STONES. Seriously, I have no idea how these kids do it. I’m pissing down my leg in a radio studio 1,000 miles away because of the pressure, and Almora literally saves the game on a slicing line drive after he’d been sitting on the bench for seven innings. Stones, man. Now we are definitely going to win this damn game.

Still tied 5-5

Extras, 1:38 a.m.: Pretty uneventful 10th and 11th. Thank God. I needed a break. We all did. Some normalcy for a couple innings made it feel like a west coast game in July rather than extras in October. Plus, I’m getting paid overtime now so I guess my stress over my team is doing me some good.

Top of the 13th, 2:10 a.m.: Another rookie in for the Giants. Come on, fellas, just squeak one across. Get one across and their spirit will finally break. Who else but Jávy? Dude is a full-blown superstar now. Singles to center and there is the run. Here comes Willson. I freakin’ love this kid. He doesn’t give a shit at any time. It could be Game 7 of the World Series with the bases loaded and two outs, and Willson would fire to second to try to pickoff a runner. That wouldn’t be very smart, but my point is, he is fearless. Singles to right. Two on. Now we go. Grandpa Rossy pinch-hitting. The script is written. Rossy comes up, doubles in the gap, Jâvy and Willson score, and the Cubs move onto the NLCS. Too good to be true this time. The worst thing he could do was hit a weak ground ball and…that’s what he does.

Bottom of the 13th, 2:30 a.m. This is just getting old now. I mean, yeah, I’m getting paid overtime like I said, but I can’t take this anymore. I want to just go to bed. Somebody do something. And I had a feeling this would be where it happens. Crawford doubles to leadoff the inning and you knew. Our magic had run out tonight, or this morning or however you want to describe the time. Giants win. Giants survive. Giants have life. Damn.

Driving home, 3:00 a.m.: While the postgame was being played, I was feeling pretty shitty. All the typical thoughts were running through a somber Cubs fan’s head. These damn Giants. They’re going to somehow find a way, and all our nightmares are going to come true. Again. Then I got in my car, drove through downtown Indy, around the circle, down Meridian Street, and I remembered last year when these same Cubs were playing another thorn-in-the-side team in the Cardinals. It was all ready to crumble again after we lead the series 2-1, but the Cardinals struck first with a two-run bomb in the first inning. “Here we go again,” was the thought then just as it was briefly for tonight. But we prevailed, just like we will prevail again in this series. Because like Jávy Baez’s swing, the Cubs have changed and for the better.