Sunday Night Baseball Reminds Us Why MLB is the Best
How does baseball get any better than what was displayed on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball? In my view, it can’t; at least not during the regular season.
Yes, summer seems to be on its way out the door. Many kids are back in school now, football practices have begun and many major league teams are playing out the string with about 40 or so games left. But that doesn’t mean baseball can’t grab us by the throat and give us a thrill on a summer Sunday evening.
The only-one-game-in-prime-time approach MLB and ESPN have taken over the past several seasons played itself out to perfection on Sunday.
Baseball’s best setting at Wrigley Field? Check. (And, yes, I’m a biased Cubs fan. Write your own article if you think I’m wrong!)
An assortment of All-Stars, award winners and potential Hall of Famers on both teams? Check.
Two teams with something to play for as far as reaching the postseason? Check.
A pitching matchup of two of the best in the game? Check.
And Sunday Night Baseball between the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs more than lived up to its billing, too. Cole Hamels and Max Scherzer we’re noting less than brilliant, at one point retiring 24 batters in a row between them. Three up, three down and repeat. Both pitchers had their A games working.
But the irony that baseball always seems to provide showed up in a big way in the bottom of the ninth inning. With a three-run deficit staring them in the face, and nothing to show for their first eight innings on offense, the Cubs seemed to be headed toward a series defeat. But that’s when Yogi Berra’s famous reminder that “It ain’t over until it’s over” kicked in.
If any fans left the ballpark before the game ended, they now regret doing so. With the help of an imploding Nationals bullpen, the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs. And then, in a game filled with names like Anthony Rizzo and Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, it all came down to a rookie pinch-hitter named David Bote. And with two strikes on him, Bote connected and sent 40,000 Cubs fans home happy. A better script could not have been written, unless of course you happen to be a Nationals fan, in which case, last night’s finish could leave an unhappy mark.
The Cubs and Nationals still have a four-game series in our nation’s capital, scheduled the weekend after Labor Day. By then, football will be in the air, and baseball’s pennant races will be in clearer focus than now. But whatever happens, the Cubs now own a series win over the Nationals, by virtue of a pinch-hit grand slam that no reasonable person could have seen coming.
I’m pretty sure I’ve already said this but nothing compares to baseball, and Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN is all the proof we will ever need.
