Show Fire With Class
Is it necessary to have an embarrassing outburst to display fire?
I don’t think so. Running at home plate umpire Eric Cooper and screaming at him drew Kerry Wood a big ovation from the crowd today, but his class failed him. It happens to most of us, and certainly to me, but we shouldn’t cheer it. (Al Yellon says Cooper started toward the mound first. You couldn’t tell that from the TV. And it doesn’t excuse what Wood did in any case.)
The calls made by Cooper weren’t even of the are you blind?! variety. The third ball to Adam Dunn clearly missed the plate; the fourth ball I thought caught the plate, but it was awfully close.
A couple of other reasons why the Cubs lost today, other than Cooper’s calls:
Letting Cory Lidle off the hook with Aramis Ramirez grounding into a double play with the bases loaded in the first inning. The Cub offense having 1 extra-base hit (Sammy Sosa’s double) and 1 walk (Moises Alou). Wood missing his spot on the 1-2 pitch to Wily Mo Pena that was lined for a base hit to take the lead. This was Wood’s 131st pitch, so this could be blamed on Baker more than anyone. Jim Hendry did go out and upgrade the bullpen this offseason (again), right? (And as The Big Red C notes, there is evidence Wood is not near as effective in starts after throwing at least 120 pitches in his previous start, so Baker may have negatively affected the next game in which Wood pitches.)
That said – the game is over. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s game.